Hello from Florida (and South Korea)!

[jhoops01]

First I'd like to say that this forum and Japanese trains are highly detrimental to my wallet! A little background. I've had trains off and on throughout my life. Mostly O gauge to some HO and now to N. N scale is definitely my favorite. I've been building a small layout loosely based on the Santa Fe and Rio Grande lines and have a few locos, freight cars and the Santa Fe Super Chief. I love the Santa Fe warbonnet colors!

 

But nothing prepared me for the onslaught of Japanese trains! I love the different styles, colors and lines. Shinkansen, limited express, commuter, subway. Like nothing I've seen! Mass transit? Not here in Florida. It's hard to find a train of any kind.

 

So, imagine my excitement at booking my first trip to Japan April 2. Actually, my daughter booked it. We're flying from Incheon to Osaka and will travel around for a week. I've heard it will be crazy with cherry blossoms! We're staying in Kyoto and Tokyo. Also at an hotel, inn? At the bottom of the Hakone Tozon railway.

 

I've set aside time to visit the Kato store at the Kyoto train station and Tam Tam in Akihabura. My daughter has filled in the rest! My wife works in Korea so she will be joining us also. Suggestions are always welcome for places to see.

 

Once I discovered this site, I've been on a buying spree. I'm now building a baseboard for a Japanese layout with a viaduct, tram and probably a double mainline. I've got trains coming from Hobby Search, Amazon Japan and some eBay sellers. Will post some pics when they arrive. This site is a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. Thanks!

 

Joe

[Kiha66]

Welcome to the forum Joe!  Sounds like the Japanese train bug has bit you hard.  Model train plus is another great place to get trains, and the owner of the shop stops by the forum from time to time too!

[jhoops01]

Haha!

Kiha,

Thanks for the welcome. I just discovered them and bought a Modemo tram.

 

Joe

[jhoops01]

Good thing my wife will be in Korea when all these boxes arrive in FL. Lol

[miyakoji]

Hi Joe, welcome to the forum!

[tossedman]

Welcome Joe. Nothing like a trip to Japan to whet the appetite for Japanese trains.

 

Todd

[cteno4]

Joe,

 

Welcome! LOL you got the bug bad! No worries the rest of us here do as well and while hard on the wallet at times it's lots of fun and you won't run out if interesting things to learn, explore and buy and play with!

 

Great you are doing a trip, that will be very fun and I think you will throughly enjoy it and it will only feed your hobby interests more!

 

Start a thread in the layout forum if you are interested to show folks what you are doing.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Khaul]

Suggestions for Kyoto:

 

-take a ride in the Hankyu to Osaka, come back with the Keihan.

-visit Arashiyama for the bamboo forest, the temples... you can get there with JR West, Hankyu and the wonderful Keifuku Randen. 

-take the Echizen and the Eizan cable to get to Mount Hiei.

-you can also visit Nara with the Kintetsu and come back with JR, if you are lucky they will still be running the 103 series in the JR West Nara Line.

 

Tokyo:

 

-you'll need to take lots of trains to get anywhere, so just enjoy.

-I would explore the private railways: Keisei, Tobu, Tokyu etc.

-you can take the metro once in the rush hour to see how it feels... hard to imagine if you live in Florida.

-go to the deck at the top of the Post building opposite Tokyo station for cool views of trains coming in and out. 

-I find Akihabara station also very interesting.

-I would also explore some of the rural lines in Kanto...

-or go to Kamakura to ride the Enoden.

[jhoops01]

Thanks for the welcome!

Khaul, thanks for the travel ideas. Wow, so many things to see and do.

 

Joe

[Yavianice]

Enjoy Japan! There are also some topics on this forum about interesting shops in Kyoto and Tokyo, so be sure to check them out.