What did you run today?

[072hawk]

Ran the Genbi Shinkansen, some Boso peninsula JR trains, 485 red express and a few others as well

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2024 by 072hawk

[wonge15]

Ran my Meitetsu 2000 series today! 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2024 by wonge15

[Tony Galiani]

Finally sort of retired and finding some time to do layout work.  I have been back and forth on what to build so I set up some of my Unitrack in a small oval to run some trains and get an idea of what I might like to do.  This led to a very quick reminder of the issues around the No. 4 Kato turnouts and the variability of the different pieces of rolling stock with some running smoothly and some not and some having no issues with the turnouts and some refusing to negotiate them.  While the turnouts need to be fine tuned, I think the various trains need attention as well.  For example, my MicroAce DD-16s - one ran noisily but was able to manage the turnouts in both directions while the other ran smoothly but could not manage the diverging route on the turnouts.  So my thinking is to build a small portable layout that I can scenic and also run trains to break them in and fine tune them.

Here is a shot of this morning's action:  JR East mode, Ou Line.

(Earlier this year, I saw a DD-16 from the Shinkansen as we were on our way to Hokkaido.  Turns out JR East is operating the last DD-16 in service.  At least according to Wikipedia. So, of course, I somehow managed to end up with two of them.)

Cheers,

Tony

Edited September 5, 2024 by Tony Galiani
forgot to include the photo initially

[brill27mcb]

That sounds like a good plan, Tony.

 

Rich K.

[cteno4]

1 hour ago, Tony Galiani said:

Finally sort of retired and finding some time to do layout work

Woo hoooo! Congrats tony!

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Ran some more trains today on my Unitrack test bed.  First up were some JR East / Tohoku region KiHas.  That Tomix KiHa 40 is a particularly sweet runner.

Then some Tomix Kiha 02s which I had gotten for my Chihiro Tetsudo project.  They don't run particularly well though I think they need serious wheel cleaning.  I had used them at a small exhibition a few years ago and, as best I can remember, they ran okay considering how light they are.

Finally my Green Max JR West / Hakubi Line Series 115.  Another nice runner if not quite as good at that Tomix unit.

 

For some time, between work and music I never got the chance to do this so enjoying the opportunity.  I am sorting out my stock by region - some will likely have to go as I am guilty of a few too many random purchases - and I have a friend who can put them on eBay - while the majority will, hopefully, be running on my planned layout.

 

Heavy music schedule the next few days but definitely planning on a lot more running time this weekend.

Cheers,

Tony

[ED75-775]

Like Tony, I finally found some time to run a few trains at home - the last time I did so appears to have been in March this year, eek! Part of the reason this has happened is, I suspect, because I don't have a semipermanent setup and don't appreciate having to put everything together and then break it all down at session's end. Something tells me I'll need to find space to do something about that.

 

Anyway, I ran mostly JNR/JR stuff today including quite a bit of stuff that came back with me from my trip to Japan this year. Plus some Chichibu Railway stuff for good measure.

 

 

All ten of my MicroAce KiHa 07 diesel railcars and variants thereof together for a family photo. From left, KiHa 07 0 (A2285, Hobbysearch), KiHa 07 200 (A2288, Hobbyland Pochi Nagoya), KiHa 42600 (A2281, Mandarake Hakata) and KiHa 42500 (A2280, Hobbyland Pochi Nagoya again). Got 'em all, I'm happy with that!

 

 

Doubleheaded DeKi 300's on a ten-car limestone train, because why not? For extra shenanigans I could have slapped my DeKi 500 on the front, but I completely forgot about that until the limestone train was packed away. Now I need another ten wagons to bulk it up to prototype length, preferably the A2086 set as they've got different numbers to those in the A2077 set I already have.

 

 

My Hokkaido D51 was paired up with the coaches from my Tomix Soya Line local train set, and they look good together. I was kinda on the fence about getting another standard Hokkaido D51, but now I think I'd like one or two more. Plus one of the Giesl-ejector fitted ones too when they release. No plans yet for another Tomix C55 though, lovely as they are.

 

 

Final round of JNR-era stuff, C59 123 got unleashed with a short passenger train while ED17 12 had a short freight behind it. This C59, my second, came from Hobbyland Pochi in Kyoto and runs reasonably well, notwithstanding the fact that I had to replace the bridge wires on the engine-tender drawbar! Rather than replace it with a factory-fresh drawbar when Kato eventually reruns the C59, I think I'll leave it as is given its good performance. The ED17 itself is also a good runner, very glad to have this one. And did I mention that I love boxy, early electric locomotives?

 

I also ran some more modern stuff and some Rhaetian Railway stuff, but I'll post separately about the former tomorrow. Hmm, modern stuff... still need those MicroAce KiHa 31's for the Hisatsu Line memories. Despite both my buddy Mason and I saying we would be getting them, neither of us has. Yet. I wonder how his layout's coming along?

 

Alastair

[Ekiben]

Spent part of my evening running some trains and doing a bit of layout planning/testing. I've been really inspired by a micro-layout recently featured on the Budget Model Railways YouTube channel. There's a whole series on the build and, although not prototypically Japanese, it features Kato pocket line trains and Kato short-radius track. The original plan is only 14" x 27" (35.5 x 68.5 cms), but I extended the length by a few inches to enhance switching possibilities. I found an old plywood board in my shed, set up the track and got out some Kato and Tomix rolling stock as well as a Kato JNR DE10 and Micro Ace Kiha 32 in JR Shikoku colours.

 

 

I spent about 45 minutes shunting cars around on the freight sidings. There seems to be just enough room to run a 5-3-3 Inglenook with the smaller Japanese wagons and Tora cars, but tonight I tried out a simpler 3-2-2 Inglenook (see previous link) and still had a great time. The small siding at the top left will host a small passenger station as in the author's original plan. I plan to copy his layout (track plan, topography, roads, etc...) but will have a Japanese theme. Once I cut the plywood down to size, this setup will fit perfectly on the small desk in my guest room, where I can run trains and slowly poke away at scenery when I have the time. When not in use, I plan to store the layout on a nearby shelf or tuck it away under a bed. 

 

 

Thanks for reading,

Sean

Edited December 10, 2024 by Ekiben

[Tony Galiani]

Very nice.  And I think that KiHa 32 is ideal for a small layout.  I have a temporary Unitrack set up with R216 curves and my KiHa 40's and my JR Shikoku KiHa 58 don't look all that great on them.  I sense an order coming up in the near future.

Cheers,

Tony

[disturbman]

The Kiha 11 as well. And a few short Kiha by Tomix (Kiha 120 and the ones based on the Niigata Transys DMU).

But the Kiha 32 are particularly cute, and they are available in plenty of different liveries.