fall inside a hole
Plarail Super Hikaris
First written March 14, 2024Happy Pi day!
Expanded June 10, 2024
The Super Hikari was a mockup "prototype" cab unit for a future Shinkansen that was exhibited around Japan from 1987 to 1989 to show off the sort of train that would pull the new, faster "Super Hikari" service. Throughout the actual development of the next Shinkansen, the look of the "Super Hikari" prototype was found to be both unfeasible and counter to their goal of increased speed. The mockup was scrapped after being last shown off in the spring of 1989 and the eventual next-generation 300 series Shinkansen entered service in 1992 on the new faster Nozomi service. In 1988 a radio control Super Hikari with lights and a horn was released in the large I'm the Driver of the Super Hikari Set and in 1990 the regular Plarail Super Hikari was released. Before the real 300 series was developed this was briefly the "premiere" Plarail Shinkansen, replacing the older 100 series trains in some sets and receiving a remote control version as well as being exported outside Japan.
Radio Control I'm Driving the Super Hikari (1988)
In 1988 a radio control Super Hikari was released in the large I'm Driving the Super Hikari Set and included in the even larger I'm Driving the Super Hikari Remote Control Point Set in 1989. The mockup Super Hikari was only ever a cab section which is the equivalent of the Plarail power car (or tail car, if you want to look at it that way). The intermediate car is, as far as I am aware, an original concept by Tomy made to match the design of the cab. I think it does a rather nice job of this, and I like the large separately fitted translucent plastic windows used on all the cars. It gives it a cool futuristic look (albeit admittedly a sort of late 1980s futuristic look, but I like it that way), almost a bit like a space ship or UFO. I really like it, honestly a lot more than what the 300 series eventually looked like. These trains were produced in Japan from 1988 to 1990 until production of the regular Super Hikaris started in Thailand, at which point some components like the power car body shell were manufactured in Thailand.
The battery compartment in these trains takes three AA batteries with a fabric strap to help remove them. The bulb for the headlights is located at the front of the battery carrier. This train is very neat and has operating lights, a horn, two forward speeds, and the ability to reverse. A special variant of the new power gearbox has a pinned gear on the side that engages with a gear on the inside of one of the rear wheels which drives a similar gear integrated into one of the front wheels. Funnily, the front right wheel is free-spinning instead of being pressed on the axle, so the train is only three wheel drive even though they went to all the trouble of transmitting power up to the front axle...
The example shown here is from a 1991 production example of the I'm Driving the Super Hikari Set. The body shell was produced in Thailand but has a Japan-style production sticker and Japanese chassis. Like the mid 1980s radio control trains, the intermediate car holds the receiver and an antennae trails out to the tail car. Two of the wires are connected to the contact strips in the gearbox coming from the battery holder through the power switch, with two other wires taking power back to the motor. The back wire connects to an extra contact strip in the gearbox that passes through to the bulb in the battery carrier.
The remote offers directional and speed control (although the train always seems to run in the slow speed backwards) as well as mechanically-interlocked buttons for the horn and light. Maybe running the motor at high speed, lights, and horn drains the batteries or puts too much strain on the circuitry so they decided to lock out being able to run the lights and horn at the same time as a safety measure. Linkages move parts of the "display" to change if the front or rear of the train is shown with the directional lever and the speed indicator increases with the speed dial.
The remote takes three AA batteries, bringing the total needed to run the train up to six.
These trains went out of production in 1991 and were replaced with a remote control version of the 300 series Nozomi in 1992.
Super Hikari (1989/1990)
First included in the 1989 Super Hikari Three Dimensional Station Set, in 1990 a standard Plarail Super Hikari (スーパーひかり号) was released in sixth generation packaging with a two-speed new power gearbox. These trains were based on the toolings for the radio control Super Hikari shown above.
The battery compartments on these trains is obviously a lot more traditional, and is basically a more standard Plarail-style chassis that is built to accommodate a regular battery with a regular two-speed new-power gearbox and the same body shells. The body shells are marked Off-On-Hi as the two speeds are now controlled via the power switch, not a remote like the original. It also has traditional couplings and new SH-201 text on the intermediate car.
I have two standard Plarail Super Hikaris, one earlier and one later. The earlier Super Hikari has a white power switch and has broken tabs on the power car. The other Super Hikari is a September 1994 example with blue power switch and gears as well as a sticker over part of the front battery contact. This was the first Shinkansen-type Plarail train to use grey wheels and one of the earlier grey-wheeled Plarail trains in general.
I have a few more Super Hikari intermediate cars somewhere, some from the German Tomy Express version shown below. Some do not have the SH201 text on the side like the radio control version above - I am not sure if somebody swapped them, or if it was added early into production. I am not sure what exactly this designation refers to, or if Tomy just decided to give the car an imaginary running number. As far as I am aware there were never any intermediate car designs shown, and the car is purely Tomy's design.
Tomy Express (1989)
Also beginning around 1989 the Super Hikari was exported to Germany in the Tomy Express Set 03 based on the Super Hikari Three Dimensional Station Set. This version has added TOMY EXPRESS text but is otherwise similar to Plarail Super Hikaris.
The Super Hikari was never updated for seventh generation packaging in 1994 and by the mid 1990s sixth generation Super Hikaris had mostly disappeared as well. For a brief time the Super Hikari was treated like a new regular Shinkansen but when it was clear that the 300 series would be moving in a different direction it was quickly supplanted by the 2-Speed Nozomi in sets in the early 1990s.