Futuristic / Monorail style trains ??

Hi All,

So, I only recently discovered the vast world of Tomy and Plarail (where was this stuff hiding when I was a kid?? Japan, I guess )

So here's my situation ... My son and I have been building a nice collection of Space / Future themed toys for quite some time. Here are a few examples of our Play Display (apologies for being image heavy in this post, but I'm trying to be thorough so I can get the best advice from the resident experts here !)









These are stock images, but you get the idea ... "Space" toys from different eras living in harmony in our game room I don't care about the scale as much as I do about the aesthetics. For example, we've got some playmobil guys and lego minis alongside my GI Joes and plastic spacemen.

i'd really like to add some sort of train set to this equation. When I was a tike I had a 3rd hand Lego Futuron Monorail that would be PERFECT for this setup, but somewhere along the line it disappeared or got donated to my cousins (and I cannot believe the price that those things fetch nowadays ... pretty sure mine was bought for $5 at a garage sale)

In reality, THIS is the train set I really want ... but I have yet to find one on the open market and have no idea how much it would set me back.


So, when I discovered Plarail I thought this might be the solution I've been looking for, especially when I came across the awesome clear tunnel accessory.

What I'd really like to have is a Monorail or "Space Age / Futuristic" looking train that could loop around and weave in and out of our imaginary Galactic outpost. I looked at the Disney monorail sets, but they just look kind of cheap and plain to me, and I don't need an obnoxious voice welcoming me to the Magic Kingdom. The Tomy Hanging Monorail is pretty fantastic, but doesn't fit the aesthetic vibe I'm trying to achieve and is a little pricey.

For my money, the Blue Track sort of has that Spacey feel and I'm just trying to find the right train to fit the bill. From what I've seen, the Kesei Skyliner looks pretty sleek, but there are so many Tomy trains I just don't know where to really begin.

So if you made it to the end of this extra long post, congrats to you and thanks for sticking it out ! Can you guys point me in the direction of a train or two that fits the Space, Future, Monorail vibe I'm going for here ? Can you suggest some accessories that might really flesh out my idea? I honestly don't care if in reality it's a boring commuter line in Osaka if we could legitimately look at it from across the room and say that it looks like the Astro Jetrail of the 24th century

You guys have a great looking online community here and I really appreciate any insight you can provide !

Thanks so much !!

[Super]

I love Sci Fi, outer spacy stuff too. Sure would like to see a picture of that room you have.

Off the top of my head I don't think Tomy makes something like that although I think it would be a great idea if they did. The only thing that comes close probably would be the Tokyo Monorail 2000 Plarail but I don't recommend it. As you can see in the video below the Monorail is slow and wobbly. Now what I do think would more fit the bill is not a Tomy product and it is a Disney replica but its of the newer Disney Monorail longer, stream lined, different color schemes and with a motor swap can be faster which along with their realistic rails would have a better feel for the space theme than the Tomy monorails. I am sure that there would be an easy way to either turn off any Disney sounds or a way to cut it out if there is no switch. Take a look in the second and third video.

Well I'm not sure about monorails, but futuristic trains?

I thought of the japanese Nankai Rapit straight away.....




These are widely available from places like eBay

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...D=EBAY-GB

As for Lego monorails...... I have one in my loft, it's missing lots of pieces and I can remember buying it with my birthday money when I was a child, your right though, I can't believe how expensive they are!


*edit*

I went on eBay and searched 'plarail' and came up with a few more trains,

Narita Express
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...D=EBAY-GB

Kintetsu
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...D=EBAY-GB

Series 287
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...D=EBAY-GB

Kyushu
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...D=EBAY-GB

Plarail version


Real version


I like the Kyushu!

[Super]

Good choices Tramp

There is one plarail store exclusive that is called the blue streak or something like that, it is in eBay, and many other futuristic looking trains are made for the plarail store.

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies and suggestions ... I'm really blown away by some of the designs of these trains. The aesthetics are just amazing.

So I was doing some more research and came across this:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest...bot/.86010

Talk about "Futuristic" ! Was there a series of these or was this a one-off?

I also came across this Hyper Guardian series



So ... what exactly is this train hyper guarding ?

Is there an online index of these somewhere? I honestly can't believe the amount of variety that I've stumbled across in a few days of searching. I'm quickly falling down the rabbit hole here ...

[Super]

There are many in the Hyper Guardian line. You can check out some videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...r+guardian

Although this seller only has one type left you can see some pictures of the offered ones. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-TOMY-PLARAIL...2ec88212b5

Well guys ... I'm still researching and acquainting myself with the world of Plarail and I have to admit that I'm getting sucked into this in a BIG way, but I'm still not sure what my initial purchase will be just yet. However, I've managed to convince my wife that it would be a cool "novelty" to run one of these things around the flower beds on our deck, so I say that's a big win up front


So, today I became aware of Plarail Advance and I've got a few questions for you veterans ...

Firstly, what's the consensus on this vs. the normal plarail models? I got the impression that folks either love it or hate it from the youtube comments I read.

Secondly, I read somewhere that the Advance trains won't work with a sloped track without derailing ... is that true? That would be a deal breaker for me, unfortunately cause I'm still looking for a system that would sort of simulate a monorail or elevated rail, at least partially.

So what's the low-down on Plarail Advance from the community at large?

BTW, thanks so much for the thoughtful replies and links you've provided thus far ... I've followed them all and they've been extremely useful. I'm definitely a novice and it's nice to be participating in a friendly internet community here ... I appreciate it greatly !

Ok, well here's my sixpence worth on the Advance range.

Personally I love it, for a start it is backward compatible with the standard plarail 'blue tracks' so if you have any existing track or you pick some up somewhere you have an automatic head-start. It also means if you decide Advance is not for you then you can still re-use any 'standard' track you already own for the larger plarail rolling stock.

Secondly you get to run two trains on a single track side-by-side so that you can have a more active layout for the same amount of track.

Thirdly and the winner for me is that the locomotives themselves are a true work of art. The detail is stunning and due to the smaller scale they are more accurate in terms of dimensions than the larger plarail scale. You can also with most of them connect them with couplings so you can create longer trains.

Unfortunately I can't confirm or deny the issues with the trains climbing slopes as I don't currently own the slope specifically made for the Advance series, but I have seen videos online where they appear to run as well as standard plarail and/or where the owners have a dual level setup.

The only other downside is that you do need plarail advance specific types of certain track components such as stop rails, points and the aformentioned 'slope', but these are relatively cheap so aren't a major blocker, doubly so if you are starting from scratch.

Hope this helps a bit, Nigel

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Oh, and I just found this; Hyper Guardian Starter Set

This is a basic start set containing one of the Hyper Guardian locomotives/carriages with an oval of track for just over £35 so quite reasonable in price

Thanks for the feedback, Nigel ... definitely a big help. It appears that there are specific sloping rails and girders for the Advance series on ebay so maybe the issues I read about have already been solved.

I agree with you that the Advance trains look that much better than the normal size. There's something about the wheels on the standard size models that sort of turns me off, but I think these smaller trains just look beautiful and have more of a "train" feel as opposed to something that looks like it would roll just fine down the highway.

So where does everyone buy their trains and supplies? I know there are other options besides ebay, but what do the experts suggest??