AsiaNRail at Hiller Museum, San Carlos, California

[Railtunes]

We're setting up the AsiaNRail modular layout at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California (on the Peninsula south of San Francisco) for a  FULL WEEK show. The museum's annual "Planes and Trains" show will open on Saturday, March 30 and run every day through Sunday, April 7th, 10 am to 4 pm.

 

Besides our local crew, we again welcome Sam Antell from southern California with his Japanese and Chinese trains. We'll also welcome a guest from Vancouver, Canada, Wei Chou, of Gung-Ho! Miniatures, manufacturer of N scale Taiwan model structures, accessories and rolling stock, who will join us for the first couple of show days, so come along and see what's coming down the pike from Taiwan.

 

Alongside us will be our local Freemo-N group with a large layout, and a European Swiss HOm layout. There will also by Lionel and G scale layouts running. If you come on Wednesday morning, you can enjoy a gourmet food truck lunch as well,

 

And then there are all the airplanes to see!  Come join us for a fun week of international railway modeling!

 

Paul Ingraham, Coordinator, AsiaNRail

 

 

[Kiha66]

Should be a fun show!  I'll be on my way up tomorrow, looking forward to it!

[nscalestation]

Yes sounds like a good time.  Sorry I won’t be there this year as I am doing 1:1 Japanese trains.  Tonight in Nikko just finished great traditional dinner.  Survived my first driving experience in Japan on Okinawa.  Have a great show.

[Kiha66]

AsiaNrail all set up!  I also set up a temporary kato unitrack layout for the kids to experience running on.  Looking forward to the show!

[serotta1972]

Way to go to promote the hobby especially to the younger kids, Sam!  Kato should sponsor you for doing this since you're also promoting their products. 🙂 I should be there on Sunday and maybe some other days during the week.

 

[disturbman]

7 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

AsiaNrail all set up!  I also set up a temporary kato unitrack layout for the kids to experience running on.  Looking forward to the show!

 

Nice! Do you happen to have more pictures of this set up? I am always interested in seeing more modules.

[Kiha66]

I was out sick today, if I feel well enough to make it down tomorrow I'll try to get some more photos.

[serotta1972]

Just came back from Japan and can't seem to get enough of trains so I went to see the AsiaNRail exhibit and also Sam's Kato setup for the kids and beginners.  Always good to see Paul (Railtunes) but missed Sam (kiha66).  

Edited April 1, 2019 by serotta1972

[serotta1972]

More Pics

[serotta1972]

And more pics.

[serotta1972]

And even more pics.

Edited April 1, 2019 by serotta1972

[serotta1972]

And here are some pics of Sam's Kato setup that I heard was a hit with the kids.

 

 

[serotta1972]

More pics.

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by serotta1972

[serotta1972]

I spotted an 800 Series Shinkansen on the Silicon Valley FreeMoN Setup and it supposedly running at scale speed.  And it was flying compared to the American freight trains.  Funny I see this particular Shinkansen today as it was the only one I didn't see while I was in Japan.  

 

[Kiha66]

Awesome pictures Jr, bummer I missed you today!

[Martijn Meerts]

Looking good. What's that large house sitting in the lake / on the mirror? It looks really nice.

 

[MichiK]

1 hour ago, Martijn Meerts said:

Looking good. What's that large house sitting in the lake / on the mirror? It looks really nice.

 

 

Byōdō-in, I'd say.

There's an N-scale-kit, too, but I can't say, whether it's made from that particular kit or not, of course.

[Martijn Meerts]

45 minutes ago, MichiK said:

 

Byōdō-in, I'd say.

There's an N-scale-kit, too, but I can't say, whether it's made from that particular kit or not, of course.

 

Thanks, that's going on my wish list. Whether I'll get it depends a bit on if I can fit it on the layout, I have too many things that have to fit on there already 😄

 

[serotta1972]

Here’s more info Martijn.

 

[nscalestation]

Looks like we just missed each other in Tokyo Junior.  Thanks for helping Paul out in my absence.  

 

In Nigata tonight

[serotta1972]

Went back on the last day of the show and also helped Paul break down the modular layout - it was organized chaos.  It was amazing seeing it come down and also the FreeMoN Setup, it was all down in a little over an hour and packed away in the van.  We had a little helper too.  

[nscalestation]

Good looking crew.  How did the joinerless track connections work out this time?

[Kiha66]

They went together much easier this time, having some C-clamps was a huge help for the spots that wanted to shift on us.

[Railtunes]

Yes, Martijn, the structure on the reflecting pond is the Byodoin plastic kit from Fujimi. However, the kit does not include the biro, the tail piece with the water flowing under it, that shows up in some of Sam's and Junior's photos. I had to scratchbuild that part. Fortunately, since this is a UNESCO Heritage Site, scale plans (found online) are available, so that helped a lot in sizing it correctly. Also, there is a full-size replica of the temple in Hawaii, and someone very conveniently posted a nice straight-on photo of the side of the biro on line. I photoshopped and scaled this to make the sides of the biro and then added some 3-dimensional details for the posts. The roof is an Evergreen styrene piece, a very close match to the roof on the rest of the model. I scaled the island from an overhead photo I have in a Japanese architecture book. There are still some details to add, like the stones that surrounded the island (before it was recently renovated and the gravel gently sloped down to the water, per the original building landscaping}. I also now have photos of the interior walls that surround the Golden Buddha (included in the kit), so I'll be adding those as well. I have left the center roof piece removable so I can show the interior to interested viewers.

I also still need to add a few thousand people all over the layout!

Edited April 13, 2019 by Railtunes
added credits for photos

[Railtunes]

Here's a photo of Wei Chou, proprietor of Gung-Ho! Miniatures, manufacturer of N scale Taiwan railway and structures models. He came down to San Francisco from Vancouver, Canada for a conference and fortunately timed things right to be able to join me for both the Pleasanton Great Train Show, where we had the Peninsula NTRAK layout, and the first couple days of the Hiller show. Here he is running my Taiwan Taroko train on the NTRAK layout. Glad he showed up, as we were a bit shorthanded for the GTS show, so we gave him a whole hour shift at the throttles!

He also brought along some new model samples (which I will be getting) and will also be working on some items to enhance my Shifen station and town modules and other Taiwan scenes. A thoroughly friendly and energetic young man who is a delight to play - and design - trains with!

r