The Introduction Thread...

[keiman]

 

Kelman,

 

welcome! glad you are into t gauge. more is coming with tgauge. Mr. Hirotsugu Hirai (president of Eishindo Company) gave a talk here to some of the jrm members a couple of weeks ago. they are refining the motor and drive trains more and are actively working on the turnouts. ill see if i can publish the full report we got from the member that was present. looks like he will be in the dc area again on march 5 so contact me if you are in the area and are interesting in seeing the latest and greatest with tgauge!

 

cheers

 

jeff

 

Hi Jeff, am already a member of the T Gauge forum under UKtrain.

Will post a pic of T gauge, Z gauge and N gauge next to each other when I get a chance.

Have got a small tool case layout built ,but still needs more work doing to it.

[cteno4]

 

Hi Jeff, am already a member of the T Gauge forum under UKtrain.

Will post a pic of T gauge, Z gauge and N gauge next to each other when I get a chance.

Have got a small tool case layout built ,but still needs more work doing to it.

 

Kelman,

 

hey cool, love to see the pictures. t gauge does give a new playing ground for creativity with model trains! you can do things you would never have done otherwise! i played with the idea of modules for a bit and found that it seems well suited to do tiny modules with very mini scenes or larger modules with a good hunk of scene (but still fitting in a medium sized box!) and it looks like throwing a bunch of these together could make a very cool modular setup. think of a point to point with large modules at each end and one or two in the middle and a bunch of small ones in between all of them. one end could be a city scene, then in the middle a suburban and rural one, then a mountain one at one end!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Nick_Burman]

Hi all, my name is Nicholas and I live in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I've been looking at this forum for the past week or so, as I've decided to go into Japanese modelling for once and for all. I've first came in touch with Japanese trains ages before the Internet, when I got hold of a bunch of Japanese train magazines - never mind I didn't (and still don't) know what was written, I was hooked on the spot! When the Internet came, a whole world opened up. Reading Small's "Far Wheels" also helped stoke the nipponic flame...  Later I also bought a few train books (Wally Higgins's "Showa 60s" 2nd Volume - still have to get the first volume - and the LRTA booklets on electric railways - again, I still need volume one). Recently a friend of mine (a Nissei whose father emigrated from Kumamoto as a kid) went to Japan on business and also to visit relatives in Tosu (south of Fukuoka). He returned with a whole bunch of trains, some HOj (a World Kougei Joshin Dendetsu AEG steeplecab electric loco and a bunch of freight cars to run behind it - all of them not strictly prototypical but they were the most affordable HOj stuff in the store he could buy, or so he says...) and some N scale (he wanted models of the trains his father rode and saw as a boy). He also bought a model of the "Relay Tsubame" train...my eyes fell off! For the past decade or so I've been involved with American N scale but gave up on it, sold my small layout and stored the trains (later sold half of them to pay for sports kit). I have collected some On30, but I still didn't feel satisfied...then my friend returned from Japan...and a week ago I came across this forum...now I decide to model Japanese for good. I already had some Japanese N scale among my collection, but I used it mainly to close gaps in American train production. This week I rescued from the box some of the stuff which escaped Americanization - a Tomytec "Mule", Steeplecab and Niigata Kotsu DeWa; M-A Ohmi Tetsudo GE boxcab electric and brown DD-13 and a couple of Kato ToRa15000 (one was half-Americanized, but it can be reversed) and a old steel first-class branchline coach. I also have four Kato TaKi3000 tankers and two Modemo trams (one Tokyo 3000 series, one Meitetsu 510), but these were hacked  beyond the point of no return.

 

Now that I decided to invest in Japanese stuff, my first question to this group is, what next? I've never been (and have no immediate forecast of going) to Japan, my only contact with the country and its railways has been through the web and through books. For starters, Shinkansen leaves sort of cold and I tend to prefer JR over JNR. Having said that, I have to admit that I like Japanese steam locos. I'm also more of what one could term as (I hope I get the expression correctly) a "shitetsu otaku", I find the private railways even more interesting than either JR or JNR. I'm also partial to the Kyoto-Osaka-Nagoya triangle as far as geography is concerned. So the issue is, what would you suggest me to buy next? I already have a small shopping list consisting mainly of Tetsudo Collection stuff, I want to get all the "Tomii Dendetsu" (the brown and cream cars) equipment, I already have "mule A" #1032 and 15m car #103 (I need the u/f and pantograph for this one), I'm ogling "mule B" #1033, ED101 (and the two wagons which come with it) and 15m car #2001 (from Collection #2 - does anyone have one to spare???). To round the list up, the Kato "Chibi-den" loco and a few wagons for the mules and EDs to haul. After this, I'm stuck for choice...there is so much of it that it reminds me of the day I was at Hamley's in London (the toy store, when they still had a decent train section) and threw a tantrum because I could fix on a choice (I wanted to walk out with the whole store)...

 

Sorry for the long-winded message. All ideas are welcome...

 

Cheers NB

Sao Paulo, Brazil

(where everybody believes that the Shinkansen is the only kind of train in Japan...d'oh!)

[inobu]

If I could start all over I would start with the layout first. It is the foundation of modeling and differentiates collecting from modeling.

 

I am a collector right now in that I don't have a layout. I started buying everything that looked nice or caught my eye. Now, that I look back I should have applied all the cash to the layout instead of the trains. Its easy to buy the trains first and it can be never ending if you are not careful.

 

So, if you are looking to model then pick your era and line first the build the layout. Buying the trains should be the finishing phase.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Inobu

 

Oh, Welcome its a good group of people here. 

[KenS]

Welcome Nicholas.

 

I can't really say much about the Kyoto-Osaka-Nagoya area; my interest is JR East around Tokyo, but I'll echo Inobu's suggestion to model something. Find a place, a line, or even a type of scene (or scenes) that speak to you, and use that as a focus. Building a layout, or a diorama, and collecting trains that fit, is a good idea.

 

A layout doesn't have to model a specific era either. If you want to run JR and steam, you could go for a rural scene that doesn't identify the time, or have two sets of buildings and swap the ones that are era-specific (or you could just use your imagination and pretend anything that doesn't fit isn't really there).

 

The bottom line: it's your layout and collection. Do whatever you like.

[Bernard]

Nick - Welcome to the forum and from the start you got some good advice from inobu & Ken. My suggestion is to write down a list of things you want in your layout and trains you want to run on it. For example you mentioned that you want to run Japanese Steam engines, then make sure the radius of your layout can support a large Steam engine if that is what you want to run.

When I first planned out my layout that was the first thing I did, I knew I wanted to run Shinkansens and found out that the min. radius I could have where they would run smoothly would be 17".

[to2leo]

Hi Nick!

Welcome to JNS!  I think you are the first Brazilian that join us...perhaps even S. American!  Kanasi is an interesting region to model as it well known with 2 JR Groups and many interesting private railways.  Being in South or North America, we don't really have many stores that are devoted to this hobby theme but thanks to the Internet, we are able to get items Overseas.

 

I would first suggest you to review some of our forum in traveling and online hobby stores to get an idea of which theme you like to focus or how much one particular item cost.

 

Also, start of with a starter set first, that way you have the short version of the train, power source and tracks at a good discount price then when you buy it individually.

 

BTW I would love to visit Brazil, I think it is a very interesting country to visit!

[Mudkip Orange]

Shinkansen leaves sort of cold

I tend to prefer JR over JNR

I find the private railways even more interesting than either JR or JNR

I'm also partial to the Kyoto-Osaka-Nagoya triangle

 

I'm with you on all four counts.

 

First thing you need to know: we pay for our preferences. Kato and Tomix don't make models of most of the Kansai private railways, so you'll need to go to companies like Greenmax or Micro Ace to find models. Greenmax in particular is pretty spendy. For instance:

 

You'll pay 20,000JPY for this 6-car Hanshin (Osaka-Kobe) train from Greenmax:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10102590

But you'll only pay 12,800JPY for this 6-car JR train from Kato:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10082527

 

Likewise, you'll pay 14,400JPY for this 4-car "basic" Keihan (Osaka-Kyoto) set from Greenmax:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10097075

But you'll only pay 8,480JPY for this 4-car "basic" Yamanote Line set from Kato:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10074237

 

 

Second thing you need to know: Buy the WHOLE TRAIN, the FIRST TIME. Maybe you have a small layout in mind where you can only run 4-car trains? Doesn't matter, buy all 6 or 8 cars - even if half your train always sits in the box. Micro Ace has a disturbing habit of producing a model and then NEVER RELEASING IT AGAIN, ever. And Greenmax production can be spotty.

 

Kato and Tomix tend to re-release everything periodically, but then, Kato and Tomix don't tend to produce Kansai (Japanese term for the Kyoto-Osaka region) private railways, and they're actually pretty spotty in their coverage of JR Tokai, unless you're interested in Shinkansen or one of the ubiquitous bright orange 103/201 series that trundle around the Osaka Loop Line once every few minutes.

 

 

Other than that, welcome. Keihan (Kyoto-Osaka) was the reason I got into Japanese trains in the first place. Many others on this board are quite partial to Hankyu, Keihan's main competitor. And everyone loves the RAPI:T, a freaky Jules Verne train that Nankai operates between the Osaka Airport and their terminal at Osaka-Nanba.

[Nick_Burman]

Hi folks,

 

Thanks for the great advice proferred. For the time being a layout is out of the question, I've just disposed of one and it was a painful business. Also we (my mother and I) are seriously thinking quitting the condo we live in for a newer, larger one. A layout would only get in the way of a move, regardless of how small it might be. Also, I've just come out of one and a half years' unpaid holidays, so finances are a bit on the tight side, especially when you have to share one's monies between hobbies (my other hobby, or sport rather, is Olympic-style air rifle shooting).

 

Concerning equipment purchases, yesterday I found a Tomytec "Tomii Electric Railway" steeplecab + wagon set in a store in Germany. Bought it on the spot, also snapped the chassis to make the loco go (forgot the pans, though!). With the "Mule" (BTW it seems that it is based on a Hokutetsu Kanaiwa line unit, rather than the one which is now preserved in Kumamoto) and the 15m car it is enough equipment to get started on a 1950's-60's (a bit later - I want to be able to run the WaMu 80000 vans) interurban (I said I prefered private ove JNR...I'm keeping to it...). Although I would like to model something more modern, this theme is very attractive on account of the pictures in the Wally Higgins' books. One aspect of Japan which attracts is the fact that the Interurban era never quite finished (unlike the US), indeed, it is still going on albeit on a different scale...

 

Cheers NB

[Mudkip Orange]

One aspect of Japan which attracts is the fact that the Interurban era never quite finished (unlike the US), indeed, it is still going on albeit on a different scale...

 

Indeed. For instance, you look at Keio and you see a modern, urban commuter railroad.

 

But go back to 1961 (see http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,2364.0.html) and Keio was running two-car EMUs through farm fields; practically the definition of midwestern interurban railroading

[489-YOMPAQ]

Hi,all! I'm a Japanese railroad fan living in Tokyo.

I'm not so good at English, so I will make a lot of mistakes.

But I'd like to learn and brush up my English ability, please tell me my mistakes and about English.

 

My name "489-YOMPAQ" comes from one of my favorite JNR/JR EMUs series 489.

We can read 489 as "Yompakku" in Japanese, like 485 as "Yompago", EF81 as "Paaichi", EF58 as "Gohachi", D51 as "Degoichi", C62 as "Shirokuni".

So I mixed it and "COMPAQ".

 

I'd like to make a blog about "drumhead(sign?)s" of Japanese Trains for not Japanese people in English and other languages.

I have a question for you.

I understand you(American fans?) call things that Japanese fans call "headmark" in Japanese English drumhead, but how about "pentagon type signs(for example, series 151 or 485/489 bonnet type)" and "square type signs"?

(I want to put? my pictures on web?, but I'm not sure about it )

Do you call them drumhead, too?

[Bernard]

489 - Welcome to the forum and your English is fine! Someone will help you with how to put your photos in the forum. One question, how long have you been living in Tokyo?

[CaptOblivious]

Yompaq, welcome!

 

I think we call them all "drumhead" regardless of shape, because in America they were always round. But "head mark" is a good english word for them too, I think. In fact, I like "head mark" better.

 

Your website sounds very exciting!

[Kabutoni]

Hi 489! Welcome to the forums!

 

Your English is fine to me too. We've become a really international forum, so you'll not only meet fans from the USA, but also quite a few from other Asian countries and Europe.

 

I think "Head Mark" is a nicer terminology then "Drumhead", as it doesn't really sound very serious IMO. It's as if someone ripped off the top of an old oil drum, painted the name of the train on it and mounted it on the front/rear of the train...

 

Anyways, enjoy your stay here!

 

- Toni

[489-YOMPAQ]

>Bernard

 

I have been living in Tokyo since when I was born.

 

>CaptOblivious >Toni Babelony

 

Japanese fans usually call marks of SL, DL, EL "Head Mark", and marks of PC "Tail Mark", marks of EMU, DMU "Train Mark".

[Martijn Meerts]

Your english is much better than our Japanese ;)

 

If you need any help with a homepage, let me know. I've been thinking about several ideas to make Japanese model trains a bit more accessible for non-Japanese speakers. The main issue is obviously the manuals that come with the models.

[489-YOMPAQ]

>Martijn Meerts

 

Do you want to make (kit?) Japanese model trains?

In Japan, since Micro Ace started to release too many completion(?) models, like Green Max who had released kit models be minor and minor. So Micro Ace is criticized sometimes that Japanese fans who make train models themselves are decreasing because of it. Me too...

 

It's my too big dream, but I want to make a company who makes Japanese train models for non-Japanese fans. It's almost impossible for me...

But if I can do it, would you like to have kit model or completion model?

HO or N? If you like HO, do you prefer "16.5mm gauge but 1/80" or "1/87 but 12mm gauge (like Swiss BEMO, except  Shinkansen models)"? 

 

[Nick_Burman]

489, making trains is indeed tough business, but nothing stops you from selling other people's kits... why not set up a small on-line store where you can sell those hard-to-find (and for the language challenged - like me - hard-to-buy) models to interested foreigners? This has already been done, there is a guy called Yoshiya Kobayashi (I guess some forum members will know the name) who has set up a on-line store just to sell narrow gauge (HOn30 mostly) trains. Apparently it has been quite successful, he has a good number of foreign clients.

 

I think most modellers would be more interested in N scale trains, with 1:80 coming right behind. The problem about HOj is that most models (being brass and limited edition) are very expensive, a friend of mine has just returned from Japan with a small World Kougei electric loco and half-a-dozen Imon wagons, by our combined estimates he must have left something close to US$800.00 on the counter, and that because he claimed he bought the cheapest stuff in the store...

 

Cheers Nicholas

(longing for that long-sold-out Amagi kit for a Fukui 200 )

[cteno4]

489,

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

I agree with Nick's idea that before you get into making your own stuff, maybe the easy way to see if you like running a business like this would be to find the detail parts and kits that are hard to get outside japan and to those who do not speak/read japanese. would be a lot less investment. there are a lot of fun detail parts (ie small etched metal parts, decals, etc) that are not carried by the big online over seas selling retailers that would probably be eaten up by those of us not living in japan! these little detail things like this or small kits would also be very inexpensive to ship. interest could also be drummed up by providing a few examples of how to use the details in practice. just a thought!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

>Martijn Meerts

 

Do you want to make (kit?) Japanese model trains?

In Japan, since Micro Ace started to release too many completion(?) models, like Green Max who had released kit models be minor and minor. So Micro Ace is criticized sometimes that Japanese fans who make train models themselves are decreasing because of it. Me too...

 

It's my too big dream, but I want to make a company who makes Japanese train models for non-Japanese fans. It's almost impossible for me...

But if I can do it, would you like to have kit model or completion model?

HO or N? If you like HO, do you prefer "16.5mm gauge but 1/80" or "1/87 but 12mm gauge (like Swiss BEMO, except  Shinkansen models)"?  

 

 

What I meant is that I'd like to make it easier to find information on Japanese model trains in English. Not general info, but things like translations of the manuals and destination boards, English information about the Tomix TCS system (for example), things like that.

 

 

Of course, I do like building things, and I'd love to see more trains that are available as a kit. I don't really have a favorite scale, I like N because it allows you to run long trains, but I also really like 0 because of the details. I also have a bit of (mostly European) H0, but I find it's too big for long trains, and too small for the very fine detailing.

[489-YOMPAQ]

Thank you for telling me your ideas.

 

Nick_Burman, cteno4,

I agree with you to set up a small on-line store is easier than to make a company that releases own products.

But if I make kit models, I think less expensive plastic kits, not brass ones.

 

Martijn Meerts ,

I'm sorry for my mistake to understand your opinion...

I will consider to translate Japanese manuals to English. Do destination boards mean little stickers to stick for models?

Actually, I have just started to study about translation. Because my translation is far from professional level and I can't have responsibility for it now.

[Martijn Meerts]

Martijn Meerts ,

I'm sorry for my mistake to understand your opinion...

I will consider to translate Japanese manuals to English. Do destination boards mean little stickers to stick for models?

Actually, I have just started to study about translation. Because my translation is far from professional level and I can't have responsibility for it now.

 

With destination boards I do mean the small stickers/decals yes. Also, car numbers and such. Some of the newer Tomix shinkansen for example have a large decal sheet with everything on it, including car numbers, and it's not always clear where they should go.

 

As for the translations of manuals etc, I don't think it requires a professional translator or something. Also, the translated manuals would have a "might not be 100% correct, use at your own risk" type of disclaimer. And there's several people on the forum who can proof read and help out where needed. We're a rather helpful bunch :)

[Lawrence]

489 - a warm welcome from Scotland from me.

 

I totally agree with what Martijn says about getting stuff in English, which is why I have been quiet on here for a while, I am trying to soak up all the information and trying to find (affordable) English language material, I saw an English language book on JR a while ago on Amazon at over $200 :BangHead:

 

Good luck with your project

[robrodgers2000]

Hi,

 

I'm new to the forum, and to Japanese N scale, although certainly not new to model railroading.  I just moved to a larger place that makes a layout a possibility, finally, and going through my collection I realize that I am all over the place.  Since I will never realistically have the room to do more with my Lionel than look at the stack of boxes, I'm selling it off and moving back into N.  I have a mixed bag of US prototype, mostly Atlas and Kato, going back 30 years or so, and one lonely Kato Series 500 Nozomi set.  When my wife asked me "why is the Japanese one the only train you run?" it occurred to me to listen to the voices in my head and concentrate on one area.  So here I am.  I just bought enough Unitrack to make a simple double loop run and ordered a couple of trains Banzai Hobby.

 

I have never been to Japan, so my layout will probably not be too realistic.  One of the things I like about JR equipment is how colorful it is, so my mixture of trains will probably not be very prototypical.  I will probably be asking for help quite a bit.

 

So that's it.  Thanks for listening. ;)

 

Rob

[CaptOblivious]

Rob, welcome! You'll find you're in good company here, re: just enjoying the models without worrying about hewing to a prototype. We're quite a diverse group in that regard.