Tomy Super Rail System

I would agree with Rokman, it looks very similar to the Tomy offerings I've seen, but they are listed as 'Tomy Super Rail Black', although maybe that is an indication that they had some sets in a different colour?!?

thanks, rok and nigels.

after advice from geris, im going to bid on and hopefully win this set. they want around $32usd for it, which isnt too bad. it is a tomy set, which is the whole appeal.

The other possible difference to the super rail black is that the black have black plastic sleepers etc, but metal rails.

@sunhuntin,

That picture you have there says "Tomy Super Rail D51 Steam Locomotive".

Definitely Tomy.

-plarnold

thanks, plarnold worth the asking price, do you think? [roughly $32usd]

It must be worth $40 usd.

Super Rail in 1988 Plarail Catalogue. Discontinued in 1991.

[Super]

I do like a few items and have had or do have some. That tunnel with the grey entrances is perfect with my grey track Layouts. I have had some of those trees and signal but sold them off. For some reason I think I have some other pieces not shown but can't recall off the top of my head. I am curious about those brick piers and red bridge and whether they would work with Plarail.

Wait a minute. Could it be the Union Express track I use for my customs is actually a (slightly modified) clone of this system? I completely forgot it existed and the track looks near identical, now that I've seen it again. I see they even made curves in different radiuses, points, slopes, a powered turntable that stops by itself and even decouplers (!). Makes me wonder if my stock would be the right gauge for it, assuming a Plarail train would still fit between the outer rails. Not to mention: the red bridge, semaphore and tunnel look like they reappeared in certain Plarail sets after this range ended (incl. Thomas ones, where I got mine from). If it is indeed where they originated, it should be mentioned on the Motorized Wiki if it isn't already. Also found a surprising number of videos showing these trains running, so I'll add the first one that showed up for me:



Apparently, they were even cloned by a Brazilian (?) company named Estrela and sold in South America at one point. Totally magnificent lineup, and it's a real shame they had to stop making it. They really remind me of my own work in the way they look less toylike but still aren't scale models.

Apparently, they were even cloned by a Brazilian (?) company named Estrela and sold in South America at one point.

They weren't cloned, Estrela were licensed to produce Super Rail by Tomy, as were companies in the USA and Spain (which may also have been Estrela?).

There have been several Super Rail Encyclopedias, the latest (I think) being スーパーレール大百科neo, published in 2019.

"Super Rail" is a railroad toy that took the world by storm from the late 40's to the 50's, with the slogan "After graduating from Plarail, Super Rail". -This book is full of Super Rail materials, including the introduction of the history of vehicle systems, rail systems, automatic control systems, and the history of Super Rail, as well as overseas editions collected from all over the world.

Don't be fooled by those dates, they are Japanese Showa era years, for example Showa 40 = 1965.