Pictorial of the Tomy's Powerful Gordon

This is a pictorial of Tomy's Powerful Gordon (PG). I did this pictorial because there seems to be not enough information out there on these cool little trains. I will describe the differences I see in these PGs as compared to a newer version of Plarail Gordon.

Please note, I’m not an expert in this hobby, you guys are. So there may be some graveling and mashing of teeth on my part for incorrect information that I may present. I hope not too much, although I do have a great dental plan.



I display two Powerful Gordons in the beginning of this pictorial just for comparison sake.












Note the chromed weights in the cab windows.














At the front of the under carriage it reads on line one "© Gulland (Thomas)", and on line two "Limited 2001". At the rear of the carriage it reads on line one "TOMY®" , on line two "1995 TOMY", and on the last line "Made in Thailand"










The following series of photos are of one PG broken down.

Note that there are 11 weights inside this Train. From front to rear: 1) large weight inside the smoke box, 1) larger weight just behind the smoke box, 2) front axle weights, 3) inside the motor compartment, and 4) chromed weights inside the cab. Tomy chromed them because they can be seen from the outside through the train's cab windows. All these weights have a combined weight of 80-81g.






Now lets look at the weights that are associated with the train's top or cover.






Removing the smoke box reveals its weight inside.






A close-up of this area, note the numbering in the castings. The smoke box weight has the number (1) cast into it and weighs 16-17g and the larger main body weight has the number (2) and weighs 30-31g. The main body weight wraps around the plastic post that is utilized to attach the footplate to the cover. Also note their unique design, of the hand full of Gordons I own, none of them have these two unique weights.






Here's the best shot I could come up with to show you how the smoke box weight fits inside the smoke box.






Now the cab weights.

There are four chromed cab weights ( two on each side ), and they weigh 3g, .157 dia. and 1.177" long each. If you are shopping on ebay/Yahoo and run across someone advertising one for sale as an original Powerful Gordon, this would be my first place to check. If you look into the cab window, and you see these chromed weights, you are headed in the right direction.







Here's the top cover weights from a different angle.






Under Carriage and Motor:

Here you see the under carriage and motor arrangement. Note the blue smudge on the bell end of the motor. Both PGs have this blue smudge, I'm thinking that the smudge indicates that this motor is the high performance motor that they installed in the PGs. Note that there's no heat shrink wire protections around the coupler. Also note the four screws in the fore ground. These are the screws that bind the carriage, footplate and cover together. Notice the first screw from the left, it's larger and is used to bind the footplate with the cover.






Carriage without motor:






Front Axle Weights:

Here you see the two axles weights, located just above the front axle and their specs are 5.22g, .234" dia and .934" long.






Motor Compartment:

Here you see the difference between a PG and a newer version. At the top right hand corner of the motor compartment, there are three weights. Most all Gordons have the one in the center, and none of my other Gordons have the other two. The first one from the left, is the same as the chromed cab weights, just not chromed, and cut a little shorter. It weighs in at 2.34g and is .946'' long. Be careful with this weight when assembling and disassembling the train, as this weight is not held in any way at all inside the motor and can fall out while trying to assemble the train, falling to the floor and never seen again. The middle weight is identical to the two front axle weights. The third weight is the same as the second weight, but has been cut short. It comes in at 3.64g and .232" long. Now note the shelf that this last weight sits on. All Plarail Gordons still have this shelve inside the motor compartment.






Side by Side Weight Comparison:

Powerful Gordon: 83g
New Plarail Gordon: 28g






Okay Powerful Gordon is back together again, and I hope this answers any questions you might have, or if created more, please don't hesitate to ask. If you are looking to acquirer a Powerful Gordon Tribute, please go to www.customthomas.com/product/powerful-gordon PGM