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Plarail R-17 three-way switches

The R-17 part number has been used on two different styles of three-way switch.

R-17 New Point Machine (1981)

Replacing the original point machine (てんてつき tentetsutsuki) which was a four-way switch produced from 1972 to 1981, the New Point Machine (ニューてんてつき) was released in spring 1981, originally with all-concave connections and four "dogbone" joint rails to change the connections to convex.

The large yellow lever swings the directional decider around between the three positions, with detents in its travel top stop it in different positions. The directional decider has cutouts to let engines overrun the decider if it is set against them when they enter from one of the three branches instead of the single side.

Geometrically, the three tracks are all spaced ~60mm apart from one another, so adjacent pairs adhere to the double rail standard. The switch is as long as a regular straight rail, and it is great for use in yards and in front of engine sheds.

Around 1988 the switch was given the R-17 designation and in 1996 the incoming joint was changed to convex and the joints were no longer included. The switch was used in a few Plarail sets like the Railway Yard Set Full of Freight Cars and was even exported a few times as part of the various Thomas Plarail exports and in dark blue in a large Tomy Trains set.

The three-way switch continued to be called "New" into the 2000s when the tooling was updated with the new Tomy logo.

The standard R-17 individual release went out of production in 2014, but they grey version of the switch is still available as part of the J-06 Train Yard accessory set.