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SCMAGLEV and Railway Park Opening Commemoration Special Set (2011)

First written March 31, 2025

The SCMAGLEV and Railway Park opened at Kinjo Pier in the Minato Ward of Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan in March 2011 and on March 17th, 2011 Tomy released the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park Opening Commemoration Special Set (リニア・鉄道館開館記念スペシャルセット) featuring several trains featured at the park.

The box is packed like two three-car trains, with the pack coming in plastic sleeves with foam blocks like regular individual releases. Most other Plarail multi-pack releases have two or three more traditional three-car trains but this pack and a few others commemorating museum openings include a mix of powered and unpowered cars from different trains.

The full three-car train is the 955-series "300X" Shinkansen, the only time the train has been released in Plarail form since the original 300X Shinkansen sold from the mid 1990s to early 2000s. The box says of the 955 Series Shinkansen Test Car (300X): This is a high-speed test car manufactured by JR Central in 1994 for the purpose of developing the next-generation Shinkansen line following the 300 series. It is commonly known as the 300X. The shape of the leading car is different at the front and rear, with the Tokyo-bound car being a wedge type based on the 300 series, and the Hakata-bound car being a cusp type based on the beak of a duck. In July 1996 the round wedge type train set Japan's fastest speed record of 443km/h (excluding linear trains), and was also used in development testing for the 700 series Shinkansen and other trains before being taken out of service in January 2002. The round wedge-type leading car is on display at the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park.

The 955 series train set the Japanese land speed record of 443.0km/h on July 26, 1996, but it was the 955-6 heading the train at the time while the Plarail version has the 955-1 car leading. Only the 955-6 car is preserved on display, and it wears an emblem commemorating its record (it can be seen on the Wikipedia page for the 955 series train) and the Plarail tail car has small stickers on either side.

The second powered vehicle in the set is a very nice "Grape Color No. 2" brown EF 58 number 157. The box says of the EF-58: The EF58 is a leading electric locomotive of Japanese railways whose production began in 1946. Since 1952 its style has been changed to a streamlines shape, and its performance has also been improved. Due to its excellent high-speed performance and convenient equipment, it was used to pull numerous express and limited express trains. Locomotive No. 157 was used for transport in the Hamamatsu area for a long time after it was newly built and was once scrapped, but was revived in 1988 and was active mainly on the Nagoya Main Line. It was retired in 2008 and has been preserved at Hamamatsu Works. This is the same classic EF-58 tooling and is similar to the EF-58 in the Plarail 40th Anniversary Edition pack.

This EF58 has brown skirting on the chassis and lacks the black roof and imperial silver stripe of the EF 58 61 represented in the anniversary pack.

Also included are tail cars to a Kiha 181 series express diesel car (キハ181形特急気動車) and a 0 series Shinkansen. The box says of the Kiha: The Kiha 181 series is a limited express air-conditioned car manufactured from 1968 onwards, and first appeared on the Shinano on the Central Line. Equipped with a high-output engine, it was used as an express train to increase speed on sections with many gradients before electrification. Kiha 181-1 was retired from commercial operation by JR Shikoku in 1993, transferred to JR Central, and was preserved at the Sakuma Rail Park in Tenryu Ward, Matsuyama City. It bears the tailmark of the Shinano service. Kiha 181-1 at the Railway Park is one of two preserved Kiha 181 cars.

The 0 series was one of the later releases to use the old tooling dating back to the Hikari with Light, with the new-mechanism tooling introducing the large-window tooling in 2014. The box says of the 0 series: The first Shinkansen was introduced in October 1964. With a maximum speed of 210km/h, the train could travel between Tokyo and Osaka in just 3 hours and 10 minutes, a journey that had previously taken 6 hours. At the time, it was called the "Dream Super Express." It was used as the head of the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines for 44 years, but due to the introduction of new vehicles and aging it ceased commercial operation in November 2008. I like the pale nose cone.

Interesting to note that in addition to being produced in Vietnam, the tail car was also manufactured in December 2010, earlier than the power cars and other Thailand-made trains in the set. The back of the box notes that the 0 series car is made in Vietnam after the Made in Thailand text on the rear of the box.