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Apologies in advance if this has already been covered in previous threads. I'm still a novice at n gage model railroading, having just started a few months ago, but I'm already running into limitations imposed by the DC system. I may have over complicated my two-power pack layout with a Double crossover and an X-cross over ... (see attached layout plan) Phase3 + Beer Brewery.pdfSo a conversion to a DCC system might be ideal. However, reading information on this forum as such for DCC conversions, I may not be up to the task myself, especially with limited n gage experience, limitations in dexterity and eyesight. Thus I would like to consider engaging DCC installation services. My questions include: (1) are there installers experienced in converting n gage Japanese locomotives, ideally in the Northern California area where I live, or are there viable services elsewhere via delivery, (2) what are controller options/considerations, e.g. sound, bluetooth, and (3) what would be a the range of costs and viable options (understanding that it likely would depend on examining the the specifics of my locomotives and decoder/sound options) and how may I get quotes for this service. My current n gage collection for conversion include: Kato 10-1500 Series 35-4000 'SL Yamaguchi-go' 5 Cars Set Kato 10-1527 485 Series Early Type, 6-Car Basic Set Kato 10-1670 Passenger Car Formation Set Sleeping Express 'Kitaguni' 8 Cars Set Kato 2016-8 2016-8 Steam Locomotive Type D51 200 (N scale) Kato 2017-8JNR Steam Locomotive Type C62-2 Tokaido Type (N scale) Kato2018-1 2018-1 Steam Locomotive Type D51 1st Ed. (Tohoku Type) Kato 3049-2Electric Locomotive Type EF58 150 Miyahara Engine Depot (N scale) Tomix 6425 Track Cleaning Car (Blue) (N scale) All passenger cars have been fitted with Kato lighting kits. (BTW, I'll be visiting Kato Hobby Center in Tokyo as well as the Akihabra district in a couple of weeks, so I may end up acquiring more Kato trans! 😁) Thanks for any advice! Phase3 + Beer Brewery.pdf

Falcon, nice little layout! Shows what you can pack into a small Ttrak loop and pack away easily if you don’t have the space to keep it set up! can you show us more if it? cheers, jeff

I got an email back from Hobbyland Pochi. They said that foreigners can sell stuff with their passports, but they need an address and can't accept hotels, so in reality it's impossible for visitors. Hard Off has the same issue. ID is not the issue, needing a non-hotel address in Japan is.

Great work! I'm involved in railway preservation too, a member of the carriage and wagon team at the Avon Valley Railway.

Hello, I am alone and have built a small layout with 6 modules to run my tank trains with diesel locomotives. I have a lot of fun ! Here is my helicopter shot.

Decided that I didn't like the station building in the model a couple of posts up, so I'm repurposing the one I used on another layout. Still need to do the upper floor window design.

RS, no rush, no rush! That’s the fun with Ttrak you can just poke at it and a little time can get a lot done on a module. It’s not like trying to do a whole layout. cheers, jeff

RS, you are most welcome! That’s the whole point of the forum and why we all spend time and effort on it! Very enjoyable to see someone take off in the hobby like you are! We have 16 years worth of great stuff in the archives here as well. It’s a nice big group of friends here and has spun off many personal friendships for members. janoanese n scale is a real sweet spot. Some of the best quality and prices, enormous variety, tons of amazing scenes that rail can be in and small enough to pack a lot in a small place. Plus n is jsut right to do some fun details but you do pnt have to keep details high on every bit the way you do at larger scales. All this means you have fewer limits to your creativity! also great you’ve developed new friendships in your local hobby community, that’s the best! Real human and contact are sort of secondary in our social media culture now. enjoy! jeff

Sounds like a great time. While waiting for our train at Shimabarako station in March we met a Korean who was cycling around Kyushu, on a folding bike. He was having a great time, so I imagine a bike would be a good option.

Here is a map and schedule of the trip; no details yet of the Mexico portion. And the web site: https://www.cpkcr.com/en/community/final-spike-steam-train/?

Is there something I am missing? I was looking to order a Kato 20-202 and 203 and got this at Plaza Japan: Does this mean the turnout is being updated? For out of stock items, Plaza Japan shows different wording.

So a bit of an update. I am putting it here as it is very general and its seems to fit best. First, thank you so much for the warm welcome, and responses to my other posts, this seems like a great place to be. A particular shout out to @cteno4 for not only his excellent advise, but patience for what must seem both repetitive and basic questions. And the amount of information in the forum is amazing. Keeps my quite entertained browsing as I sit in a hotel room for (this week) 3 nights. Second, this whole delving into Japanese model railways and now into to T Track has been a real eye opener for an old school HO modeller. It has re-energized my interest in modelling, and opened new friendships in my local modelling community. I dabbled in N scale in the early 80's when I was trying to pick a scale to work in, and wow has it changed since then! So much to learn, and un-learn from HO.

It may be awhile before I can share anything! Summer is coming here in the north (although we had frost this morning), and I'm busy mentoring my replacement as my retirement looms, which means lots of travel. The reality is that its unlikely that I will have a module done till late this year or into next year although I may play around with something over the summer. I've made my order due to wanting to have some track on hand to experiment/become familiar with, and to take advantage of the yen/Canadian dollar exchange and I may purchase some more if I see that changing. But I will post my experiences in some way, and will ask lots of questions! On another note this topic has been a real learning experience for me, especially as I don't have any per-conceived ideas from past modules since I have never built any! Until maybe 2 weeks ago I had not heard of T Track let alone thought about it and what it can do; I figured I would have to do my own stand-alone portable layout. Great stuff!

Rich, yes I messed with a few ideas for offset, L and T shapes with Ttrak on the computer a long time back. We just need to make a couple of inside corners. But these still retain the issue of modules going down just one table lenght but you do get the addition of getting it out of a rectangle track shape! Might be best to just offset the tables just enough for the inside corners and a single module between the inside corner and end corners. More 90 degree curves are much better than a few 180s. This would put it to 2 90s and 2 180s instead of just 2 180s. another fun idea, especially if we were missing a couple modules to make a full 2 table rectangle would be to make one long side of the rectangle be modules turned around so the fat scene side faced forward instead of being in the usual back behind the track. Simple way of making less be more and mixing things up some. our other big lament with Ttrak is the loss of shinkansen lines. We have played with the idea of making some thin raided viaduct and embankment shinkansen modules with minimal scenery under them. But running this inside a Ttrak loop requires a huge Ttrak loop. Running the shinkansen outside the Ttrak loop has the raised Shinkansen tracks blocking the view of the inner Ttrak loops. I messed with doing this and two interconnected rings so both the Ttrak and Shinkansen are at the front and back for half the setup. But it required a lot of table space and some large interface modules for the loop crossover points. We did a setup twice where we did a huge T. The stalk of the T was streetcar Ttrak loop and the crossbar of the T was a long shinkansen viaduct loop set up on just piers and foam blocks, no scenery. At the interface we built a 6’ shinkansen station that was over the 180 curve at the end of the Ttrak loop. Worked well but needed a big area to setup for the full T, I think the Ttrak was like 10-12’ so long and Shinkansen loop almost 12’. But with the 2 table rectangle Ttrak layout we could put a shinkansen loop with one of 180 Shinkansen curves in the center of the Ttrak rectangle and the rest jutting out on two more tables side by side. Could create about 12’ shinkansen loop then. Overall table size would be 8’x13’. But all this means making a set of viaduct modules and another carfull of stuff to transport, schlep, setup/teardown, and store! Cheers, jeff

From Japanese Facebook. Don't know the explanation for this one. In the background a distress alarm is going off. Not recommended parking!

Here's another table arrangement option - two offset tables - although this example is not T-Trak and not so much roundy-round, but for trams and an automatic operation electric railway, with train/tram grade crossing: Rich K.

And now the Tomix SL Galaxy C58 and Kiha141 set. I need to find some Tomix rail ends at some point.

Greetings! Our community is building a website dedicated to JR Faning - for convenience, we collect schedules and materials about interesting retro trains and how to get to them, as well as fares and transfer times from other lines. I'll be glad to hear some feedback and recommendations what retro lines I should add. I will update the website weekly and will get a good domain later when it will be ready to use. https://jrfaning.framer.website/

Wonderful. It's rare to see a modification that improves both realistic appearance and operational capability.

If you had a set that’s difficult to find or only had a single run, never to be repeated, you may get a “decent amount”, probably 30% of what the shop will probably try to sell it for. Anything else, you’d get a token amount. As this is the very old 7 car set, possibly the original release, the likelihood is you’ll be offered an insulting amount for it from most shops. I do like your optimism, but the reality is it will not provide you with any money for other trains and when you suggest a meal or two, it may be more likely a single beef bowl at Yoshinoya, if you’re lucky. You often see older sets on the used market once updated models have been announced. Sorry to say but the Kato 500 sets in their various guises are often 10 a penny in a lot of used shops and are very low prices in many cases. And you may find they dictate that you need to provide an address and proof of one in Japan to avoid any issues with the possibility of receiving stolen goods. The general mentality is only non-Japanese break the law. Current trend seems to be to blame any incident of theft on Vietnamese migrant workers. So generally not worth the hassle.

Cool. Those Kiha 141 variants have an interesting history don’t they, starting as loco hauled passenger cars. JR Hokkaido once had the BBQ Car, I wish they’d do another one of those, probably the single greatest idea in excursion trains ever 🙂

I emailed both of them to ask, I'll let you know if/when they respond. My Japanese isn't perfect but I find it's usually good enough. The other option is to ask the hotel staff to call ahead and ask on your behalf. They usually seem to be helpful in matters like that, as well as making bookings as restaurants and the like.

enjoy your trip Grant. A bike sounds like a great idea! Nikko. That brings back alot of memories of our Japanese trip in 1985.

Yes the 1/64” pin tape is very thin. One of the reasons I like printing roads. inkjet printers are pretty inexpensive, it’s the ink that gets ya! yes a hallmark of much of Japan is a lot of above ground wires! jeff

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