All Activity

Pretty much as it says, just sound recordings of various steam trains. I had a similar one as a kid of us steam. Japan has a lot of rail related stuff like this a it’s been a very rail centric country and tons of rail fans. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is still around in cd format. jeff

I've been meaning to post some photos here, but never got around to doing it until now January 2nd, 2024 Kaiun Hatsumode-go. I only found out about this special service about two weeks before my trip, yet somehow there were still seats available, so I reserved a ride from Shinjuku to Chiba. Being a JNR fan, I naturally had a great time on it. I do slightly regret not going for the full ride to Kashima Jingu though (I have the exact model of this KiHa - Tomix 98013) First visit to Kominato Railway, as well as my first ever ride on a KiHa 40. I've always wanted to ride one of these diesel cars. Loved the retro atmosphere throughout the railway. Heard that they're doing a collaboration with JR Hokkaido, so I might visit again during my next trip in June. January 3rd, 2024 Took advantage of my JR pass and spent half the day or so on Shinkansens. Headed to Nasushiobara early in the morning. I was quite surprised when the E2 J66 rolled into the platform as my first ride of the day; I didn't think I'd even get to see it in person And for the return trip as well... Guess I won the Shinkansen lottery that day! Spent about an hour at Nasushiobara, before taking a short ride to Utsunomiya. Both the Silver Tsubasa E3 and the Disney E2 passed through during that time As well as an E3-1000, which is now retired from service 😢 Seems like there was an abundance of E3s during that hour Transferred to the Nikko like at Utsunomiya, and headed for Shimo-Imaichi station for a jump back in time. Had a relaxed 30 minute trip on the SL Taiju to Kinugawa-Onsen, where I then got on a Kinugawa service to Omiya. I had originally planned to get more Shinkansen photos there, but it was already 6pm and the sky was completely dark. I'll try to post some more photos soon, although they're mostly just the usual JR commuter trains

I've used Eneloop a lot. Mostly Pro but I also have the regular ones in my Z21 controllers. I also use IKEA brand ones in my trackpads and other issues. But the Enerloop are the ones I use in my camera flashes, and other "heavy lift" uses.

https://batteriesamerica.com/collections/battery-cells The R/C guys (my other hobby 🙂) use them a lot.

Correct that Kato USA does not do decoder installations for customers. The job posting is for someone on staff to do decoder installations for items to be sold as "Equipped with DCC" when they arrive at the distributors/dealers. You will see these as Kobo Shop items in the US. It's an internal thing and not public facing.

Was Customs an issue coming back?

thank you - how did you take it apart to clean the armature and brush area?

Still trying to figure out a name for it. ! Going to change the front on the spiral section so it has 3 open sections to match the spiral sections. (Glad I only screwed it on. 🙂 )

Now thats how I wish anybody that their Japan trip should end.

Back from Japan with a mighty haul! Pretty easy to break my budget given the favourable exchange rate, this is an opportunity right? My three-day JR Shikoku rail pass adventure (detailed report to come at some point) prompted many of the purchases pictured below as I got to ride the Kiha 54, Kiha 32, N2000, Kiha 185s and spotted the Kiha 40s at Kagoshima depot. Special thanks to RG Rokko for great service and speedy delivery to my in-laws' house while I was in Japan. They even had my trains protected in an extra layer of bubble wrap so transport back to Canada was worry free 😃 The plastic bag is filled with a Kato V3 set, whose box had to be left behind to save space and weight in my pack. Here's the breakdown: RG-Rokko MicroAce A6438 JR Kiha 54 with skirt + Kiha 32 round headlight JR Shikoku color KATO 7011-3 DE10 JR Freight New Color KATO 10-1627 JR N2000 Series 3-car set TOMIX 98125 JR Kiha 185 Series (Tsurugisan Color) 2Cars Set TOMIX 98087 JR Kiha185 Series (Resurrection national railway color) 2Cars Set Hobby-Off (items listed as used but appear to be unopened) Tomix 8461 JR Shikoku Kiha 40 - 2000 (M) Tomix 8462 JR Shikoku Kiha 40 - 2000 (T) Tomix 2715 JR Wagon (WAMU 380000) X 2 Amazon.jp Tamiya Craft bond (because never enough glue!) Sankei Miniature kit MP-33-38 - Small shrine TGW - Plastic retaining wall material Kato 20-429 - Single-truss bridge (248mm) Greenmax 2114 (tunnel portals) Kato V3 Rail yard switching set

Cannot see it gaining traction. They recent capped daily visitor numbers. Road/LRT access will be blocked for at least a season or two.

Wowzers, this is moving along quickly!

While in Japan recently, I saw some news regarding the proposed Fuji Subaru Line LRT. Sounds like an old-news story, but the report on Japanese TV highlighted the rising level of opposition among local residents and concerned seismologists so the idea may be gaining traction. 🤔 I hadn't heard about the plan but can definitely see some advantages given the increasing number of tourists wanting to visit Mt. Fuji. I'm sure the owners/operators of all those buses that take people up the mountain are not keen about the idea. Additional info: https://unseen-japan.com/mt-fuji-light-rail-overtourism/

Yup 😳 Update: Just after I posted my bit of a rant, the following happened: I asked Plaza Japan to cancel my second order I got a notice that my first order was shipped as I had ordered it, with no deletions Plaza Japan did a full refund on the second order with no fee So my positive impressions of Plaza Japan are renewed and I look forward to receiving my order towards the end of May. Will update when I have the order in hand.

Front on view of the progress. Couple more bits of track ordered to finish off the top spiral. Have started on the isolation joints and track inputs, Finish them, then onto set-up tracks... then start on the scenery.

They're definitely quirky, that's for sure. Probably the last such hopper cars in service to have a brakeman's compartment anywhere in Japan, though my knowledge as such is pretty negligible so take that at face value. Having seen the real things, and the matching WoKi 100 hoppers on my Chichibu Railway daytrip in June 2023, they were a major factor in buying the N-scale versions from Micro Ace the same day (plus a matching DeKi 300 locomotive); that, and the fantastic little videos produced by yukikazeful and Susukuma on YouTube. May as well join the vibe and throw in some of my prototype shots from June last year. They were only quick grab shots, I'll have to see if I can do better next month when I go back! Alastair

Sounds like a great trip so far! One of the things I want to do when I'm in Japan myself is to take a look at some guitar gear. So just curious: What guitar did you buy and where did you buy it from? Also are you planning to ship it back or take it with you on the plane?

Thanks great info. Hoping the kids there will enjoy the trains and can have fun setting up new layouts all the time. jeff

I met a rat snake yesterday. Coming from NZ it was a bit of a surprise. I went out to Haneda on the monorail to watch the planes land and the dude slithered in front of me.

Thanks I was looking at them, seemed to have the highest ratings and panisonic produced. But expensive, but that’s worth it if they are good to their rating and low failure rate, both of which are issues with getting no name stuff! jeff

I like Enerloop AA's a lot.

Some of the older chassis use a C or D battery. I’m sure a couple of my kids freight locos, EF66 and EH500 use a C sized battery. All other chassis use a single AA. Also some of the sound cars use 2xAAA iirc. We generally used rechargeables as things tended to get left running when kids found something else to do. Also I “upgraded” our shinkansen with Tamiya Mini 4wd motors so they fly around the track but burn through batteries. The only other issue with that is the stop tracks no longer can stop the trains. 😂

We've run a mega Plarail layout (whole day affair) around the house for my nephew. All the trains ran using NiMH batteries, though at various speeds as many trains were second hand. No issues in them running. Some trains used AA, some AAA and some even used C (we put AA into a C sized adaptor and that ran fine). Always 1 battery per locomotive. (No experience with the remote control unit.)

You mentioned you are visiting the Kato Hobby Center in Tokyo. I believe they do decoder installations. You might have to visit them twice, though, and I don't know if you would have the time. (From memory, they have an order form on their website.)

Currently we're waiting for PCBs for the final version. Hope everything will be available from June on our website