fall inside a hole
Tomy Express Set 01 (1989)
First written May 15, 2025
The Tomy Express Set 01 is a German-market Tomy Express set based on the 1987 Plarail Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with Light Set. It features a 200 series Shinkansen with TOMY EXPRESS text on a small oval layout with tunnel.
Set contents| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 3 pieces |
200 series Shinkansen with TOMY EXPRESS text on the power car |
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| 2 | Straight Rail (Tomy Express dark blue) |
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| 8 | Curve Rail (Tomy Express dark blue) |
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| 1 | Block tunnel (front and rear sections only) |
 |
| 4 | Catenary |
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| 1 | Standing Tree |
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| 1 | Signal |
 |
The Tomy Express 200 series is based on 1987's new power Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with Light and has large "TOMY EXPRESS" text in red on the power car. Starting production around 1989 it was one of the earlier Plarail-style trains produced in Thailand. The 200 series Shinkansen is perhaps my favorite and this was thusly one of the Tomy Express trains I wanted to find the most.
In addition to the text, the train has one other feature I haven't seen on other trains descended from the Hikari with Light - a red lens block over where the bulb shines behind the nose cone, which helps tint the light coming out I don't think it was probably worth the extra production cost, which is probably why it doesn't appear anywhere else. This particular example dates to 1992, which was later in Tomy-Express' life.
All of the track in this set is made in Thailand and is the same dark blue as other Tomy Express sets as well as the Tomy Train sets on sale around the same time in America and other parts of Europe. Being later production, it has avoided the shrinkage issue of earlier dark blue track. There was a mix of at least two curve rail toolings in the lot that this set was mostly pieced together from - parts to a Tomy-Express Set 03 were also present.
The standing trees, catenaries, signals, and block tunnel are also all made in Thailand and use the period Thailand toolings.
Its a small set for sure, being no. 1, but isn't the train with shining nose so neat...
| Set name | Tomy-Express Set 01 | Release period | 1989-~1993 |
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| Notes: | The train rating is a little biased |