The "Train Unlimited" or "Train I Want To Do It Forever" series (電車やいたい放題, literally, it seems, "train" "I want to do it" "unlimited/endless") was a series of small battery-powered trains that ran on 15cm square magnetic baseplates with rail sections molded into them released by infant toy company People in 1999. The range included a Basic set, a few expansion sets with different baseplates, a range of accessories, and a small selection of trains. These sets were sold by People but the sets were, as the back of the box says and some production features heavily imply, designed and produced by Tomy through their Tomy Engineering Services company.
People placed an emphasis of the ease with which a layout can be put together using magnets, and the packaging outlines how a very young child's parents can set up the layout while they can still put the track back on the tracks or push the bases back together if they are pushed apart, while a slightly older child can put basic layouts together using the pictures on the box and an older child can play completely independently. The range was marketed as being for 1.5 to 6 year old children, with some accessories with smaller parts being recommended for ages 3 and over. This series was first released in 1999 but seems to have faded away fairly quickly.
The Train Unlimited series had a few sets and a few "refill" packs that included track bases, with a handful of trains sold individually as well as a range of scene parts. Scenery or diorama parts were sold either in a large 25 piece set or in smaller packs individually.
Year | Name | Description | Photo |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | DY-101 Shinkansen Entry Basic Set | Entry set with 100 series Shinkansen and a nice variety of 10 baseplates with track | |
1999 | DY-102 Refill Rail Set of 4 | Set of two curved and two straight track baseplates | |
1999 | DY-01 Diorama Parts 25 Piece Set | "Diorama parts" set with three small buildings, two fences, eight logs, two rocks, two crates, two people figures, a station, a tunnel, a crossing, a signal, owl tree and mole rock | Can be seen here |
1999 | DY-02 Chin Chin Railway Crossing/Stop Signal Set | Individual accessory set with ringing railroad crossing gate, smaller signal, a set of stickers for curved baseplate | |
1999 | DY-03 Door Tunnel/Lumber Set | Tunnel with hanging door and set of eight logs | Can be seen here |
1999 | DY-04 Red Roof Station with Stop Signal | Station with signal | Can be seen here |
1999 | DY-05 Owl Tree/Mole Rock Set | Owl that "flys" out of tree and mole that pops out of hole as train passes | Can be seen here |
1999 | DY-06 Red Iron Bridge/Lumber Set | Red iron bridge sides with water stickers and eight logs | Can be seen here |
1999 | DY-07 Doll's House/Doll | Three houses that can fit over the two included dolls | Can be seen here |
1999 | DY-08 Passenger/Cargo Set | Set with two passengers, two rocks, two crates, and two fences | Can be seen here |
There was also an In-Store Promotional Kit with six rail pieces and a small stand-up sign, presumably to be used with a Basic Set as a store display. An unused example can be seen here (archived). I have also seen the four-piece rail set box with a "for in-store display" sticker over much of the front.
Finding information about the trains released in this series is a little harder - in addition to the 100 series Shinkansen included in the basic set, there is a funky sort of steam train with seemingly the only real freight/passenger car shown in part of the set packaging showing the accessories available. If I find more concrete information about the range, I will update this page.
The trains (or at least the 100 series I have) use a smaller AAA battery version of the Plarail flat-type drive unit. A chunky power switch is screwed through the stalk of a white Plarail-style one.
The Shinkansen Entry Basic Set was the first and only real "set" in the Train Unlimited series, including a train and ten track base sections with 14 different suggested layouts.
The sides of the box show some nice eye-level views of the train and set.
Set contentsQuantity |
Item |
Photo |
---|---|---|
2 pieces | 100 series Shinkansen lead and tail car |
|
3 | Curve rail with hill and path |
|
3 | Curve rail with structure and basins | |
2 | Straight rail | |
2 | Switch rail |
The train included in this set is a two-unit 100 series Shinkansen train. This tall, stubby train has several clear Tomy hallmarks including a coupling system resembling the Plarail standard.
The train takes a single AAA battery accessed by unscrewing the single screw on the bottom. This gearbox is a shrunken version of a Plarail gearbox developed a few years earlier. The hook coupling on the tail car is actually spring-loaded to return to center, seemingly to help the train take the rather right turns in the set.
The track bases are 15cm square and use magnets and some molding features that serve to align the different pieces like a puzzle. All pieces can be magnetized to all others in any rotational orientation, although obviously the track molded into the surface may not align. Some pieces, in particular the curved pieces with paths and small utility boxes, are rather plain, with some accessories like the tunnel and bridge coming with stickers to add to the bases. In particular, it appears the previous owner of my set owned both the tunnel (which has been retained) and the bridge (which has been lost, alongside all 16 logs from both accessories) and the stickers have been applied to some of the pieces in the set.
Round recesses in the straight track allow for the tunnel (not originally included in this Basic set) or bridge sides to be placed into them. The recessed trackside cutouts allow for the "action" accessories like railroad crossing or pop-out mole to be triggered by the train as it passes by filling in the place of one of the sleepers.
The other style of curve has a small structure on which some other accessories can be placed as well as several receptacles for logs and an action accessory slot. I would like to get some more accessories for this system some day, as it really is rather neat and some of the action ones look interesting, but it is expensive to get any of this kind of stuff when you have to ship it from overseas... When I initially bought this set I thought it was much smaller than it actually was, and I was astounded when a large box showed up.
The switches are nice and chunky with big easy-to-press buttons to change the track direction. The switch has a yellow lever on the base of the junction with purplish or reddish sections that raise or lower to turn different directions.
Seemingly because it is so relatively light, the tail car tends to jump up on a switch that is set against it, although the engine can overrun the bump and pull the tail car along just fine. The train also bumps around on some of the regular track. I would be interested in getting the car meant to carry cargo and seeing if cargo actually stays in it.
The track all magnetically snaps together very easily and I think a young child could pretty easily push the track together without having to pick it up, although pulling it apart again might be hard for a younger kid. The included pieces means you can make layouts of many sizes and configurations, stretching it out with two small loops at the end or only using a few pieces to make a small tabletop scene.
I quite like this layout, which I've added the tunnel to. I do think it would look even cooler with more accessories - I will continue to keep an eye out for more.
It seems that this series did not sell very well and did not receive too many more new products after its introduction. The individual accessories seem to have hung around in stores and actually survive new in box in many cases as they were not purchased until they were on clearance and then (or were in the first place, or were by a toy store) stuck away for whatever reason. The trains other than the 100 series seem relatively hard to find - in part I do not think people can properly identify them.