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ED-70 Electric Locomotive (1975)

The ED-70 electric locomotive was the first reversing Plarail engine developed for the Round-Trip Plarail series in 1975. The yellow ED-70 was first released in sets and in third generation individual boxes with two return rails, with a green version appearing not long after and a red version appearing in a 1977 set.

ED-70 Electric Locomotive (Green) (1975)

The green ED-70 appeared not long after the yellow one in 1975, releasing first in the third generation era of liftoff top boxes as ED-70 Electric Locomotive (D-70でんききかんしゃ). At the end of this era a second style of flapped-top box was used for these green ED-70s and the early EF-66 only. Both boxes can be seen in the Plarail Museum. Both of these ED-70 releases included two reversing Return Rails and a Straight Rail, so it is a complete set in a way.

The ED-70 has a plastic coupling bar sticking out of what would traditionally be the front - the drive wheels are at the opposite end, where the body shell clips in. This ED-70 comes from a later copy of the Round-Trip Plarail 3D Loading and Unloading Set from after the set changed to using a green ED-70 instead of yellow.

The ED-70 has a new chassis and uses the then-new "internal" round-trip gearbox. A plastic lever hanging out of the front side links in with the metal power switch under the plastic coupling plate, with the metal reversing pin hanging just in front of the rear wheels. The motor on this one sprang right to life and after some new rear tires, for which the current replacements parts worked perfectly, it speeds along and throws its weight behind every direction change. Notes on repairing these gearboxes can be found here.

The body shell tooling is the same as the EF-15, also in regular production during this time. It uses the slightly updated 1970s tooling with the larger rear window to avoid the motor shaft.

The original box release included two of the original diagonal reversing switch rails and a straight rail, while the later hinged box has the later type of reversing rail with straight section in the middle of the direction changer.

ED-70 (1976)

In 1976 the yellow ED-70 was released individually in the short-lived "train" style of boxes as an individual locomotive with no rail. These ED-70 boxes seem to be even harder to find than the 1975 boxes. This release can be seen in the Plarail Museum.

In 1976 the Round-Trip EF-66 was introduced, appearing in the 1980s Round-Trip sets after the ED-70 was discontinued around 1978.