Tomy Thomas, Forward & Reverse Question:
Does anyone know or had one of these forward/reverse Thomas's apart, is the motor the standard sized Thomas type motor with just a different type of switch the reverse polarizes the battery contacts. Could the motor be swapped out in other trains that use the same type motor?
Thanks Ripley but not the R/C one but the one in the video below...
Ah, that one. Sadly I do not have that one (yet). I have been on the lookout for it and am watching one but it will need to go down in price for me to go for it.
i think ucwepn has one? dont know if he has had it apart or not, though.
Thanks Muddy for the great close up pictures.
The motor does look similar and the switch does indeed look to be a bit larger and stick out more than the others. I am curious if that motor could be swapped into any other train without modification. Of course it would probably need a little modification to the on/off switch slot in the roof to accommodate the three positions forward/off/reverse.
Based on my experience with swapping out wheels for my engines (never had this forward-reverse Thomas), there may be issues with incompatible gears on the driving axles. The gearing on this Thomas is most likely different than those of normal ones, even though they appear to be externally identical. Also, the groove in the roof of another engine may not be long enough for the three-way switch, and there may be other issues.
The bunker is taller on the forward reverse Thomas so the longer drive unit fits in, I believe it is mechanical with gears but never opened it to check.
So the entire motor housing is bigger than the normal Thomas motor and not just the switchbox?