which shinkansen is best

[Themetropolitainline]

Hi everyone,

Im new to the forum and would like to know what brand do you find the best for quality and detail. I have been looking at buying the shinkansen 0 and i can't make my mind up over the MicroAce or the tomix. What do you think? Not going on cost, but just for running performance and detail and finish.Or is there a brand that i have not heard of which makes super high quality running stock? I am not keen on the kato as i think the gap between the coaches is to wide. Cheers The metropolitanline

[railsquid]

You can get close couplings for the Kato unit which reduce the gap. Can't help with the other two brands for 0-series at the moment. As far as I know, no-one else manufactures RTR Shinkansens in N (if you do want do dish out loads of money, Tenshodo do some very nice steam locomotives at about 10x the price of Kato or Tomix).

[Themetropolitainline]

Thank you for the reply, Im only interested in shinkansen at the moment, i have british,german steam that I'm happy with. I just want to know which has the best quality in running and Details for the 0 Series shinkansens as i will be buying online and can't see them in the flesh. Cheers Themetropolitanline

[cteno4]

Them,

 

If the tomix model you are looking at has the all wheel pickup then that really is a very nice running feature that can get past any dirty track and avoids any internal light flicker.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Themetropolitainline]

Cheers Jeff

[Ochanomizu]

Hello,

 

Both models you're looking at are excellent.  It comes down to whether you want the Hikari or Kodama version.  Also, the Tomix version has power couplers that transfer power from car to car, greatly reducing the effects of dirty track and wheels.  The Tomix version has the wide windows on all cars, so it is representative of the original version of the 0 series shinkansen running in the 1960's.  The Micro Ace version has smaller windows of the 1000 and 2000 sub-series, which ran from 1976 to 1990's.  Perhaps consider the time period of your railway.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

My 0 series is a Kato model, which is my preferred option. If you are choosing between Tomix and Micro Ace, then Tomix may be the better bet as MA spares can be awkward to get hold of.

[Themetropolitainline]

Thank you guys, I think i am going for the microAce,i will decide today and make payment this evening. I will be buying from loco1, any experience from this seller?

[the_weird_one]

Dave at Loco1 is a great seller - I get most of my stuff from him - fast and reliable.

[Themetropolitainline]

Thank you

[cteno4]

Them,

 

Loco1 has a thread in the supplier forum with lots of satisfied customers!

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/7129-loco1hobby/

 

You will also find discussions of other suppliers as well in the supplier forum.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Themetropolitainline]

Thank you Jeff,

I have decided to buy the MicroAce as i prefer the finish and detailing, plus also The owner of loco1 sent me a email with a very detailed personal opinion of both micrace and tomix so i I bought the 8 car pack plus also the extra 8 car set and a couple of other items. Cant wait to install decoder and get her running :-)

Edited April 12, 2016 by Themetropolitainline

[Martijn Meerts]

MicroAce can be a bit difficult with their light boards in the 2 end cars. Sometimes they just use 2 LEDs which makes it easy to install any function decoder, but sometime they use a single multi-color LED, which means a regular function decoder isn't going to work, you'll need a bipolar one.

[kvp]

Actually i've seen a wiring diagram for connecting bipolar leds to conventional pull to ground function decoders by adding resistors between both outputs and the power wire and wiring the bipolar headlight between the two outputs. It works because half of the power will flow through one of the resistors and half through the led. If both outputs are turned on, the led is turned off. It doubles the power consumption of the whole circuit though, but allows unmodified headlight circuits if the resistors are matched to the light boards.

[Themetropolitainline]

Thanks Guys for the heads up on microace, i have added quiet a few decoders in my time so once the unit is in my hands i will study the wiring setup and think whats best. I can add a thread on how i tackled the situation if you like,I'm sure it will come handy to somebody at some point.Regards Frey

[Martijn Meerts]

Actually i've seen a wiring diagram for connecting bipolar leds to conventional pull to ground function decoders by adding resistors between both outputs and the power wire and wiring the bipolar headlight between the two outputs. It works because half of the power will flow through one of the resistors and half through the led. If both outputs are turned on, the led is turned off. It doubles the power consumption of the whole circuit though, but allows unmodified headlight circuits if the resistors are matched to the light boards.

 

Hmm.. A link to that would be nice. There are decoders which state in the manual that you should never connect both light outputs.

 

 

 

Thanks Guys for the heads up on microace, i have added quiet a few decoders in my time so once the unit is in my hands i will study the wiring setup and think whats best. I can add a thread on how i tackled the situation if you like,I'm sure it will come handy to somebody at some point.Regards Frey

 

Always nice to see decoder installs. I've done quite a few myself by now, but I'm always interested in seeing how other people go about it.

[Ochanomizu]

Hello,

 

To manage bipolar LED with DCC you need to use transistors, not resistors.

[Themetropolitainline]

Hopefully it will be a simple install,only time will tell :-)

[serotta1972]

Hello, I just recently acquired a Micro Ace A1150 Type 1000 Shinkansen and am impressed by the close coupling.  Do the new Micro Ace Series 0 have close coupling as well relative to Kato? Or is it more like their East i Shinkansen?  That would be quite a step backwards IMHO if that's the case as they were able to accomplish it on a model made in 2005.  It will be a deciding factor for me to purchase the MA Series 0 Shinkansen.  My Kato Series 0 is still one of my favorite Japanese model trains despite its shortcomings according to today's standards and compared to newer Series 0's by Tomix and Micro Ace.  But I like the Series 0 so much, I would like more of them.  :)

 

 

 

[JR 500系]

Interesting... Could we get a better look at that coupler please; i.e. from the bottom side? The attached diaphragm also makes the gap look so much tighter ~

[serotta1972]

Sorry Sammy, I already put the trains away but I will take pics tomorrow.  But they are the same type of couplers just spaced apart differently.

[Themetropolitainline]

I will take some pictures tonight when i return home from work ,i do not have anything else to compare but i am very impressed with the couplings and also the detail overall 

[Themetropolitainline]

 

Hope these help

[serotta1972]

Thanks Themetropolitainline! So it looks more to be like the East i rather than the Type 1000. 

[Suica]

Here's that coupler on the MA 1000 series.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Suica