Plarail

Plarail (プラレール, Purarēru^?), pronounced in English as Play rail is a toy train and plastic track system made by Tomy and introduced in Japan in 1959. It was expanded into a battery-operated electric toy train system in October 1961. Plarail is not compatible with most other brands of model railway, although as it has a similar rail gauge to the wooden toy train systems, rolling stock may run on both systems to some degree.

In 1959, the Plarail system launched in Japan with three hand-powered trains. The first train set released was titled 'Plastic Railroad Set', which featured a plastic steam train and three freight wagons to be moved by hand, and a figure 8 of light blue plastic railway track. In October 1961, the range was expanded into a battery-operated electric toy train system, where the trains were fitted with miniature motors. The first set featuring this was the 'Electric Pla-Train Set', which included a three-car configuration of an engine and two wagons. The three-car configuration has been frequently used since, particularly for later releases based on real life passenger trains. In 1971, after previously releasing generic trains, the first Plarail model to be based on a real life train was released, the D51 Kisha. Since then, there have been hundreds of Plarail trains and rolling stock based on real Japanese trains. In 1972, the Plarail brand was becoming more known and production of track and scenery pieces greatly increased.

In March 1992, a product line based on the "Thomas and Friends" television series was introduced to Plarail. The line features characters, buildings, and sets based on the series, and has continued to be a popular sub-series of the Plarail system.

In 1997, sharing the anniversary of the first train running in Japan, October 14 was officially designated in Japan as "Plarail Day", where a commemorative limited edition item is released each year. In 1999, the 40th Anniversary of the Plarail system was celebrated with the release of a tinplate version of the C53-43 locomotive and carriage, as well as a re-release of the 'Plastic Railroad Set' with a battery-powered version of the original locomotive.

In 2008, the Hyper Guardian Series was launched. In 2009, the 50th Anniversary of the Plarail system was celebrated. A new version of the original 'Plastic Railroad Set' was released titled the 'C12 Steam Train Arch Bridge and Rail Set', and the first official Plarail Shop opened at Tokyo Station.

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