fall inside a hole

EF210 Momotaro (2001)

First written September 20, 2023

The EF210 class of locomotive was developed in the mid 90s and began official operation in 1998. They replaced older EF65 and EF66 on high speed freight lines. Nearly 150 EF210s have been produced and many are still in operation.

In 2001 the EF210 桃太郎 or EF210 Momotaro was released in the short-lived 8th generation packaging and featured the EF210 102 locomotive and a blue Schnabel-type large cargo car with a generator, a new freight car for 2001. Momotaro or "peach boy" is a child born from a giant peach who defeats a den of demons in Japanese folklore. This was the first time a JR locomotive adopted a formal nickname, with ECO-POWER MOMOTARO being chosen. The photograph on the front of the box is of the real-life EF210 102.

The EF210 and Schnabel car sit in a cardboard tray which can be slid out of the box. The locomotive comes wrapped in a plastic sleeve.

The engine is nicely molded and detailed and is in line with the detail put into other new moldings from the early 2000s. The chassis is a later 90s molding with curvy Tomy logo. The box refers to this engine as having a "Hi-Power Motor" but unlike the EH500 Kintaro which uses the lower-speed Thomas gearbox this one uses the single-speed new power gearbox and thus would have similar pulling power to another single-speed new power engine - unless the actual motor is a higher performance type. Perhaps some time I will have to compare it against other engines with a spring scale. My EF210 Momotaro was produced in August 2001.

The Schnabel car in the set was a new molding for 2001 and was also available in black in the First Try Dark Blue set. The car is made up of two bogies with the two supporting "arms," one with a protruding peg and the other with a catch. The machine has a peg on one side and a catch on the other, allowing the machine to be loaded into the car or for the two bogies to be connected directly to one another with no load. This mimics the real-life design and use of Schnabel cars, which are fitted to either ends of large heavy machinery where it can then be carried by train and, when not carrying anything, the two portions can be connected together to one another and run like an odd but approximately normal freight car.

The EF210 Momotaro was rereleased in 2002 in 9th generation packaging as S-26 EF210 Momotaro which was also reissued in 10th generation packaging and remains in the lineup as of 2023. In 2022 a new EF210 based on the 300 series revision with the running number 301 as ES-11 EF210 Momotaro.