ALPHA クリーム色夢
I see that you have enjoyed my blog to the extent of finding this hidden link.I will introduce my favourite Plarail and Pla Highway that I have collected.
Now that you have seen too much secrecy, please go back to the main blog page now. I BEG YOU!
© LS_Vio. 70s Layout Assembler. Founder of LS Research Team.
ハイウェイぜんじどうふみきり
What was the most important integrator of Plarail and PlaHighway? The answer is the ぜんじどうふみきり and the 新国際空港ステーション. I already have the 新国際空港セット in my collection before this, but I felt that the PlaHighway portion of the 新国際空港ステーション was useless most of the time. Therefore I emphasised on obtaining the first generation of PlaHighway rails as soon as possible. "But that wasn't enough, I need something more interactive", I thought.
This set is the perfect solution. Plarail and PlaHighway are travelling in directly perpendicular directions. The ぜんじどうふみきり was designed in such a way that the train's movements are prioritised, directly affecting the waiting time duration of the car at the boom gate.If you are an extreme 1970s Plarail geek, you would immediately notice that the male and female rail joints are completely opposite of the ぜんじどうふみきり included in the ハイウェイふみきりステーションセット. Although obtaining the set was first a huge moment of rejoice, that moment didn't continue long due to the abnormal and unoptimal positioning of the joints for layout assembly. This is exactly why TOMY changed the positioning of the joints in the same year of 1974. In other words, the ぜんじどうふみきりセット just a few months older than the ハイウェイふみきりステーションセット.This also means that the older ぜんじどうふみきり is not compatible with the ターミナルビル in terms of PlaHighway gimmicks due to the unidirectional design of the gimmicks. The situation of incompatibility can be quickly turned around by using the 新国際空港ステーション because there are no PlaHighway gimmicks installed in the 新国際空港ステーション. Therefore, the 新国際空港セット and ぜんじどうふみきりセット are like a happy married couple!
This ぜんじどうふみきり has one real downside: unidirectional gimmicks. The cars only go in one direction unlike the first generation 全自動ふみきり. Another less complainable downside is that there is no battery operation, the car will have to wait at the boom gate until the train crosses the blue platform or the red button on the side is pressed. Nevertheless, the technology of 1974 has demonstrated its marvels.
A lot of layouts like these could be assembled. The integration of Plarail and PlaHighway is definitely one of the most difficult aspects in assembling a good 70s layout because PlaHighway layouts are harder to tweak to one's own will compared to Plarail layouts. I mean, 1/2 rail size does not exist in the entire PlaHighway series, but strangely 2/3 rail size exists. I feel that the PlaHighway series absolutely needs a rail with male-male joints and a rail with female-female joints.
© LS_Vio. 70s Layout Assembler. Founder of LS Research Team.
新国際空港ステーション
This is the root of me sinking into the 1970s Plarail swamp. Yes, the root of all evil. When I first obtained this set 2 years ago, I had no idea that PlaHighway existed. I assembled around 10 layouts without a single morsel of PlaHighway integration. A year later, I learned that the road/highway section on the opposite side of the 新国際空港ステーション turned out to be directly related to PlaHighway. I previously mentioned that the 新国際空港セット and ぜんじどうふみきりセット are like a happy married couple due to their compatibility pros and cons. I will now discuss the reasons.
A very battered up set, like it went through the torturous hells of many Japanese natural disasters. This set is a strong survivor isn't it? I was so fortunate to purchase this set as low as 23000 yen, now it is impossible to buy it at this price. When it arrived at my house, I was relieved that the stickers are still in very good condition despite the set receiving all kinds of punishment, God knows what happened to this set.
A very simple gimmick which turns every layout into a radical and high-profile center of attention by making an aeroplane fly 2 full circular laps before the train leaves the airport. You can spend hours just watching the airplane fly. The big downfall of this is that more space is needed in order to not obstruct the aeroplane flight path. Honestly I would prefer using the ターミナルビル over the 新国際空港ステーション for this scenario. Both of them have unidirectional gimmicks, so it is not as smart like the Action Airport from the Narita Airport set which has omnidirectional gimmicks.The main point that outlines the differences between the 2 station bases are the presence or absence of the unidirectional gimmicks installed in the PlaHighway portion. No gimmicks in the PlaHighway portion of the 新国際空港ステーション opens up layout assembly opportunites for the ぜんじどうふみきり from the ぜんじどうふみきりセット.ターミナルビル was manufactured in 1974 and 新国際空港ステーション was manufactured in 1978.
One would say: "It is an upgraded ターミナルビル". Actually, this is true for people who only have the ぜんじどうふみきり included in the ぜんじどうふみきりセット. The ぜんじどうふみきりセット from the ハイウェイふみきりステーションセット will of course be the optimal solution due to the positioning of the joints which positively affects the difficulty of assembling a layout. All is not lost if you do not have the ぜんじどうふみきりセット from the ハイウェイふみきりステーションセット because many layout possibilities are still present without using it. Another reason is because there is less complexity due to the lack of gimmicks in the PlaHighway portion. Less gears, less complexity, easier to find faults and repair, and less chance of malfunction. It makes sense.Other people would disagree that the 新国際空港ステーション is an upgraded version of the ターミナルビル just because of the removal of gimmicks from the PlaHighway portion of the ターミナルビル. Of course it will be less fun removing gimmicks, and I totally understand this.Conclusion: I love the challenge of Plarail and PlaHighway integration very much. You would want to pair the ぜんじどうふみきり from ぜんじどうふみきりセット and the 新国際空港ステーション together. ターミナルビル and ぜんじどうふみきり from the ハイウェイふみきりステーションセット will be a separate pair. And yes, you can pair the ターミナルビル and the 新国際空港ステーション together.The sample layouts of Plarail and PlaHighway integration using ぜんじどうふみきり from ぜんじどうふみきりセット and 新国際空港ステーション can be referred from the ハイウェイぜんじどうふみきり link.
© LS_Vio. 70s Layout Assembler. Founder of LS Research Team.
初代のスカイライナー
[UNDER DEVELOPMENT AND NOT COMPLETE, PLEASE WAIT FOR A LITTLE WHILE]Many of my followers on Twitter and YouTube subscribers already know about this. I can't help it, but to fall in love with the first generation Keisei Skyliner. I was also teased by one of my followers: "Vio the Skyliner simp". Well, you can't stop a simp like me from simping, so here I go again.SKYLINER・PRIDE!
© LS_Vio. 70s Layout Assembler. Founder of LS Research Team.