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Cosmic is releasing a 1/150 Hong Kong Tramways double deck kit. Power unit KATO 11-108. This item was posted May 16th. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/11204700
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Tomytec is announcing a new railway collection of pocket trains, basically btrain shorty concept. Post on it just moved from here over to a new topic. cheers jeff
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Ahh I see tomytec is moving into the bandai btrain vacuum! Will be interesting to see if the collection system works well with these or not. Hard to see them getting the btrain spread this way, especially at the very slow rate collections of any kind come out these days. But really nice newbies can get into the shorty hobby with Bandai not doing much anymore there. Funny bandai also started the vehicle collections that tomytec stepped into big time like 20 years back. But at that time tomytec was rolling out collections monthly almost! jeff
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Ive seen a bunch of relief modeling on layouts when up against a wall, but only a few split open buildings like this on layouts. It’s interesting, but just a bit odd. But odd is not always bad as it can get folks to look close to scenes and thus then the rest of the layout. Easy to just cover over to begin with and then experiment with the detailing later. I do love doing interior stuff, but with n scale you rarely get to see any of it thru windows unless you put it right at your eyeball or are using a camera. With mini onetrak there is more freedom to choose the module size and aspect ration and move the track to fit your scene, but i can still see where it might not work out and an inch needed so splitting some buildings like this might be fun. Also point of mini onetrak is also focusing on little details more so just would be another kind of thing to draw folks closer. thanks, Jeff
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Bill's Excellent Swiss Train & Tram Adventure
bill937ca replied to bill937ca's topic in Travel: Tips, Planning & Memories
Everything is pricey in Switzerland. I have to buy breakfast at the hotel. My breakfast the first day before I was in the hotel was $36 Canadian for two eggs, bacon, bread and coffee. Wow! But, OH what trams and trains. -
Thanks to Tomytec. Bandai B-trains can finally Rest In Peace. Might need a new topic for it soon. https://diocolle.tomytec.co.jp/pocket-tetsudou/ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gq8c7CNaAAIQny4?format=jpg&name=large https://x.com/tomytecdiocolle/status/1922811667814989827/photo/1 https://ameblo.jp/waters0079/image-12903075549-15594424819.html https://ameblo.jp/waters0079/entry-12903075549.html
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RUN N SCALE STEAM LOCOMOTIVES WITHOUT TRACTION TIRES
kusojiji replied to kusojiji's topic in The Train Doctor
I've been running that C62 without the traction tires and it seems to be fine. The 3 sets of driving wheels are sprung so they all make contact. I just hope that the slot doesn't wear out prematurely. The wheel that had the traction tire is wonky and the traction tire exacerbated it. I was going to send it back to Kato for repair, but that seems to be a hassle. Yeah agree that traction tire locos cannot be consisted if not exactly the same speed. I was doing that with my big boy and 844 with the 844 pulling the pilot truck of the big boy off the rails all the time. THanks! -
The first thing I do when I get a bookcase set (of anything) is I take a picture of the set as soon as I open the cover. Later on, when I need to "put it back to factory" for whatever reason, I can. Do I have OCD or what? 🤪
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RUN N SCALE STEAM LOCOMOTIVES WITHOUT TRACTION TIRES
Welshbloke replied to kusojiji's topic in The Train Doctor
The main snags are likely to be that the de-tyred wheels are now very slightly smaller (some models do three legged donkey impressions if they lose a tyre on one side) and that there is a possibility of the edge of the tyre slot catching on the rail (possibility of it derailing). I have seen the former problem a few times, if I can't get proper replacement tyres easily I find a slice of heatshrink sleeve will level things out. It can be difficult cutting it squarely, but it's cheap enough that a few attempts won't cost you unduly. Kato tend to leave the tyres off power units intended to run with another power car. I can see the risk of stress on motors and tyres or derailments if the two aren't perfectly speed matched. -
Here's a Little 60 Sec Video showing 1605 train from upper line to lower Brett
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Yes, those relief buildings give more space on smaller modules, but I do them on bigger ones too. In our club, I currently work on three relief buildings as well. All three were made from one kit with some 3D printed parts. I like doing the interior of buildings when the windows are big enough to guess what is inside. Will need to look into bento stores now and see what can be done for the inside of the second store. The third store is still undecided and something were I could block the view through the windows would be nice since there is no space left after adding the windows and a sheet of paper for the interior.
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Thanks. British citizens don't need a visa yet. We will supposedly need something come October, but I think our government is trying to negotiate their way out of it. Since Brexit it has been on the cards. It's my wife, who is Chinese, who needs one. I also renewed my passport this year and had to have one of the embarrassing post-Brexit black ones. You can buy a nice burgundy cover that says "I voted remain" in multiple European languages.
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Bill's Excellent Swiss Train & Tram Adventure
kuro68000 replied to bill937ca's topic in Travel: Tips, Planning & Memories
I wonder if it's like buying a car and they charge €500 extra for the nice pearlescent paint. -
People’s Republic of China N Scale trains
disturbman replied to gavino200's topic in Worldwide Models
Not an announcement, so I moved the conversation about TinyHK here, though obviously we could discuss the validity of merging HK with the Mainland. -
Either of you get a chance to peek inside that DD16 yet?
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layout New layout project: Sakuragi no yu sen
SL58654号 replied to SL58654号's topic in Layout Planning
Hi everybody, For those of you wondering, yes indeed the project is alive and well, and I'm moving along dilligently. My new full time job has kept me busy. After much struggling with figuring out a way to carve the solid styrofoam efficiently to make tunnels and the elevations I finally bought and learned how to use a hot wire foam cutter. Bought one at Handsman. It works a treat as it cuts straight through the foam like butter and leaves no mess. Now I feel like building this layout is fun again! I have to be careful though not to move the cutter too fast as it melts through, otherwise I'll bend and ruin it. If I'm lucky I'll get all of the major work done before I lay the ground cover and trees by the time I move to my new countryside house. -
I really don't think I imagined die cut labels for passenger cars on my trips through the internet but cant for the life of me find them anywhere. Oh the humanity of having your Green car the wrong direction lol. In the past I haven't worried about the order that trains were arranged, but now with the E231-500 I've put a little more effort into the arrangement. Now I want to get fancy and do it the right way and make it easier for me to identify the cars also. ive been thinking about getting a bigger bookcase to put a 10-unit train set in as well to make things easier. Now I'm thinking about getting a label maker so I can easily identify the correct order and direction my cars should be, lol.
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Bill's Excellent Swiss Train & Tram Adventure
bill937ca replied to bill937ca's topic in Travel: Tips, Planning & Memories
The final train is the Red Arrow. The Red Arrow is a group of similar but different rail cars and trains built in the 1930s. The were a mixture of single units and double units, either diesel or electrically powered. The unit in the photos is the Churchill Arrow which was once used by Winston Churchill to deliver a famous speech on the future of Europe in 1946. It is now used as a special event train. Here it is running as a Fondue train. Zurich has Fondue trams @ 125 Swiss Francs per passenger which sell out for the season within days. I spotted this train just after I had dinner the final evening. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Arrow_(Swiss_train) -
Some of the most exciting announcements for me this year have been the sheer number of limestone and cement trains as this is an area of interest for me. Not certain as to if or when this train will be produced again, I wanted to get hold of the Shikoku limestone train. The DF50s have some subtle differences to those released before. Right to left. 7009, 7009-2, 7009-5(10-2008) The numbers are now far easier than applying the metal etch individual numbers. At this scale I’m not sure you notice unless you really get close. The new Shikoku version has 2 options for coupler assembly, with or without snowplough, in this case the shorter version. Set 10-2008 has two almost identical 7009-5 locos except one comes with traction tyres and one comes without as Kato has done with its other double loco sets. Also include are some headmarks. The handrails all have to be added by hand but on this release Kato has a new sprue design with tabs that make fitting way easier than they were previously. The Hoki 5200 have nice printing. The train’s loco ends no longer have a coupling knuckle included but instead the very short fixed couplers (28-187) This is slightly disappointing as you cannot push-couple with them. The printing is excellent. I do like the asymmetrical cab on the end hopper. The loads are plastic caps that seem to come out of place easily. I will possibly add ballast material to these or paint to take away the shiny plastic appearance. The closest comparison will be to the Woki 100 from Microace. They are very similar wagons. MA Woki top, Kato Hoki bottom
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Bill's Excellent Swiss Train & Tram Adventure
bill937ca replied to bill937ca's topic in Travel: Tips, Planning & Memories
SOB train! Yes there is a train lettered SOB. Really its the railway Sudostbahn, not the train. The train is called SOB Traverso, there are 30 of them and they were built by Stadler Rail. I looked at riding this train as a day trip but it is a long trip about 3-4 hours, which for Switzerland is a long trip. It leads to more scenic lines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOB_Traverso https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Südostbahn Third photo was taken while my Basel train was arriving. -
Labels are a great idea as the car numbers are small and the bookcase folders don’t always allow you to store your train in order. I once got picked up at a rental layout that one of my green cars was backwards in a 189 Asama formation. The shame!! When I purchase the add-on set, I tend to reshuffle the coaches into their running order while being stored. Often Kato info gives info on the correct direction of travel. Expresses tend to have seating facing towards one direction (cab cars always face cab front) Some commuter trains have cellphone antenna on one end or position of toilet etc.. Sometimes though the shape of the foam doesn’t allow for correct order or orientation storage due to pantogtaph location or other features. In my experience this is an issue with Kato inserts. I’ve not experienced the same problems with Tomix or Microace bookcases as the spaces tend to be square. My Kato E5 as example is stored in correct direction although cars 2,4,6,8 are stored in the smaller 4 car box due to the pantograph spaces. My other Kato shinkansen like the 500 are stored 1-7 + 16 in one case and 8-15 in the other. The only issue is that the 2 pantograph cars have to be reversed from correct orientation. Some others like the 0 and E7 have to have coaches stored out of order. I assume some people keep their trains stored with complete base set, add on set as purchased, but this would be even more confusing for me. I feel my trains could be arranged back to factory positions should I wish to sell anything.
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Making me realize on my mini onetrak i should be doing some of this and just cut small buildings into two pieces and then i can use the back and front on two different modules and get a tad more space if needed on smaller modules. Then would be fun to detail the interior of the cutaway building for when it is seen from the other side. Some Tomytec buildings are headed to the bandsaw! cheers jeff
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Challenge is with regular cars there is the usual underside details that are usually small and stickers dont stick to as well and then most of the little bit of flat spot along the middle of the chassis usually has some raised lettering on it! Truck surfaces are recessed and can put them over the bogie pin areas. Just a bit of a hunt to find a good consistent place to put them on each train. Some are easy and some are harder. Funny you should mention the exposed gears. Years ago we had a club member who kept having motor cars getting gummed up with smutz. He never felt he had the dexterity to open them up so i ended up out cleaning out a few dozen of them over a year or two. Really could not figure out where he was picking up all the crap as he ran on a layout base at table height I had made for him and he did a lot of perceived scenery so no ballast, just some ground foam around and usual household smutz. After the first dozen I went and put scotch tape over the gear slots on his trucks to see if that could maybe stop crap getting sucked up into the trucks, but a number of them came back mucked up! I was a bit mystified, but just had to assume it got sucked up around the wheels more. Maybe why they didnt bother to close the gears over! He did run his trains a lot and very hard so way more use than the usual train use. Over 25+ years ive only had maybe a dozen really badly mucked up power cars/locos of mine that have required extensive cleaning. jeff
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2025/2026 new year trip
Tony Galiani replied to kuro68000's topic in Travel: Tips, Planning & Memories
Major hassle - guess I we are lucky in the US as I head to France in a week and haven't had to worry about a visa. Hope you get it sorted. Tony -
Another small update to the diorama: I started painting the second building while weathering the platform, which is finished now. I will now need to add details like the station name, safety posters, and so on. I thought about putting a big advert or something on the high wall at the back, but I didn't have a good idea. It could use the space of the four panels on the right side, I think. For the platform, I also need to model the chairs for people to sit on while waiting, and together with the station sign, some safety posters, and people waiting, it should fill the emptiness quite nicely. And all that needs to be done before adding the roof (which still needs its lighting). Another project I'm working on is the inside of the big building. Here a picture a little closer to the building: As said earlier, the right shop is a bookstore, so I added three hints of bookshelves to the wall at the back of the store. The grey area will get a picture of a bookstore to give it more depth. The upper levels will be apartments. In the original building (which currently has 3 open apartments), you have a small room for your washing machine. So I added an interior wall, a sliding door, and something that will look like a washing machine through the windows, and a shelf on top of it. The big white area will get another picture showing the room. Some apartments will have curtains blocking the view inside, too. Already modeled a little thing that will hopefully look like clothes drying on a rack when painted. Let's see how that goes. I hope I can find a figure that looks like hanging up some laundry... The building still needs lighting as well but I will do the interior first to see which rooms would look best with the lighting. Maybe you guys have some ideas for the big poster/ad on the back of the platform.