fall inside a hole
Tunnels
First written April 7, 2024Tunnels were first introduced to Plarail in the 1970s with a variety of mountainous and subway tunnels released in many different variations.
J-01 Tunnel (トンネル) (late 1960s)
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J-02 Block Tunnel --> J-02 Stretching Tunnel--> |
Around 1968 a curved mountainous tunnel (トンネル) was released that could be placed over straight or curved track. Seemingly due to the relatively large single-piece construction, this tunnel was not included in sets very often, and was primarily sold individually until being included in larger cardboard-box sets in the 2000s.
In 1988 this tunnel was given the designation J-01.
Earlier examples have often-broken fragile track locators while later ones have thicker rounded ones.
Like most other older Plarail pieces, these tunnels were first produced in Japan and later Thailand.
In 2003 the tunnel was renewed with nicely detailed ivy-covered portal stickers and a two-tone green and brown body. The J-01 Tunnel remains in the range to this day. The traditional design continued to be produced for some Thomas export sets.
Some sets also include variants of this tunnel like this snow-covered one from a Thomas-series snow set.
Large Tunnel (大トンネル) (1972)
Around 1972 a "subway" style Large Tunnel (大トンネル) was introduced with brick portal stickers and an extendable top platform that can also support rail.
Earlier examples were the light grey seen here. The design of the tunnel walls matches the Subway Station introduced around the same time.
Later production was changed to a nice light blue color. This example has its middle extension section - this lets the tunnel accommodate double track under and on top. You could theoretically extend the tunnel to be even wider but I think it would start to droop.
The Large Tunnel went out of production in the early 1980s, appearing in the 1982 Catalogue but not the October 1984 Catalogue.
Subway Station (1975)
Not really a tunnel, but sort of intended to be included inside one, and reusing the wall of the Large Tunnel above is the Subway Station released in 1975. Mine has a ripped sticker. Apparently, there was a Chinese version of this station made for an as-yet-unearthed set in the 70s.
J-02 Block Tunnel (ブロックトンネル) (1982)
| <--- J-01 Tunnel | J-03 Iron Bridge --> |
In 1983 the expandable Block Tunnel (ブロックトンネル) was released. The individual and "full" version of the tunnel includes an entrance portal piece, an exit portal piece, and two intermediate middle pieces.
Additional intermediate sections from additional tunnels can all be connected to make as long a tunnel as desired (up to the limit of the number of middle sections you have). You can see there is some variance of shade with production period.
The entrance and exit pieces can be placed together to form a shorter tunnel, which was commonly done in many sets. The block tunnel entrance and exit pieces actually first appeared in some sets that were new for 1982, although the expanding "block" ability would not become a feature until the individual release with middle slices.
These tunnels were first produced in Japan throughout the 1980s. In the 1990s production moved to Thailand.
Some sets and promotional items have color and sticker variants of the block tunnel, usually without matching middle sections. A similar taller expandable tunnel system was implemented for Tomy Train with LEGO-style studs on top.
The individual release block tunnel went out of print around 1998 but the pieces continued to be used in sets into the 2010s. In 2007 the J-02 designation was given to the Stretching Tunnel. The old curvy Tomy logo continued to appear in the tooling at least as late as 2009. By 2012 the tunnel's connection system had changed to be symmetrical, and there were often no stickers for the portal surrounds... It makes the tunnel feel a little cheep. These later tunnels were produced in Vietnam.
7491 Long Tunnel (Tomica World) (1998)
Funnily enough, around when the individual Plarail block tunnel disappeared from sale the Block Tunnel was released in the Tomica World range as 7491 Long Tunnel in 1998. This version uses the same stickers and two intermediate sections as the Japanese release.
Thomas-series Tunnel (Super Rail) (1996)
Starting in 1996 a tunnel which was originally developed in the late 1970s for Tomy's Super Rail began being used in some Thomas the Tank Engine-series Plarail sets with brown tunnel portals instead of the grey style used for Super Rail. More details about it can be found on the Thomas Accessories page.
J-02 Stretching Tunnel (のびるトンネル) (2007)
| <--- J-01 Tunnel | J-03 Iron Bridge --> |
In 2007 the J-02 designation was brought back for the new "Stretching Tunnel" (のびるトンネル). This tunnel has a telescoping series of sections that can be expanded out to a variety of lengths.
The underside of the tunnel is marked Tomy 1959 and 2007 and each telescoping section is marked with a letter.
J-06 Double Track Tunnel (1999)
| <--- J-05 Drawbridge | J-07 Car Wash --> |
In 1999 this very nice curved double track tunnel was released can also support a regular curve rail on top.
These tunnels were only in regular production for a few years (until around 2001, appearing in one set slightly later) and are somewhat sought after. I do think two of them right after one another on a 90 degree curve would make it look even nicer than having the single elevated line transition off of and back onto the yellow double-wide J-22 Double Track Block Bridge Girders so quickly.