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Plarail New Train

First written October 9, 2026

The New Train was a silver-plated version of the early Electric Train that was introduced to Tomy's Plarail in 1971. It depicts a JNR 301 series train which were developed off of the 103 series trains that the Electric Train represents, and the toolings were shared throughout New Train production.

New Train (1971)

The New Train was first released individually and in the New Train Set in 1971. It was the first silver-plated Plarail train and has a very striking appearance, even after decades of wear on the plating.

This early release uses the older Train tooling with rounded windows in the door recesses and the representation of the front or rear cab on both ends of all cars.

The chassis has large upwards clips that snap around the body shell and it actually hinges at the back - it can be removed, but the battery can also be inserted and removed without taking it off. I suspect this actually ended up making it a little harder and may have stressed the chassis out more if the player simply tried to lift up the top without realizing about the pegs on the side of the chassis clipping it to the shell. Later in this generation of boxes and into the 1974 third generation release the power car cover was changed to the more traditional lift-straight-up type.

New Train (1974)

In 1974 the New Train was rereleased in third generation boxes, with the tooling being changed to the more refined mid 1970s 103 series tooling with better defined doors and windows and the still-used chassis clip method of attaching the body shell. This release lasted until 1976. With the introduction of new trains with different molds like the Subway Train this release faded into the past... Tomy does not really do silver plating like this and haven't in decades, and the New Train had not been referenced in any of the "revival" type releases that bring back old trains.