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Plarail Hitachi trains

First written August 27, 2024

Originally served by 80 series diesel commuter cars, the Hitachi was later serviced by 485 series trains, with refreshed Super Hitachi and Fresh Hitachi trains appearing on the service later.

Super Hitachi (1989-1998)

New 651 series railcars began servicing the Hitachi service on the Joban line in 1989 and were released in Plarail form in September 1989 as スーパーひたち Super Hitachi. The Plarail train represents the shape of the real thing nicely with  mix of painted and sticker details like many older classic Plarail trains. The example shown here has some damage around both cabs, and it is a little worn out.

These trains were first produced in Japan, as seen here. The Super Hitachi was rereleased for Thailand production in seventh generation packaging between 1994 and 1998, with it was replaced with several colors of Fresh Hitachi.

Fresh Hitachi (1998-2002)

For a fairly limited time, red, blue, yellow, and green color variations of the Fresh Hitachi were released in seventh generation packaging, The blue, yellow, and green trains were considered limited releases and went out of print in 1998, with the red version remaining in the lineup through 1999. In 1999 and Orange Fresh Hitachi was released and remained on sale until 2002 when the range was refreshed. These were the last regular release Hitachi trains until the S-18 E657 Series Express Train was released between 2012 and 2016.