Why I started collecting Japanese N scale steam.....

[C62]

;D

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pHfaKqOZhyk&feature=user

[Martijn Meerts]

Steam trains just look amazing, regardless of which country they're from.

 

One of the most amazing ones has the be the Union Pacific's Big Boy, the sheer size of it is incredible. Even the model (I have the Marklin H0 model of it) is incredibly impressive.

 

In Europe, I'd have to say the Bavarian S3/6 is an amazing looking loco, along with the Gtl 2x 4/4, and some of the older Bavarian and Prussian types. Most of the newer ones got a bit boring though. One of the most impressive ones here is of course the Orient Express ;)

 

As for the Japanese ones, I like the style of them. Partially British and still mostly their own design (the later ones anyway). Also, seeing as I really like complete sets (like the shinkansen and the express trains etc), the Japanese steam trains are very interesting for me. Many of them have special names and designations just like the Orient Express. Those type of sets I generally buy immediately.

 

As of now, I'm on 7 Japanese steamers, with more on pre-order. I have a C57-180 "Banetsu Monogatari", a C58-363 "Paleo Express", a C57-1 "Yamaguchi go", a 9633 depot locomotive, and the "Niseko" train pulled by C62-2, C62-3 and C62-15 on the steep parts of it's route through the mountains ;)

[Bernard]

C62,

You have chosen a interesting prototype to model, I too also like the steam era. When I first started collecting my first sets were the Minitrix steam engines.

 

Martinjn--growing up in Vermont, there used to be a museum called "Steam Town, USA". It was a private collector who opened it to the public and in the middle was a "Big Boy" and it is indeed "huge". That engine stood out form the rest of his collection. I don't know if "Steam Town" still exists but it was a place I'll never forget.

[CaptOblivious]

When I was a kid, my family lived in Omaha, near, as it turns out, one of UP's main lines. One night, we all heard this incredibly loud noise coming from outside—it was one of the Big Boys pulling a chartered passenger train in UP yellow, probably UP execs headed somewhere. Talk about an impressive sight, and loud...

[Martijn Meerts]

They still have 1 or 2 big boys in running condition. Problem is, they only have 2 turntables that can turn the thing, and those are only like 10 miles away from eachother =)

[Guest bill937ca]

C62,

 

Martinjn--growing up in Vermont, there used to be a museum called "Steam Town, USA". It was a private collector who opened it to the public and in the middle was a "Big Boy" and it is indeed "huge". That engine stood out form the rest of his collection. I don't know if "Steam Town" still exists but it was a place I'll never forget.

 

Steamtown moved to Scranton, Pa. and became a National Park.

 

http://www.nps.gov/stea/

 

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/steamtown/shst.htm