fall inside a hole
Forest Railway Loading and Unloading Set (1980)
First written May 25, 2025
The first Round-Trip Plarail set to use the Round-Trip EF66 was the Forest Railway Loading and Unloading Set (森林鉄道積みおろしセット) with a cool two-level layout with a log loading and unloading station that lets the train cycle logs around over and over. The instructions for the track layout, freight station assembly, and battery information are printed inside the lid, which feels like a touch of the 1970s... I don't think Plarail started printing separate paper manuals until 1981 or so, but plenty of other older sets with much simpler layouts just relied on the photos and battery information printed on the box.
The MS-29 mark on the top of the box signifies it was produced between March 1980 and February 1981, which makes sense as this set came out in 1980 and, like many other Plarail sets, was only produced for the one year.
Set contents| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 3 pieces | Round-Trip EF66 with two log tipper cars |
 |
| 3 | Logs |
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| 5 | R-01 Straight Rail |
 |
| 3 | R-02 Half Straight Rail |
 |
| 9 | R-03 Curve Rail |
 |
| 1 | R-06 Slope Rail |
 |
| 1 | R-09 Reciprocating Return Rail |
 |
| 1 | R-11 Turnout Rail ("R" type) |
 |
| 1 | Static return rail |
 |
| 5 | J-13 Bridge Girder |
 |
| 4 pieces | Freight loading and unloading station |
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| 1 | Buffers |
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| 4 | Catenary |
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| 2 | Standing Tree |
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| 1 | Row of Trees |
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| 1 | Signal |
 |
The Round-Trip EF66 was first released in the later 1970s and this was its first use in a set after the older ED70s in 1970s Round-Trip sets.
It is the set and later individual release type with only the rear coupling bar, and being from 1980 it uses the internal drive version of the round-trip gearbox. (Actually, I think this is a later variant of the internal gearbox tooling with a cutout in the top around the motor contacts - earlier versions had the motor contacts at the back of the gearbox under the metal strap that helps hold it together.)
Two yellow and black tipper cars are included with spring-loaded levers to engage the loader and lip the car over to unload.
The rail in this set in mid 1980s roughtop rail. The layout is a large oval with an elevated portion where the train can unload its logs, and both automatic and manual type return rails are included to reverse the train. The single slope rail and unpaired turnout are somewhat uncommon for Plarail sets.
The star of the set is the two-level freight loading and unloading station that lets the train cycle logs around endlessly with no interaction necessary in the style of old Shuttle Trains. The rail base section is based on the 1970s log loader with support for the new upper loading section that incorporates the functionality of the log unloader so that logs are dumped right back into the loader. A cute stairwell piece (with one of the railings partially broken off on this example) and an upper roof add to the nice appearance of the freight station. This station was rereleased in different colors in the last Round-Trip Plarail set in 1986.
There are a nice assortment of trees as well as a signal, buffer section for the elevated unloading point, and four catenaries. The accessories for the set fill it out nice and the trees fit into the idea of a logging operation.
The layout of the set with the diagonal slope rail and dead-end elevated dumping point is very interesting and outside the norm for Plarail, and I love the use of Round-Trip EF-66 with the log loading and unloading feature.
When the log tipper cars pass the station from left to right the trigger arms will catch the orange lever and release a log. When the train makes its way up the hill the tippers unload back into the loader.
Setting up this set made me have devious thoughts about what you could do with some Round-Trip trains and these freight stations... I will get this set out again and have some more fun with it soon.
| Set name | Forest Railway Loading and Unloading
Set 森林鉄道積みおろしセット |
Release period | 1980 |
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| Notes: | This is probably the coolest vintage Plarail set that I own... | Price |