The Introduction Thread...

[dennis39]

  Bikkuri bahn,

 

I check under train & it does not seem to have a engine. I'll just used it as a display & I also don't what to damage it in case of value. I check in (web) on katsumi brass trains & found brass trains are expensive & collectibles items. The bad part of it is, I don't read chinese or know a lot about chinese history. I also spent 2 years learning about chinese arts on my computer(web). I guess its an architect type of person who enjoys building models. I am more of a computer type of person who enjoys anything that relate with electronics. So far I learn that brass trains are very collectible in japan, due to the skill it took make a brass train  & were also design by well known architect. In other parts of the world, model train were mostly made of plastic, but there were some made in brass.  Maybe one day I'll meet someone who will enjoy this model train more than me & he have something that I'll enjoy more than him.

 

 

Dennis

[pudgym29]

Hello. I am Steve De Rose. I reside in Chicago, IL., U.S.A. [41.9389, -87.7468] I have many diverse interests. Electric railways, and Japan, are two of them. I was put onto this forum while searching for Keikyu's discount tickets in Kanagawa Prefecture. I was piercing in from a more direct angle, as I have a physical copy of a pamphlet I scarfed from the Keikyu information kiosk at Haneda Airport's International Terminal station. That is where I landed in Tokyo on my most recent trip (December 2011). I have been to Tokyo and Yokohama eight times since December 2005. I began taking photographs of trains and venues there in May 2009.

I maintain several non-commercial World-Wide Web pages, with this being my introduction page. The URL to which I link in my profile is my regular bookmark page.

I have public accounts on Twitter, and Foursquare, to name two.

A sentence about my style. If a forum gives me font and color options, I will exercise those options. If Keikyu can paint one of its consists Sky Blue instead of red, I should be allowed to emulate it. I like to break up the monotony of Verdana, black, size 3 responses; especially if I have hyperlinks in the body of my post.

I thank you very much.

[The_Ghan]

hey pudgym29,

 

Welcome to JNS.  Since you like to use colour there is no surprise that you chose green text for your first post.  Clever.  I also checked out your intro page and quickly discovered the reason for the red background.  Also clever.  I like a thinking man.  I seem to sit and think a lot myself.  Well, I'm quite jealous of your many recent trips to Japan.  Perhaps you can share some photos of your adventures, and the trains, in the appropriate sections here.

 

Welcome aboard mate.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[bikkuri bahn]

Hello pudgym29.  Welcome to the forum.  I enjoyed perusing your bookmarks page- two businesses you reference in Yokohama, Thrash Zone, and Guest House Kanalian, are in the same neighborhood as my mother's family home. I agree with you about the comments section of Japan Today.

[nemesis4]

Hi all,

I'm Rebecca from the Netherlands. I've been interested in modeltrains for years, especially n scale.

Last year I spent my second holiday in Japan, and now I'm interested in Japanese model trains :D

 

All my plans for modelling are still in the planning stage, so I read a lot of forums and like to look at other people's layouts.

 

Greetings, Rebecca aka Nemesis4

[Bernard]

Rebecca aka nemesis4  - Welcome to the forum and the planning stage is a great way to start with any layout.....if you have any plans that you are thinking of building why don't you post them at the forum......the members here are very friendly and helpful!

[Densha]

@Rebecca

Hey, even more Dutch people!

Nice to meet you.

[The_Ghan]

Welcome Nemesis4,

 

Hope you enjoy the forum.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[workslikemagic]

Hello, Patrick, from Paris, France.

Travelled extensively in japan for many years (still do but less often in japan), started a small collection after a farewell gift from my team in Japan who saw the closet otaku in me (tomix yamanot basic set) ;)

All tomix track, a couple kato shinkansens (e5 and 700). I m on a budget but see this as a long term fun hobby.

I build my temporary track almost weekly with my 2 yr old son, he loves it as much as i do !

[The_Ghan]

Nice to meet you workslikemagic,

 

Welcome to JNS.  Good luck sticking to the budget ... 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Bernard]

Hi Patrick and welcome to the forum.....it's great that you share your hobby with your 2year old son and the E5 is a nice looking train! (in my opinion)

[Martijn Meerts]

Rebecca, welcome! Us Dutchies are slowly but surely taking over the forum it seems =)

 

 

Patrick, welcome to you as well. We're all on a budget, but few of us seem to stick to it. Japanese model trains are just too addictive ;)

[The_Ghan]

... Us Dutchies are slowly but surely taking over the forum it seems ...

 

Yuh ... first it was the sea ... then the East Indies ... now JNS.       

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[nemesis4]

Hi all, thanks for the warm welcome :)

I am more a reader than a poster, but perhaps i can share a few pics in future. Got to have a layout frist then, or at least the start of a layout :p

[The_Ghan]

Hi nemesis4,

 

Not necessarily.  There are a number of people here who don't have a layout at all.  Some members just collect trains, others may only have one or two.  There's space here for anyone with any form of interest in Japanese N Scale model rail.  So, we'd love to see you contribute and/or benefit in your own way.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[keitaro]

there are also some who have been on the forum 2 + years and still havn't posted their design in the making yet :p

[The_Ghan]

:help:

[hectorton]

I am 54 years old and retired about a year ago.  The wife and I are currently in our second month of a three month visit with our son who works and lives in Tokyo.  I have lived in and visited Japan many times in the past 35 years, and have collected Japanese N Gauge/Scale train sets for many of these years.  I have never built a layout as time was limited with work and family.  However, since my retirement I've renewed my interest in the hobby and during this trip I have been purchasing a large stock of Kato Unitrack and structures, as well as a couple of new train sets.  The plan is to begin work on a layout once I return to the States.  The cost is getting out of control, but the wife and son are encouraging the spending.  I have never actively participated in any online forums and hope that any posting etiquette violations I make will be excused.  I have read many postings in the forum that have provided me with invaluable information, and hope I will be able to provide input to postings in the future.  I am very knowledgeable about the location of model train shops/bargains (few) in Tokyo, and will be posting a thorough listing of all the train shops (17) in Akibahara that I hope will be useful.  I am still out here shopping and would love to get together with a Japanese member who lives in the city or a foreigner who is visiting for a shopping spree.  Golden week is coming up.  Regards, Hector.

[cteno4]

Welcome Hector!

 

wow sounds like a very fun visit to your son in tokyo and perfect way to resurrect your trains hobby interests! go over with 1 suitcase and come back with 5 full of trains. will make the customs inspector laugh. i came back from my first trip from japan in the early 80s with a big bag of wind up toys (i use to collect them and pre japanese train days for me) and the customs inspector in the us asked what was in the one bag and i said wind up toys. he said what? open it up. i did and he really had a laugh. i think he was very tempted to have an inspection excuse to pull one out of the box and wind it up!

 

i think you will find this a pretty relaxed place. good place to find others with similar interests to chat about stuff or ask questions or provide help. keep us posted on your layout planning and progress, its always fun to vicariously watch folks empires grow!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Bernard]

Hector - Welcome to the forum.....and you being in Tokyo during "Golden Week" you might make a lot of friends here at the forum...especially if you are coming back to the States with trains! 

It's great that your wife and son are encouraging you to be active in the hobby....as I say, if you enjoy something so much by all means do it! (For all I know you only get to live once)

[john_ibw]

Hector, welcome to the forum!

 

Good to hear that you are out there and getting what you want! Hope to see the layout taking shape soon after your return to the US!

 

I have hugely benefited from being here. Very friendly and most helpful folks with impressive layouts / collections of all sizes. In a different situation, I return 'home' in a week after almost 2.5 years and can't wait to get started on my layout!

[CaptOblivious]

there are also some who have been on the forum 2 + years and still havn't posted their design in the making yet :p

 

There are some who run the forum who don't even have a layout yet! ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

Cap, sounds familiar ;)

 

I have trains that haven't even done a test run, let alone run on a layout :)

[keitaro]

heh i was messing with the ghan :p

[The_Ghan]

Well keitaro,

 

I didn't get any work done on the layout last weekend either ... I've just come home from a week up at Port Douglas enjoying the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree.  Had two days out on the reef, a day up at Cape Tribulation and a day in Mossman Gorge.  Took a cruise up the Daintree river too.

 

It's a hard life ...

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan