Rental Layouts in Japan

[serotta1972]

I wanted to learn more about Rental Layouts in Japan and I have a couple of questions?  I understand it's pretty popular in Japan and that a lot of folks just don't have the space to run trains and especially longer ones.  I'm in this same predicament and have been very lucky to have discovered Crocket N-Trak club to go run my trains.  I actually floated the idea to the  club president about possibly using the club as a rental layout.  It's become a sort of a rental layout for me and Sam actually.  Their membership consist of mostly retirees and are aging and the many times I've been there, only this past weekend was another member there aside from Bob.  I was thinking this might be a good way to draw more people to the hobby and also again to have a place to run their trains if they don't have the space to build a layout at home.  This might actually work in the bay area as real estate is a premium.  

 

How much does it cost? Per hour? Per day?

Is it by appointment or slotted scheduled time?

[railsquid]

2 hours ago, serotta1972 said:

How much does it cost? Per hour? Per day?

Is it by appointment or slotted scheduled time?

 

Usually per hour, reservation usually possible but not essential unless you want to guarantee a particular circuit at a particular time.

 

Costs vary, for Poppondetta in Akihabara for example between 400 yen/hour on weekdays to 900 yen at weekends, with variations by circuit (some presumably more desirable than others): http://www.popondetta.com/akihabara/  . They also have 20 minute "trial" session for a lower price, including a short usually somewhat knackered train if you don't have your own.

 

"レンタルレイアウト" (rentaru reiauto) is the keyword to search for.

[kvp]

3 hours ago, serotta1972 said:

How much does it cost? Per hour? Per day?

Is it by appointment or slotted scheduled time?

Afaik many japanese rental layouts are in hobby shops. This means they are available during normal opening hours. They could come really handy if you plan to buy a used set and want to test it beforehand. Actually some of the hungarian shops also have small layouts, just for testing. At 4-9 dollars / hour, it's only enough to cover the cost of maintenance as the supervisors are usually just the staff who would be there anyway.

 

For a club, it's a bit different as providig a hobby shop level service would cost too much. On the other hand, having running sessions on weekends is a realistic idea and asking non members for an entry free is acceptable. Fremo meetings have a similar arrangement, where usually a small fee is paid by guests. For clubs these events could be called open days, where non members could show up and have fun running their trains. Imho this also a great way to find new regular members for a club.

[railsquid]

9 minutes ago, kvp said:

Afaik many japanese rental layouts are in hobby shops. This means they are available during normal opening hours. They could come really handy if you plan to buy a used set and want to test it beforehand.

 

Shops selling 2nd hand stock pretty much always have a track for testing anyway.

[railsquid]

And for those shops with a rental layout, I suspect they wouldn't want to let people try stuff out on the layouts because a) people would most likely take the opportunity to try but not buy, and b) policing it (i.e. preventing people nicking bits from sets etc.) would be infeasible. Nothing stopping you buying something then renting the layout to run it on, of course. This is of course only my educated guess as a customer of such establishments and I have no knowledge of the economics of the business.

 

Anyway here's a Japan-wide list of rental layouts in case it's of any interest: http://mm05.fc2web.com/art/begin/rental.html. Seems fairly up-to-date based on my limited knowledge of layouts in the Tokyo area.

[bill937ca]

Rental layouts may help attract informal clubs and their purchasing power.

[bill937ca]

Tam Tam rental layout at Omiya. Not your typical rental layout.

 

 

 

 

[serotta1972]

6 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

Usually per hour, reservation usually possible but not essential unless you want to guarantee a particular circuit at a particular time.

 

Costs vary, for Poppondetta in Akihabara for example between 400 yen/hour on weekdays to 900 yen at weekends, with variations by circuit (some presumably more desirable than others): http://www.popondetta.com/akihabara/  . They also have 20 minute "trial" session for a lower price, including a short usually somewhat knackered train if you don't have your own.

 

"レンタルレイアウト" (rentaru reiauto) is the keyword to search for.

 

Thank you for the insight you guys.  Model Railroad clubs are usually very intimidating and have many requirements and that's the reason I've not joined any here.  There are some clubs where you can't even run trains until you put in so many hours of service.  These are just some of the barriers for joining.  We want to create a welcoming environment and yes, in the end it would be to attract to new members.  I already told Bob that I probably won't be able to make it out to the club no more than once a month and he's okay with that.  I just feel that the Crocket N-Trak club is a resource to the model railroad community and public and would hate to see it not being utilized.  Thanks again for all the insight.

[Need for High Speed]

this is the first time I am hearing of this idea and am shocked that no one has made a company that does this and rents mobile layouts of various themes to parties and such. Hmmm...  getting them gears turning now.

[cteno4]

Yes in japan there are a number of companies that bring layouts to parties and events. Some even have the full camera systems and train style throttle in front of a large screen so you can feel like you are driving the train in a real cab while others watch the layout. They were pretty expensive, like $1000+ if memory serves me right. We had some examples in threads here in the past but I could not raise any in searches unfortunately.

 

it is a real balance with club layouts. You want to be very inclusive to encourage folks and grow the hobby and members, but it’s also a huge amount of work to create a club layout and jus keep it going so sometimes not as fair to the existing members who have put a lot of work into creating and maintianing the layout (and club) to come in and play a lot without having put something into the layout. Folks have varied opinions on this within a club so that’s hard to deal with right there for the club.

 

Clubs do require a lot of effort and are a bit complex to keep running. As soon as you have more than 3 people it gets harder to have solid common ground, interests, likes/dislikes, personalities, schedules, commitment, so a lot of juggling has to happen. Clubs also evolve and change as the membership changes with time, so you can’t be too rigid or things may dissolve, it’s one of those balances of trying to keep wha you are but flex with the times and membership, etc.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[katoftw]

On 1/29/2018 at 8:03 PM, kvp said:

Afaik many japanese rental layouts are in hobby shops. This means they are available during normal opening hours. They could come really handy if you plan to buy a used set and want to test it beforehand. Actually some of the hungarian shops also have small layouts, just for testing. At 4-9 dollars / hour, it's only enough to cover the cost of maintenance as the supervisors are usually just the staff who would be there anyway.

 

For a club, it's a bit different as providig a hobby shop level service would cost too much. On the other hand, having running sessions on weekends is a realistic idea and asking non members for an entry free is acceptable. Fremo meetings have a similar arrangement, where usually a small fee is paid by guests. For clubs these events could be called open days, where non members could show up and have fun running their trains. Imho this also a great way to find new regular members for a club.

 

On 1/29/2018 at 8:15 PM, railsquid said:

 

Shops selling 2nd hand stock pretty much always have a track for testing anyway.

 

To add on to what both you have said.  When I brought a new 3 car E259 set from the Kato shop, they still put in on a 100cm test track to show me both the motor and directional lighting in both end cabs work.

 

Every shop in Japan I have visited as had a 100cm test track, whether they sell news or used items.

 

[bill937ca]

On 1/29/2018 at 5:03 AM, kvp said:

Afaik many japanese rental layouts are in hobby shops. This means they are available during normal opening hours.

 

Nfinecraft is a free standing rental layout in Tokyo.

 

http://www.n-finecraft.com/

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/nfinecraft/videos

[toc36]

I am searching my archives for a picture of a German(?) railroad station that had a model railroad layout (enclosed in glass) that was basically a vending machine for running trains.  Looked like a neat concept.  Can't find it, but will keep on searching............

[Pashina12]

14 minutes ago, toc36 said:

I am searching my archives for a picture of a German(?) railroad station that had a model railroad layout (enclosed in glass) that was basically a vending machine for running trains.  Looked like a neat concept.  Can't find it, but will keep on searching............

 

I saw those at a number of stations around (West) Germany, Nürnberg Hbf being one... 

[katoftw]

6 hours ago, bill937ca said:

 

Nfinecraft is a free standing rental layout in Tokyo.

 

http://www.n-finecraft.com/

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/nfinecraft/videos

wow awesome

[cteno4]

1 hour ago, toc36 said:

I am searching my archives for a picture of a German(?) railroad station that had a model railroad layout (enclosed in glass) that was basically a vending machine for running trains.  Looked like a neat concept.  Can't find it, but will keep on searching............

There are some of these in japan.

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

7 hours ago, bill937ca said:

 

Nfinecraft is a free standing rental layout in Tokyo.

 

http://www.n-finecraft.com/

 

 

 

 

Amazing! I think they do up Dioramas for a fee at your designated areas? I notice the huge extend of plastic protection on the table, the walls and even the floors... Probably to prevent any damages or stains, very professional. 

[bill937ca]

That layout was built by DDF, a company that builds many of the rental and display layouts in Japan. I think at one time they were trying to franchise rental layouts. Interesting to see DDF's work documented.

 

http://www.diorama.co.jp/

[railsquid]

6 hours ago, toc36 said:

I am searching my archives for a picture of a German(?) railroad station that had a model railroad layout (enclosed in glass) that was basically a vending machine for running trains.  Looked like a neat concept.  Can't find it, but will keep on searching............

 

One in Dresden:

 

 

[lighthouse]

And one in Leipzig:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mw8nDlJ8QI

Edited June 26, 2018 by lighthouse

[Pashina12]

11 minutes ago, lighthouse said:

And one in Leipzig:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mw8nDlJ8QI

 

Cool! I haven't been inside Leipzig Hbf since before it was rebuilt, though did see it from outside in 2009 when there with my dad (he'd worked in Leipzig in 1968-69)