More trains ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

Just updated my page with a 2nd temporary gallery of trains I've bought since I put up the previous temporary gallery. The picture quality isn't the best, since I didn't bother setting up and calibrating the mini-photo-studio ;)

 

Linky: http://www.jr-chiisai.net/temp_train_gallery2.html

[Bernard]

Martijn,

What a really beautiful roster you have and great blog. What is the train that is in the 5th row second in? You have some unique trains.

[Martijn Meerts]

If you click on the thumbnails you get a bigger view with a caption saying what train it is.

 

I believe the one you're referring to is the series 215 "Holiday Rapid View Yamanashi", one of the VERY few trainsets that MicroAce ever re-released.

 

 

As for the trains being unique, I guess it might seem so because they're not just the usual shinkansen and express trains etc. ;) What I usually do it pre-order the moment trains get announced. I found especially with MicroAce releases this is a good idea. They sell out fast because of the limited production runs. I think I'm becoming a collector of sorts, although I do plan on driving all my trains rather than keep them in the boxes and wait for their value to go up before selling them again ...

 

There's 1 rather big disadvantage of pre-ordering though. You're never certain when the trainsets will be released. Sometimes there's delays, sometimes trains come out sooner than expected. There have been times where I got a package in the mail that cost somewhere the 1200-1300 dollar mark. On the other hand, I have a mini-christmas almost every month =)

[Mudkip Orange]

I don't think I've ever seen a tomix track cleaning car with that paint scheme. Is that the "counter-rotating-guaranteed-to-file-away-your-rails-or-your-money-back" unit referred to in the other thread?

[quinntopia]

Martijn,  WOW! What a gorgeous blog - I can't believe that I didn't know about this until now!!  You surely are a man of many talents!  I'm very impressed!  A great collection by the way, and nice presentation of the trains. 

 

While a little off topic...one of the reasons I got into N Scale (after several years of messing around with 3 rail O Gauge) was I was totally seduced by the beautiful quality of the Trix Catalogs.  The photography, presentation and packaging was very contemporary and classy...something not often associated with model railroading (so my hat off to Marklin/Trix, etc... for investing in marketing).  Which is something I think is commendable about your blog as well...it looks great, makes this hobby look like something that is relevant to all age groups, including the 'younger' generations.

[KenS]

I don't think I've ever seen a tomix track cleaning car with that paint scheme. Is that the "counter-rotating-guaranteed-to-file-away-your-rails-or-your-money-back" unit referred to in the other thread?

 

He has both the Tomix 6421 (blue) and 6442 (red/gray).  The latter comes in the "cleaning set" along with the wheel cleaner, and I presume that's the one you are referring to.  Both are functionally identical.

 

By an odd coincidence I just bought both of these a couple of weeks ago (I want to run a vacuum/wet combo as recommended in one of the other threads here). But I haven't used them yet, as my railroad is still in disarray from current construction.

[Martijn Meerts]

Mudkip, it's just a standard track cleaner.. They have many different versions. The standard blue one, the red/gray one that comes in the set with the wheel cleaning track, a yellow one that comes with a locomotive, a 30th anniversary edition with a flower pattern I believe, and a clear case version. There's also some that fit in a shinkansen. By now I have the blue, red/gray and yellow versions.

 

 

Quinntopia, thanks ;) Although, I'm working on a new design. Have been for a long time actually. The main issue with the current one wasn't really the design, but the CMS. It was getting a bit chaotic in the back end, although that's mainly my own fault for not following the correct installation/configuration procedures. That's also the reason why it hasn't been updated for I don't know how long =)

 

The new one will be a bit more minimalistic, with much more focus on content. It's also a lot easier for me to update. However, with my chronic RSI problem, I can't work on it as much as I would like to. I could post a couple of screenshots of the new version if you're interested.

[Guest ___]

So, that's what a 215 is. I saw them at Shinagawa and couldn't for the life of me figure it out till I saw the pix in Martjin's site. Excellent.

[mrpig]

Martijn, wonderful blog and a great roster

[grumbeast]

Likewise!  I want to add my thanks for you publishing your site, its a lovely clean bit of design and a wonderful way of presenting your roster!  Thanks!

 

Graham

[Martijn Meerts]

It's awfully outdated though, I have way more trains than what's on the site at the moment =)

 

Here are some shots of the new page, which hopefully should go online in not all that long. I'm getting close to where I want to be before taking it online and actively start updating it.

 

Image 1:

The new frontpage, showing the main menu, a common links bit and searchbox, a Flash banner (I'm seriously considering getting rid of the Flash and just use a series of images with a fade effect instead), and sections for the latest 3 updated articles in rolling stock and layout (there's also the latest 3 updated articles for scenery and digital further down on the page). There's also a box with latest posts on JNSForum.

 

Image 2:

The new rolling stock roster list. Sub menu in the dark red bar in the top allows you to quickly filter trains, and the roster shows a thumbnail, name, short description and categories. Obviously I haven't added the correct pictures yet in this shot =)

 

Image 3:

Top part of a rolling stock item detail page. Some info about the prototype, image (non-clickable, non-zoomable) of the prototype, and of to the right sections for zoomable images (gallery type of thing), clickable video's (will be implemented later) and related articles.

 

Image 4:

Bottom part of the rolling stock item detail page, showing model info including decoder info and a schematic image of the train. Obviously, drawing those things for all trains is taking some time ;)) There'll eventually be something of a review of the model, just hasn't been added yet. Also, there's a possibility to comment on each of the items.

 

Image 5:

Detail page of a layout item, in this case the Studio Ghibli Modules idea. In a way, all the things I'm building will be layout "sections" (which is what this page shows), and each section can consist of multiple modules. The 3 images in the bottom are clickable, and lead to more detailed info about each of the separate modules.

[CaptOblivious]

Martijn,

 

If I offered to help draw those cute little schematic diagrams, could we use them on the Wiki? One thing that's sorely missing is consist information for both prototypes, and for models, and those cute graphics provide a nice overview.

[Martijn Meerts]

Martijn,

 

If I offered to help draw those cute little schematic diagrams, could we use them on the Wiki? One thing that's sorely missing is consist information for both prototypes, and for models, and those cute graphics provide a nice overview.

 

Even if you don't help, you can still use them ;)

 

Of course, any help would be appreciated, it's quite a bit of work. Although, once you've got 1 car drawn, the rest is mainly copy/paste work.. Those painted trains should be interesting though ...

[Martijn Meerts]

Here's some examples of images of consists that are a bit longer than the DD51 in the screenshot =)

 

Tomix Twilight Express, consist according the the Tomix catalogue.

Kato 500 series, as far as I know, not entirely correct. It's the older version with the 7 car base, 5 car add-on, and 2x 2 car add-on.

Tomix 800 series limited 6-part edition (with road number U002, the regular 2x 3 car sets have road number U005)

Kato 800 series with road number U005

[disturbman]

That's cute but I think you'll have to find another way to show the different sets needed to build one consist. It's not pretty clear for the moment.

 

These could really be the base for a Model Wiki.

[Martijn Meerts]

They look a bit better when placed in the design they were meant for ;) They have a lot more white space around them in the design.

 

I have everything as a PSD though, so things are easy enough to adjust for a Model Wiki. Drawing them is a bit of work though, especially the not-so-straight-forward designs and steam locomotives =)

[CaptOblivious]

I wonder if you used different colors, rather than different shades, to indicate the different model sets?