July 2004 Newsletter

Our Kids' Corner Page is up and running!
Check for details of the Wooden Railway Adventures Contest

Click a topic below for this month's HOT topics!

July Website Specials
Find Great prices this July on Selected Tracks!
(click on the framed photos for more info!)

Flexatrack
Reg. $8.00 Sale $6.95

Short Curved Switch Track(4pcs)
Reg. $8.00 Sale $7.25

Intersection Track)
Reg. $7.50 Sale $6.95

This month we are featuring Engines and Cars from Whittle Shortline.
Whittle, based in Valley Park, Missouri, manufactures quality, detailed engines and cars made to look like the big trains. Check our website for your favorite diesel engine such as Norfolk Southern, Sante Fe, CSX, & Union Pacific. Find Boxcars, Hoppers, Tank Cars, and Cabooses from Southern, Chessie, Burlington Northern, Southern Pacific, and many more. Each vehicle is compatible with Thomas and Brio

New Friends for Thomas for 2004

*** NEW THIS MONTH! ***
Click here to see more Thomas & Friends!

Sodor Fire Crew
Water Tank AND Hook and Ladder cars!
Water level drops when hose is pulled.
Ladder lifts and rotates. Hose connects.
(In stock-limited supply!)

Waterfall Tunnel
Turn the boulder on top to see the "water" flow!
On other side, see trains pass through the open mountain window! (In stock!)

Battery Powered Jet Engine with Thomas
A surprised Thomas gets more than he bargains for when
this powerful Jet Engine pushes him around Sodor!
We call it "Thomas Goes Turbo"!
Includes wooden Thomas with limited edition expression,
and Battery powered "Jet Engine" with red lighted "glowing" exhaust
(requires 2 AA batteries)
(In stock!)

Murdoch
Murdoch is a mighty engine who was brought to the island to help with the heavy workloads and pull freight on the main line. (In stock!)

Emily
Emily is a beautiful engine with shiny paintwork and gleaming brass fittings. (In stock!)

Spencer
Spencer is a striking silver express engine who was brought to the island as the private engine of the visiting Duke and Duchess. (In stock!)

Fog Cars
The nights can be foggy and damp on the island of Sodor. And on those nights, Sir Topham Hatt relies on the Fog Cars to lead the way with a blast of the foghorn to warn of any danger on the tracks. (In stock!)

Jack
Jack is the friendliest front-loader the Island has ever seen. He loves his job so much that he often takes on tasks he probably shouldn't. (In stock!)

Alfie
Alfie is an excavator who makes even the toughest job in the quarry look easy. In fact, his favorite expression is "more dirt means more fun." (In stock!)

Train Shows for July and August
Choochoos4u will be at the train shows in the following communities:
(For more information please see the Train Show web page on our website.)

 

July 10- "Tallahassee Model Railroad Show" - Tallahassee, FL
August 7 & 8- "Greenberg Model Train and Toy Show" - Chantilly (Washington DC), VA
August 14- "Model Train & Railroad Artifacts" - Norcross (Atlanta), GA

Train Show Page

Kid's Corner Story Review
This month Matt decided to write a story with his own train characters. It is called Wild Track.

One day Jake and Jamie were doing their work as fast as they could. They knew they would be going from mountain to mountain. They didn't like the work. They had to pull mean coal cars. The coal cars kept saying "you're too slow, you're too slow, why can't you just go?" Back at the track that went across the two mountains, a boulder fell and broke the track! Jake and Jamie were there but they didn't see it until it was too late! Soon, they were going down in mid air! A few minutes later they were on track again! Now they were having a great time! The next thing they knew they were at the top of a hill. Jamie's driver said "I hope you had fun because I'm going to make that track much safer."

Wooden Railway Layouts Hints

Compatibilty

Brio is the grand daddy of wooden railway. Some adults are fortunate enough to have had a set, but the wooden railway platform came of age in the 1990's with the help of Learning Curve and their wide spread marketing of Thomas the Tank on the wooden railway. Fortunately, they made their track compatible with Brio, effectively standardizing the wooden railway gauge. There are now a variety of companies offering cost effective track and accessories that are compatible with Thomas and Brio. The slight differences in the track go unnoticed by most and the kids are completly oblivious.

One point of incompatibilty has to do with the Thomas Roundhouse, Thomas "Roundabout Turntable", and all other (Brio/generic) Roundhouses. The Thomas "Roundabout Turntable" has been designed to replace the roundhouse adapter track in the Thomas Roundhouse only. While the Thomas Turntable will work in a generic layout, it just can't be used to replace the adapter track on a Brio/generic Roundhouse. If there are other areas of incompatibilty please let us know and we will pass on the information.

Layout Ideas

One of the best website pages on the internet for layout ideas is operated by our friends at Suretrack. They're the folks who make the plastic tabs keeping up all my multilevel layouts. Take a look for some great Ideas. They are also having a layout contest. Don't miss their site for great layouts AND a chance for free Suretrack!

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