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Tomy Plarail ● Super Rail ● Plaroad ● Action Rail 1986 Catalogue

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1986 was the last full year of "old power" friction-drive gearbox production and a spread of long old power trains is shown off on the front. The rear shows a layout with a larger Plaroad setup integrated into it. This catalogue was printed in May 1986, and this example has a stamp from the store it was originally distributed at on the rear.

This was the first of the later 1980s "tall" catalogues... The upper half of the page mirrors the earlier 80s wide catalogues with the advantages of the system on the left page and a large layout on the right. The lower portion includes sets like the final Round-Trip Plarail set, the Beginner's Set, Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen Set, and Radio Control I'm a Driver Tohoko Joetsu Shinkansen Set, all with 200 series Shinkansen, the Electric Locomotive Overpass Set, and the first (and only old-power) Plaroad crossover set, the Rail Road Level Crossing Set.

The expansive late old-power era... A very nice selection of older and newer trains, with many individual cars and the original Radio Control range still on sale.

The mid 1980s rail selection, with some odd older rails like the Large Curve Rail, all concave-connectored New Point Machine, and old Joint Rails. The accessories have some newer components like the panel station system, the licensed Disney accessories, and a range of the classic tunnels, bridges, and stations.

Super Rail sets, trains, and accessories... With the rising Japanese economy, the Super Rail expanded out to be pretty well-serviced by the later 1980s, although some of the original 1970s elegance was lost over time... Still, several new sets this year like the Blue Train EF-66 Set with two-speed train with lights and horn and theTokaido Sanyo New Shinkansen Set and individual Tokaido Sanyo New Shinkansen 100 series Shinkansen trains.

1986 was the last year that Plaroad was marketed as a standalone product, with a cut-down selection appearing as Plarail accessories from 1987 to 1990, but the original full range as well as the Plarail crossover sets are all pretty cool. The Action Rail page shows the then-current Big Loader, Dead Heat Game, and the 1980s Hello Kitty Plarail Land adaptations.