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Jeff Cheers yes its making a little more sense, the center terminals make sense, i think whats confusing me is connecting to both controllers, when i thought i was using one controller for the outer track and the other for the inside track. I will have another look tomorrow as its getting late, but i think im in need of a diagram, i know this is probably very simple and im not panicking lol its just not sinking in, i will probably feel pretty dumb when i have this sorted. Do i need more controllers, two for each track ?? to control the block sections and sidings I can see that once ive put the insulators between the track i then need to get power across those breaks thats throwing me with the wiring, which is why i think i need a diagram. Sorry Jeff Cheers and thank you for persisting with me Tony

Sanying just released pictures of their TRA EMU800 in JR Shikoku 8000 series livery. The set is scheduled to be released around the end of this month. (As always, all pictures reposted with Sanying's authorization)

Main thing to remember is just always keep like the outside track on the left side of the center terminals and the inside track on the right center termial [or vise versa]. Then the same polarity from the power packs on all the outside terminals ie top terminal to cab A and bottom thermals to cab B. You can always reverse the polarity of the throttles at the throttles to make the direction switches make sense on the throttles as you like it. clear as mud? cheers jeff

Wow, just received the email notification for Kamome's reply on Tuesday starting with "Yes indeed". Did I just experience extra terrestrial worm hole time travel? haha

Hello All Added a Pic and a short video Showing the Redesigned City Station and by pass Still to tidy up some things,and unfortunately Platform One Rail is lower than the 2 outside due to trouble with baseboard,too hard to fix now. regards Brett

Tony, take a deep breath! It’s all pretty straight forward on the DPDT switches. You put the track leads to the center leads on the switch and the power pack leads to the outside of the switches. This way when the switch is thrown one direction it connects that side’s power pack’s leads to the center track leads. the only complicated thing is keeping your polarity of the the track and power pack leads consistent on al the DPDT switches. Easy to do for the power packs with like red and black wires. With your track power you need to keep the inside and outside rails on your loops consistent to red and black leads on the track and then on the center terminals on the DPDT switches. your block wiring is not common rail, you will be isolating each side of track blocks. This is a safer way to do things. This is why you use the DPDT switches to control the power feed to both rails at once and not a SPST you would use in common rail wiring. Make sense? jeff

Finally, I could get that Set...

Changming TaoBao price should be be around 70 to 75 USD. These are likely to stay available from there since this is their third production run and CM has been increasing their production size. But being in the US, you will have to pay a proxy service to order one directly from CM. So add 10% fee, plus domestic shipping and international shipping. Models should be available from Hong Kong retailers at a very slightly higher price than TaoBao, or from Tekkon in Japan for an even higher price. So depending on actual import avenue, model should cost you around a 95 USD to 110 USD to import (before tariffs). Regarding the detailing, it's the level you expect from Changming and that they have been putting out. First generation models were already very well detailed, with crisp printing and fine details, but the quality (and price) has increased since. If you are interested in testing Chinese trains, I think you will be happy with a CRH model.

The JP post seems to be a reskin of the Konbini..... Same issue with the bank, I never saw banks or Jp post looking like this (at least around where i live) This feels very lazy from tomix https://x.com/re_color_3d/status/1922520959539425399/photo/3 https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10981038?srsltid=AfmBOoqk2ZBK91VKJsh3i8iDwAR8wRNWKEnljJ41Ji8JCaswtEG4sI31

I tried this method, but I had used iron foil https://a.co/d/fSrIETQ It didn't work quite well for me. It seemed the magnet in the switch was so attracted to the Iron that it would not throw or close just click. Should I be looking for a non-magnetic type metal or something else?

HELP !!!!! I have done a little, i have managed to get the lift out bridge section cut and track glued and wired ( photo's attached ) What i am having trouble getting my head around is the wiring for the DPDT switches for the block sections, no amount of googling or reading seems to come up with a simple drawing or explanation for how to wire these for DC analogue model railway, i have Evan purchased the Atlas wiring book but it is for common rail wiring, also everything i can find seems to wire both controllers together. I have one control for the outer track and the other for the inner. Any way could someone ( Jeff where are you lol ) point me in the right direction on which wire goes where on the DPDT, i have added a photo of what im looking at, i was hoping it would trigger something in my head but nothing happened lol. I am looking at this now while im drilling and placing wires, and yes i will glue only when everything is wired and running properly. But at the moment it is the Block section wiring i am concerned about and sidings

Time to start heading back to Nagoya again! To paraphrase from my 2023 travelogue, "While I enjoyed my time there, I got the feeling that this wasn't entirely 'my' kind of museum. It was still worth going though." So, to wrap up this diversion, have some random Meitetsu photos from Inuyama. Also from the bus trip back to Inuyama, ooh, big Greenmax building! Alastair

Having arrived at 'Nagoya' (nothing here other than the northern tram terminus) the locomotive runs round the train. While Meiji-Mura does have turntables at each end of its railway, they weren't being used on the day I was there and the locomotive was running the return trips to 'Tokyo' bunker first. This locomotive has had an interesting past, having been built in 1874 as A7-class locomotive No. 23 for the Tokyo-Yokohama railway. Later renumbered into the 160-class as No. 165, the number it would carry until sold to the Bisai Railway in 1911. It wasn't retired until 1957 but was kept to one side for preservation, initially at the present-day Inuyama Monkey Park (1963-65) and later as a static display at Meiji-Mura. It was returned to working order in 1972 for the centenary of Japanese railways, and put into regular service at Meiji-Mura in 1973. Other than a few gaps during major inspections and overhauls, including the replacement of its boiler in 1985, it's remained in use here ever since. Alastair

Really great live came of the approach to the station. Zurich live cam

I found a floorplan of Zurich HB. The open area to the right is the old station of 1871. It is just open space now and used for special events like an annual Christmas market.

The Imperial Hotel lobby is just a short distance from another of Meiji-Mura's attractions, and perhaps the one I was most keen to experience: the railway. The museum has a short railway over which it operates two steam locomotives on a regular basis. Having heard a very shrill whistle echoing across the grounds, I'd hoped that Sharp Stewart-built 2-4-0T No. 12 would be running that day, and it was. I arrived with just enough time to buy a combined train and tram ticket, before jumping aboard for the next trip from 'Tokyo' to 'Nagoya'. It's not a long journey, taking about three to five minutes from end to end, and you don't exactly see much other than the woods around the rail line except when you cross the brick viaduct just beyond 'Tokyo' when you get a brief view of the historic buildings down to Lake Iruka. The train comprises three ex-Ogachi Railway HaFu carriages, clerestory-roofed HaFu's 13 and 14 originally from the Shingu Railway and the box-like HaFu 11 originally from the Ōme Railway. Of this trio only HaFu 11 was built during the Meiji era, in 1908; the two Shingu coaches were built in late 1912 and thus are actually Taishō era vehicles. In the background you can just see the two-road engine shed, which on this day was housing Fujiminobu Railway No. 9, a Baldwin 0-6-0T and the only locomotive not to have any connection with the Bisai Railway at Meiji-Mura. Last used at the Tsurumi Steelworks, it was still 'in ticket' at the time of my visit but would taken be out of service later that year pending overhaul. Alastair

Couple new announcements from the 63rd Shizuoka Hobby Show. Hankyu 2000 Series, scheduled for release "this winter" Tec Station exclusive: JR ED76-1000 Series (Late Model, Sash Windows, JR Freight Renewal livery, silver door; according to Google Translate). Scheduled for release in Sept 2025. https://ngauge.jp/posters/hobby2025_tomix/

New Cambrian early arthropod species named after mothra because of its moth wing appendages. Etymology: From the name of the fictional Japanese monster, or kaiju モスラ (also known as ‘Mothra’), romanized according to Hepburn style, in reference to the moth-like appearance of the animal. Actually quite a number of species named after godzilla and other kaiju, one other mothra crustacean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organisms_named_after_works_of_fiction#Godzilla jeff

@cteno4 It looks like price will be listed on Thursday 8pm Beijing Time. I am waiting on final price to make my decision though. That and is it instock/preorder as i have to deal with potential Canada Post Strike. If it's an good price, i am seriously thinking about buying two of them with one as gift for my friend kid.

That is quite nice detailing and painting on that loco. Pantographs look actually to have a bit more detail to them than most japanese pantographs. They are coming along fast. What is the SRP on one of those? jeff

Zurich Hauptbahhof is the main train station in Zurich. For SBB trains there are 16 surface level tracks, 4 underground through tracks with two platforms and a further 4 underground tracks with two platforms used by S-Bahn trains. On a workday 405,200 passengers pass through the station on over 3,000 trains. Its a great place to watch trains. Underground there were trains coming through about every 10-15 minutes. On the main floor trains pulse every 30 minutes. There has been a train station on this site since 1847. The current station with the triumphal arch dates from 1871. The current train shed was built in 1933 behind the 1871 trainshed, which is still there but used for food festival while I was in town. The underground tracks were added in the 1980s and later. SBB Station user stats https://reporting.sbb.ch/en/stations?=&years=1,4,5,6,7&scroll=2883&highlighted= The Man in Seat 61 has a good article on Zurich HB with lots photos. https://www.seat61.com/stations/zurich-hb.htm For those who want to know where everything is SBB has a great three dimensional plan. https://plans.trafimage.ch/zuerich-hb?lang=en&layer=zurich_innenplan&x=683178.42&y=248017&z=19.98117604498825 Photos: 1. Looking across the concourse on Tuesday morning. 2. Looking out along the tracks. 3. Across the tracks at a busy time. Thursday morning on arrival from Basel. All the electric locomotives was unusual. Usually the place is full of EMUs.

@disturbman Thanks. It looks largely similar and I have want the red themed ones (looks like far away releases) or the HXD1 Shen 24.

I recently came back from five day adventure in Switzerland. I have been many mostly tram focused European adventures since 2011. I flew from Toronto on Swissair and stayed in Zurich for three nights, one night in Basel and another night in Zurich before flying home. My Swiss trip had a greater rail component than any previous trip. For getting around purchased a 6-day Swiss Travel Pass. Although pricey there is no need to be concerned with fare zones or buying tickets from fare machines. The Swiss Travel Pass is good on SBB (Swiss Federal Railway) trains, trams, inclines, boats. Alone in Zurich there are 37 operators. Usually my photography is about 50% trams and 50% buildings and general sightseeing, but two days of steady rain curtailed building photography and sightseeing. I ended up doing far more tram riding and repeated visits to Zurich Hauptbahnhof (main train station). My quest was to ride and photograph high-floor trains in Zurich which are becoming rarer and rarer as the march for accessibility marches on. I succeeded in riding three of the four groups I was targeting and photographing all four groups. While I was there I located one hobby shop and passed on visiting another because of its outlying location and the stormy weather. From Sunday noon until Tuesday noon there was two straight days of steady rain. I picked up a Kato Bernina Express Souvenir Coach Api 1301 which doesn't seem to be available in Japan. Kato #05250-9 Noch #7074061 My time in Zurich started with a quick 13 minute ride into the city on the IR75 (the first train that came along) from the airport. By 0730 I was in the city and checked into the hotel. More to come. Photo: Two SBB trains and a Deutsch Bahn train at Zurich HB.

The front shape of the HXD1C is rounder than the HXD3C/CA, which is more blocky and angular. The skirt of the HXD1C is also less angled than the HXD3C/CA.

@disturbman I am thinking of picking it up too (it should be pretty cheap model overall) but i am wondering what is the major difference outside the top details versus the recently released HDX3CA models. The real life model is quite interesting.