Plarail DD51 Round-up

chrisjo

Here’s a look back at the history of the Plarail DD51, inspired by the recent announcement of a new DD51 Double Header Set, to be released in March 2022.

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DD51 Diesel Locomotive [DD51ディーゼルきかんしゃ], type 2 ‘Merry-go-round’ box.
DD51 Diesel Locomotive Set [DD51ディーゼルきかんしゃセット].
DD51 Diesel Locomotive [DD51ディーゼルきかんしゃ], type 3 ‘Hikari’ box. Roof and chassis changed from grey to black, though not in the box illustration.
DD-51 Diesel Locomotive [DD-51 ディーゼル], two boxes, a generic type 4 ‘Train’ box with the product name on a sticker, and another with the name printed on it.
DD-51, type 5 ‘EC’ box, with item number DL01 on the end. There ~~may also be~~ is a rare version in this box with the original grey roof & chassis (edit:- see post #8 dated 17-Mar-25 below).
DD-51, type 6 box.
DD-51 Diesel Locomotive [DD-51ディーゼル機関車], type 7 box. This was the start of the ‘new power’ era, with the top switch and pinion driven axle that we know today replacing the earlier front switch and friction driven wheels. The wheels have changed from red to yellow.
Tomica Plarail World - Motor Tomica Basic Set [トミカプラレールワールドモータートミカベーシックセット]. The DD51 has no number plate. The first production in a realistic livery - Hokutosei blue train, but without the shooting star. The set also contains a unique colour Motor Tomica CR-V.
Tower Rail Set [タワーレールセット]. The green ‘Safety First’ stickers shown on the box were separate in the set, more often than not you’ll see the locomotive without them.
First Try Set, Red [ファーストトライセットあか].
Euro Car Train [ユーロカートレイン], with a Tomica Subaru Legacy Touring Wagon.
Blue Train Set [ブルートレインセット]. Individual loco numbers applied for the first time, namely motorized DD51 58 (although this never existed) and dummy DD51 37 (which was scrapped before the Hokutosei blue livery was ever used). The station colouring is unique to this set, and eight Pla-kids is the stuff of dreams.

2002 Plarail Day. DD51 Type Diesel Locomotive (New Paint) [DD51形ディーゼル機関車(新塗装)]. Plarail Fan Club members’ gift. The non-existent DD51 58 again, this time in a new JR Freight livery.

K-01 DD51 851 [DD51形851号機], type 9 box.
K-02 DD51 1150 [DD51形1150号機]
Sleeping Cars Set [寝台車セット], Toys “R” Us exclusive. Powered DD51 1068 and dummy DD51 1148, plus an EF81.
S-59 Blue Train Izumo [ブルートレイン出雲], DD51 1186.
Tomica & Plarail Town Set [トミカとプラレールの街セット]. Hokutosei DD51 1068 again, but with a new ‘car train’ drumhead and grey wheels. Also a Tomica Evo X.
KF-03 DD51 851 [DD51形851号機]. K and F numbers amalgamated into KF numbers. This is the same as K-01.
Tomica Loading Freight Cars Set [トミカ搭載貨車セット]. Hokutosei DD51 1068 with ‘car train’ drumhead, the same as in the 2008 Tomica & Plarail Town Set.
Car Train Hokkaido [カートレイン北海道]. Released at Plarail Expo, and once again it’s the Hokutosei DD51 1068 with ‘car train’ drumhead.

Which brings us to 2022, and the Last Blue Train Hokutosei DD51 Double Header [最後のブルートレイン北斗星DD51重連仕様]. This will have two new locos, a motorized DD51 1100 with Hokutosei drumhead, and dummy DD51 1138. The last Hokutosei Blue Train ran in 2015, so it’s taken a while for it to be commemorated.

Have I missed any?

Mister No

Thanks Chrisjo! Great historical review of a really nice and popular locomotive. So many wonderful sets with DD51!

chrisjo

Mister No wrote
... popular locomotive...

I was interested to read that the DD51 was just as unpopular among train enthusiasts in Japan as diesels were in the UK when I were a lad, and for the same reasons. Among the derogatory names used were 'Red Pig', 'Paperweight', and 'No-good Degoichi' (I haven't found a satisfactory translation of Degoichi yet, but it was a nick-name for the D51 steam locomotive).

Mister No

Popular among modelers and collectors, of course. I see that, apart from Plarail, they also produced many models in the N scale. Well, it is not unusual for people to develop nostalgic memories of once unpopular things... 🙂

plarnold

chrisjo wrote
Mister No wrote
... popular locomotive...

I was interested to read that the DD51 was just as unpopular among train enthusiasts in Japan as diesels were in the UK when I were a lad, and for the same reasons. Among the derogatory names used were 'Red Pig', 'Paperweight', and 'No-good Degoichi' (I haven't found a satisfactory translation of Degoichi yet, but it was a nick-name for the D51 steam locomotive).

Degoichi = D51

D => De
5 => Go => This is the pronunciation for the number 5
1 => Ichi => This is the pronunciation for the number 1

So... an English equivalent for the nickname could be... Dee-five-one

-plarnold

Super

FANTASTIC!!! Thank You Chrisjo!!!

One of my favorite Diesels, I love this chronological story as I have never seen something like this all in one place before. I love all the versions especially since the shells are pretty much interchangeable with all the chassis's. This has been so beneficial for me as I have searched out many of the Post 2002 chassis to replace all the ones I have had that do not have the white handrails. I prefer the look of the white handrails chassis with the gray wheels There are a few different variations, Black chassis with white rails, gray with white rails, a darker gray with white rails. There are even different colors of the chassis stripe on the sides. Another big bonus is the fact the chassis are also interchangeable with my other favorite diesels...the DE-10's which also have some exclusive chassis. I do have to say the I was a bit disappointed that the, soon to be re-release (March) of the Hokutosei DD51 Tandem Sleeper set, does not have the chassis with the white handrails.

I know you put in a lot of time and research into these Threads and this is another one that I think is valuable for all to see and learn from whether a Member at BPT's or visitor. It answers so many questions and this will be place in the Important Threads area at the very top of this Forum.

Thank you Dr Chris 🙂

KNDYNT2099

The DD51 is one of my favorite trains that I usually buy.

To my knowledge, it was never unpopular... I absolutely keep buying DD51's.

The DD51, ED61, ED70, EF13, EF60, EF62, EF63, EF64, EF65, EF66, EF70, EF71, EF80, EF81, EF510...these are power horse trains that tetsudo mokei fans find essential to their collection.

chrisjo

chrisjo wrote
DD-51, type 5 ‘EC’ box, with item number DL01 on the end. There may also be a rare version in this box with the original grey roof & chassis.

And here it is at last! It’s believed to be the earliest ‘EC’ box DD-51, the chassis colour matching the grey of the EF58 and EF66 that were made at the same time. The roof and chassis soon reverted to black, however, and stayed that way for as long as the body was basic orange, i.e. 1997 - when the body became blue.

Super

I had never seen this with a light grey roof before Dr Chris. Excellent find. ðŸ‘

KNDYNT2099

I still haven't gotten my hands on the K-01 DD51. I do have the 2018 Plarail Expo but the 2022, I should have jumped on it when it first came out and I was playing the waiting game for prices to go down and totally forgot about it until I saw this thread pop up again. Now it's being sold by third party sellers for Y9800 and I don't want to spend that much.

I am hoping for a Plarail Real Class version.

But I do have several DD51's in my collection that are N Gauge, primarily the Tomix DD51 1000 Type Kyushu Specification 2248 Diesel Locomotive and the 2023 DD51 Late Model Cold Resistant Hokutosei and for KATO, I have the DD51 Late Hardy Type Hokutosei 7008-F

I am waiting for the September 2025 release of the TOMIX 98159 Kinoura Seaside Railway KE65 and they released the DD51 800 Aichi District 2258 a few months ago. Still have to pick that one up.

Super

KNDYNT2099 wrote
I am hoping for a Plarail Real Class version.

I am all in on that KNDY ðŸ‘

chrisjo

KNDYNT2099 wrote
I am hoping for a Plarail Real Class version.

That is a very good shout, but what (if any) changes could be made to the standard DD51 locomotive to make it Real Class, and what rolling stock would it be hauling?

chrisjo

chrisjo what (if any) changes could be made to the standard DD51 locomotive to make it Real Class, and what rolling stock would it be hauling?

Well, now we know. The latest DD51, released on December 6th, is the snappily titled "Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone NERV Private Railway Shimofutakoyama Branch Line “Operation Yashima” DD51 + Shiki 880 (B2 Beam) Heavy-Duty Car".

Note that the box has the Gold Plarail branding associated with the Real Class line; although it is not a full-blown 4-car Real Class release - it falls into the category of what is being described in Japan as ‘Real Class but not really Real Class’, and follows two previous movie-themed releases along the same lines, the Harry Potter and Back To The Future trains.

Some attempt has been made to give the DD51s in this release a little extra class though, they have black chassis and wheels, grey couplings, and black engine grilles. The powered loco is DD51 1028 and the dummy loco is DD51 1146, neither of which has been represented before. This is the first DD51 product in approximately three and a half years, since the ‘Last Blue Train Hokutosei DD51 Double-header’ released on March 24, 2022, and the first appearance of the JNR colour in approximately nine years since the discontinuation of KF-03 DD51 851.

If they’d wanted to make this a proper Real Class 4-car they could have given us a triple-header DD51 as in the movie, and make the transformer in two pieces so that with the top half removed it would still be compatible with the standard loading gauge. An opportunity missed, perhaps?

Super

Looks great. I take it this is yours Dr Chris, like several of my last purchases from Japan and even though I pre-ordered immediately when it was listed, still hasn’t shipped. I love the new details of color and the black wheels. I think I might buy a couple more just to remove those beautiful chassis and use them to swap out with my several DD-51’s and DE-10’s Tandems because I love the black chassis with white stripes and the white front and rear hand rails but mostly because of those black wheels. I have tried many times to swap the wheels for black ones on the DD-51 and DE-10’s but they glue on the holder for the front wheels and no matter the method I used to remove the glued plate it always was weaken or broken.
Thanks for sharing Dr Chris👍

Mister No

You just have to love their titles: “Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone NERV Private Railway Shimofutakoyama Branch Line “Operation Yashima” DD51 + Shiki 880 (B2 Beam) Heavy-Duty Car”!! 😆

Extremely “practical” to put in a video title, for example… 🤪 At Tomy, they seem to be fond of long titles. My favorite in this regard so far was: “PLARAIL THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE ORIGINAL 80th ANNIVERSARY SPARKLING SODOR ISLAND POPULAR CHARACTERS SET” (and I managed to put almost all that in the title of my video on that train), but this one for DD51 beats them all! 😁😁😁

Yeah, the box has “Gold Plarail branding associated with the Real Class line”, but it is not full “Real Class” and it is not the first such product. The Harry Potter train is also in this “little extra class” of products… It seems we have a new class of Plarail trains! “Almost Real Class Trains”?

This is a very interesting set. I am a little surprised, however, that they kept the C battery. Usually, previous trains that used it are replaced by AA…