Awesome DHL Again!

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Oh...thats what you were referring to Vio. I thought you were talking about the wheels on the axle being misaligned.

Looking at it again and a bit closer, the rear axle looks to be perfectly covered and the front axle is just a bit off.

Are those axles on the Rail Transport Car the old style or the new like the Pig Wagon?

Should be new style because they are released together.

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My observations on the new, re-released Crane Car (KF-08). The best Train vehicle Plarail/Tomy/Trackmaste/Hit etc ever released.

This is exactly a match for the original that came exclusively in 2009 in the "Protect the Rails, Track Maintenance Set".  This very detailed Crane is exact and they must have used the original molds. There is only one difference. and that is how the 2 vehicles connect.

The original has a long white, rubber like, sealed doubled ended coupling where the two cars can not be separated. This new version has an exclusively long hard plastic coupling that can be 'un-coupled'. I am not so sure this was a good idea as this exclusively made can easily be lost leaving the owner without a means to couple up short of a hand made one. The rubber of the original made it very flexible so I am wondering what there reasoning was for the replacement unless they heard complaints. The longer length is needed so the outriggers would clear the support car going around curves. If anything they should have made one end of the coupling a sealed circle like the normal ones so it wouldn't easily get lost.

I must admit that I was hoping that a new release would have improved upon the connection points for the cranes boom along with the movable roof cover for it. These easily pop off and with rough handling by children can be lost or damaged but no changes were made as this is an exact match. You see many for sale in the Japan Auctions with either parts or both missing.

One other thing to mention on this beauty is the fact that neither can have anything coupled after it. There is now where a coupling can go on the rear of the Crane Car so this would have to be the last cars in your rake of rolling stock running on the rails.

Below is a picture showing the comparison of a regular coupling next to the longer couplers that come with Plarails DD51 and DE10 Diesels. Then the longest one is what comes with this crane.

I  love this Crane and love the fact that they didn't cut corners as it has six wheels to simulate the need of carrying a heavy piece of machinery along with the weight it would be lifting.

The long couplings can be used for C-57 SL, where the 2 couplings can be removed to be replaced by 1 long coupling. Its almost a staple asset in the Plarail inventory.

Even after the crane is released, the Protect The Rails Track Maintenance All Stars set still goes for a very high price. Say around 22000 yen or more.

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 Its almost a staple asset in the Plarail inventory.

Really??? I have not seen any this long before. Where were you getting them from.

The C-57 is a 'Push' engine, wouldn't it have trouble using a long coupling like this rather than the special hook and coupler made so the side to side movement is reduced?

It became a staple recently, due to the fact that 2 female connector ends can be connected together. Before the coupling existed, we had to saw off half a male connector to connect the 2 female joints but there is a risk of breaking the male connector the wrong way due to the high pressure of the saw onto the connector. The Green Works Unit car has both male connector ends, so it is expensive and is a staple when making modified Plarail.

C-57 is definitely a push SL, but I’m just giving an example that it can be used as the tender car and the SL has the same type of connecting scheme as the crane car. It doesn’t work at tight corners but it still works on normal curves. Another example for this is to connect a SL to a powered DL as both ends are female. This allows the formation to move backwards and forwards and is used in Plarail Driving Parties to recreate real life formations.

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So these are Plarail and became a staple recently...what train did they come with or is Plarail selling them separately?

BTW...I was able to confirm through watching a video the the Rail Maintenance Car does indeed have the one piece chassis with the new fixed wheels and axles.

If you mean the double female connectors, the crane car only has it and not sold separately at the moment.
When your new chassis vehicles move, do they wobble a lot compared to the older chassis?

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Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you were referring to these long double ended female couplings as something that everyone had and that most were replacing their push connectors with these. Since this Crane was just released I assumed that it couldn't be this coupling that was becoming a staple in enthusiasts collections.

As far as the new chassis with the wheels affixed to the axles, I actually think they roll better with no side to side wobble.

No misunderstandings here, I was indeed talking about those connectors. It is the new staple couplings. It won't be in the second hand shop yet, so prepare to stock up now I guess.