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I'll most likely be in Japan in December/January. When did you have in mind?

Lovely photos.

Hello there, I started to design my first N-Gauge Loco Model. The prototype is the JGR Class 4-6-4 HC51 Bullet Train pre-war concept of 1942 which was never realized because of the Second World War. This will be a freelance Model, based on the drawings for the 4-6-4 HC51 and an existing Freelance Model of another conceptional Streamlined Locomotive, the 4-8-4 HD53. The final Model will be compatible with existing 1:150 Japanese Model Trains. The Chassis comes from a damaged and stripped down KATO C62, which I had stored for few Years. I will use this as the working Part of a freelanced Variant of that Streamlined Locomotive. The Loco Body will be 3D printed with my 4 Years experience of 3D Design and Printing. Works on the Body have already started. Let's see ho long I need for that Design. I also plan to make the final Printing Files public. I also have Ideas for a "stripped down" Post War Variant with cut down shell.

Are you saying I've lost my marbles ?? 😁

Marble maze?! jeff

wise man. I’ve traveled all over the world and used the same approach and never an issue and I’ve been in some odd situations traveling. Also if some official in a podunk airport grabs your rechargeable batteries and charger saying they are not allowed on the airplane you say “ok” and not “why are you taking the charger then?!” Be nice, be ready, and be read to bend some… jeff

And what do you do if you miss the train to get to a different level.. .. you use the stairs, of course 🙂 (or maybe a lift, when one gets built) I intentionally left a hole in each level at the right hand end, just for this purpose. 🙂

Miki wasn't bad, it takes time for a new host to find his or her footing.

Really? I didn't see any segments in the past when Russell was the host. Was it after he left?

Just watch most recent episodes? New host and voice over lady were very poor. Is the a concrete change?

They have done that before. But railway show aren't frequent in Japan, so the reporting isn't gonna be monthly like the show.

That made me lol, but it's awesome to see C571 on the recordings.

I love Japan Railway Journal and the hosts; they did a wonderful job. Still, though, this is more my own biased opinion, I wished they had a segment in which they showed model railroad clubs, shows, and conventions. In contrast, yes the show is more cater to tourism, which is fine, but the talents of the folks who operate their own layouts and model trains are impressive, I can see Cathy Cat and Miki Clark being very impressed by the High School Model Railway Contest and the International Model Railroad Convention, and since the KATO Railway Park is opening very soon, maybe a segment on that and KATO itself? Maybe that's my two cents on this.

First up, this is from a Canadian perspective. We did a 3 week trip to Japan this March and when we came back all Canada Customs (YVR) was interested in was the dried fish package we brought back for our son, but they did not ask to see it, just a couple of quick questions about it. Did not care about the wood products, or the train stuff. We declared everything, including gifts. My wife was close to her limit since she had to buy a new suitcase and she bought Japanese, but I was well under. However, past trips they have asked to see a list and the receipts so I am always prepared for that question. Our 2018 trip had that question and I handed the package over, the customs official looked it over, looked at me and said "you've done this before, haven't you?" Yup, and waved through. I find for both trips to the US and back to Canada it really depends on the officer you are dealing with. I have had way more issues going into the US (with nothing to declare) than coming back with 'stuff'. I used to travel internationally extensively for business so getting through customs at various countries became pretty routine. Be polite, don't try to hide anything, answer the questions, have the paperwork ready. No issues if you follow these simple rules.

@deathletter You should post to my favorite thread, Nice haul btw that's a LOT of stuff.

One of the things you can do with a multi-level .. a tall building joining levels... ... in this case a thin version of the twisted tower, with its own upper level entrance. 🙂 Thinking maybe a cable car from the city up to level 5.. 😉

not much of a progress on scratchbuilding Rolling stocks. making a scrap rolling stock from downed units and the inspiration

As in the title. Who is keen to meet in Japan in a year's time?

Great pictures. Thanks for this post.

oohhh. Mmmmmm. KoKi and containers....

At least in the USA they don't care. The recent time we came back they didn't even care much to ask details like they have in the past. And if you are traveling with your family each person gets $800 worth. Even that infant you're traveling with. I've never had an issue with customs no matter what I had coming back to the US. Except once when they randomly chose one of our bags to get scanned and they kept asking me if I had any knives or anything. They were trying to get me to confess. I said I thought I might have a ceramic kitchen knife in one of my bags but otherwise nothing. So they finally asked, after asking me the same question in different ways about a dozen times, if they could search. I said that was fine. They opened it up and went into where there scanner thought the elusive knives were and found our stash of nail clippers. Japanese nail clippers are the best and we had bought a bunch to give as gifts. I guess on the scanner they looked like butterfly knives or some other sort of knife that is verboten. They thanked me, closed it back up, and we were on our way.

Hi Arkh, it is this Epiphone. It was so cheap compared to home. It instantly felt great to play too. I have Gibsons and Fenders at home, but I've always wanted a jazz/rockabilly style guitar.

I like the idea..... 🙂 Certainly is the aim of the layout. We will see what name "sticks" eventually 🙂

Re-did the front of the spiral chamber. so each section of spiral has its own window..... much better... Hard to get far enough away to get a flat view, so top spiral looks a bit odd.. especially as it is incomplete. !.

I got my first shipment from RG-Rokko. Shipped using FedEx on the 6th of May from Japan and arrived here in Texas today (the 8th of May). I will buy from them again. The package was 17.5 x 14.5 x 12 inches (45 x 37 x 30 cms) and weighed 5.3 kgs which is slightly less than 12 pounds. I mention this because if I would have purchased the same amount of items from buyee, the package probably would have been twice the size. This order contains: TOMIX 2720 JNR Chi 1 (with wood) ｘ 9 TOMIX 2721 JNR Chi 1 (with clay pipe) ｘ 9 TOMIX 2774 JNR Chiki 7000 ｘ 9 KATO 23-579 Type U50A container (Sagawa Express) ｘ 12 KATO 23-575-A ISO tank container (NRS / INTERFLOW) ｘ 3 KATO 23-503-B U41A type container (Zero/NISSAN) ｘ 10 KATO 23-503-A U38A Container (Nissan Land Transport) ｘ 10 KATO 8058 Taki 9900 Nippon Oil Transportation ｘ 2 KATO 8058-1 Taki 9900 Nippon Oil ｘ2 KATO 10-1573 JRF Koki 200 (No JRF mark/No container loaded) - 2 car set ｘ 7 KATO 10-1377 Tora 90000 - 8 car set ｘ 3 Here are some pictures: