Talk 'n' Action Thomas repair question

Well, I was this close to getting my first TnA train (english speaking Thomas), but the train was damaged during its trip through the USPS. Apparently something hit it hard enough to literally cause the wheels on one side (motorized and front non motorized) to break in half. I'm assuming the wheels were already pretty brittle for this to happen, but still aggravating. Before I send it back to the seller for a refund, I wanted to ask if anyone knew whether it would be possible to replace the axles on a TnA thomas with the axles from a similar year "normal" thomas? I suspect the answer is no, or perhaps it is possible, but opening up the engine is a complicated affair, but I wanted to solicit advice from the smartest tomy train people on the web! Thanks in advance.

You can send him to ripley802 for repairs, he can be nore than happy to repair him.

[ripley802]

Do you have any pictures of the damage?

Yes, here are two photos. The wheel with the tread snap off at the connection with the axle. The non motorized front wheel just snapped in half. Not sure what happened in transit. I'd love to be able to simply swap out axles from a normal tomy thomas, but is suspect the gears aren't quite the same. Thanks for reviewing

[Super]

Wow, thats hard to break the wheels like that. Wasn't it shipped in a box with padding inside?

Both my American and English TnA Thomas were wrapped in bubble wrap in boxes so they arrived safe and sound.

You can always have him sent to ripley802 so he can fix all the issues you have with him. He could look more into him. As soon as his repairs are done, he goes back to you all new again.

My English TnA James has a slipped gear so he's going to ripley802 when I'm ready to ship him and my 2004 Talking James.

[ripley802]

The wheels and the remnants of the wheels could easily be pulled off and a replacement added to the existing axle which has the gear. This isn’t too tough if you are ok with disassembly of these type of trains. You may be able to disconnect the side rods; looked or remove the two screws holding down the engine and then lift it up to slide out the wheels without fully diassembling him.

Thanks. So if I do want to swap out the whole axle (as opposed to try removing and just replacing the broken wheel). Can I use any similar age Tomy Thomas axle, or will the gearing not match? I’m good removing the screws, I was just afraid the various mechanicals/circuit boards that might be part of the TnA engine assembly would complicate matters. Thanks again


Super, unfortunately the seller didn’t do a great job wrapping it up. I’m not sure they were aware of the fragility of the train. I’m not sure they even knew what a TnA really was. They listed as a fun of the mill Thomas with a bunch of trucks and rolling stock. I’m not entirely sure how much the TnA Thomas “should” cost, but this wasn’t very expensive. It’s a shame because it otherwise appears in good shape.

[Super]

I’m good removing the screws,

[ripley802]

The gears are differnet. The TnA gears are a bit smaller in width than most of the standard Trackmaster and Tomy. There are likely some out there though that would be a match.