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Action on the Rails! C62 Steam Locomotive Set (2019)
First written April 11, 2025
The Action on the Rails! It will Happen! It will Shine! C62 Steam Locomotive Set (レールでアクション!なるぞ! ひかるぞ! C62 蒸気機関車セット) was released in March 2019 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Plarail system, which was established in 1959. There were two slight variations in this set's release, with the version pictured here including an extra section of triggering track in celebration of Plarail's 60th anniversary. The "regular" release still featured 60th anniversary branding.
Set contents| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 2 pieces | C-62 steam locomotive |
 |
| 8 | R-03 Curve Rail |
 |
| 1 |
Stop Rail (half straight version) |
 |
| 2 | R-18 Slope Curve Rail (one of each type) |
 |
| 1 | Bridge Rail (four bumps) |
 |
| 1 | Railroad Crossing Rail (six bumps) |
 |
| 1 | Tunnel Rail (eight bumps) |
 |
| 1 | 60th Anniversary Rail (seven bumps) |
 |
| 2 pieces | Block Tunnel (redesigned connection type) |
 |
| 2 pieces | J-03 Iron Bridge (side pieces only) |
 |
| 1 | J-20 Girder Bridge (color variation) |
 |
| 3 pieces | Station with water tower and five-bump station rail |
 |
| 1 | Phone stand |
 |
| 2 | Cardboard scene |
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The train in this set is the C-62, which appears in Plarail from time to time, and is the C-62-2 unit that pulled the Tsubame express train and is preserved in working condition with the headmark and smoke deflector swallows of the Swallow service.
As the full name of the set suggests, the main feature of this set is the locomotive's sound and light features which are triggered by bumps in special rail sections similar to the original Talking Thomas/Talk 'n Action range which featured talking Thomas the Tank Engine characters. The track sections are not exactly the same, and the C-62 has no control over the motor and gearbox as the tender is a separate standard pushing car. This locomotive was manufactured on February 8th, 2019.
A station base with integrated triggering track section can have the station building itself, which is rather thin and looking even more boring than usual without any of its stickers, as well as half of a water tower inserted into the base. The water tower can go on either side.
Clips on either side can hold one of the included cardboard scene backgrounds. The station and water tower can be removed or they can still be placed (the water tower can not go on the same side as a scene). The two cards depict a countryside with a mountain - Mt. Fuji? - in the background and a roundhouse with turntable.
Here are the instructions for the set. Mostly, they show where to put all the stickers and explain how to install all the batteries and explore all the play features. The rear advertises the only other train they developed for this system, a commuter train on the Yamanote line with some new rails (apparently one that pairs well with the car wash). Its kind of funny that 15 or so years later Plarail revisited sound features for the C-62 and Yamanote Line, which both appeared in the sound train boom in the earlier 2000s...
The sticker sheet has labels for the track, the stickers to make the station look a bit better, and a Plarail 60th anniversary headmark sticker as well as another Tsubame one. Also included is a phone stand for use with the companion app...
It is very cool that the idea of track-controlled trains was revisited again, something that some other train brands like Brio have explored as well, but it was very cool in the Talking Thomas series that the motors were also being controlled. The problem is any train with wires running between the power car and another will eventually wear out under the heavy use of a child, and I understand why Tomy tries to avoid this in the "new mechanism" era.
The set is pretty cool for its triggerable sound and light features but the size and selection of rail and accessories is perhaps not up to the standards of something like the 50th Anniversary C12 Steam Locomotive Arch Bridge and Rail Set... Obviously the train's components are more expensive than a regular train, but both of the old Talking Thomas sets were massive and the Sound Steam D51 Set had a larger layout with more substantial accessories... There is a suggested expanded layout that incorporates a new railroad crossing to use the railroad crossing trigger rail.
| Set name | Action on the Rails! It will Happen!
It will Shine! C62 Steam Locomotive Set レールでアクション!なるぞ! ひかるぞ! C62 蒸気機関車セット |
Release period | 2019 |
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| Notes: | Price |