Hotwheels Railroad: The Greatest Train Toy You Never Had

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  • Опубліковано 24 сер 2023
  • As the name suggests. If you couldn't tell yet, I like the obscure.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 449

  • @Pepperknight341
    @Pepperknight341 10 місяців тому +192

    I think the problem was Mattel didn't release the steam engine in the first wave.

    • @tophatgaming1873
      @tophatgaming1873 9 місяців тому +7

      Imagine if it survived to the present day

    • @Pepperknight341
      @Pepperknight341 9 місяців тому +8

      @@tophatgaming1873 Thomas would be added to the line.

    • @tophatgaming1873
      @tophatgaming1873 9 місяців тому +6

      @@Pepperknight341 or more likely it would branch out into typical hotwheels designs, for better or worse

    • @Kenedienz
      @Kenedienz 9 місяців тому

      then it would branch out into "spits" aeg which SUCKS @@tophatgaming1873

    • @dirt8822
      @dirt8822 Місяць тому

      @@tophatgaming1873 this was the era when hot wheels regular cars and Desins

  • @F40M07
    @F40M07 10 місяців тому +104

    I NEED THEM ALL

  • @joshuacampbell9990
    @joshuacampbell9990 10 місяців тому +79

    As a late GenX, I remember seeing these as a kid. I have a couple of the Matchbox locomotives and some rolling stock myself from when I was a kid. You’re right about the Tyco and Bachman sets offering so much more for around the same money at the time as Hot Wheels sets have always been expensive even when I was a kid. Come to think of it, I think I had a Micro Machines train, but I don’t think I kept many of them unfortunately.

  • @bryanmoore9496
    @bryanmoore9496 10 місяців тому +24

    All cars did come with loads. Boxcar had a box, tipping gondola had steel pipes and the Amtrak baggage car had a weird round silver cylinder that looked to me like a giant milk bottle. I had all of these as a kid and probably still do in storage. I had no idea they had become rare.

  • @weekendrailroader
    @weekendrailroader 10 місяців тому +31

    They aren't HO scale, but they are actually HO gauge. You can set them on a piece of HO code 100 track and they'll roll just fine. The wheel flange dimensions are very different though, so they're not compatible with HO scale switch frogs and diamonds.

    • @richardludwig3673
      @richardludwig3673 10 місяців тому +2

      Yep. I remember running HO trains on the Hot Wheels track.

    • @freshdoug
      @freshdoug Місяць тому

      The flanges are too fat. I'm surprised they didn't just source HO trucks from a train company.

  • @ShadowVFX
    @ShadowVFX 10 місяців тому +39

    FYI, the box car (at least mine) came with a little wooden box that fit perfectly in that opening. I don't know if you'd classify that as a play feature or not, but I remember loading it on and off of my train when it came to different stations on my playset.
    Also, the baggage car definitely had an item you could pick up with that hook. You probably don't have it, since you got your set second hand. But I had the original playset and I remember it specifically coming with an item that you could grab with that hook.

    • @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars
      @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars 10 місяців тому +4

      I have both items you mention with my Santa fe "Freightyard" playset and the Amtrak "Superrails" playset.

    • @richardludwig3673
      @richardludwig3673 10 місяців тому +5

      Yep - i remember that too. Those were some of the pieces that got lost easily (though I think the baggage pack stuck around a little longer for me due to it being secured in there).

    • @jgrafing
      @jgrafing 9 місяців тому +1

      Yes even the dumper car came with logs to dump in a loader. I think I still have those sets somewhere, they were much fun as a five year old!

    • @dhcoloniemain9358
      @dhcoloniemain9358 9 місяців тому +3

      I think the baggage car came with a weird silver cylinder that looked like a milk container (I know, Amtrak didn't carry them). I thought the tipper car came with Pipes, and on the top of the station there was an area to unload/dump them. I still have the set in my basement, along with the Freight Yard set.

  • @idxluaviation
    @idxluaviation 10 місяців тому +4

    I just had an outstanding flashback to that chessie system GP40 that I have the slightest memory of possibly owning.
    I belive that (according to my faded memory) that was my favorite train when I was little, I have no idea what happened to it or if it had any cars to go along with it but I remember carrying just it around. Wow, didn't realize it was so rare.

  • @leverettrailfan5414
    @leverettrailfan5414 10 місяців тому +9

    When I was a kid, someone left one of the sets at our town dump and I was able to persuade my parents to let me take it home... under the condition that it would be going back where I got it in a week or two. From what I remember the box was blue and showed the Rio Grande GP40, a boxcar, and the bulkhead flatcar. Unfortunately it was missing the actual trains I think, as well as one section of track. I understand why my parents weren't big on it, but looking back now... I wish I still had it!

  • @seymoarsalvage
    @seymoarsalvage 10 місяців тому +4

    I have two of the Chessie engines that my parents got me from a gift shop in 1998. I never knew they were hotwheels brand or there were others! I did play with them alot, those couplers sure are tough, they never did break! I still have both of the engines, intact lol

  • @TristanMorrow
    @TristanMorrow 10 місяців тому +7

    Yep! Mattel also had a refinery switching base (same size as the freight yard). It had streets for cars and the track was an oval mainline with half a figure eight through the middle and two sidings: you'd take the tank car the oil siding, around the tracks, and to the unloading spur where it would transfer your imagination to the Hotwheels tank truck, lather, rinse, repeat -- good fun!
    I'd bought it with my own money, loved the set so much, but could never find any other components after that :-( I typed (typed!) several letters to Mattel asking if there were any other parts I could buy; they were very polite but the answer was no it seems...
    Haven't seen the exact base I had, tried Googling it recently out of nostalgia but will try again! (Good video!)

    • @TristanMorrow
      @TristanMorrow 10 місяців тому +3

      I had the 1985 Hot Wheels Railroad Trains-To-Go Playset 9430 HTF -- nostalgia activated!

  • @chadmickelsen3906
    @chadmickelsen3906 10 місяців тому +2

    I know I still have the Rio Grande engine and believe the Soo Line bulk-head car.
    Got to love Hot Wheels in the late 70's and early 80's. Dodge Aries, Mirada the Ford Grand Torino, Fairmont were my favorites

  • @joelankeny6277
    @joelankeny6277 10 місяців тому +5

    I had these growing up when I little. I had no idea these were Hot Wheels. I clearly remember having the F40PH and I loved that locomotive. This video brought back so many memories!

  • @BurlingtonBuck
    @BurlingtonBuck 10 місяців тому +4

    Younger me stumbled upon a reposted commercial for these trains on UA-cam. Even though I didn’t have the knowledge back then, I was still blown away at how “detailed” they were.

  • @patchcoatgrey3434
    @patchcoatgrey3434 10 місяців тому +3

    ... I heard of them, and had most of them. Sold them off back after college when I was unemployed. Used to make layouts that would run though every one of the display sets, and through my bedroom. Kind of regret selling them, but I had nowhere in my small apartment for them...

  • @IndianaNorthWestern
    @IndianaNorthWestern 10 місяців тому +3

    My preschool had this, I remember when it was out for playtime, but all they had was an oval, the rio grande loco, and the BN geep that only had the lead truck lol, I always wondered what it was, and now I know, and now I can sleep easy, and just get the same stuff in HO.

    • @IndianaNorthWestern
      @IndianaNorthWestern 10 місяців тому

      Maybe it was something different, idk, but this looks familiar to it, so we're saying this is what it was.

  • @WesternOhioInterurbanHistory
    @WesternOhioInterurbanHistory 10 місяців тому +15

    4:36 and 5:05, this is false, both cars had special loads to carry.
    In the Superails Station Set, the Burlington Northern pipe car had five pipes which could be loaded into it via a overhead dump bin, and above that on the upper level a place to dump the pipes back into the loader. The mail car had a small mail bag that could be caught from a small mail loading area on the upper level of the Superails Station, where it could also be unloaded.

    • @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars
      @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars 10 місяців тому +3

      Yes true. I have the complete Amtrak superrails set and does exactly as you mentioned 👍

    • @boxcar69
      @boxcar69 3 місяці тому

      The boxcar had a pallet of boxes that cud be pushed into it with the forklift in the freight yard set, ( it's on the front cover art- look closely) and yes their also were pipes, and a mail sac - that looked like a giant milk can.
      I think he got jipped from the used sets he got or hes making comment bait.😊

  • @sopmodsenior1980
    @sopmodsenior1980 10 місяців тому +3

    The box car came with a little box that the forklift in the stow and go playset could push onto a platform. The BN tipper car came with a with a load of pipes that you could dump into the hopper on the top track of the station playset and then load on the lower track. The baggage car came with a silver mail bag that the hook could pick up. To be honest I feel these were better than the average Tyco train set of the day, the track connections had a tendency to break but Tyco motors were complete trash as were the power packs. Always wanted the tanker car and the Rio Grande loco.

  • @joshuahudson2170
    @joshuahudson2170 10 місяців тому +4

    My grandpa had these as a kid and I loved them. If you had the set with the dipper car intact, it had six pipes, and they interacted with the receiver/loader in the set it came in.

  • @modelrailpreservation
    @modelrailpreservation 10 місяців тому +4

    These bring back a lot of fond memories for me. I had the smaller playset that had the orange girder bridge, came with the Rio Grande GP-38 and the Soo Line flatcar with logs, I remember my uncle giving it to me when I was four years old. Dad and I picked up, secondhand, the Stow-and-go folding set with a bunch of rolling stock. and lastly, the Chessie System GP-38 that was a prize a kid could win at our school's 'fun night'. I remember having to win a LOT of games to get that! The Stow-and-go set did have a working forklift that popped out of a building and could load a box into the boxcar. I still have that box. Over the years it has migrated as scenery to every single HO and O gauge layout I have ever built for myself. One downside of these trains, is the couplers broke easily. Most of mine ended up missing all their couplers but I used short pieces of steel wire rod from my grandfather's workbench to make new hook and eye style couplers. Hardly elegant, but it worked.

    • @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars
      @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars 10 місяців тому +3

      I have the same sets. An as you mentioned a few broken couplers as well.
      I used cut pieces of paperclips for hooks to connect the train cars lol when needed

  • @GuretoSefirosu
    @GuretoSefirosu 10 місяців тому +2

    My brother and I had a trainset that came in a red suitcase. It had a track (circle, switch, a few straights) and an engine in there. Maybe it was Matchbox? A neighbor had a TON of rolling stock and extra tracks.

  • @davidbliss3220
    @davidbliss3220 10 місяців тому +2

    I remember getting this set for Christmas as a kid. Wish I still had it

  • @Shortline819
    @Shortline819 10 місяців тому +19

    These things are absolutely delightful! I remember watching videos on these when I was a kid. I always wanted the Sto and Go set. The idea of a train layout you can take along with you is genius. Too bad these didn't take off...

    • @MilwaukeeF40C
      @MilwaukeeF40C 10 місяців тому +1

      I remember seeing in a KB Toys outlet, in the 90s, some off brand plastic train layout. It looked like it had a lot of features.

    • @scottthewaterwarrior
      @scottthewaterwarrior 9 місяців тому

      I have a bunch of these little battery trains called XTS (Expandable Train System) that, while they don't fold up like Sto and Go, are quite easy to throw into a shoebox and take places. They even are gauged to run on N-Scale track, though I haven't tested them with switches.

  • @cobramerciless
    @cobramerciless  10 місяців тому +9

    Quick amendment, curtesy of a friend, the tipper car and baggage car did have loads to dump, I couldn’t find any photos of them online, but the back of the original box of the super rails station confirms the tipper would dump pipes, and the baggage would kick a box out. And I forgot to mention that bringing this line back would be incredibly expensive since hotwheels used to destroy their old molds after producing the toy enough times.

  • @omegafalconoriginal
    @omegafalconoriginal 10 місяців тому +2

    I had freight yard. Amtrak station and portable playset. The steam locomotive was only one I never had.

  • @NERRP2017
    @NERRP2017 10 місяців тому +4

    Legit I have the rio Grande locomotive and i don’t know where it is but it came from one of my cousins, and its pretty cool because im rio grande guy, id love to get the freight cars just to go behind my drgw gp38 and maybe ill find the other engines and stuff later on the road.
    Also fav hot wheels?
    Camero, corvette and Mustangs all years and make variations their a good chunk of my hot wheels fleet backbone

  • @clockwork3494
    @clockwork3494 10 місяців тому +5

    I came across a few of these some years ago and got hooked, though I've never purchased any.. yet.
    They're really niche, sure, but they're just so cool.

  • @norfolksouthern37
    @norfolksouthern37 10 місяців тому +13

    I have some of these too from when I was a kid stored away someplace or places, though not near as many as I once had. At one point I had 12 of the Chessie gp40s (This body better represents a gp39). I had several sets including the station and it did have some pipes that diffco dump car could dump from the top level. The baggage car could actually catch the mail capsule off the platform when it went by as well so they did have loads for them. I enjoyed these very much as a kid.

  • @randallellison6421
    @randallellison6421 10 місяців тому +16

    I've never heard of this line before, very cool! Shame it didn't work out for Hot Wheels, this would have made an excellent set for young children wanting to get into trains. On a side note, I heard Hot Wheels' parent company, Mattel, currently owns the Tyco name, makes me wonder why they haven't attempted to resurrect the brand, especially with the prices of higher end models skyrocketing! They could really capture the budget minded market who just want something reliable and fun to play with!

    • @cobramerciless
      @cobramerciless  10 місяців тому +10

      I would love for Mattel to bring the tyco name back for trains, but tyco train tooling fell under Mantua, who was bought out by MRC, who is now owned by uggh, Lionel

  • @ZaksMuscleMotors
    @ZaksMuscleMotors 10 місяців тому +3

    I actually had some when I was a kid. Wish I still had them

  • @Sunglass_Man
    @Sunglass_Man 10 місяців тому +4

    I surprisingly have a decent amount of hot wheels rapid transit cars, I’m surprised that the product line for them only lasted 2 years.

  • @johnd8892
    @johnd8892 10 місяців тому +10

    There was a predessor to these in the UK dating from the fifties. Included track and buildings in the range.
    The Lone Star Treble O system of close to N scale.
    The success had them make a powered versions.
    By 1963 Lone Star started selling a motorised version using rubber band drive. Likely inspired by Athearn.
    The much more expensive motorised version was called the Lone Star Treble O Lectric system that has sone vids on UA-cam. This was so early that N scale was more commonly called OOO.
    The paperwork of a Kadee wheel cleaning brush around 1990 still stated on the paperwork instructions that it was suitable for OOO.
    Lone Star made a mix of UK and US models like an F7 for the US market.
    German makers soon after called their much superior models N scale and the pioneering Lone Star system faded out after not making much impact.

    • @survivingworldsteam
      @survivingworldsteam 10 місяців тому +3

      I attended the NMRA 2023 train show this past weekend, and someone had a complete small Lone Star layout on display.

  • @NotGavin
    @NotGavin 10 місяців тому +6

    Wow, i never even knew this existed! Excellent video covering this topic! Very informative.

  • @spindalis79
    @spindalis79 9 місяців тому +1

    Hello. 44 year-old man here. I actually have vivid memories of owning many of the Hot Wheels trains including the railyard playset around 1984/85. As a young boy I was into model railroading, and owned an HO model trainset. I also had quite the collection of Hot Wheels toys. Imagine my excitement when I saw an ad for these flash on the TV during a commercial break for Transformers, Heathcliff, or whatever I was watching at the time. I remember owning the BN electric car, and the Chessie System engine (which was sold individually). I also recall owning a rather soft carrying case I could store and transport my Hot Wheels trains in as well.

  • @Wilbern-cq8lz
    @Wilbern-cq8lz 10 місяців тому +3

    Thank you for the video. I had the Trains-to-go set. I had wondered where the tracks that went off the layout were supposed to go. I had never seen the accessories or the other sets. Toy departments at major retail stores were not as big then as they are now and I don't remember the stores in my town stocking these except perhaps at Christmastime.

  • @Marklin15
    @Marklin15 10 місяців тому +4

    A version of the power express train was made before 2001. It is very similar but the locomotive was more realistic and looked like an F unit or E unit. I got it sometime in late 90s and still have it.

  • @WesternOhioInterurbanHistory
    @WesternOhioInterurbanHistory 10 місяців тому +19

    This video was fantastic, I liked it a lot. The detail and info you put into the equipment was awesome, and I loved the Mattel headquarters part.
    I actually had these as a kid, I still have all three of the playsets. My favorite trains were the Chessie System GP38, it was the first one I got
    (Sadly I haven't seen it since 2017)
    And the other being the Amtrak F40PH and baggage. Wish I had the stesm locomotive though.

  • @Sigil_Firebrand
    @Sigil_Firebrand 10 місяців тому +3

    Never saw the hot wheels trains before your video, but a personal favourite car is the Twin Mill, such a ridiculous design and then I vaguely remember them building a real one for some unholy but amazing reason!

  • @stanleepatterson95
    @stanleepatterson95 10 місяців тому +4

    I had it all except the steam engine. That tipper car is called a side dump car on the prototype. That rpo car did grab a mail contianer in one of the sets. It was a silver tube like thing. Was pretty cool.

  • @frank1371
    @frank1371 10 місяців тому +9

    The boxcars actually came with a small plastic box that was used on the freight rail yard set (the small forklift in the one of the stations, you can see it poking out over the boxcar in the picture of the Canadian version of the set but both the box and forklift came on the American version) but was sold with every boxcar. If you can get your hands on any maybe you should do a video on the matchbox toy trains that where made in the 1970s they have some sets as well as a piece of rare rolling stock in the form of a caboose that came in only one gift pack.

    • @baxter22071990
      @baxter22071990 10 місяців тому +1

      The matchbox trains were brilliant
      Even though tecnically its range comprised of 2 steam engines 1 diesel and like 3 maybe 4 diff wagon types

  • @jameschamplin1742
    @jameschamplin1742 9 місяців тому +1

    I had them when I was a kid... in the 80s! I was way into trains and my mom would pick them up whenever she saw then in closeout stores, usually cheap cheap cheap. Pretty sure I had all but the BN electric loco and the Iron Horse. I wish I knew where all that stuff was now 40 years later.

  • @michaelmcwhorter8707
    @michaelmcwhorter8707 10 місяців тому +2

    I got the stow and go freight yard for Christmas 1983 or 1984. I still have it along with the Santa Fe, Chessie, and BN engines and most of the rolling stock. Never had the Amtrak vehicles, tipper car, or steam engine. The box cars were made to work with the freight yard set. There was a fork truck that pushed a box/crate into the open sides. And the lumber and logs could be unloaded with the crane on the second level. Hours of fun back in the day linking the freight yard playset with my other Hot Wheels stow and go playsets and Hot Wheels City USA. Even my kids enjoyed them 25 years later.

  • @matthewseaton4365
    @matthewseaton4365 9 місяців тому

    I had the hot wheels trains and train yard as a kid in the 80s. It’s been so long that i forgot about having them. I enjoyed them as a kid.

  • @MK-of7qw
    @MK-of7qw 10 місяців тому +3

    I remember seeing them in the stores and thought they were cool. Never got them because I wasn't a kid with money.

  • @davidzdziarek-zl8cu
    @davidzdziarek-zl8cu 10 місяців тому +2

    There was a bullet train Hot Wheels variant just ten years before in 1972 that was made to work with its' own set of tracks.

  • @alexmanne
    @alexmanne 9 місяців тому

    I had all of these cars and the freight yard. I played with them all the time. I loved it.

  • @LCOfficerUNIT097
    @LCOfficerUNIT097 9 місяців тому

    I remember having at least one set of these trains. Sadly lost in my childhood. I miss them

  • @OwenConcorde
    @OwenConcorde 10 місяців тому +1

    I had a few from a flea market when I was a kid. I didn’t know Hot Wheels made a DB loco since I’m a fan of German trains for over a decade now.

  • @iam16bits
    @iam16bits 3 місяці тому

    You ever watch something that triggers a memory that's so vague you thought it was a dream? Yeah that just happened for me. Whenever my family visited friends far away, they would take out their son's old toys for me to play with. All I remember were trains running on a beige playset. It might've been the freight yard set, but I'm not sure.

  • @richardludwig3673
    @richardludwig3673 10 місяців тому +2

    Oh yes! I had all three sets! The Amtrak was my favorite and I wish they had more passenger cards. I had all of the trains, including the Burlington North - except the Steam Engine. I only had seen the Steam Engine in the wild ONCE and BEGGED my parents for it but they said “maybe another time” and it was never seen again. These things were SO MUCH FUN!!!!

  • @BjornStyrmir
    @BjornStyrmir 9 місяців тому

    I used to have all of those trains when I was a kid. They were so much fun.

  • @MilwaukeeF40C
    @MilwaukeeF40C 10 місяців тому +1

    1970s era Matchbox had some decent train pieces of English aesthetic. In the 2000s Maisto made many lower quality, roughly N scale sized trains with small HO scale style horn-hook couplers. Micro Machines and the Hot Wheels line of Micro Machines sized vehicles also had trains.

  • @chrisgill7824
    @chrisgill7824 9 місяців тому

    I had the Trucks and Trains Freight yard as a Kid, early 80's, and I still have it in Storage. It is played with but all the parts are still there. It was a lot of fun.

  • @F4productions4072
    @F4productions4072 10 місяців тому +2

    WE NEED MORE OF THESE IN STORES

  • @davevan8864
    @davevan8864 10 місяців тому +1

    OK....I was a Hot Wheels tester before the cars hit the market. I was paid for my work in Hot Wheels when they went into production. I have all the US sold HW Trains and sets. My Baggage car came with a cylinder that you could pick up or drop off via a pin on top of it.
    I am sure you know about Hot Trains HW line......it was part of the Sizzler line....I have all those too.
    Well done story on a rare HW line! Thanks

  • @user-ln9jx2tn7r
    @user-ln9jx2tn7r 9 місяців тому +1

    Another example of a toy I wish I kept. I literally had the whole HotWheels railroad collection. Its now someplace in a landfill now, next to my complete Voltron. :(

  • @tehangrybird345
    @tehangrybird345 9 місяців тому +2

    I can’t believe I’ve never heard of these. The DB BR 111 in Burlington Northern livery is certainly something

    • @ET44AC
      @ET44AC 9 місяців тому

      Yep. This ist a 111

  • @CRSD60M
    @CRSD60M 8 місяців тому

    I had a bunch of these as a kid. When they were discontinued and/or lost popularity, they were commonly found at yard sale and flea markets. I even got an entire box a newly packaged Rio Grande GP39s, which I still have most wrapped to this day. The GPs were more patterned as a GP39 rather than a 40 due to there only being 2 cooling fans over the radiator section. I use to set up a freelance with the idea that the Rio Grande and the Chessie interchanged, due to my abundance of both roads units. The other locos, like the F40s, would be foreign power

  • @NKP723
    @NKP723 10 місяців тому +2

    There was actually another Hot Wheels train set. It had a hot rod painted locomotive, three carriages, and black plastic track. I had it as a kid and I loved it because of the car loading crane. From the late 90s I think

    • @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars
      @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars 10 місяців тому +1

      Was it battery operated?
      I have something that sounds like what you mentioned. Mine was remote controlled, was yours?

  • @arthuridis
    @arthuridis 10 місяців тому +1

    I had the freight yard set with the Santa Fe engine. Blue Conrail car, Yellow RailBox car and Caboose 1984. Fun time to be a kid. Let me tell ya. We had it made.

  • @bigbuffersproductions
    @bigbuffersproductions 10 місяців тому +2

    I need these so bad also I recommend the matchbox train line that ended up taking off and was pretty cool

  • @racingraptor4758
    @racingraptor4758 10 місяців тому +2

    I do not have those locos (but i would love to have). Im not from US and not old enought to even remember them. But i have still a nice colection of rapid transit locos. Its sad those rail series dont sell well

  • @amperesi9576
    @amperesi9576 9 місяців тому

    I played with some of these so much when I was a kid. Still have them too

  • @josephyohanis
    @josephyohanis 10 місяців тому +3

    This is a very well-made video, well done my man! 🔥

  • @elfnetdesigns702
    @elfnetdesigns702 10 місяців тому +1

    They also had a GP38/40 Santa Fe in the blue and yellow paint scheme for that train set, I'm pretty sure it was a 3rd party bootleg as it was only obtainable through carnival and state fair gaming as prizes. I hate to admit but I spent way too much on one in a coin pusher when I was a kid. I had quite a few if not all official trains stock and 3rd party bits for that set, well all that I could find anyways.
    I think the main selling point intended for this train set was the fact it did not require batteries or the AC mains power that a traditional electric train does so in the logic young kids were safe from live electrical current from metal track that would introduce not only a shock hazard but a possible fire hazard if the cheap electric train was run on the living room carpet on Christmas morning.
    Parents that were over cautious would opt for the Hot Wheels or other un powered trains however they never even considered the more realistic choking hazard of such toys with small removable or easily broken off parts vs small kids that put everything in their mouths.\
    Tyco Lifelike and Bachmann were the affordible train sets and can be considered as entry level to model railroading but due to things like internet and such the train hobbies lost the eye of kids and was replaced by train simulator games and social media platforms we have now. Today only Bachmann survives from the old days to join the ranks of model railroad companies by setting their quality higher to match the likes of Walthers mainline series in some aspects today. No more 3 pole pancake motors and rubber bans for tractive grip on plastic wheels, horn hook coupl;ers are left in the past and replaced with knuckle type couplers as stock. Their locomotives now have all metal wheels and 5 pole central drive motors and most are adaptable for DCC upgrades

  • @ndfan1993
    @ndfan1993 7 місяців тому

    The boxcars came with little plastic "wooden" boxes that could be loaded and unloaded with the Freight Yard set via a forklift that would push the box out into the waiting car. The "baggage" car came with a little cylinder of "mail" that could be picked up/dropped off on the top of the Superrails Station. The "tipper" or dump car came with plastic "pipes" that could also be dumped into the overhead bin on the Superrails Station and then picked up below by opening the bin.

  • @perfectharvestmlpstudios9152
    @perfectharvestmlpstudios9152 10 місяців тому +8

    I’m nearly 27 and have been collecting HW since I was little and continue to do so. I’ve never heard of this line before, but that probably is because I live in England, but these things have never popped up when I search HW online. I’m definitely going to have to see if I can pick some up.

    • @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars
      @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars 10 місяців тому +2

      The complete sets are hard to find. They are sometimes missing pieces, decals missing, broken track ends, couplers broken.
      I have some posted on my channel way down on earlier posts for you to look at. If you have questions feel free to ask.
      Good luck on your search.

  • @waynemacfarland1546
    @waynemacfarland1546 10 місяців тому +1

    I remember the Freight Yard set was the first Hot Wheels Railroad set ever to come out. Rolling stock included the Santa Fe diesel locomotive and caboose, the yellow Rail Box boxcar, and the blue Conrail flatcar. It also had an operating forklift that pushed the crate inside the boxcar.

  • @DenGreatshot
    @DenGreatshot 10 місяців тому +1

    I actually had that freight yard train set, and LOVED it. Don't think I realized until tonight it was Hot Wheels, though.

  • @unclebenz7
    @unclebenz7 10 місяців тому +2

    I had the 2 larger sets my sister had the smaller set that came with the Rio grand loco. The tipper car came with a pipe load the could be dumped on the top and released back into the car below. The baggage car had iirc a cylinder that could be grabbed as the train goes by. My parents still have the one set that the amtrac came with that my kids now play with when they go over to visit

  • @varnerdiecastfilms1327
    @varnerdiecastfilms1327 10 місяців тому +2

    Awe they looks so cool!!😮 I swear hotwheels made some cool stuff before I was born and not gonna lie but I might need to attempt to find some of them and now I'm slowly wanting to buy old Hotwheels things

  • @DeathMetalViking
    @DeathMetalViking 10 місяців тому +1

    I knew a kid who had this when I was young. He also had sets with tracks you could play these on. I was so jealous cus they were hard to find

  • @OSDevon
    @OSDevon 10 місяців тому +1

    I had no idea that was a thing!
    I'm not really even a train guy but holy cow those are so fun!! (P.S. great vid, mate. Glad YT decided to share you on my wall!)

  • @lordmasterisaac
    @lordmasterisaac 10 місяців тому

    I had a bunch of the train stuff when I was little. They were so cool.

  • @SirChaosS
    @SirChaosS 9 місяців тому

    I had to beg my parents for months to get the freight set. They kept insisting i wouldn't like it because it was not a powered set. Finally at a store's going iut of business sale the $29.95 set was 75% off and they conceded. I played with it so much, that Christmas, they got me the Amtrak set. My favorite delight was combining the two sets in different ways, much like a fully customizable model train layout.
    For me it was huge fun "running" the trains right along the cars. I never knew about the 3 car packs or you can bet I would have pestered my parents for them as well. But i must have, or they did on their own because i had both the silver & red A7 and black & gold Santa Fe engines, 2 box cars, and two tipper cars, but 1 red roof caboose.

  • @stephenpulver9720
    @stephenpulver9720 9 місяців тому

    Wow! Awesome cool. I am now and in scale empire builder. However getting this for Christmas in 1983, even though I had Tyco trains on a 4 x 8 board, this could be taken with me! Why cannot wait for the micro machines series! Keep up the great nostalgia!

  • @brunoskorniak9722
    @brunoskorniak9722 9 місяців тому

    I still get excited when i see hot wheels in the store and I'm 51🤣🤣😂🤣. I like trains also! Great post. Good luck hunting!

  • @TheOdst219
    @TheOdst219 10 місяців тому +2

    I did have the battery HotWheels train. It was awesome.

  • @64jmoore
    @64jmoore 10 місяців тому +1

    You missed this Hot Wheels Train: In 1971, Hot Wheels offered a futuristic train line called "Hot Line" (Google "hot wheels hotline train") that had both freight and passenger train sets and used the Hot Wheel's 4 "D" battery "Juice Machine" a.k.a. filling stations looking gas pump to power this train engines. So you had powered trains moving around the track. Complete with blue storage box for the rail cars and instead of orange Hot Wheels track, it had black track with two painted silver rails and special curved turns and switcher. I got mine in 1971 for Christmas when I was in 1st grade and I LOVED playing with my Hot Line train. So awesome. Always loved trains. Go watch some You Tube videos out there to see what it was like. it was a great toy!

  • @RACaptialRegion
    @RACaptialRegion 9 місяців тому +1

    I think I just found my most favorite channel ever. Another rare encounter with a car/train enthusiast!

  • @garysprandel1817
    @garysprandel1817 9 місяців тому +1

    Not the first HW foray into railroad subjects. Around 1973ish Mattel expanded the HW Sizzlers line to include a futuristic looking train that ran on HW track in a silver color with railroad track graphics.
    Best description from memory is engine and passenger cars ( did come in a freight set as well) that looked a like the angular, futuristic looking Super Train from the series that'd come out 5ish years later and molded in that metal flake gold plastic popular in the 70s.

  • @user-mm1dq8pz6y
    @user-mm1dq8pz6y 10 місяців тому +2

    I still have all of my hotwheels engines except the steam locomotive. The rolling stock, expansion tracks, the main train set that folds up, a smaller one that also folds together, and a single platform with a bridge and a building. All of which can have the expansion track connected to them. Sadly, some of the decals have faded or peeled off. But what can you expect after 40 years. They also put out a construction site set that was similar to the large train set, in that it folded up into a case. Also, have that one still.

  • @Benjamin0119
    @Benjamin0119 7 місяців тому

    I distinctly remember having the Sto & Go playset. I remember the thr brown plastic and rolling a diesel engine around the tracks. I don't remember having any rolling stock. Maybe it came from a garage sale or flea market and they were missing.
    Never knew they went all the way back to 1983 or that a steam engine was made. Pretty odd that Mattel made only made an Amtrak baggage car but no other cars.
    Very cool and informative video. Thanks.

  • @lnerj50productions32
    @lnerj50productions32 10 місяців тому +2

    Cool video

  • @rivitedrailfan
    @rivitedrailfan 10 місяців тому +7

    Great video! I didn’t know too much about these, but I do have an incomplete Sto-and-Go Truck and Train set. It’s missing the trucks, and every train part except a Conrail flatcar. As a fan of both trains and Hotwheels (My channel is named after one) as well though, I’d definitely like to get more!

    • @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars
      @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars 10 місяців тому +2

      Pending on which version of the "Trucks & Trains" you have... You might be missing signs, lightpoles and short stubby sections of race track. I have both versions. Not sure if i have them both posted on my channel. I know i have the complete "freight yard" posted

    • @rivitedrailfan
      @rivitedrailfan 10 місяців тому +2

      @@johnnygshotrainsanslotcars it probably is. I got it for like 3 bucks at a goodwill lol.

    • @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars
      @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars 10 місяців тому +1

      @@rivitedrailfan oh wow you struck gold then.
      I have one of the two sets with the pictured instructions showing the signs an such.

  • @ThomasTalksAlot
    @ThomasTalksAlot 10 місяців тому +2

    I'm happy to have a couple of these around, and holy shit where they hard to find, I ended up paying 100 dollars for a rio grande SD40, and a sto and go set

  • @WaywardRailroad
    @WaywardRailroad 10 місяців тому +1

    I really like this video! It puts all the information in a very easy to understand way! Bravo!

  • @epicrailfannersproductions551
    @epicrailfannersproductions551 5 місяців тому +1

    The trains I own of these hot wheels railroad is the BN tipper car, the Chessie System GP 40 the Santa Fe F40, two Santa Fe cabooses a TTX boxcar, the Soo Line bulkhead flat car, The BN electric Locomotive, the Rio Grande GP 40 and my rarest one is the CP Rail (Canadian Release) GP 40.

  • @erict5234
    @erict5234 9 місяців тому

    Gen x here... i had the entire set... I loved em. I used to go to Sears with my grandmother to pick up her orders, and usually ended up getting a car or loco every trip.

  • @eric5680
    @eric5680 10 місяців тому

    I still have it… the Tri level fold over set, the expansion station and the standalone industrial set… it was pretty cool!

  • @christophercriztop3806
    @christophercriztop3806 10 місяців тому

    I'm glad someone made a video about these guys

  • @alexg91_ssr5
    @alexg91_ssr5 10 місяців тому +1

    that gp40 Rio Grande is super cool looking!

  • @kenjones2312
    @kenjones2312 10 місяців тому +3

    I've been looking for these pieces whenever I can. Managed to find the Amtrak, Rio Grande and european electric locomotives, plus the BN box car and Soo flat (loads missing). I would love to find the Sto N Go set, I had all the non railroad ones. Thanks for going through the pieces that are available.

  • @troycongdon
    @troycongdon 9 місяців тому

    I remember vividly my younger brother buying the play-set that doesn’t fold. It had a reversing loop that went through a building. We did not get an allowance until about 1990 so it had to be later than that.

  • @natehill8069
    @natehill8069 9 місяців тому

    I had hot wheels since they came out in '68(?), they were "it" , everybody had to have them (of course we all only had the Deora as that was the only set the store had). Then when they came out with Sizzlers, I thought I had gone to heaven. I loved the little battery powered gas pump. Years later my friends got Sizzlers also; theirs were faster but mine had waaaay more endurance it would just keep lapping long after theirs died. Then I got Earthshakers, the Sizzler earthmovers offshoot (I got the bulldozer, it could push quite a bit considering it still fit in hot wheels track). Then I had the Sizzler train, Hot Lines, I think. It ran on the same plastic track as hot wheels cars, but painted more like railroad track. It was OK but I liked the Earthshakers better. While I was at college, my mom without asking sold the entire collection for like $3 in a garage sale, prolly worth thousands today. She didnt even give me the $3. But I never heard of these.

  • @Troy440Dodge
    @Troy440Dodge 9 місяців тому

    I have seen a different set without track, contained in a small russet brown colored vinyl case. 1983 manufacture. It is nearly mint, missing some of the cargo pieces. It's also still in it's original owners hands. I'm 58 and still collecting Hot Wheels. My favorites were the first generation Red line cars I enjoyed as a child. All of them got biggest rear tires and narrowest fronts that would fit the particular model. Had a 2nd generation Charger, 1st generation Camaro, a 32 Vicky, and a couple VW Beetles as favorites.

  • @markturner6240
    @markturner6240 9 місяців тому

    I had the Clementine baxk when I was 11 yo. Loved that old gold hauler

  • @falzar3381
    @falzar3381 10 місяців тому +1

    Great video. I used to have the freight and truck train yard set when I was a kid. Shame I don't have it now. Also had quite a few micro machines cars and train set as a kid as well.

  • @chasesrailwaylinesrr6447
    @chasesrailwaylinesrr6447 8 місяців тому

    I wish more companies did What they did With the wheels straightening out for off track use that looks really cool

  • @TTTE-yt3qi
    @TTTE-yt3qi 10 місяців тому +2

    i remember seeing something similar to this. it was form an old video about a hot wheels layout with various facilities, one off them being an oval of track, where a train with 2 cars would run around it. i remember one of the cars was a car transporter, where you would put cars on it, and the train would start running around with a flick of a switch, meaning it had some sort of motor.

    • @cobramerciless
      @cobramerciless  10 місяців тому +2

      This most likely was the power express which I recently learned had 2 releases, one in the 90s, one in 2001.

    • @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars
      @johnnygshotrainsanslotcars 10 місяців тому +1

      ​@@cobramercilessyes i have one of the two versions that the locomotive is battery operated and has a remote control for forward, stop an reverse.
      I have it posted on my channel of you care to glance.
      Plus i have the "Freightyard" posted as well

  • @joeblow5214
    @joeblow5214 3 місяці тому

    So I remember in the late 90s early 2000s that Hot Wheels as part of their Hot Wheels town line up had a few full blown battery operated trainsets. I had one. I still have pieces to it I think in the basement.