to2leo Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Alpine when I was in China I needed to exchange USD for Chinese currancy at the hotel. WHen the women behind the counter inspected every bill and if it wasn't perfect (no marks, slight tears, etc.) it was rejected. She would only take new crisp bills. I got stuck with countefeit money in China from an official Govt tourist site!. Took me ages to off load it onto someone else. I had to find an old cashier with poor eyesite before I could use it Yeah you have to be very careful especially large bills. That's why I always ask for small denomination whenever I go travel. Especially in touristic cities. However in Japan, vending machine will glad accept any denomination bill! Link to comment
to2leo Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 Just an update about my Kato TGV Duplex delivery....nothing yet. Apparently Popondetta is still having difficulties in sending a payment link via online purchase. It is now week 2 and I am thinking of cancelling the order. What was your experience with them? The curse continues... Link to comment
bc6 Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 As much as I love Kato Unitrack and trains my beef is with their Unitrack. I purchased a Unitrack Double Viaduct from someone on a forum for a good price. the set was complete except that it was missing two curved sections but came with extra straight sections. I figured how difficult could it be to get the replacement Kato Unitrack I needed. Well it looks like Kato discontinued 20-840 the Double Viaduct set I purchased and introduced the new & improved 20-872 super elevated double viaduct set. So I was stuck looking for two section to complete my viaduct set, I finally found an ebay seller in Austria that had the track I needed. To top it off the curved track sections I have arent marked 20-541 they're marked 23-083 which I cant find any reference too on the Net at all. Its like the track never existed or part of a bad Twilight Zone episode. Well Ive learned my lessons, know what youre buying before you buy it and almost anything can be bought on ebay. Link to comment
Mudkip Orange Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Well it looks like Kato discontinued 20-840 the Double Viaduct set I purchased and introduced the new & improved 20-872 super elevated double viaduct set. So I was stuck looking for two section to complete my viaduct set, I finally found an ebay seller in Austria that had the track I needed. You can pretty easily use the two together, you just have to buy "transition sections" that go from flat to superelevated track, which is the same boat you'd be in if you were starting from scratch. I realize you've already gotten some more of the oldstyle viaduct track, but for future reference you COULD have gotten a pack of transitions and a pack of curves, and used those in tandem with your existing viaduct. Link to comment
to2leo Posted August 11, 2009 Author Share Posted August 11, 2009 Mudkip is right. I have examples of both, let me know if you want me to show you pictures. Link to comment
alpineaustralia Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Please be aware that Popondetta's payment system has still not been restored and that payments for orders cannot still be processed. Link to comment
Guest ___ Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Yes but that is not because they are not technologically advanced. That is because they have refused to reform their banking system. Look at the PASMO card, the bullet train system, the features of many cars that they produce and how they are willing to embrace and apply these new technologies. Well they damn well should :angel4: Everyone else in the modern world does. It's sad when you can use a Visa card in Guam, or Grenada, but not Nippon. :color: Link to comment
Guest ___ Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Speaking of the word, "damn" let me add, "damn Tomix" to my list of RR curses. Link to comment
to2leo Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Well, I was right. The TGV curse continues. I finally received my 2+ years in waiting Kato TGV Duplex K10916 today from Popondetta. BUT even before putting the trainset on the track, something caught the corner of my eyes! One engine is missing both of the black air ventilation strips! You should have seen my face . I am now sending an e-mail back to Popondetta and hopefully they will get back to me soon! I got to say this incident + my Arnold ICE Renfe coupling problem + Minitrix ICE-3 engine problem are really getting me down to the point I just want to forget about this hobby! I posted the pictures below. Hopefully this is the bottom of my luck with n-scale. Leo Link to comment
alpineaustralia Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 What a beautiful looking train! Link to comment
to2leo Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 What a beautiful looking train! Thanks AA. Popondetta contacted KATO and will inform me when the packages arrive. I hope that will be the end of the TGV curse. The trainset runs very well and had all the light fixtures included. All one need to do is to plug in the LEDs and play. Will update my project entry soon. Leo Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Just came across another something that I dislike somewhat.. Since I'm a Mac user these days, and have rather started disliking Windows quite a bit, I had to say it sucks that there's no decent Mac programs to control a layout. I know there's a few, but none of them is written using Cocoa, so they don't really use all the things that are great about OS X.. (So, I'm working on learning Objective C and Cocoa programming now ;)) Link to comment
CaptOblivious Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Just came across another something that I dislike somewhat.. Since I'm a Mac user these days, and have rather started disliking Windows quite a bit, I had to say it sucks that there's no decent Mac programs to control a layout. I know there's a few, but none of them is written using Cocoa, so they don't really use all the things that are great about OS X.. (So, I'm working on learning Objective C and Cocoa programming now ;)) Why not do it in Cocoa/Java and take advantage of JMRI's toolkit? Link to comment
Sushi Train Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Just came across another something that I dislike somewhat.. Since I'm a Mac user these days, and have rather started disliking Windows quite a bit, I had to say it sucks that there's no decent Mac programs to control a layout. I know there's a few, but none of them is written using Cocoa, so they don't really use all the things that are great about OS X.. (So, I'm working on learning Objective C and Cocoa programming now ;)) install winblows and boot into it or run it with parallels or vm from your desktop? Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Capt: Because I don't know Java, and don't like it enough to get to know it ;) Also, I generally just want to get to know Objective C and Cocoa and program for iPhone / iPod Touch. I think I have some interesting ideas with regards to that, and have already started working on a prototype app. Sushi: I have windows running through boot camp, and I also still have a windows desktop machine, so theoretically I could run a windows program. On the other hand, none of the programs do what I want them to do, and many of them are rather expensive. For example, none of the programs really cater to Japanese trains, with most programs having no way to control Japanese signals. Some allow you to define your own signals though. Link to comment
to2leo Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 Ok, keep please keep your fingers crossed. I might finally get the missing parts of my TGV Duplex from Popondetta! They should be arriving in 2 weeks! I double checked with Popondetta that they should be the right parts...just in case....BUT... :dontknow: Link to comment
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