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700 Series Departure! Shinkansen Station Set
The 700 Series Departure! Shinkansen Station Set (700系発進!新幹線ステーションセット) released in 1999 and featured the new 700 Series Shinkansen as well as a new cool style of elevated station.
Set contents
| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 3 pieces | 700 Series Shinkansen |
 |
| 6 | R-02 Half Straight Rail |
 |
| 6 | R-03 Curve Rail |
 |
| 1 pair | R-11 Turnout Rail |
 |
| 20 pieces | R-18 Slope Curve Rail (four of each A and B slope curves and 12 mini block piers) |
 |
| 4 pieces | R-20 1/4 Straight Rail (two of each kind) |
 |
| 9 pieces | Shinkansen Station |
 |
| 4 | Catenary |
 |
| 1 | VHS Videocassette |
The 700 Series Shinkansens were built between 1997 and 2006 and entered service in 1999. They were first released in Plarail form in later 1998 as the 700 Series Shinkansen and made its first set appearance in this set.
The 700 series train in this set was produced in October 1999 and is the type with the earlier pantograph design.
Introduced in this set was the "Shinkansen Station" which is a nice two-platform elevated station with associated piers and connecting track pieces that are still sought after today for their look and usability in large layouts and sets. Two signals can slot into the base. The station building itself is based directly on the J-16 City Station and uses the same tooling for the platforms. It can be connected together, tiled, and placed next to more stations.
The two connecting switch pieces can be flipped over and allow the station to connect directly to double rail. The box also shows the station connecting to the recent Elevated Rail system, which also looks very nice.
When I got this set it had mostly newer 2000s rail with the squared-off Tomy logo present, but I swapped them out for period-correct Thailand-made 1990s rail. Two quarter straight rails and one of each 1/4 straight joint rail are used in the set, but a second pair of joint rails are included as "service parts" and bring the total up to two of each type.
The layout for this set is neat, with several 1/4 Straight Rails used to center the lower loop. In some ways this layout can be seen as the successor to the 2-Speed Shinkansen Three-Dimensional Station Set style layout.
| Set name | 700 Series Departure! Shinkansen
Station Set 700系発進!新幹線ステーションセット |
Release period | 1999 |
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| Track rating |
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| Notes: | The station is very cool... | Price | 4200 |