Austral Japanese Layout

[Alejandro_SCL]

Hi!!.

 

Here I will record the progress of my layout. Please do not wait for speed; the time that I have is very scarce, in addition the shipment of material from Japan to Chile is not fast, but I will try to be constant. Nowadays I live in Santiago de Chile but in my hometown, Concepción, they have this spanish commuter that I love, the Renfes:

 

 

 

...so I was waiting  expectantly for my first Japanese commuter too. Today it has arrived. I really hate this kind of work (at 46 year old I already accused presbyopia), but something could be done:

 

 

 

 

Good night!!.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Alejandro_SCL

[Sheffie]

Nice work Alejandro!

 

I have ordered an LED magnifying glass on a gooseneck mount, because my eyesight is not good enough for small detail work either. 

 

I’m not sure if this link will work:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01K10XA1O/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Alejandro_SCL]

55 minutes ago, Sheffie said:

I’m not sure if this link will work:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01K10XA1O/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

look like a good stuff!!

[toc36]

I bought these:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UCODIA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[chadbag]

For small amounts of magnification you can use  reading glasses and good table lamps.  I bought a whole ton of glasses on Banggood for us$ 1.99 each and they work well.   I also have some cheapo 5-15x loupes from Banggood to examine really fine details.   

[chadbag]

On 3/16/2019 at 9:55 AM, Sheffie said:

Nice work Alejandro!

 

I have ordered an LED magnifying glass on a gooseneck mount, because my eyesight is not good enough for small detail work either. 

 

I’m not sure if this link will work:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01K10XA1O/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I bought something like that.  Still in the box.  I need to set it up.   But i’ve Been using my computer work area to work on trains and don’t have the room there yet.  

[Khaul]

Your Concepcion train is originally a Renfe 440 class. The electric equipment was made in Spain under license from... Mitsubishi.

That was the case for virtually all of the Renfe electric rolling stock dating back from the 70s and 80s. Things changed dramatically after Spain joined the EU.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Khaul

[Alejandro_SCL]

19 minutes ago, Khaul said:

Your Concepcion train is originally a Renfe 440 class. The electric equipment was made in Spain but licensed by... Mitsubishi 

Yes, the UT440MC. Wow I didn´t know that.

 

I knew that the Renfe 269 series was a japanese design. In that case the resemblance with the ED75 is more obvious:

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiemqae7YrhAhXMErkGHZklC1cQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fel_sirio_3%2F6354804149&psig=AOvVaw03-JQxztT6YUVG1N87CqBJ&ust=1552969469852615

 

 

 

 

[Khaul]

By the way, how far is Concepcion from Santiago? Is there a reason for not having a passenger rail link between the two cities?

[Khaul]

The 440 electrical equipment is similar to the 269’s. Same thing with the 444s, which I believe are also in service in Chile.

 

The 444s would be a limited express sort of train. The 440s were more commuter/local. I travelled a lot in them as a child. At the time they were blue with a yellow line.

[Alejandro_SCL]

31 minutes ago, Khaul said:

By the way, how far is Concepcion from Santiago? Is there a reason for not having a passenger rail link between the two cities?

5 hours by road. We used to have, in the time of my grandfather, a service between Concepción (coastal valley) and Chillán (central valley) and then to Santiago (same central valley) by train ... but the Concepción-Chillán section is not viable for todays high speed trains ...  There is a Longitudinal mountain range there ("Cordillera de la Costa").  So there is only one service between Santiago-Chillán that takes 4 1/2 hours. This guys...yes 444!!!:

 

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Alejandro_SCL

[Khaul]

IMHO investing in metro and BRT before spending large amounts in HSRs is the way to go. Public transport in Santiago has improved a lot and is probably now better than anywhere in the US.

[Alejandro_SCL]

Hi!!

Yesterday,  I installed the antennas to my EMU... A tricky job:

 

With the Standar SX Power Pack,  the train works with constant light:

 

 

[Alejandro_SCL]

Hi!!

My incipient Japanese fleet:

 

 

Thinking in a sectional layout design (thanks cteno4); minimalist and reliable:

 

 

The straight section would be modules; and the curves , viaducts with the possibility of expanding with an elevated station.

 

[cteno4]

If you’re thinking sectional also give some thought as to where you break for module sections not only for track junctions but also scenes as well so that if you want to expand you can gracefully add a new module between two existing ones. Usually best if scenery transitions can be on module joints as if you split a scene with a module joint, adding a new module in will force you to just expand that scene larger. It’s tricky, but worth the thought in planning to later add track and scenery elements that didn’t make it in the first version.

 

also you can easily make custom length straight pieces to make for more convienent module breaks in your track plan if needed. You just saw out a hunk of roadbed in the middle of a piece of straight track that is as long as you want to shorten the piece. Then slide one end of the roadbed down so the cut ends now butt into each other and extra rail sticks out one end. Then add some epoxy or plastic glue to the roadbed joint to fuse them. Last cut off the excess rail flush with the end of the roadbed. Voila a custom length with unijoiner sockets on both ends. You can do the cutting with a little hobby hand razor saw and miter box, a dremel with a cut off disc, or a bandsaw.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Nick_Burman]

On 3/18/2019 at 5:32 AM, Khaul said:

By the way, how far is Concepcion from Santiago? Is there a reason for not having a passenger rail link between the two cities?

 

Alejandro can correct/add to what I say, but the reason is that the line between the two cities takes the "long way round" via San Rosendo, while the highway is much straighter. To make the train competitive would require a brand-new line between Chillan and Concepcion, roughly paralleling the road...not an easy task. Another reason why passenger service was discontinued south of Chillan was the last earthquake which destroyed a sizeable amount of OHW south of Chillan (almost all the way to San Rosendo, AFAIK), this would require a diesel drag for the 444s... since FEPASA (freight operator) is phasing its few remaining electrics out (if they havent done that already...) and EFE quit running south if Chillan there is no incentive to restore the power system...

 

Cheers Nicholas

[Alejandro_SCL]

Nicholas,

 

You are  right. The way for San Rosendo is lovely, but not suitable for modern trains:

 

 

 

[Alejandro_SCL]

Hi .

 

Originally I had been thinking about a layout with modern japanese trains and modern passenger stations and containers yard; but after seeing the prototypes of this site:

 

http://tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp/index.html,

 

i have been captivated by the pre-containerized era. Now I am questioning all my planning, to give priority to a small rural/semi-urban layout, serving passengers and a couple of industries, using small diesels and KIHAs; where the merchandise exchange is made by 2 axles gondolas and boxes cars..... a lot of shunting fan!!.  

 

This is not a hobby; this is an addiction!!.

[Nick_Burman]

22 hours ago, Alejandro_SCL said:

Hi .

 

Originally I had been thinking about a layout with modern japanese trains and modern passenger stations and containers yard; but after seeing the prototypes of this site:

 

http://tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp/index.html,

 

i have been captivated by the pre-containerized era. Now I am questioning all my planning, to give priority to a small rural/semi-urban layout, serving passengers and a couple of industries, using small diesels and KIHAs; where the merchandise exchange is made by 2 axles gondolas and boxes cars..... a lot of shunting fan!!.  

 

This is not a hobby; this is an addiction!!.

 

Ooooh, beware, that site is really dangerous... 😄

 

One suggestion would be for a urban layout in that era. One firm favourite of several people in this forum is the Tsurumi Line in the Kawasaki/Yokohama line. I have a booklet about the freight cars used on the Tsurumi Line in the past which also discusses the main customers along the line. The number of industrial sidings in the area was mind-boggling! No surprise that Hamakawasaki one had a shed of its own to house the steam (and later diesel) locos which serviced the countless sidings in the region.

 

Cheers Nicholas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alejandro_SCL]

On 3/19/2019 at 1:49 PM, cteno4 said:

If you’re thinking sectional also give some thought as to where you break for module sections not only for track junctions but also scenes as well so that if you want to expand you can gracefully add a new module between two existing ones. Usually best if scenery transitions can be on module joints as if you split a scene with a module joint, adding a new module in will force you to just expand that scene larger. It’s tricky, but worth the thought in planning to later add track and scenery elements that didn’t make it in the first version.

 

also you can easily make custom length straight pieces to make for more convienent module breaks in your track plan if needed. You just saw out a hunk of roadbed in the middle of a piece of straight track that is as long as you want to shorten the piece. Then slide one end of the roadbed down so the cut ends now butt into each other and extra rail sticks out one end. Then add some epoxy or plastic glue to the roadbed joint to fuse them. Last cut off the excess rail flush with the end of the roadbed. Voila a custom length with unijoiner sockets on both ends. You can do the cutting with a little hobby hand razor saw and miter box, a dremel with a cut off disc, or a bandsaw. 

 

cheers

 

jeff

Thank you cteno4. That tip is very helpful. Here are some photos of the process that you describe ...

 

...https://www.fiferhobby.com/how-to-make-your-own-lengths-of-kato-unitrack/...  

[Alejandro_SCL]

At last a little novelty. An almost perfect straight cut, with the manual tools that I can use in a apartment. A triviality for most people who work with wood ... for me it was a kind of Kung-Fu ... modules; here we go. 

[Khaul]

On 5/5/2019 at 4:21 AM, Nick_Burman said:

 

Ooooh, beware, that site is really dangerous... 😄

 

One suggestion would be for a urban layout in that era. One firm favourite of several people in this forum is the Tsurumi Line in the Kawasaki/Yokohama line. I have a booklet about the freight cars used on the Tsurumi Line in the past which also discusses the main customers along the line. The number of industrial sidings in the area was mind-boggling! No surprise that Hamakawasaki one had a shed of its own to house the steam (and later diesel) locos which serviced the countless sidings in the region.

 

Cheers Nicholas

 

 

The Tsurumi line has several advantages for modelling. An obvious one is that, if you like freight trains, you can run almost anything you want pre-1986 and you even have quite some variety post-1986. Also, almost any 1,500V loco in freight duty and many diesels fit the bill. Another advantage is that the passengers trains are short, maximum 3 car long, so your layout can be more compact. Even better, the Tsurumi line is connected to the Kanagawa rinkai railway which is often used to bring EMUs to the Kanto area. So you can, sort of, realistically run long passenger trains that don't fit in your stations as well. I wrote sort of because those EMUs are usually loco-hauled to their depot.  Last, the landscape is industrial on one side and residential across the tracks, with areas of mixed housing, light industry and warehouses so sort of anything goes. There are viaducts but not tunnels, but well, in my opinion it is best to take prototypes as inspiration so you can take licenses. A couple of piccies of my Tsurumi inspired layout below.

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by Khaul

[Alejandro_SCL]

 

@Khaul; You have given me a very good explanation. Your post summarizes a series of advantages. As you indicate, trying to place stations for trains of 4-6 cars long is quite a planning problem in small layouts.  The only inconvenient, is that I could not see pictures of industries with loading / unloading activity of boxcars or gondolas in that area

[Nick_Burman]

1 hour ago, Alejandro_SCL said:

The only inconvenient, is that I could not see pictures of industries with loading / unloading activity of boxcars or gondolas in that area

 

If you mean in Google Earth...unsurprising, JNR gave up individual wagonload freight in 1987 (after years of decline) and whatever private sidings handling this kind of traffic were ripped up almost immediately. What remained sees mainly trainload freight. Also given the fact that the Japanese don't keep land unused for much time means that traces of former sidings (and the industries they served) are quickly wiped off the mark... And yet there were lots of destinations for boxcars and gons... for starters the Nippon Kokan tube mill in Hamakawasaki would have seen gons both in and out; on the Okawa branch the huge Nissin flour mill on the end of the line would have shipped palleted flour in WaMus...

 

Cheers NB

[Khaul]

There were a lot of different carloads in the past. Nowadays is tanks cars, coal and I think there are still the occasional transformer in or out the Toshiba factory in Umi-Shibaura. There was also that until very recent times: 

 

 

 

 

Tsurumi line freight https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=鶴見線貨物列車

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by Khaul