fall inside a hole
Hikari with Light (1979)
First written September 6, 2023The Hikari is the high-speed express train running on the Tokaido Shinkansen line. 0-series Shinkansen trains ran the Hikari (as well as the slower Kodama train) from their introduction on October 1st, 1964 through the introduction of 100-series Shinkansen to Hikari service on October 1st, 1985 and until 2000 on the West Hikari run on the Sanyo Shinkansen line, with some temporary Hikari 0-series trains running until December 2008. Before the introduction of any of the other series of Shinkansen the 0 series was called a few different names including the Hikari.
EC-09 Hikari with Light (1979)
The original Hikari with Light was released in 1979 with an old-power plastic gearbox with an incandescent light in the nose of the body shell which shines through the translucent plastic nose and was sprung against contacts in the chassis. The Hikari with Light was first released in a fifth generation "EC" box as EC-09 Hikari with Light. A boxed example of this release can be found in the Plarail Museum.
The chassis has an additional metal contact that is wedged behind the normal positive battery contact sticking out of the front of the plastic rim-drive motor. This strip, as well as another smaller one attached to the normal negative contact strip downstream of the power switch, connect to two spring-loaded contacts at the front of the chassis. Two small eyelet fittings in the red translucent nosepiece of the body shell press down against the pins to power the small bulb housed inside.
I have two early Hikari with Lights, both from copies of the 1979 Basic No.2 Set Hikari with Light, although one is missing its original tail car. Both had dry-rotted traction tires and rim-drive tires. I replaced the wheel tires with new ones and decided to cover the original rim-drive tires with heat-shrink tubing as described here but may change them to using shaved-down rubber grommets in the future as the original tires were pitted and ride rough.
Early release Hikari with Lights lacked the "JAPAN" marking on the wheel clip but are otherwise assembled very similarly to all later 0 series cars. This molding of course predates the mid-80s remote control 0-series molding which later 0-series train molds were derived from. Previous late 1970s non-lit Hikaris did have a Japan mark on the chassis but it was located between the rear coupler and wheel holder and was covered by the new chassis insert system.
The original Hikari with Light would eventually become the basis for the Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with Light, which used a simpler design with the bulb mounted into a new molded carrier piece in the plastic chassis. This meant there was no longer the two sprung electrical connections nor the larger bulb-encapsulation in the nose cone of the body shell. At some point in the 1980s the Hikari with Light transitioned over to using a chassis-mounted bulb like the 200 series, as it was clearly a simpler, cheaper, and probably more serviceable and less fragile design.
The reunified style of 0 and 200 series chassis bulb-mounting became the basis for the New Shinkansen with light, the new power 0 and 200 series trains with and without lights, the 922-series Doctor Yellow with light, and other 0-series based trains before an updated chassis began to be used on new 0 series trains in the 2000s.
Hikari with Light (new power) (1987)
When the 0 (and 200) series trains were updated to use the new power gearbox in 1987 the chassis were based fairly closely on their earlier lit counterparts. New power 0 (and 200) series trains all include the molding features of the light assembly whether or not they actually include it. Early examples were produced in Japan with 0 series production moving to Thailand in the first year of Thailand production in 1989.
The new power Hikari with Light uses the original single-speed new power gearbox and a similar rivet and plastic molding configuration as the old Hikari with Light to hold and power the small bulb at the front of the chassis. A second metal strip runs up the length of the chassis to connect the positive side of the battery through the switch to the bulb. The light effect is very nice through the nose of the Shinkansen.
The Thailand intermediate and tail cars are seemingly based on the moldings for the mid 1980s remote control 0 series, with molding remnants in the chassis.
Unlit versions of the new-power 0-series were included in sets like 1989's First Set and include the molding features and rivets of the light but not the bulb or the additional metal strip running back up the chassis.
The new power 0 series molding was also the basis for the first Doctor Yellow as well as other designs of the 0 series such as the Electric Super Express Hikari throwback release from 1999.
The Hikari with Light hardly changed its external appearance from its introduction in the late 1970s until it was retired in 1996. When the range was refreshed for the ninth generation of boxes in 2001 and 2002 there was no updated regular release 0 series Shinkansen. The "fresh green" color 0 series was released in the Shinkansen Kodama Set in 2003 and a cream and blue version of the 0 series Shinkansen was released as the Plarail Day train for 2003. In the summer of 2004 a "JR" logo 0 series was sold during a "Shinkansen Naru Discovery Day" event and then at Plarail Expos until receiving a fresh box in 2009 and then disappearing from the expo lineup. In 2008 to commemorate the retirement of the 0 series the Thank You Dream Super Express Shinkansen Hikari Set included a five car long 0 series in classic white and blue colors which is possibly the nicest 0 series Plarail Tomy ever made (or probably ever will make). Shortly after the 0 series retired, a six car fresh green "exhibition" set was released. In 2014, a new molding depicting an early 0 series with a lit nose like the classic Hikari with Light was released in a set celebrating the 100th anniversary of Tokyo Station.