Super Rails?

OK, so here we go, I'm back from camp [i'm a Scout leader, so basically supervising kids all weekend lol], and finally got to perform an autopsy on my brand new purchase

But first, a few interesting updates - I'm no closer to solving the manufacturer mystery conclusively, but I think I'm a little closer lol

The biggest find was that in the US, these sets were distributed by a company known variously as 'Durham Industries', 'Scientific Toys' and later 'EZ-TEC'. The one thing known for sure is, the tooling for the engine is known to have been in circulation since the 1960's, and is a generic tooling from Hong Kong possibly based on a Japanese mechanical design, and an American visual appearance [but more on this later].

http://www.trainweb.org/batterytrainstat...urham.html

This site's where I got my information on Durham, and indeed, there's pictures of my engine and coaches [albeit not the B.R repaint], making a definite link between mine and the Durham sets.

As it stands currently, the earliest Durham models and track were actually made in Japan and carry 'Made in Japan' stamps, but don't indicate who in Japan made them.

So, the question is, was it TOMY?

My answer; Maybe?

So, I'm not certain, but the problem is, although the track is definitely Super Rails, and the supposed origin date of the 'Durham' model tooling [1960's] lines up with when Super Rails were introduced by TOMY, none of the rolling stock actually matches anything TOMY has made for Super Rails.

The coaches, although based on a Japanese JNR design, are considerably shorter than the TOMY equivalents, and the locomotive appears more like an American design [I think it sorta resembles Strasburg 475, any Magic Railroad fans in the house?], although some variants sold as 'Continental Train' by Kamco et al. came badged as D51101.

Searching this brings up a picture of a famous preserved JNR D51 which is what I originally thought this might be, and interestingly one of the more common Super Rails locos is, you guessed it, the D51. My suspicion is that this model might be a significant re-tooling of the D51 model, as although it appears to be a US-styled engine, there are also elements that look strikingly like a Japanese engine to me.

Therefore, I'm kind of suspicious, if not convinced that TOMY may have had a hand in the earliest versions of these sets? It would be odd that they would basically hand off a design of theirs to a generic Hong Kong manufacturer after production, but my best guess is that Durham initially ordered production of the sets from TOMY in Japan to a semi-bespoke design created by themselves but based on the TOMY blueprints for Super Rails [hence the notable differences between these and legitimate Super Rails].



They then shopped the design out to a Hong Kong subcontractor to make more cheaply later on, as it appears only the first iterations of the Durham sets were made in Japan with later ones being made in Hong Kong [see picture].

So, my current conclusion is that what I have is basically a big mixture of various parts of different systems, some unique, and some directly copied from TOMY Super Rails, made in Hong Kong by a generic manufacturer and not TOMY themselves, but which was possibly created from a design manufactured by, or in some way affiliated with TOMY, as the dates indicate that the design of track and trains I have debuted through Durham via an 'unknown' Japanese manufacturer in the late 1960's at some point, almost concurrent with Super Rails debuting in Japan.


The direct copying from Super Rails is the track. It's described as and appears to be roughly 'O' gauge, and features an identical joining mechanism to Super Rails.

SUPER RAILS




DURHAM




Now, for the bit I imagine you've all been waiting for - more detailed pictures, and whether I got it working!

















So, what we have here is the full 'Continental Train' passenger configuration [Engine, tender, 2 coaches], with chuffing sounds, working headlight and steam - Yep, this one's a live-steam model, no joke

The standout feature of course, is that this one has been decorated to be a British Rail engine and coach set; I have found literally no pictures of this BR variation of the 'Continental Train' in any of the searches i've done, so this is evidently a very rare variant indeed, but as an admitted BR fanboy, this makes me all the more happy to own it lol

The useful thing here is that thanks to the coach livery, it is actually possible to date when this set was made - BR's c oach livery of blue and white was debuted in 1965 with the introduction of the then-new corporate image for BR and the birth of the now universal 'Double-Arrow' symbol, and was progressively withdrawn from primary use throughout the 1980's, although it remained a near-constant sight in some form or another until Privatisation saw most older BR liveries removed from frontline service.

In the context of this set, given that the Durham sets appeared from the 1960's, but appear to have hit their stride in the 1970's, and the fact that BR Blue would have become more or less universal by the mid 1970's too leads me to believe this set dates from the 1970's, as it would have made the most sense for it to have come from that era given the context of both it's design, and the manufacturing history.

I can however, prove conclusively that this is from the 70's, and the reason why is because someone clearly forgot to change the batteries :O



So, as you can see, after getting the boiler off this engine, I discovered what no model collector wants to really see - Fossilised batteries!



So, I'm willing to bet this takes the record for the oldest batteries removed from a train here on BPT, as these are [according to what I've found] a design of Zinc-Carbon battery [R20, which was the old name for 'D' batteries] sold by BEREC [British Ever Ready Company] throughout the 1970's - The shell design and formulation changed after the end of the decade to account for the emergence of Duracell alkalines, which incidentally all but drove BEREC out of buisness as they stopped selling consumer batteries made in the UK in 1996.

Ever Ready is now owned by Energizer, and the current generation of 'Ever Ready' batteries are basically cheaper Energizers sold at discount stores here in the UK, as well as the brand name being licenced to discount stores to attach to cheap Chinese electronic tat [similar to names like Hyundai, Daewoo and others here in the UK].

But, and you'll be shocked to hear this, despite the condition of the batteries, the engine itself was completely fine! Some parts were corroded but this seems to have been more to do with the storage conditions than anything, and the battery terminals were actually almost spotless!

After rubbing the battery contacts and some of the more heavily corroded sections of the on-off switch with contact cleaner and some fine-grit sandpaper to remove the rust, then popping in some Energizer D cells [how fitting lol], it fired up, and absolutely shot off around the track! The small headlight bulb is still brilliantly bright, and the smoke-generator was working fairly well as-is, but I added a couple of drops of plain vape base [I find it makes a very clean-burning and effective smoke fluid], and now it puffs out impressive little smoke clouds from the funnel too

It's not a perfect runner by any means, as it needs some gear replacements - The motor and it's main drive gear are identical to the types used in Plarail, so that'll make replacement easy. It runs very noisily, which I suspect is a combination of the motor, and the 'chuffing' sound achieved by the smoke-pump mechanism. The smoke pump is a sliding bar connected mechanically into the gearbox, which pumps a small rubber bulb connected to the bottom of the smoke generator, blowing air through to puff the smoke out the top. The pump itself is surprisingly still fairly flexible despite probably being 40+ years old, but a bit of model-tape around the neck has made a better seal so the pump can run a little more efficiently until I can source a sutiable replacement.

So, in conclusion, it's an unusual, unique-looking and incredibly fun little Super Rails clone that's left me with a lot to work on in terms of repairs, but is so satisfying to watch especially with the live-steam function, and for £10 worth of unusual model railway, i'm more than satisfied