fall inside a hole
Mini Mini Rail No. 3 Horn Set EF71 Electric Locomotive
Originally written March 23, 2025
The Mini Mini Rail No. 3 Horn Set EF 71 Electric Locomotive Set (ミニミニレール NO.3 警笛セット EF71電気機関車セット) was released by Bandai as part of the Mini Mini Rail Action Series with a reversing freight train and a whistling railroad crossing in the later 1970s. It is number 16315 in the range.
This was the only No. 3 "Horn" set, with no other trains offered with this track and accessory selection as a set. Most sets did not include any of the "individual release" accessories, so Bandai must have wanted to show this one off.
Set contents| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 3
pieces |
EF71 locomotive with tanker, box van, and brake van |
 |
| 1 | 801 Long Straight Rail |
 |
| 8 | 807 Long Curved Rail |
 |
| 1 | 808 Short Curved Rail |
 |
| 1 | 812 Points (Left) (manual) |
 |
| 1 | 815 Stop Rail |
 |
| 2 | 818 Forward/Reverse Switch Rail |
 |
| 1 | Horn Railroad Crossing |
 |
| 1 | Tunnel |
 |
| 2 | Signal |
 |
| 4 | Overhead Line Pole (single) |
 |
| 3 | Standing Trees |
 |
The locomotive in this set is a red EF71 of the later AA-powered Action Series type with the reversing lever centered on the right side. Like other electric trains, it has nice pantographs and realistic molding. It is the same tooling as the EF-65 used in other sets and released individually.
The freight cars include a WHAM 80000 series box car, a yellow tanker car, and a green (Takara Green?) 6000 series brake van. The van even has stepladders, although some are broken off on mine.
Track is the later blue and grey type, with a single manual turnout and two reversing rails as well as a stop rail. The track layout is honestly a little simple for a number three set...
The coolest inclusion in this set is the whistling railroad crossing. It has two pressure pads in the track to activate an air-powered whistling mechanism inside when trains pass.
It takes two AA batteries housed under the roof of the signalbox. Being from the 1970s, it is mechanical and acoustic - no transistors much less integrated circuitry here.
Inside a motor drives a fan inside an enclosure that forms a whistle - actually, I think its really two whistles, one on either side, with the intake vent on the front and an exit out of either side wall.
Also included is a tunnel and the usual Mini Mini Rail variety of trackside accessories including electrical line holders and trees. Oddly missing is a buffer stop for the siding...
The whistle in the crossing whirs up every time the train passes the crossing. As one Japanese collector put it, it makes a slightly "disappointing" sound. The tunnel is nice, but the box car does not always like to fit between the reversing levers, and fouls the train up... Click the GIFs above for the videos with sound.
The reversing and stop functions of the Action Series trains, which all later releases were, are pretty neat.