What did you order or the post deliver? (Worldwide Models)

[jappomania]

18 minutes ago, tripel7 said:

..., i do want the swap the box it came in for the same boxes Kato uses for the other TGV....

 

finding original Kato TGV green boxes or just the foam inside is really hard, maybe this one can be a good solution....

https://hfr160.fr/produit/mousse-coffret-rames-autorails-automotrices/

 

ciao!

Massimo

 

 

[SL58654号]

Japanese rail fan publications on Japanese 🇯🇵 railways are one part of rail paraphernalia that I love, but Japanese language books on foreign railways (e.g. foreign to Japan) are another delight to me in and of themselves.
On Amazon I found this old hardbound book for a very cheap price (973 Yen!) all about European steam locomotives, and it contained numerous wonderful photos of steam in the closing period of their heyday from Britain, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain and France. The British 🇬🇧 photos appealed to me especially for their focus on the Bluebell Railway as well as the Isle of Man Railway 🇮🇲, both of which I've visited myself. Oh, the simple pleasure of being a railway bibliophile! This book makes reading Japanese more fun!

The Bluebell Railway

The gorgeous Isle of Man Railway

Finnish steam locomotive builder's plates

 

Spanish Garratt engines

[tripel7]

23 hours ago, jappomania said:

 

finding original Kato TGV green boxes or just the foam inside is really hard, maybe this one can be a good solution....

https://hfr160.fr/produit/mousse-coffret-rames-autorails-automotrices/

 

ciao!

Massimo

 

 

Looks great, definitely gonna order that! 

[ED75-775]

More trains, because trains and I am weak. Seriously!

 

While I may have intimated I wasn't going to make any more big-budget purchases for 2023 if it could be helped... well, I couldn't help myself, so I've picked up a few new toys. Starting with the newest arrivals, cherry picked from a collection being sold locally and offered first to our club members:

 

 

This little lot cost me $225 which for seven wagons and an unboxed diesel locomotive (Belgian class 204) is pretty good, and all are in good to excellent condition. I then got an email today from the seller's wife, saying they had a box available for the 204 and did I want to come and collect it? Originally I had brought the locomotive unboxed as it was cheaper, but having an original box will be very welcome and it's very generous of the sellers to offer it.

 

Slightly further back in the purchases pile, I picked up another three wagons and three locomotives from another private seller in late October/early November together with a 7226 turntable. Two of the locomotives, a BR01 steam locomotive and V 160 diesel locomotive, are now running happily but the third, a BR50 from a starter set, was not so good with rust on the smoke deflectors and a dud decoder that didn't want to work. It's now waiting for me to buy a new sound decoder, and a new set of smoke deflectors since the originals didn't want to go back on after my friend John repainted them for me.

 

And on the subject of smoke deflectors and decoders, I have examples of both parts on the way - a set of (replacement) smoke deflectors and lamps to replace damaged parts on the BR01, coming from Italy via fleaBay; and two 60760 decoder and motor upgrade sets, coming from Toottoot in Invercargil. I *only* meant to buy one upgrade set, but somehow in my ineptitude ending up buying two! Whoops! Oh well, a spare set in the hand is no bad thing, especially as I'll probably need it one day down the line.

 

Alastair

[railsquid]

Fate has awarded me a couple of days in Berlin, so went on a quick shopping spree (hah). Though unless anyone brings out some new Berlin-specific models in N, there's not really much which appeals to me. I did pick up a TT-scale S-Bahn 481 series display model (not exactly my favourite S-Bahn, but one takes what one can get).

[ED75-775]

Went on a box collecting trip today, and ended up with so much more:

 

 

Apart from the 3066 box (now housing the locomotive I brought last trip), I picked up five SNCF coaches - three 4076 first-class inox coaches and two 4065 second-class coaches - and two more goods wagons. They may or may not be the last rolling stock purchases for 2023, as I have a small assortment of Märklin stock in my fleaBay watchlist. Whether I jump on anything in the next while I don't know, as I have Grand Plans to have another Japanese holiday in 2024 and I'll need to fund it somehow, as well as my N scale addiction which has got me eyeing up a few more new toys...

 

Within the last two hours, I've also managed to snag two more buys, one planned and one unplanned. The planned one was the set of smoke deflectors for my BR50 which will in time sport Witte smoke deflectors in place of the starting-to-rust Wagner ones it originally came with. The unplanned one was a copy of a Märklin H0 track plan book for larger layouts (3+ meters), which my uncle used to have a copy of and which I found, not for sale, in the Märklin store near Osaka earlier this year. While my uncle gifted me a second track plan book (in German), this English one was a volume I had to have even if it was slightly dearer than I planned for.

 

Alastair

[chadbag]

On 12/1/2023 at 7:04 AM, tripel7 said:

And it arrived today, i do want the swap the box it came in for the same boxes Kato uses for the other TGV, but overall a great bargain for 120e including shipping and taxes

 

Nice.  I "won" one (supposedly) like that on eBay for $100 but the guy then cancelled when I tried to pay him.  So I don't have it.

[SwallowAngel]

Picked up these two from a local bookshop today. I always was curious about german railways (I live in germany (duh 😛)) and thought this could be a good way to get me more invested. (+ a couple of coupons made these practically free and who doesn't love free stuff).

 

The prints are high quality and the shots are simply amazing. I can't wait to dig into these further 😄

 

 

Edit: Forgot to add titles

 

Red book: "Reichsbahn-Dampflokomotiven: Aus dem berühmten Lokomotiv-Bildarchiv von Carl Bellingrodt"; ISBN: 978-3-88255-283-6

 

Greenbook: "Bundesbahn-Dampflokomotiven: Aus dem berühmten Lokomotiv-Bildarchiv von Carl Bellingrodt"; ISBN: 978-3-88255-204-1

 

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by SwallowAngel

[ED75-775]

First package of 2024 arrived on Wednesday. Well, OK, calling it that is a bit dubious as it was ordered in December last year, but still...

 

Anyway, the new arrival was a copy of the Märklin 07451 Track Planning Book, first published in 2004. My copy looks to be brand new - it’s that good - and came all the way from New York State via eBay.

 

My uncle had both the 07451 and earlier German-language 07455 Track Plan Book from 1999 in his collection, and he gifted me the 07455 some years ago. He had however kept his 07451 which I had forgotten about until June last year, when I found a copy on the shelf at the HRS Märklin Store in Osaka. It wasn’t for sale, so fast forward a few months and safely back home, I decided to find myself a copy.

 

 

Some good childhood nostalgia leafing through this one! Next on my strike list is the 03902 Catenary Handbook, not because I want catenary on my layout but for the prototype information and teenage memories it contains.

 

And because it’s January, at month’s end I will get a biiiiiiiiiig box from Toottoot with more Märklin in it: the 2023/24 full line catalog, the 39760 BR01.10 Insider locomotive and matching 42529 car set, and the 39968 Flying Scotsman. What? Yes, you read that correctly. Märklin has done a British steam locomotive in H0-scale for the first time ever. Now, all we need is for Märklin to make some matching H0-scale coaches for it...

 

Alastair

Edited April 9 by ED75-775

[mrsteveseag]

I bought a new HobbyTrain Vectron in the “Nightjet” livery from EuroLokShop, along with 2 City Night Line coaches from Hattons Model Railway Shop in the UK. Never knew how expensive LS coaches could be, but the Railjet & Nightjet coaches are extremely tempting 😅.

[Giugiaro]

Along with the Japanese stock I bought over the past few months, some other stock also arrived.

 

Starting with the arrival of the last of the "Schindler" coaches I was looking for.
This time they did arrive in Portugal, instead of being lost after leaving Frankfurt airport.

 

And from Japan came the Glacier Express, with the normal livery for the Ge4/4 III.

 

[ED75-775]

Been a while since I've posted here, more trains incoming:

 

 

The first 'big' delivery of 2024 brought in more Märklin including the new 39968 Flying Scotsman in present-day condition. Absolutely wonderful model. My own connection with the locomotive isn't all that much of a connection; of course I 'ran' Scotsman in Microsoft Train Simulator as a kid, and I saw four-fifths of the locomotive during a holiday visit to York in December 2013 (at that point the frames were away at Ian Riley's works in Bury being completed - the cab, tender and boiler were still in the 'Works' at York NRM). Still no coaches for it yet, but given the Märklin H0 version sold out almost immediately, I'm hopeful there'll be something along at some point.

 

 

And if you like your trains whimsical and wonderful, how about a West German firefighting water car, converted from a tub-style tender? While I'm not sure if that was a real thing, it's a neat piece nonetheless. Purchased via our national auction site, it took a thump along the way which snapped the two, very slim holding pins keeping the veranda on the tender. Rattling around in my bits boxes yielded some sprue material to make a replacement set of spacers; some filling, sanding and gluing later the car has its front deck again, and all is as it should be. Thanks once again to @cteno4 for the repair tools he sent - they were lifesavers on this job!

 

I *also* finally got a 03902 Catenary Handbook, although an accidental mixup by the seller meant I got another 07451 Track Planning Book; in a wonderful gesture, the seller allowed me to keep the duplicate after I offered to post it back at my expense, and is sending me the right book. Needless to say, good feedback was placed, and I'm now eagerly waiting for my new book to arrive.

 

I still have some more stuff to post but that's for tomorrow...

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Got back into the garage and ran some more trains today, including this beauty:

 

 

The Märklin 39760 BR01.10, the first Insider model for 2023 and which has *only* just arrived with me via overnight courier on Thursday. Compared to my Flying Scotsman, this is a big chungus of a 4-6-2 and the cut-down smokebox door with the feedwater heater above just screams 'no nonsense'. It even comes with running gear lights, a feature that hasn't been very common in a very long time. Now I need to get my 39010 BR01 back from one of our Club members to pair them up, but that's happening next Tuesday night.

 

 

And to pair with said BR01.10, the 42529 carriage set is my largest carriage set to date with one baggage car, one dining car and four coaches just barely pipping my Bavarian express and Rheingold trains at five carriages apiece. These are all from the Application Group 30 (1928 to 1930) series of coaches, and come complete with internal lighting and buffer capacitors for flicker-free operations, plus tail lights on the rear coach. All up coupled to the 01.10, the full train measures 178.7cm long, but does not feel like it dwarfs my little tail-chaser layout!

 

With that in mind, the next delivery will technically be a re-delivery as it's three locos I dropped to our Club tech whiz Dion for repairs: a 3304 BR80 0-6-0T tank engine (new decoder), the aforementioned 39010 BR01 (new smoke deflector and headlight) and a BR50 from the 29820 starter set (new smoke deflectors and decoder). Then it's a case of trying to hold back as there's another Japan holiday in the offing, plus more new N scale trains to schlorp up, that new Kato Rhaetian stock is high on the hit list, I may even order it from Rail Gallery Rokko when I'm over there!

 

Alastair

[disturbman]

My Chinese addiction continues to expand and now include a SS8 and one more DF4, this time a DF4B in lovely blood orange.

 

 

 

The DF4B is from CR-Guangzhou and I couldn’t resist doing a small family picture with a DF4C and DF4D from the same CR branch.

 

[ED75-775]

We had a Club Open Weekend this weekend just been, our favourite train shop came up from Invercargill to tempt us, and as always I ended up buying more stuff, because trains and I am weak. Yep.

 

 

From top, the latest additions to my Märklin collection:

• 37129 Class 1200 electric locomotive - this came to me at the knock-down price of $265.00NZD because it had been on the shelf since 2018 when the previous owner (one of our members) was still running the shop, and nobody showed any interest in it. At RRP it would have been $530.00NZD, so healthy discount for what is actually a really nice model.
• 45378 NS bilevel coach, second class.
• 43579 NS bilevel cab coach, second class.
• 46238 DB Cargo coal hopper set.

Unless something unmissable comes up, these will be the last Märklin purchases I make until June. Reason being - I'm heading back to Japan! I booked my airfares last night in fact, and my wallet is already trying to hide in anticipation of what will come.

 

 

And here we see the 1200 out of its box and running. It's a very good locomotive for what you get - diecast zinc body, four of six axles driven via centrally mounted motor, and a mfx+ decoder with virtual driver's cab for those who want it, and plenty of sound functions too. The loco at left is my prodigal BR80, which recently received a 60760 decoder and motor conversion, initially didn't want to work, and is now working just fine. Apart from when it runs across the middle track of my three-way points, because the inside rails are not 'live' for power return, and the little guy stalls out. So that track's a no-go without some help.

 

Alastair

[serotta1972]

I finally own an ICE 1 and it’s the Amtrak one. Great condition for a 30 yo model. Don’t know much about the ET25 but remember seeing it on the Kato catalog back in the early 90’s. Excited about these finds. 

[ED75-775]

Latest arrival, brought inside after a not entirely enjoyable work meeting (on my weekend, no less):

 

 

The latest Rhaetian observation wagon and the new ‘Allegra’ 3506. This brings my ‘Allegra’ total up to two, and I wouldn’t mind more if I can find them at reasonable prices. In fact, I am considering buying the 10-1318 Bernina Express set just for its ‘Allegra’ alone... from memory the Kato Store Kyoto had one in the window for sale (with interior lighting installed). I’ll have to check when I’m there.

 

Alastair 

[beakaboy]

latest purchase from a local show last weekend. Not usually tempted by German equipment, but liked the styling on this and the price was very good. Runs like a Kato too. 

[Ivo]

Just pre-ordered a UK Class 483 in N scale (I'm a sucker for UK EMU/DMU's) from Revolution Trains, it looks quite promising. 

 

I also ordered some FR11 decoders and lighting kits for my Class 800, I hope these are easier to install than the FL12 decoders, as that was a pain in the a**.

 

[ED75-775]

On 3/14/2024 at 2:04 PM, ED75-775 said:

Unless something unmissable comes up...

And some unmissable did, in fact, come up. Quite unexpectedly.

 

 

Our national Märklin retailer Geoff recently helped a terminally-ill local modeler move on his collection of (mostly) Märklin and European H0 scale stock, and we at the Christchurch Märklin Model Railway Club were very lucky that he came down to see us after getting as far north as Nelson. While most of the stuff on offer didn't appeal to me, this 26533 Metronom commuter train from 2006 did. It was very quickly purchased for $275.00 and is now in fact sitting on my layout after getting a quick test run yesterday to prove it still worked; it does, but it needs a service and three new replacement horns which thankfully I can get from eBay.

 

While I have got another bilevel train tucked away and unrun in a very long time, I decided to buy this one purely for the fact that my grandfather had one when I was in my early-mid teens. I'm not sure if this is the same train, as he had sold it by 2009 or thereabouts with assistance from my uncle, who, when I spoke to him yesterday did not remember where it had gone. Irrespective, it's nice to have another train in the collection that I once played with as a kid.

 

Alastair

[Giugiaro]

On the quest to get a prototypical vintage SBB train, I came to cross with this little thing, being sold on Ebay by a Spanish person from Madrid and missed or ignored by everyone else. Result: I was the only bidder and got an as-new DCC-ready SBB Re 4/4 I cheaper than the much older Hobbytrain versions hoarded elsewhere in Europe.

 

 

[ED75-775]

Although I’ve already posted a big box ‘o trains back home from Tokyo (all Märklin, what else is new), these two have been riding with me suitcase-class:

 

 

The book was of interest as I own a Märklin BR65, plus Mandarake Ryusenkeijiken had it at a reasonable price. The Ge4/4 on the other hand was a surprise find at Popondetta Yokohama. At ¥22,000 it wasn’t cheap, but at the same time it’s also one of the Noch exclusives, item no. 7074063, which may also play some part in said cost. It looks to be in perfect external condition, and of course ran well when I tested it.

 

Alastair

[Rovan]

For being a member of this forum, I've so far got a terrible track record of actually buying Japanese trains so far (track notwithstanding). That said, about 3 weeks ago I decided to bite the bullet and get the Bachmann N-Scale Thomas (with Annie/Clarabel, naturally). He's definitely not a fast runner, but there's truly something magical about watching him go around and around the small loop that I have. I'll have to get the Oigawa Railway version at some point just to compare the two!

[cteno4]

Not a worry it’s not a race @Rovan! It is easy once you start buying Japanese trains to speed up purchases like you see many times in this topic!

 

cheers

[babidi]

18 hours ago, Rovan said:

For being a member of this forum, I've so far got a terrible track record of actually buying Japanese trains so far (track notwithstanding). That said, about 3 weeks ago I decided to bite the bullet and get the Bachmann N-Scale Thomas (with Annie/Clarabel, naturally). He's definitely not a fast runner, but there's truly something magical about watching him go around and around the small loop that I have. I'll have to get the Oigawa Railway version at some point just to compare the two!

I am also thinking about buying.