fall inside a hole
 |
Bandai Mini Mini Rail Rail
Bandai produced and sold the Mini Mini Rail (ミニミニレール) series of train toys in Japan from 1975 until around 1982. The trains are about the same size as N scale trains and run on rails 10.5mm apart, slightly wider than N scale's 9mm.
Mini Mini Rail track is plastic with sleepers and ballast tooled into the roadbed. The train's wheels have flanges and they ride on the rails like a real train. Slots in the side of the roadbed allow for trackside signals, buffers, and catenaries to be added. Earlier track was a simple grey but when the range was all converted over to AAA-powered Action Series trains the track changed to a blue plastic with grey painted rail.
Mini Mini Rail trains, sets, and accessories can be reached from the main Mini Mini Rail page. Several scans from the 1975 and 1976 Mini Mini Rail catalogues are used on this page.
801 Long Straight Rail (1975)
The "standard" straight rail, measuring about 217mm long. Sold individually on carded backing in packs of four.
803 Short Straight Rail (1975)
A straight rail measuring 154mm.
804 Short Straight Rail (1975)
A straight rail measuring about 135mm.
805 Short Straight Rail (1975)
A straight rail measuring about 108mm, half of an 801 straight rail.
The Short Straight Rail A Set included two each 803, 804, and 805 straight rails. Several other lengths, 802, 810, 809, and 806 were also produced and sold in the Short Straight Rail B Set. 802 rails are the shortest in the range and make up the difference between 803 and 804 rails (about 20mm), 806 rails are one quarter the length of an 801 straight (about 54mm), 809 one fifth of an 801 straight (about 43mm), and 810 one sixth the length (~36mm).
Here is a relationship chart between different straight rail lengths, relative to the span of two 819 slope rails which are the length of five 810 straights - about 1085mm. A few other rail types were introduced after this catalogue like the 827 Small Curve Rail.
807 Long Curved Rail (1975)
Eight-to-a-curve "standard" curve rail with a radius of about 280mm, equal to a long straight rail and a quarter. Sold individually in packs of four.
808 Short Curved Rail (1975)
16-to-a-curve curve rail with a radius of but half the length of the regular 807 curve. Two of these curves in an S bend forms the standard for running parallel Mini Mini Rail tracks.
811 Points (Right) (1975)
Mini Mini Rail points were produced in both a "Fixed" style that always sends a train straight through and a "Manual" version with a switch that actuates the decider section of the rail bed. You can see how the base tooling is the same and then it either has the static insert piece riveted in place or the lever, actuator arm, and decider rails installed.
The curved branch is the same length as the 808 Short Curve Rail and placing two together matches the parallel track width used on the 822 Double Curve Rail.
812 Points (Left) (1975)
Left points, also produced in fixed and switchable versions.
The static version that always sends an incoming train straight through in the older grey and newer dark blue styles.
The turnouts were sold in packs containing one manual and one straight-through point of opposite handedness as well as two 808 short curve rails.
815 Stop Rail (1976)
This straight-rail length section has a raising platform that will press on two pegs under the power car of a passing Action Series train and disconnect power to the motor, stopping it. Usually, its stops towards where the switch is located, as that side gets lifted up higher. This rail appeared in 1976 after the 816 cross rail and a few other types of rail that had been assigned higher numbers when introduced - Bandai seemingly left gaps in the numbering system for expansion, and slotted the Action Series rails in later.
Flipping the lever lowers the platform and lets the train carry on. The original non-reversing trains lack the pegs hanging down that cut off the battery switch. These rails and the reversing rails below were sold on cards with two of the same type of action rail and four 805 straight rails with two buffers to integrate them into a layout.
816 Cross Rail (1975)
Introduced in the original non-reversing era and used in the No. 3 set, the largest of the early lineup, is this 45 degree crossover rail also sold individually with two 804 straight rails. It also appeared in the blue-track era in a track pack with a switch and in at least one set.
Advertised circa 1975 was also a version of the cross rail with a point built in as well as a 90 degree crossing, but I do not think either of these ended up being released - at the very least, the 818 designation became the number for the Forward/Reverse Switch Rail when the Action Series began in 1976.
818 Forward/Reverse Switch Rail (1976)
This 801-length straight rail has two flip-up cross-head posts on either side of the track that will trigger the reversing lever on the side of an Action Series train. The posts can be flipped down to let trains pass.
Like the stop rail and most of the regular rails, this Action Series track was first produced in grey and later dark blue with painted grey rails.
The Action Series rails are neat and let you control the trains a little bit more like model trains. There was only one Mini Mini Rail set with an automatic coupling feature but you can make the regular Action Series locomotives drop a train off in a siding.
819 Sloping Rail (1976)
In 1976 a sloping rail system was introduced to the Mini Mini Rail system. These were sold individually in a pair with four supporting bridge girders and appeared in some of the larger later Action Series sets. The length of two of these sections back-to-back is the same as five of the standard 801 straight rails, so each slope section is two and a half on its own.
Each is made up of two sections, with the lower section having a built-in embankment and the upper section having a shorter support midway up and the "standard" height support at the top regular rail joint.
Two or more slope rails can clip in together in parallel at the width of standard double rail. The double-rail catenaries can slot into the lower supported section. The taller bridge girders were sold in a pack of six.
Combined with the Mini Mini Rail bridge, the elevated system allows for some nice details on a larger Mini Mini Rail layout.
822 Double Curved Rail (1976)
Parallel double-track curved section with inner radius matching the regular curve rail and second set of rails displaced over 43mm, the same difference as a short-curve or turnout S bend. The outer radius is about 323mm. These first debuted as individual pairs of curves in the later grey-track era, around the time of the original Action Series and appeared in the No. 2 sets in the later 1970s Action Series.
827 Small Curved Rail (early 1980s)
Introduced later in the range's life in the early 1980s was the smaller radius 827 Small Curved Rail. These were only produced in the blue and grey style and were probably at least partially introduce to help make sets slightly cheaper to manufacture.
Their radius is about 195mm, tighter than the other Mini Mini Rail curves. This is not 43mm less (the difference formed by two connected points or half curve rails) but they are about 86mm less of the standard curve, so they can be reached by doing this translation twice.