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Mini Mini Rail Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen Set
Originally written June 28, 2025
Seemingly the second Mini Mini Rail set to include the Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen after the original No. 2 set, the Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen Set (ミニミニレール東北上越新幹線セット) was released during the era of the "green" boxes that originally included papercraft buildings. The set is similar to the previous generation's No. 2 set but with smaller curves and a slightly smaller overall layout.
Set contents
| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 3
pieces |
200 series Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen |
 |
| 2 | 801 Long Straight Rail |
 |
| 1 | 803 Short Straight Rail |
 |
| 1 | 804 Short Straight Rail |
 |
| 2 | 807 Long Curved Rail |
 |
| 1 | 808 Short Curved Rail |
 |
| 2 | 811 Points (Right) (one each fixed and manual) |
 |
| 1 | 812 Points (Left) (fixed) |
 |
| 1 | 815 Stop Rail |
 |
| 1 | 818 Forward/Reverse Switch Rail |
 |
| 4 | 822 Double Curved Rail |
 |
| 6 | 827 Small Curved Rail |
 |
| 2 | Signal |
 |
| 2 | Overhead Line Pole (single) |
 |
| 2 | Overhead Line Pole (double) |
 |
| 3 | Standing Trees |
 |
| 1 | Buffer Stop |
 |
| Paper kit | Train shed and station building |
The train is the original 200 series Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen. The tooling is the same as the Mini Mini Rail Hikari but it does have stickers added to show the snowplows as well as painted head and tail lights like the Hikari.
Being a later Action Series train, the powered reversing chassis is in the intermediate car and takes one AA battery. The lever hanging out of the side of the intermediate car hits against the flags on the levers of the reversing rail to make the train go the other direction - it is an electrical reversing mechanism. The power switch is a sliding switch on the bottom of the car and two hanging pegs create a cutoff switch to turn the motor off on a raised stop rail section.
Track in this set is the later bluish roadbed with grey rails type. The Mini Mini Rail track system has double-track parallel curves as well as two types of switches, a manual type and a "fixed" type that always sends a train straight through, that can be positioned to cross over between the double rail tracks. The track layout is similar to the previous No. 2 sets but it uses the newer 827 Small Curved Rail on the side opposite the double rail.
There are two signals and three trees as well as a buffer stop for the siding but the number of each catenaries has decreased from the previous No. 2 sets. Originally, there were papercraft models of an engine shed and station building, but unless you find these sets unused with the kit still in its plastic bag these structures are pretty much impossible to find.
The one controllable switch can be used to set the train to either circle around the outer rails or switch it down the siding where it will hit the reverser and head back and eventually turn itself around in the inner reversing loop due to the way the automatic switches operate.