All Activity

The re-released Glacier Express and Ge 4/4 III are the same. Hopefully this won't be the norm for the RhB range now as the "official" importers charge a frankly obscene mark-up.

I was in Tokyo last week. Wanted to find Z gauge stuff in Akihabara. I visited about 11 places, and only 2 or 3 were good. 5 min video. https://youtu.be/1gdugwXkvnM

Came here to say this but it seems you guys have it under control.

No need to be sorry. We’re all vicariously traveling with you.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1QbuDMmmVM/ I have Kobe-shi disability welfare handbook which is B1. I live in Kobe and I have following question: How many kilometers from Rokkomichi, Ashiya or Sannomiya to get reduced fare on JR train or Shinkansen from Shin-Kobe? Jr attendee told me I can get half fare discount like Nagoya or Hiroshima. Is Tokyo too close for half fare discount? For Hanshin Railway and Hankyu Railway, I have to be accompany by caretaker? How far we can go from Sannomiya area, Rokko/Shizaike, Mikage or Ashita Station to get reduced fare discount? Thank you for your help. I moved back to Japan, but some Kanjis I can't read.

Sorry for all the new posts. A long boring transit by Shinkansen today, forced by weather, so I had a bit of spare time.

Day 5 Part II On the way back I was impressed by the loading of the cars on this crane truck. This is a local landmark, I imagine some sort of lookout used in the past. I bought a postcard but need to research further. There wasn’t a lot of obvious damage to see from the train, you could see many gravestones toppled, lots of blue tarps in use, and some obvious emergency housing, but this service station stood out and I was able to grab a photo. I really liked the view of this little harbour. This house stood out standing in the middle of rice fields and looking a bit out of place. We were held up just before arriving at Kasashiho station, there was an explanation in Japanese but I couldn’t work it out. So I was relieved when arriving at Wakuraonsen station that our return transport, the Noto Kagaribi 4, to Kanazawa, was still waiting. Returning to Kanazawa, then onto Shin Takaoka by Shinkansen it was time to travel out the Johana line. At the narrow gauge Shin Takaoka platform there is a helpful sign explaining which directions of train go where. At the Johana terminal it was fairly cold. So the kerosene heater in the waiting room was welcome. We were lucky to be able to sample the Belles montagnes et mer, which was running that day. These sort of trains are not really my thing but it was nice to have a look for a couple of stops before waiting for the following local train back to Shin Takaoka. Then it was time for a Shinkansen transit to Niigata. Time for an early conbini dinner on the train. The SL daruma at Takasaki station. New track: 127.1km

Day 5 Part I It’s back to Kanazawa today this time to transfer to the JR local train to Nanao. On an adjacent platform two Ishikawa Railway trains are coupled, I’m not sure of the significance of the red and green, at first I thought they might be mismatched spares obtained from JR but then I realised they match the pinstripes on the cars themselves. Hakui station has an alien theme. By Tokuda it’s started snowing. And we reach Nanao, where the skies are blue but there is still a a few centimetres of snow from overnight. Here we transfer to the Noto Railway, which was badly affected by the New Years Day earthquake and only reopened in April. As part of recovery efforts they are running a Pokemon With You train, similar to the one running on JR East between Ichinoseki and Kessennuma, in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Perhaps they’re even going to bring the specially decked out KiHa from that service over? We are in an anime wrapped train and will proceed from here to the terminal at Anamizu. Another Pokemon installation at Noto-Nakajima, including stamp, and a Pokestop. I like this hand painted signage at Noto Kashima. When we arrive at the terminal there is a standard livery KiHa parked in a siding.

Day 4 Part III We will catch this train all the way to Uchinada. Where we also find some buses and an imposing toilet block. On the way back we cross another train at Mitsuya before we disembark at Isobe to walk to another HARD OFF. On the way we find some interesting grates with a fairly strong aesthetic. And a home made traffic management device made from some crates and a few zip ties. HARD OFF Kanazawa Moroe is colocated with a HOBBY OFF and it was really busy. I was particularly taken by some of the HO models available but managed to resist. On the way back to the station I also checked out BOOK OFF Kanazawa Moroe, although I didn’t have the patience to locate the railway book section. They did have a surprising amount of old video games for being so close to a HARD OFF. I’m not sure the fake stone added to the facade of this house is really uplifting it. Returning to Kanazawa station I’m struck by the tile flooring of the underground plaza. Then it’s up to the Shinkansen and a quick trip back to Shin-Takaoka. New track: 20.6km

Day 4 Part II On the way we come across a dumpling stand in someone’s front yard, and an interesting way to keep your kei truck’s bed clear of snow. Then it’s HARD OFF Kanazawa Nonoichi, with some trains. A walk and then a bus ride to HARD OFF Kanazawa Terachi, with a sit down arcade machine, D-VHS VCR and a train hidden in there. Another bus trip and we’ve returned to Kanazawa station. On the underground level there is a 1/10 model of the Tsuzumi-mon timber gate above that they used to prove the design and test the order of assembly. It means we can also get to see the top. Off the same underground plaza is the entrance to the Hokuriku Rail Road’s other line to Uchinada.

Day 4 Part I Today starts with a quick Shinkansen hop to Kanazawa, where inside the Shinkansen gate we find two more sit in trains, one with an operating control stand. Here we transfer to the Ishikawa Railway for a one station trip to Nishi-Kanazawa. Unfortunately the connecting train from Toyama is late so we are delayed eight minutes, this means we miss our connection to the Hokuriku Rail Road’s adjacent Shin Nishi-Kanazawa station. This throws out the plan a little so we head south on the next train as far as Nonoichi station rather than heading direct to the terminal at Nomachi. These small electric railways are quite amazing with their tight curves and small rights of way squeezing between adjacent buildings. There’s not much at Nomachi and we’re soon speeding off to the other terminal of this line at Tsurugi, as we get further the surroundings become much more rural in character. At the terminal station, Tsurugi, there is a nice display of railway memorabilia in the station building. Because of our missed connection we don’t have long here at all before we have to cross to the other platform to catch our train north. This time we get off at Otomaru, where there is a light flurry of snow, thankfully it doesn’t last long because we have a bit of walking to do.

I’m sure you will have a great time, there is lots to see and do here. I’d strongly suggest the Toyama Chiho Railway which I didn’t do this trip, and if you like narrow gauge tourist trains through spectacular scenery the Kurobe Gorge Railway is good too.

Pretty sure the VMS glue is some sort of acrylic medium, but obviously not matte. It's also a lot more expensive then the Koemo ballast glue. They do have 2 different types of ballast glue, 1 that goes rock hard, and 1 that keeps things a bit flexible. I went with the one that remains flexible, and it's very noticeable once the glue has dried. I do quite like working with this glue actually, it flows really nice. I haven't tried rinsing the ballast, but I did notice when mixing 2 types, there is actually quite a lot of dust in it. I could try rinsing a bit of it and see what happens. I think the discolouration also depends on the scale of the ballast. I have N scale, TT scale and H0 scale ballast. I initially thought the N scale would be a bit too fine, even if it's to scale. So I got some TT scale as well, but that didn't quite look right either. The H0 stuff I obviously got for the H0 1067 / H0e layout. I'll also try gluing down some of that, to see the dicolouration there. There is also a lighter shade of grey ballast, which I can also experiment with a little bit. In the end though, the darker ballast is more correct for steam era, so I guess I should get used to that 🙂 I will probably see if I can pick up a static grass applicator and some shades and lengths of static grass, and do another, slightly longer section of test track, but this time use the actual materials I would use on the layout, rather than just grab whatever I just happen to have around.

Wonder what matte acrylic medium would do. I like it for ballast and scenery glue as it’s matte finish and also not rock hard like PVA gets with ballast so you can pick it out if needed later pretty easy with a dental pick. did you try rinsing the ballast first? Wondering if rock powder may be causing the lighter dry color. It is a big change, especially with them saying it will not change color with glue. jeff

For this section I used ballast glue, also from Koemo. It's just a glue based on PVA glue, with some additions. For example, you don't have to first soak the ballast with IPA or water with dishwasher detergent etc. I also tried a 2nd section with special glue for loose stones/ballast by VMS Supplies. It was a bit easier to use, but also gave the same discolouration of the ballast, and even when fully tried it has a bit of a gloss to it, so that's pretty much a no-go.

Day 3 Part II The first train out of Naoetsu was only going to Arai, so a quick review of photos suggested Takada was probably worth a visit. Certainly the station building did not disappoint. And I do agree with the sentiment on the side of this vending machine. While I was there the “Resort Setsugekka” paid a visit and on departure it was farewelled by the staff. Onwards to Myoko-Kogen and I was impressed by the operation of the switchback at Nihongi. No changing ends here. No sooner had we come to rest in the snow shed than a head was popped out the window and we were reversing into the platform. This brick shed was apparently a lamp room and dates back to the Meiji era. At Myoko-Kogen our Shinano Railway train was waiting for us. Another trip across the overbridge to pick up a ticket and then a speedy run down into Nagano. On the way to HARD OFF there was a postbox decorated as Santa. Unfortunately not much interesting in HARD OFF Nagano Ekimae for me, but if you follow the link you can look through the whole album. After returning to Shin-Takaoka by Shinkansen the Christmas display looks a lot better lit up at night. I think the sit-in Belle Montagnes et Mer used to be at Toyama. New track: 211.1km

Yes angry samurai god stepping on snowmen is not a good weather sign! jeff

Koshigaya. Finally, on the evening news... Maybe I'll hold off going north for a bit!

Watching with interest as I will be in the same area in June for some train riding.

More street furniture.

There were a couple of bikes at this bus stop, and one of the women on the bus who got off at the same time as me took one. No locks, no chains, just parked by the bus stop. While waiting for the next bus, this truck pulled up and the driver went the the ramen shop over the road. He had a small pack of dogs in the cab with him.

Yoshikawa.

This device lets you connect Sega game controllers to your PC. I actually used to make something similar, but for USB instead of being an internal PCI card.

Misato. I noticed that these drainage blocks only have the lifting gaps every few tiles. I think the other openings are just drainage.