I saw this on the Park Trains list. Don't have time to post it to Flimsies right now. I presume these are 1/8-size trains, 7.25-7.5-inch gauge, but don't know for sure.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wale ... 037830.stm

Thomas licence puts firm on track

An Anglesey miniature train manufacturer has won the rights to build
replicas of the children's favourite Thomas the Tank engine.
Cromar White, based at Valley on the island, hopes the deal will help
double sales over the next three years.

The US, where the trains are seen as the ultimate toy for the super-
rich, is its biggest market.

Later this year the company begins work on installing rail tracks for
the wife of Egypt's President Mubarak.

Owner Tony Martin said winning the licence to build miniatures
replicas of Thomas the Tank which people can ride in should mean his
company hits a turnover of £700,000 within the next three years.

He bought out the firm five years ago and moved its operation from
Hampshire to Anglesey.

New workshops have been built in anticipation of a growing order book
for its diesel and electric engines, narrow-gauge tracks and
carriages.

"We've been working hard for the last five years to win the right to
build the Thomas the Tank engine," said Mr Martin.

"It has been a very tough deal to land. This is a major brand and we
had to keep pushing and pushing for them to take us seriously.

"We're really punching above our weight as a small company from
Anglesey."

The engines for the American market will be put together by the
company's US business partner Roll Models Inc, while those for sale
in Europe will be built on Anglesey.

"We've just got the product agreed and signed off," said Mr Martin,
who is in Texas for meetings with the brand owners of Thomas the
Tank, HIT Entertainment.

"Artistically, we've had to produce everything to exactly the
specifications that HIT wanted."

But he admitted that the miniatures, which include Thomas's coaches
Annie and Clarabel, are not cheap.

"We are aiming at the top 15% of earners in the US. This is the
ultimate present for their children and a real one-up on their rich
neighbours," he said.

Each set of engines and 180 metres of track costs around £23,000, and
the first order is already in.

The company is keen to expand into other areas, and in December Mr
Martin's team will fly out to Cairo to install miniature tracks and
signalling for Egypt's first lady, the wife of President Mubarak.