Southern Trains toys?

Bit of a long shot this, but a friend of mine has a 4-year-old nephew who loves trains, in particular Southern trains (he lives in Brighton).

For his birthday, his parents want to get him a toy Southern train, but the only things they can find are things like the OO gauge class 171 from Bachmann, which is not only expensive, but not suitable for little hands to play with.

Does anyone know of a "toy train" in Southern livery or something close to it? Something like the Brio wooden trains (or the copycat versions) would be the thing, I suppose.

Surprisingly, there doesn't appear to be much at all, aimed at the younger enthusiast other than the Big jigs, Brio (wooden railway) and the plastic track, "Thomas" Trackmaster range, made by Fisher Price.
Tesco have made a wooden railway Pendolino and they are about £10 for one coach (when they are in stock) !
I modified mine to run on Tomy track that was available in Toys r us, a few years ago
https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N02/31311327160/in/dateposted-public/

Someone has to say it: Southern trains models/toys are based on the real thing - very hard to find.

There's a Japanese train in a fairly attractive green livery, that your nephew might be interested in and they can run on wooden railway track and the Trackmaster "Thomas" tracks. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Series-E2...338387?hash=item33c4751093:g:UQoAAOSw44BYSQoZ(this seller is a very good seller, based in Hong Kong and import tax can be charged by the Post Office, or parcel firm when the package arrives off the 'plane in the UK) so you are generally better off buying from a seller in the UK if possible).
Tomy made a Eurostar back in the 1990's, but they are quite hard to find these days. Ebay is a good source for these items.
I often wonder why Fisher Price don't make proper UK trains alongside their "Thomas" range. I've sent them various photo's and suggestions many times but the standard reply is "thanks - your suggestion has been passed to the relevant department"
Perhaps the only way, is to star in "The apprentice" TV show, to get inside Fisher Price and trial a small number of modern image models to gauge public interest !

You could always knit him a guard.....

Thanks all. It looks like there isn't anything specifically Southern available, so I have pointed them towards the Big Jigs and Brio wooden sets in the hope that something in those ranges will be appropriate.

There is a 73 coming out in Southern colours later in the year. I've placed my order, tho' it might look a bit lost in my yard.

sarahj said:

There is a 73 coming out in Southern colours later in the year. I've placed my order, tho' it might look a bit lost in my yard.

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Oh I suddenly like you very much, that's a very nice yard.

That looks great Sarahj. Maybe the 73 has been sent over for an open day?

Also Sarahj, are those the Veissmann or Sommerfelt overheads?

M28361M said:

Bit of a long shot this, but a friend of mine has a 4-year-old nephew who loves trains, in particular Southern trains (he lives in Brighton).

For his birthday, his parents want to get him a toy Southern train, but the only things they can find are things like the OO gauge class 171 from Bachmann, which is not only expensive, but not suitable for little hands to play with.

Does anyone know of a "toy train" in Southern livery or something close to it? Something like the Brio wooden trains (or the copycat versions) would be the thing, I suppose.

Click to expand...

As you say the only Southern Rail toys are the three Bachmann OO Gauge Class 171 models.

• 32-460Y - 171 724
• 32-460Z - 171 721
• 32-468 - 171 727

Both the 32-460Y and the 32-460Z models were released years ago while the 32-468 model is being released later this year.

Other than this the most similar thing to what you are looking for that i can find is a wooden brio style toy of a Southeastern (which is Southern's sister company - they are both owned by Govia) class 395 train.

Here is a link to the website of Big Jigs Toys (the company that makes it) Southeastern Class 395 page.

http://www.bigjigstoys.co.uk/p/high-speed-one-train

You can buy it online on their website and it costs £15.49 plus £2.95 for postage and packaging. I am not 100% sure but it may possibly be available in some toy shops as well.

TheEdge said:

Also Sarahj, are those the Veissmann or Sommerfelt overheads?

Click to expand...

Sommerfeldt

M28361M said:

Does anyone know of a "toy train" in Southern livery or something close to it? Something like the Brio wooden trains (or the copycat versions) would be the thing, I suppose.

Click to expand...

Will Southeastern do? http://newsroom.southeasternrailway.co.uk/pressreleases/bigjigs-launches-wooden-toy-replica-of-southeasterns-high-speed-train-1861516

I haven't read all of this thread to see if someone else has mentioned it, so apologies in advance if there is duplication.