Newbie - advice re repairs to old Thomas Trackmaster trains

Hiya - We’ve just retrieved my son’s Thomas trackmaster trains from the loft and quite a few of the trains no longer work or need repairs. Is there a recommendation for a website with spare motors or advice around fixing - and more importantly is it worth it (thought I’d come to the experts!).

Hello Kath

A lot of times, if the trains worked before a long storage time, all they might need is a little rap on the motor to jolt it back to life. I assume you have checked that the batteries were removed before storage or you have checked to make sure they haven't corroded inside the train if they were left in?

Well - I can’t rule out a bit if corrosion - we had left batteries in some (stupid I know) but have sanded off any obvious corrosion as wasn’t too bad… the trains did work before (say about 6 years ago…). Thanks. Sounds like it might be a job too far for us. 🫣. Is there a home for broken ones (as spares?)

You could always post pictures here or make a short video when you get around to looking at one and the Members here would be happy to help with suggestions of how to repair.

If you wants a video on how to fix them then I would recommend going on custom trackmaster’s channel he has a lot of guides on how to fix the trains

I've got the same issue! Unfortunetly, when my parents but my set in the loft many years ago, they left all the batteries in :-( The metal plates have all corroded and some completely broken off! But they have been up there for about 14 years (I've since "upgraded" to Hornby 00).
I've had a dig around on this forum, it does seem that battery corrosion seems to happen frequently with the older Tomy Tomica sets!

it also depends what batteries you use. some are more prone to corrosions. tender engines are the hardest to repair given you have solder the wire from the tender to the motor to the front (the fire box )

depends on the character, some are not worth repair (i.e. thomas, percy)

given I am not an expert in extensive repairs, i would harvest the motor/battery compartment off duplicates. some engines have the same design you can swap the not working ones with working ones

(02-04-2025, 07:11 PM)sg1lucy Wrote: it does seem that battery corrosion seems to happen frequently with the older Tomy Tomica sets!

Hello Lucy and welcome aboard BluePlasticTracks 👍

Battery corrosion is not a Tomy/Tomica problem, it would happen to any device that uses battery's especially left for 14 years. This even happens to batteries that are by themselves and not left in any device. As Leyland says above depending on the battery as the cheaper they are my guess would be the more prone they are to leakage but far any brand to be expected to last after being unattended for 14 years is unlikely. We have all learned a lesson the hard way. Good news for some is that rechargables are made much better so they don't leak but removing them when not in use is still the best method. As far as saving any of your trains with minimal corrosion, members here are always willing to help if you would start a Thread and post pictures with what you have. Getting your trains working again that you remember from your childhood would be great and I'll bet bring back fond memories of the hours you enjoyed playing with them

KathT... I sent you a private message, being new you may not know about this service. If not, look at your avitar in the upper right corner of this screen and if theres a number in the blue circle, press the blue circle and you can read you private messages. Hope this helps.

Cheers!

Hello all,

New to this forum, only recently discovered it!  I have been working for some time to try and repair and restore my locomotives from my childhood, mostly damaged by battery leaks. I have cleaned most up, but this Thomas has had the metal bit completely corrode and snap off, I would like to replace that part if possible.  I have uploaded a slideshow of the extent of the damage to youtube, I couldn't find a better way to upload more than one picture without loosing the quality.

Any advide would be helpful, I can fairly easily order parts from Japan if I know what I'm looking for.