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EF-15 Electric Locomotive Overpass Panorama Set (1974)
Originally written March 4, 2024Expanded October 2025
The EF-15 Electric Locomotive Overpass Panorama Set (EF-15 でんききかんしゃりったいこうさ パノラマセット) was released in 1974 and includes an EF15 electric locomotive with freight train and was the first set to use the "overpass" layout with elevated section and offset lower loop. The set also includes a railroad crossing, line of trees, and some other accessories. In 1981 the same basic concept of the set was rereleased as the Electric Locomotive Overpass Set.
I love the design of the side panels and battery information... all the text layout is beautiful, I love the old Hikari-Go logo plastered on all sides of the box, even covered and in poor shape, as well as the set tray... At the time the "overpass" layout was previously unseen and this set would establish itself alongside the numbered Basic Sets as a classic Plarail layout.
This set was somewhat common, and indeed it is one of the only truly vintage Plarail sets that I have two boxed examples of - the first copy I bought was some years ago when I did not own any early 1970s sets or any of these boxes is in poorer shape, and is missing the top locomotive body shell.
Although this copy's box is in poor shape, I appreciate it as a well-loved specimen of the era... I can only imagine how many times the colorful box lid must have been taken on and off, with the original owner having crayon-scribbled through the age rating, seemingly in defiance of their own aging.
These early boxes have a cardboard lower layer with a vacuformed plastic tray to hold the components. The tray has a battery box to hold a C battery, something many Plarail sets incorporated at the time despite not coming with batteries. The sticker in the tray says, approximately, "When you are finished playing, please put the batteries in this box. Batteries must be purchased separately."
Set contents| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 4 pieces | EF-15 Electric Locomotive and log car (no logs), tanker, and guard's van |
 |
| 1 | R-01 Straight Rail |
 |
| 10 | R-03 Curve Rail (roughtop with Japan markings) |
 |
| 2 pieces |
R-07 Bridge Rail (one each up and down) |
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| 2 pieces | R-11 Turnout Rail (one pair) (roughtop with Japan markings) |
 |
| 2 | 90 Degree Curve Rail |
 |
| 5 | Bridge Girder (orange clipless type) |
 |
| 1 | Country Station |
 |
| 1 | Railway Crossing (second version) |
 |
| 8 | Catenary |
 |
| 1 | Row of trees |
|
| 2 | Standing Tree (Japan mark) |
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| 1 | Signal |
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The EF15 locomotives were manufactured between 1947 and 1958. Over 200 were built and they remained in use until the mid 1980s on freight lines. First appearing in Plarail form in the 1970 Electric Locomotive Set, the EF15 in this set is close to the original 1970 tooling and predates the lit version used in a 1980 set that all future EF15s were based on. The EF15 was available individually in a few different colors around this time.
The original EF15 from my first copy of this set was missing the body shell and just has the original chassis. The chassis is relatively intact other than degraded rubber components which were replaced. The second copy of the set had the fully intact train, although I actually swapped the chassis with already-replaced rubber components into it (I kind of like having some of the original period rubber components in their existing states as historical artifacts and points of comparison. These trains are now 50 years old, after all). When I originally photographed this set, I did not have another period mid 1970s EF-15 so I put the top of my 1984 EF-15 from the later Electric Locomotive Overpass Set on the 1974 chassis in some of the photos and videos below.
The short freight cars had just been introduced a year prior at the time of this set's release, with the older style of "chunky" early-mid 1970s couplings still in use. It would have been nice to include the
The station in this set is the Country Station that was introduced two years earlier. Being made in Japan, the station would have originally included the tablet for the tablet catcher feature.
The Railway Crossing is the mid 1970s version with plastic boom arm axles and round-based railroad crossing signs. It does not have the large made in Japan mark on the bottom as seen on the later version, just the small one near one of the signs on the top. The standing trees are the type with just JAPAN molded into the base. The box pictures two old lens-type signals, but really a single early sticker type was included, as the change happened around 1974. Electrical catenaries have only a slot number, not the Japan text in their moldings.
Rails in this set are early roughtop types with the "V" split in the curve rails. The 90 Degree Curve Rails are made of a harder plastic and have cracked at both convex connectors and the Bridge Rails are similarly cracked at both ends as they often do. Some of the regular softer plastic rails in this set were also showing small splits and one curve rail concave connector snapped while I was putting the set together. The 90 degree curves are suggested for use in the elevated portion of the layout but there are enough bridge piers included and the track is laid out in such a way that they are not necessary at all and the 90 degree curves can be switched out for any other two adjacent regular curve rails with no problems.
The bridge girders in this set are the first examples I have had of these orange clipless girders. The rounded portions on the top fit inside the wells of the rails on the bottom of the track piece and the two small bumps in the middle sit on either side of the molding around the concave and convex track connector ends.
It is rather nice that there are eight catenaries in this set, it helps fill up the layout a lot more than the later overpass sets that came with six or four - or zero, in some cases. In fact, the accessory selection is rather nice in general, with not only two standing trees but also a row of trees and a signal. My set is missing the signal and I completely forgot to borrow one of the ones that I do have to put it out on the layout. With the signal the accessory selection is pretty nice for all off-the-shelf accessories and shows the luxury of Plarail as a toy in this era.
I like this little freight train and the country station it services. It would have been nice to get the logs with the black log car but I do also kind of like how the little red EF15 looks hauling an empty well wagon and some fuel up an elevated trestle. I will have to get out one of my country station tablets and see if I can deliver the tablet to the hook by hanging it out of one of the EF15's windows.
Sometimes 1970s Plarail takes a bit of imagination. I kind of like it better that way.
Actually, I also quite like the two alternate suggested layouts on the box. They should have kept those around as alternate options for later overpass-style sets - although you can, of course, still build them with most overpass-style sets.
| Set name | EF-15 Electric Locomotive Overpass
Panorama Set EF-15 でんききかんしゃりったいこうさ パノラマセット |
Release period | 1974-~1976 |
| Train rating |
 
| Track rating |
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| Accessory rating |
| Overall |
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| Notes: | The short wagons are pretty common, but they were newer at the time |