Plarail Catalog Feb-88, with commentary

Let's take a look at the Plarail range from 35 years ago, as shown in the February 1988 Plarail Catalog. 

It's a 16-page leaflet in B6 portrait, a format first adopted in 1986. The publication is primarily designed for distribution by retail outlets (there's a space for the stamp of our trusted dealer on the back cover), rather than for inclusion with sets as the catalog had been previously.

The transition from Old Power (front switch, friction transmission) to New Power (top switch, geared transmission) began in 1997. Although most of the line-up in this catalog is New Power there are still some of the older designs as well. I haven't bothered to translate the battery requirements or the prices.

A high-res pdf copy is attached to the foot of this post, should you wish to download it.

Front Cover (page 1):

Beneath the main Plarail banner, we also have the words 'Super Rail / Action Rail'.

Pages 2 & 3, this spread celebrates the 30th anniversary of Plarail.

30 years of carrying childrens' dreams. This year, Plarail celebrated its 30th anniversary. We will continue to pass on the fun from parents to children. Plarail has carried the dreams of children of the times. Children are now starting to play wih the Plarail with which their fathers used to play in the past. Since its launch, Plarail has been highly rated for its safety and quality, including being introduced in the “Kurashi no Techo” as an excellent toy. (and more along the same lines).

Plarail is based on rails, you can choose from a wide variety of parts and accessories according to your child's growth. Its self-assembly naturally fosters creativity and composition. Plarail uses hygienic and safe plastic materials that children can play with peace of mind. In the unlikely event that a child puts it in their mouth or steps on it, there is no need to worry. Plarail has a variety of sets; these include all the basic play of Plarail. Start by arranging the set, then add parts little by little to create a large panorama.

The picture captions are: the first Plarail was played by pushing it by hand, and: Plarail latest model (2-speed Shinkansen)'.

Pages 4 & 5, Plarail Sets

At the top of page 4 is the Hikari with light New Grade Crossing Set that includes an extra intermediate car with special 30th anniversary markings. This is followed by:

Introductory Set (Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen/Hikari)
D-51 Set
Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with light Set

And on page 5:
2-speed Shinkansen Set
2 speed Shinkansen Multi-level Station Set
L Limited Express Rail/Road Crossing Set
Suburban Train (Orange Line) Talking Station Set
Suburban Train (Blue Line) Deluxe Rail/Road Set

The Blue Line train in the last set is the rarer shiny silver version, rather than the more common dull aluminium type.

Pages 6 & 7, Plarail Rolling Stock & Road Vehicles

3-car Trains. The three NEW ones are the Furano Express; Big Sneaker Train; and Suburban Train (Blue Line) .

then:
2-speed Shinkansen; Hikari with light
Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with lights; D-51 Locomotive with light
Suburban Train (Orange Line); Commuter Train
Izukyu Resort 21; Romance Car
Meitetsu Panorama; Seibu Red Arrow
Kintetsu Vista Car; Skyliner

and continuing onto page 7:
L Limited Express; Diesel Limited Express
Odoriko; Tokai Express
Blue Train; Subway Train
Train (Blue); Train (Green)
Train (Yellow); Mickey Poppo (Red)
Chuffing D-51 (with whistle); Mickey Poppo (Green)

Locomotives (literally 'Leading Cars')
EF-58 Electric Locomotive; Round-trip EF-66 Electric Locomotive; C-12 Steam Locomotive; DD-51 Diesel Locomotive

Coaches (literally 'Intermediate Wheels')
Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen; Hikari; Blue Train; Train (Green)

Freight Wagons
Car Transporter; Mail Van; Livestock Wagon
Log Wagon; Refrigerated Wagon; Tank Wagon; Guard's Van (or Caboose, if you prefer)

Road Vehicles
Police Car; Double-decker Bus; Family Convenience (I think this means a delivery van from a convenience store)
The Plaroad system introduced in 1985 was available until 1990.

Pages 8 & 9, Plarail Scene Parts

J-1 Tunnel; J-2 Block Tunnel; J-3 Iron Bridge
J-4 Big Iron Bridge; J-5 Drawbridge Rail; J-6 Drawbridge Crossing
J-7 Train Wash (note the little connectors, this piece has a female connector at both ends. It also has a reversing mechanism for the Round-trip EF-66); J-8 New Turntable; J-9 Shed (2 pieces)
J-10 Signal Light (with stop rail); J-11 Signal Box, trains stop at red light; (J-12) Footbridge
J-13 Single Track Bridge Girder (6 pieces); J-14 Block Bridge Girder (6 pieces); J-15 Double Track Bridge Girder (6 pieces)
J-16 Block Building; J-17 New Railroad Crossing; J-18 Railroad Crossing with sound, when a train passes it makes a sound
J-19 Double Track Railroad Crossing; J-20 Rail / Road Railroad Crossing, connect road parts and play together; J-21 Electric Railroad Crossing, when the train passes the lamps light up and make a sound just like the real thing
J-22 Elevated Station; J-23 Rural Station; J-24 Highland Station
J-25 Panel Station Urban Station; J-26 Panel Station Shinkansen Station
J-27 Stationmaster's Announcement Talking Station, this is a fun station where announcements can be made by pressing a button; J-28 Ticket Play Station, tickets can be purchased with cards or coins, it's a fun station; J-29 Whistle Rail, when a train passes you can hear the whistle

Road Parts Road for running road cars. Combined with a railroad crossing, trains and cars can play together.
Straight Road (4 pieces); Curved Road (4 pieces); Slope Road (2 pieces)

Plarail Town A lively Plarail town with fun dolls.
Burger Shop; Flower Shop; House; Bookshop

Pages 10 & 11, Plarail Rail Parts

R-1 Straight Rail (4 pieces); R-2 1/2 Straight Rail (6 pieces); R-3 Curved Rail (4 pieces)
R-4 Large Curve Rail (4 pieces); R-5 Double Track Curved Rail (4 pieces); R-6 Slope Rail (2 pieces)
R-7 Big Bridge Rail (2 pieces); R-8 Stop Rail (2 pieces); R-9 Return Rail (2 pieces)
R-10 Joint (12 pieces of 2 types); R-11 Turnout Rail (2 pieces); R-12 Figure-8 Point Rail (2 pieces)
R-13 Single Track to Double Track Point Rail (2 pieces); R-14 Crossing Point Rail (1 piece) (with 4x 1/2 Straight Rails); R-15 Double Track Point Rail (2 types included) (with Automatic Point Rail)
R-16 Automatic Point Rail (1 set) (with 1/2 Straight Rail); R-17 New Points (1 unit included); R-18 Slope Curve Rail (2 types, 8 pieces)

Page 11. Different rails with different functions. Make good use of your personality.

Pages 12 & 13, Super Rail

Sets
Blue Train EF-66 Set
Uncoupling D-51 Set (so called because it comes with the auto coupling / uncoupling rail)
New Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen Set
Tokaido Sanyo New Shinkansen Set

3-car Trains The four on the left are a longer, more realistic size, with bogies; the four on the right are a shorter classic Plarail-type design, with 2 axles per car.
Tokaido Shinkansen Hikari with headlight; New Shinkansen
Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with headlight; Sleeper Limited Express with headlight
L Limited Express Kuha 481 with headlight; Limited Express Tsubame with headlight
Hikari with headlight; Yamabiko and Asahi

Powered Leading Car
EF-66 Electric Locomotive with headlights and whistle; DD-51 Diesel Locomotive with headlight; Sound D-51 Steam Locomotive with headlight
D-51 Steam Locomotive with headlight; DD-20 Diesel Locomotive; Krauss Steam Locomotive

Freight and Passenger Cars
Passenger Car Oha 50; Passenger Car Suha 43; Sleeper Car Ohanefu 25
Car Transporter Ku 5000, Container Wagon Koki 5500; Open Wagon with Lumber (3 colors)
Open Wagon Toki 21100; Covered Van (3 colors); Tank Car; Hopper Hoki 2200; Guard's Van Yo 6000

Scenery System
Electric Railroad Crossing (with electric sound); Railroad Crossing Rail; Footbridge
Station Platform; Turntable with detachable parts (Krauss Steam Loco and DD-20 Diesel Loco only); 3-light Signal
Bridge Girder (6 pieces); Arched Iron Bridge; Tunnel
Slope Rail (2 rails, 1 set); Straight rail (with reversing parts, set of 2 straight + 4x 1/2 straight); B Curve Rail (set of 4)
C Curve Rail (set of 4); C Curve Points (with 2 x C curves); B Curve Points (with 4 x 2/3 curves); Points (1 set of left & right)

Control System
Return Control Rail. By operating the lever, it moves with the direction change mechanism of the locomotive and can be freely returned.
Uncoupling Rail.  When the locomotive is in reverse, freight cars or passenger cars can be automatically connected and disconnected. It does not operate on 3-car trains.

Pages 14 & 15

Action Rail
Hello Kitty's Bus Set. Departure with Hello Kitty on board! Going to a fun kindergarten.
The Playrail Merry-Go-School Bus set that was released in the USA and elsewhere is much the same, but without the Hello Kitty! theme and dolls (and license).  

Hello Kitty's Wobbling Heliport. Kitty walks in the air, three-dimensional action that expands your dreams
Almost the same as the Playrail / Tomytime / Palitoy Merry-Go-Copter. These two Action Rail / Merry-Go sets (along with the Merry-Go-Zoo set) are almost the only source of small-radius 90-degree curve rails.

Automatic Operation Big Loader. Dynamic action construction vehicles.
The original Big Loader set, re-issued subsequently in many forms both in Japan and world-wide.

The bottom half of Page 14 is devoted to Troubleshooting / Repair at Home.

Surprisingly, many toy failures have simple causes that even mothers can understand. If it doesn't work, check the following:

● Does the battery have enough charge?
If the product you purchased does not work, check first by replacing the battery with a new one.

● Is there any rust or corrosion on the battery contacts?
As they gets older, the metal contacts become more likely to rust. If rust appears on the surface, polish the contact area with sandpaper or similar.

● Are the batteries inserted correctly?
If the direction of + and - are reversed, it will go backwards. Be very careful to make sure it is set correctly, especially when it is put in by a child; then try again.

● Is the contact of the switch part secure?
If the switch lever is bent, the contact may be incomplete and it may not move. Check for good contact.

Inquiries about breakdowns and repairs: In the unlikely event that the product malfunctions, please contact Tomy "Customer Service".
Tomy Ltd. "Customer Service Section”, 7-9-10 Tateishi, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo 124, Tel: 03(693)1031 main switchboard

Page 15 shows two example layouts and lists the parts required for each.
Use these as suggestions for the expansion of the world of Plarail.

[Super]

Whew....thats a ton of work, Thank you Dr Chris for sharing this old catalog and all your commentary and translations .

I laughed out loud when reading this that would be a major trigger for some nowadays 😆

Surprisingly, many toy failures have simple causes that even mothers can understand.

Surprisingly, many toy failures have simple causes that even mothers can understand. If it doesn't work, check the following:

Casual sexism? Check

Yes I know it was a different era, but someone had to make that joke, riiiiiiight?

Gotta love how it suggests the train will run in reverse if the battery polarity is reversed, but I thought the design of Plarail contacts made it virtually impossible to actually fit the battery in reverse? I tried it once just to see if I could get an engine running in reverse for a shunting loop [would have looked better running backward] but alas, no, because the positive contact [on the motor unit] was recessed to prevent such an occurrence, by making sure you had to put the raised 'tip' on the positive end onto the correct contact to fit.

... I thought the design of Plarail contacts made it virtually impossible to actually fit the battery in reverse? I tried it once just to see if I could get an engine running in reverse for a shunting loop ... but alas, no, because the positive contact [on the motor unit] was recessed to prevent such an occurrence, by making sure you had to put the raised 'tip' on the positive end onto the correct contact to fit.

With the 'Old Power' style metal-cased motor/gearbox it is quite easy to insert the battery the wrong way around and run the motor in reverse. I just tried it in a front-switch D51.

Have only just seen this, and well, the more you know 😁 I don't have any of the old-type models in my collection all are the later plastic-gearbox with a roof switch type. 

Incidentally though I think my TW 485 Series 'Tomy Express' might be the old front-switch style chassis & bodyshell married to a newer gearbox as the chassis has the old 'two children' TOMY logo stamped on it with no date, could be wrong though 😕

That being said, I found the solution to intentional polarity reversal (because apparently I couldn't just do the obvious thing and use a Mr Motorman with its reverser button 🤪), and that is to simply use a AAA battery in a holder because that's small enough to avoid the recessing and make contact xD

And yeah as implied I just went over to using my Mr Motorman for reversing/shunting for the sake of my sanity lol but hey, had to experiment for SCIENCE (and totally not boredom 😉)