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Hikari with Light Overpass Set (April 1990)
The Hikari with Light Overpass Set (ライト付ひかり立体交差セット) was released in 1990 at a price of 3,900 yen and features standard for the era trains and accessories. A Thailand-made new power Hikari with Light is included as the train, showing the strength and popularity of the original 0 series Hikari even in the age of 300 series Nozomi trains. The set includes a standard Plarail signal and tree, four overhead wire catenaries, a period red railway crossing, and an unelevated Elevated Station. As part of the "たのしさつなごうキャンペーン" Tanoshisa Tsunago Campaign (approximately the "Enjoy The Fun Campaign") the set also included two R-01 Straight rails to add to the set. The blurb in the bottom right corner of the box says that the set Now comes with 2 straight rails!! Enjoy a larger layout. And: Use the automatic turnout rail and have lots of fun!! Switch points automatically. The ST number dates the box to 1990.
The small section above the picture of the set contents on the bottom left of the front of the box says of the set:
- The Hikari train runs with its lights on
- The point of the automatic turnout rail changes automatically every time a train passes by
- You can stop and start at the station by operating the stop rail
In 1988 a similar set with a new power Hikari with Light was released with a bonus fourth intermediate car. In 1989 an updated version of that set was released without the extra car. This version iterates further by changing the "R" point rail out for an automatic turnout rail.
Set contents
| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 3 pieces |
Hikari with Light (Thailand-made) |
 |
| 1 |
R-2 1/2 Straight Rail |
 |
| 14 |
R-03 Curve Rail |
 |
| 2 |
R-06 Slope Rail |
 |
| 1 |
R-08 Stop Rail |
 |
| 1 |
R-11 Turnout Rail (L) |
 |
| 1 |
R-19 Automatic Turnout Rail |
 |
| 5 |
J-14 Block Bridge Girder |
 |
| 1 |
J-17 New Railroad Crossing |
 |
| 1 |
J-22 Elevated Station |
 |
| 4 |
Catenary |
 |
| 1 |
Standing Tree |
 |
| 1 |
Signal |
 |
| 2 |
R-01 Straight Rail (Enjoy the Fun Campaign) |
 |
The Hikari is the high-speed express train running on the Tokaido Shinkansen line. 0-series Shinkansen trains ran the Hikari (as well as the slower Kodama train) from their introduction on October 1st, 1964 through the introduction of 100-series Shinkansen to Hikari service on October 1st, 1985 and until 2000 on the West Hikari run on the Sanyo Shinkansen line, with some temporary Hikari 0-series trains running until December 2008.
The set uses the classic "overpass" layout and showcases the new-for-1990 Automatic Turnout Rail. The Automatic Turnout Rail can be set to "AUTO" where it switches the output side every time an engine passes over the trigger or "SET" which leaves the switch in its current position.
The station used in this set is the common J22 Elevated Station, although this station was rarely actually elevated. It is apparently molded to fit on top of three "block houses," small and basic house accessories Tomy sold that could be stacked up to make larger or taller buildings.
The roof, center kiosk, and two yellow supports all separate from the base.
The manual includes two suggested uses for the additional straight rails.
The gearbox in the 0-series needed the third gear glued back onto its shaft to function properly. The engine in my set was produced in August 1990.
The rails in my set were all relatively early made in Thailand rails. Production of rails continued in Japan with new molds dated in 1992 used in some sets. Other accessories like the tree and signal are all early Thailand moldings as well.
My copy of this set included the original manual and 1990 catalogue. It is wild to see how many hard to find and expensive Plarail accessories were still on sale as recently as the early 90s.
The back of the 1990 catalog includes the full version of the photo used on the front of this set's box.
