Tomy PLARAIL - New Releases, October and November 2008

S-45 Model 321 Commuter Train with Sound
The Model 321 West Japan Commuter Train will be making it's PLARAIL debut in October. It makes sounds when it moves. This train requires one C and two AAA batteries which are sold separately.

'Arigatou Yume no Chou Tokkyuu' Hikari Set
The iconic first generation Hikari bullet train known affectionately as the 'Yume no Chou Tokyuu' or 'Dream Express' makes its appearance in this special set which includes special track sections from the elevated rail group which was released earlier this year.

J-06 Elevated Overpass (for use with Tomica Town)
This elevated overpass is modeled after existing concrete designs and is the same length as the R-01 rail and the same height as the J-14 bridge legs. The undersection is designed especially to accomodate Takara Tomy's new Tomica Town line which further integrates the existing Plarail and Plaroad (Tomica) lines.

J-18 Railway Crossing (for use with Tomica Town)
This railway crossing combines both a roadway and railway in a compact scenery set equalling the length of a single R-02 half-length rail. Trains which pass over the crossing will trigger a chime which mimics the sound of an approaching train. This scenery piece is also for use with other Tomica Town items.

J-21 Large Railway Crossing (for use with Tomica Town)
This is a larger version of the J-18 Railway Crossing and includes four barriers which will lower as a train passes across the railway. This set piece is equal in length to a combined R-01 straight and R-02 half-length rail. This scenery piece is also for use with other Tomica Town items.

Hyper Guardian Series - Hyper Guardian Ex-Guiner
Tomy is finally releasing its Plarail Hyperguardian line starting with this mammoth Ex-Guiner. This large item measures nearly 70 centimeteres in length and requires a double-width track setup (R-04, R-05 and R-28) to move along a rail. Pla-kids can sit inside the large cockpit area and the mid-section of the forward car rotates in a 360 degree range of motion and serves as a transport section for smaller support vehicles and other Hyper Guardian trains. The rear car can seperate to hold emergency vehicles from the Hyper Guardian Tomica series. This package also includes an orange search vehicle and a single Pla-kids figure, Captain Hayate. More pictures and some ridiculously awesome video can be found here.

Hyper Guardian Series - HGS-01 Pat-Liner
Short for Patrol-Liner, the high speed HGS-01 makes its plarail debut. It includes working lights, a large cockpit for Pla-kids to sit, space to accomodate other vehicles from the Hyper Guardian Tomica series as well as a number of other gimmicks which include a blue search vehicle and a single Pla-kids figure, Officer Nozomi. More pictures and a video can be found here.

Hyper Guardian Series - HGS-02 Drill-Liner
The HGS-02 Drill-Liner is a Special Construction vehicle. Like the HGS-01, it comes with a number of gimmicks including working lights, a detachable third car which transforms into a backhoe-like vehicle with an elevated cab, a cockpit for a Pla-kid and a revolving front drill. Packaged with this train is a single Pla-kids figure, Officer Kodama. More pictures and a video can be found here.

Hyper Guardian Wide-Area Patrol Set
This set comes with the Hyper Guardian Series - HGS-01 Pat-Liner mentioned above. It's made up of a set of the newly released R-28 double width turn out rails and a set of R-04 and R-05s double with straight and turn rails. This double-width 'wide' layout is made specifically to accommodate the large Ex-Guiner and other Hyper Guardian engines.

Read the rest of this entry>>

New Designs: Auto Rail Switcher - Round2

A NEW layout with R-16 auto rail switcher!!  Our J-04 Double Length and Width blue iron bridge is flying high over the middle of the track.  Again there are 3 loops being automatically controlled by the rail switcher so we added another train to the mix.

Featuring Taiwan High Speed Railraod and JR East's やまびこ(Yamabiko):

• 19x R-01 Straight Rails
  
• 2x   R-02 Half length Rails
  
• 28x R-03 Inner Curve Rails
  
• 5x   R-04 Double Width Straight
  
• 4x   R-05 Double Width Curved
  
• 6x   R-06 Double length Slope
  
• 1x   R-11 Turn out Rail
  
• 1x   R-13 Single to Double Splitter
  
• 1x   R-16 Automatic Switch Rail
  
• 2x   R-18 Climbing Curved Rail
  
• 1x   J-04 Double Length Bridge
  
• 34x J-14 Bridge Legs
  
• 18x J-22 Double Width Bridge Legs
  

We realize these latest designs are on the larger sprawling side, so we'll get back to work on more compact designs next.

Read the rest of this entry>>

The Versatile J-04 Double Length Bridge

We really wanted this iconic blue iron bridge piece in our PLARAIL toolbox, which required buying the Eki to Tsunagaru Ippai Rail Set (literally "Train station and Connect up lots of Rail Set").  Tomy's site has some great pictures for this set here. The bridge is double the length and almost double the height of the small red bridge in the background. This blue variety is structually the same as J-04, which comes in standard red.

These double length bridges can convert to be double width bridges as well.  No extra pieces, just simple ingenious design that allows the bridge to span 2 lengths without a central support leg.

J-04's versatility can help you span those impossible gaps and diagonals.  Expand your PLARAIL imagination with an iron bridge!

Read the rest of this entry>>

New Designs: Featuring the Automatic Switcher!

Our new shipment included many items that we wanted in our own PLARAIL collection.  This layout was built around incorporating R-16 3-way automatic switcher rail piece. The yellow knob at the bottom right allows you to switch between automatic and manual switching mode.

There are 3 loops that merge at the R-16 piece. We've turned the whitespace into a train yard and all the extra scenary we had. Here's the bird's eye of our newly designed layout:

Now a clip of a Tsubame Shinkansen making automatic rounds between 3 loops with the help of R-16:

  

Other pieces that helped to create this layout include:

• 6x R-06 Double length slopes
  
• 3x R-18 Climbing slope sets
  
• 1x R-16 Automatic 3 way switcher
  
• 1 Ippai Tsunago Rail Set (contains blue iron bridge)
  
• 3x R-13 Single to Double rail splitters
  
• 3x R-11 Turn out rail splitters
  
• 1x R-24 N-shape splitter
  
• 6x R-04 Double width straight rails
  
• 6x R-05 Double width turn rails
  
• bunch of R-01 straight and R-03 curved rails
  

Read the rest of this entry>>