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I know that both Kato & Tomix produce E5 and H5 Series models, but I am wandering about everyone's experience with them and what are the differences other than the obvious coupling and diaphragm systems? Most of my Shinkansen are currently by Kato: 100 Series Grand Hikari, E2 Asama, E2-1000 Hayate, E3-0 Komachi, E3-1000 Tsubabsa & E4 Max. As you can tell I have concentrated on JR East Shinkansen. I have one Tomix 200 Series H unit Super Yamabiko, I am a bit partial to the late 80's shark nose sets, which is why i also have the full 16 car set of the Kato 100 Series Grand Hikari! And When I get around to expanding my fleet with an E1, it's gonna have to be the Tomix model, since the Kato model has been out of production since before I moved to China.... But I am not sure what to do when/if I decide to get E5 and H5 sets. I feel that the diaphragm on the Tomix models looks much better and closer to the full width diaphragms on the real trains. And I know from my experience with my Super Yamabiko that the Tomix conductive coupling system is reliable. Would I be right in guessing that the Tomix TN couplers hidden in the noses are not compatible with Kato's Shibata couplers? And if I ever choose to DCC my Shinkansen, how easy is it to install chips on a Tomix Shinkansen? At least the conductive coupling system should mean that the whole train can be fitted with a single multi-function decoder, right? Looking forward to hearing people's experiences, and comments on performance and maintenance would be appreciated too! Ewan

Hello all, I have purchased the KATO E6 and I currently have the KATO H5 on order. I have already received the KATO E6 a while ago, and I have the issue that it keeps derailing (sometimes, pretty badly) at switches. -None- of my other KATO trains have this issue anywhere, even at top speed. Switching to a different E6 train just gives the same issue. I have all KATO rails and switches, very new. Some amazon.co.jp reviews say that both the H5/E5 and E6 are prone to derailment. Is there any way to stop it from derailing? Maybe weighing it down? Suggestions or personal stories/fixes are highly appreciated. I would order the TOMIX versions to see if these have the same problems, except that the TOMIX versions are much harder to acquire and very expensive. Does anyone know if the TOMIX versions also derail so often? Thanks!

Bit of old news from two weeks back, but it was revealed that the number of services on the Hokkaido Shinkansen will be set at 13 r/t a day. 10 round trips will be Tokyo - Shin Hakodate-Hokuto services, the remaining 3 r/t will be SHH-Sendai, SHH-Morioka, and SHH-Shin-Aomori. All Tokyo-SHH services and the SHH-Sendai service will be limited stop Hayabusa, while the SHH-Morioka and SHH-Shin-Aomori will be the frequent stop Hayate services. During holiday/special event periods, up to 4 additional r/t will be added to meet passenger demand. Currently, there are 10 r/t Hakucho/Super Hakucho ltd. express services between Hakodate and Aomori. Including the remaining night trains, approx. 4000 passengers are carried through the Seikan Tunnel daily. It is projected that number will increase to 6000/day with the introduction of shinkansen services. It is still unknown if the Tokyo-Shin Hakodate-Hokuto travel time will be under 4 hours, considered an important target, which would allow passengers from Tokyo departing before 8am to arrive in Hakodate around noontime. A more official announcement is scheduled for mid-September. *summarized from Hokkaido Shimbun print edition article 8/27/2015