fall inside a hole
Radio Control Plarail (1984)
First written November 3, 2023
In 1984 the first series of remote control Plarail trains entitled ラジオコントロール ぼくはうんてんしゅ (roughly Radio Control: I'm A Train Driver) were released. The electronics and remotes for these trains were fairly simple and the only control available was "ON" or "OFF." Being from the mid 80s, the trains use the milky white plastic rim-drive gearbox. Trains released included the Hikari 0 series Shinkansen, Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen 200 series, Blue Train, L Limited Express, Tokai type Express Train, and Subway Train. Trains operated on either 40mhz or 49mhz bands and some trains could be bought in both frequencies. These trains remained on sale until around 1987 when the new power gearbox was introduced.
Radio Control Hikari (1984)
The Radio Control Hikari (ラジオコントロールひかり号) was based on the then-current molding for the Hikari with Light. The three-car train is semi-permanently coupled together with interlocking metal couplings in the place of the standard plastic hook and loop couplers.
The front body shell lifts off like usual to accept one C battery. The lead car has a front mounted power switch and a slightly modified plastic rim-drive gearbox. The intermediate car shell is friction-fit around the housing for the control circuitry and second C battery. This oddly-colored housing has a sticker indicating its frequency and is clipped into a modified 0-series chassis. The top of the housing has a hole for an additional friction-fit interface with a cylindrical protrusion in the intermediate car shell roof. An antenna wire leads out into the tail car. After the discontinuation of the radio control series of trains, some molding characteristics such as the voids for the clips on the radio control housing in the intermediate car chassis and the protrusions in the tail car chassis to hold the antenna. More details about this can be found on the Hikari with Light page.
The gearbox has the regular positive battery contact on the front and engages underneath with the front negative contact strip, but the positive contact strip inside the gearbox is interrupted before reaching the motor and a wire instead sends the positive side of the battery to the remote control unit. Another wire returns to the positive contact of the motor and a third wire connects the unit to the negative side of the motor. This wiring allows the remote control unit to turn on and off power to the motor.
The couplings are completely made out of metal. The rear couplings have a loop for wire routing and the front couplings are bent back in on themselves so that when the car is assembled the loop can not be removed. This are probably the most robust Plarail couplings ever made, although they obviously do not come apart like regular plastic couplings. Compared to later solutions for connecting permanently coupled trains they are very sturdy in comparison, although they do leave the wires exposed.
The remotes are fairly small and are a nice green with cool graphics. The remote is roughly molded after the shape of some locomotive control systems. The remote lever also slides a small colored indicator under a hole in the molding, green for off and red for on. The bottom of the remote is marked with a frequency sticker and has a slide-off cover for the 9-volt battery required for the remote.
When I first received my radio control Hikari it was at the same time as a number of other 1980s Plarail trains, track, and accessories. I built a small layout incorporating many of the new pieces and ran the radio control Hikari on it. I am not sure what in my room is interfering on the 40mhz band but I found that the Hikari would often shudder forward slowly when the remote was switched to the "OFF" position.