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I have those 're-order' buttons but I assumed that was for a whole new order. I paid in full for my original items and there's been no refund or anything so far. Still waiting for a reply to my query.

Thanks Tony. The trip is really flying by. I've done a bunch of writing and exploring and I'm getting my rail pass on Thursday. Then I plan to ride as many trains as possible. I do miss my dog a little though.

Not too impressed with Plaza Japan at the moment. I placed an order April 30 for 14 items, and all I saw in the order status was 'preparing to ship' just like @N-Osoi. This time, after reading these last few posts, I clicked on the order only to find 3 are out of stock, and I had to re-order the rest. Will see what happens now. Pretty poor communications from what I thought was a reputable company.

With our house construction project, I've not done anything with them yet, but hey looked good with visual inspection. I believe they're using designs that are Open Source or have put their stuff out as Open Source -- not sure yet as I've not looked at their site since I bought. But I'm eventually interested in seeing if I can add their function decoder stuff to my lightboard PCB design.

They are a good resource, How was the fit and quality of the decoder and what did you use the decoder in? Anytime I'm glad that I could help out.

May 17th in Nikko has the horseback archery display and May 18th has the 1000 samurai procession at Nikko. Lots of people dressed up in Edo period costume.

Note that US Amazon has this item listed as available for next day delivery https://www.amazon.com/KATO-Gauge-Electric-20-202-Supplies/dp/B0003K1LK0/ and is listed for a few days delivery on Amazon.ca https://www.amazon.ca/N-6-Remote-Left-Hand-Turnout/dp/B0003K1LK0/ Basic things like Unitrack I tend to look for locally if I need it unless I happen to need a whole ton of it or it can wait until I visit Japan the next time. KATO is a big force in N American N Scale so things that are not region specific like track are often readily available locally.

I called Kato USA today and unfortunately, Kato USA does not offer this service.

Hi folks, Unfortunately my Tomix Series 500 isn't running properly, even at full speed it's really slow. I've taken it apart and isolated the problem to the motor itself 😞 The motor is Tomix M-13 Motor (0617). Any suggestions? I can't see a way to take apart the motor itself, so I'm guessing my only option is to replace it. I've purchased Tomix 0623 [ 0623 ] M-9 Motor (TYPE3) from HobbySearch as the original is no longer in stock. Photos seem to suggest it's the same size. But if anyone does know a way to kick the originally motor back to life, please let me know. Like I say, it is turning, but at a really slow pace, even just on it's own. Many thanks, David

Ditto. Great stuff and something I will reference for my next trip. Thanks, Tony

Great !!! Many thanks @miyakoji

Welcome aboard @KaydensRailway

@KaydensRailway You're among good company here. Welcome aboard, Kayden!

Good resource. I bought a few from them, (I think it was them), when I was last in Japan but have not used them yet. Thanks for the reminder to add their website to my go-to list of resources.

I had to go out of town for a work trip Tursday and Friday (one night trip to Kalamazoo). Wednesday before I left I got the grouting done in the kitchen and the master bedroom shower. Saturday my daughter cleaned up the kitchen from the grout haze and also the Japanese bath floor, which was tiled and grouted a few weeks ago but never cleaned up. I and later in the day with the wife's help started putting down the LVP in the train room and where there are doors extending it into neighboring office or open loft area. I had already done a few rows before the trip but kind of re-did them as I was closing up gaps abd figured out better how to do it. It goes down fast but I spent some time figuring out how this particular brand works and working out the kinks. Also had to cut some in-floor electrical outlet openings and around corners etc. The masking tape on the LVP is just to keep it from slipping or coming out of alignment as we're working on it. Since it just snaps together on the short and and then lays together on the long end (shallow depression and shallow insert) its easy to bump it... Should speed up now that we know what we're doing...

Sorry, didn’t respond to this before. My Mani 24-500 also has a slightly larger gap although this is also exacerbated by the blue round end and the square roof.

Thanks. Look like some of the items are no longer in stock... I asked for 2 of some things so maybe there was only 1 left of them. Would be nice of them to tell me a bit sooner!

I have had that before. They didn't have the item in stock. And took them 3 weeks to tell me they couldn't get it from one of their suppliers.

Does Plaza Japan notify you when something is shipped? I made and paid for an order about two weeks ago now, shipping via Japan Post (Standard Air Registered) and have not heard anything since aside from the order confirmation. Looking at it online says it is 'preparing for shipment' but also when looking at the order in detail says 'items shipped to [address]' ...? I have asked them but just wondering if this is the usual experience, my first order.

@Maxx Zteel the layout forum is the best place to post about your layout and its evolution. cheers, jeff https://jnsforum.com/community/forum/63-layout-building/

@KaydensRailway I am a relatively new member here too, and have found it to be a welcoming, and informative, place to spend time. Welcome aboard!

Hi everyone, my name is Kayden and I'm from Malaysia. I have been infatuated with steam locomotives since I was a child and find Japanese ones quite fascinating. My favourites are the Japanese National Railways C11 2-6-4Ts and C62 4-6-4s. I hope I can someday make the trip to Japan to see the preserved ones and ride behind them if possible. I look forward to making new friends while I'm here and meeting them in person when the awaited day comes.

Where have I been? I have been missing your posts. Hope your trip is going well and looking forward to reading more updates. NHK has a show on biking around Japan - you can find it on their web site if you like - there are some interesting trips including to some of the islands close to Japan (though no trains on them). We enjoyed Nikko, particularly getting out of the main shrine and heading to the lake and some of the areas outside the town. Safe travels. Tony

A interesting video and article by Mainichi. I am a little surprised to see that the axles use journal bearings. Although a number of these have been scrapped, there are still 13 in use. Google translated article: https://mainichi-jp.translate.goog/articles/20240504/k00/00m/040/032000c?_x_tr_sl=ja&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp Google translated Wikipedia page on WOKIFU 100: https://ja-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/秩父鉄道ヲキ・ヲキフ100形貨車?_x_tr_sl=ja&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

For general information or as a reference source for those of you going on Japanese vacations, the link below should go to a Google-translated version of Japanese Wikipedia’s list of railway museums. There is an English Wikipedia page listing railway museums all over the world, but the list of Japanese museums isn’t as complete. https://ja-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/鉄道博物館の一覧?_x_tr_sl=ja&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp