tight loop track

has anyone seen this piece before? just snapped it up online for $9NZD, as i had never seen one either locally or on jauce. it has a unique connector between the two halves.



the seller also has a pile of other stuff, including a bridge that tempted because the girders were unusual, but nothing as unique as this.

That is neat!!! Seems like a dream piece for painting a layout out of a corner!!...no pun intended!!
Better than a red loop too!!...way more versatile.
My gears are spinning with all possibilities.
Nice find!!

Never seen anything like that before, aside from the usual red loop part.
What's stranger still is that there's only the one plastic ridge line thing down the middle Usually there's two, which create that space between the two areas where the wheels go. If these spaces have particular names, I don't know 'em.

Curious... is there any 'TOMY' branding on the piece?

only just paid for it, and being a sunday it likely wont be posted until tuesday. will post more info when i recieve it

didnt even notice the lack of double groove. wonder if there wasnt space due to the radius? might allow more free movement for longer trains.

That looks extremely outlandish. How is a long train supposed to clear it properly?

The wider 'rail' parts probably allow the longer trains to get round it, so long as the gap between the carriages don't cause the carriages to hit each other.

Looking at the key part of the connector it doesn't look exactly real Tomy, I wonder if this is either from a 'knock-off' set which might be the case bearing in mind the girder bridge etc... or maybe even a custom 3D printer design?

It wouldn't suprise me if someone has maybe bought some 'knock-off' sets and has broken them down to sell the component parts for more than the set would cost

Now that I'm looking at it, it also doesn't have the traction 'racks' that the current track type uses. I also remember some mysterious pieces that caused problems on a layout and were mistaken for a knock off type, but were actually an older style of 'real McCoy' track. This part looks like it might have that same sandpaper-like surface.

this is the bridge, which i talked myself out of. one, the length bumped the post price up, and two, the girders look too short for anything to clear underneath. the girders look hollow on top, and i dont believe ive seen this kind of bridge before, with the "walls" at either end.



the seller is posting the loop today, so should have it by thursday with any luck. everything else they are selling... track, trains and accessories, is genuine tomy/thomas, so i believe the loop is as well. be interesting to have it in hand.

They could just be very rare pieces Sun, that sure is an interesting bridge, even the supports are strange and look dedicated to that bridge seeing as it slots into the top of them. Still what do I know, I'm not an expert on the Thomas range - my bag is more the PlaRail 'real world' models

Regardless that loop is still a nice find - I can see members queing up to buy them if the source can be found!

[Super]

That loop sure seems familiar to me. Not in discussion but I think I have seen it. That red girder bridge I have seen quite a few of in the Japan auctions, in fact I think I have bid on some. Maybe it was also on AliExpress which, if I did see it there, its a good chance its a knockoff but I am not so sure.

I am curious to see more of the loop when you receive it. Maybe it was part of a particular trick set. Just looking at it makes me wonder it any train of considerable length would make the turn without eventually derailing but maybe the design helps that out. The entrance and exit parts bulge out and at the top of the loop the center rail splits. Could these be to help get the train through with out derailing. I also agree with Dalagstanator that, if it is Tomy, it probably is the older version.