The Introduction Thread...

[Kishiru]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm new here so thought I'd say hello. I'm 23 and from the UK. I've never been to Japan, but I'm saving up for a visit. I love most things Japanese, and I'm currently learning the language (mostly so I can read Japan Railfan!). I was introduced to Japanese trains by A-Train 6, and absolutely love them! I am mostly a railfan, but I'm starting to expand in to layouts too, just limited due to money at the moment. I don't have any running Japanese N Gauge trains, but I do have some static ones from the Del Prado range, and I'm hoping to expand into ones that move soon to complement my small British collection. I also have some T Gauge that I love, such a shame the range is so limited!

 

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

 

Izzy (aka Kishiru)

[Bernard]

Hi Kishiru - Welcome to the forum and there are other members here that are also from the UK. Take a look around the forum and you will see what other UK members have been working on.

[Densha]

Hey Kishiru,

Nice to meet you! You don't see many women who are into trains usually, and if I do they're mostly some years older, but the amount of women with our hobby seems to be slowly increasing. That's not a bad sign at all. ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

Welcome to the forum Kishiru :)

 

Like you, I love many things Japanese, and I've also never been to Japan, but I'm very likely (finally :)) going for a trip to Kyoto in October of this year. I'm going by myself, so that's going to be interesting ;)

 

Are you interested in a particular type of trains, or specific region, or (like many of us) just anything that's on rails and is Japanese?

[The_Ghan]

Kishiru,

 

Welcome to the forum.  Keep an eye out on ebay for Kato, Tomix and MicroAce brand being sold in the UK.  I've picked up a few bargains in the past.  There are also several UK suppliers, such as Rails of Sheffield, who stock a limited range of Kato product.

 

Spend some time reading up on product, track, DCC, etc. here.  Perhaps get in touch with a few of the other UK members to talk about the pros and cons of various brands.  Ultimately, you might find it cheaper to wear a higher freight cost and order directly out of Japan.  You'll learn how to do all that on the JNS Forum too.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Kishiru]

Thanks for making me feel welcome everyone :-)

 

Barnard - Thanks, I've been looking, I didn't realize there were so many! Looking at local rail clubs you start to to think that no-one else is interested...

 

Densha - Yeah, it can be lonely being a female railfan, people in clubs don't often know how to approach me! Hopefully there will be more girls along soon.

 

Martijn - Kyoto? Wow! That's one of the places on my to see list, it sounds lovely. I don't think I'd dare go on my own though! Also, if it's on rails and Japanese I love it! I'm not overly into steam, but other than that it's all interesting. However, I do have my favourites, for example the KiHa family, any and all freight loco's and I also have a soft spot for the 103 series, probably because they're brightly coloured  

 

The_Ghan - Thanks for the tips, I shall keep an eye out! I've also had a look at Gaugemaster, (mainly looking for T gauge, but I noticed they sell some Kato too) but I'm not sure how they compare price-wise. I would like to order from Japan, but I'm not sure how import duty and VAT works on imports that big so I've only bought Railfan Magazine thus far.

 

Thanks again for a lovely welcome :-)

 

Kishiru

[Martijn Meerts]

Kishiru, Kyoto is on the top of my list as well, because there's so many temples around there, and it seems to me like it's a bit more traditional. Of course the Gion district helps a LOT with the traditional feel :) It's also a good base for some nice trips to various other places like Hiroshima, Kobe, Tokyo etc. Also, around the time I'm going there's the Jidai Matsuri festival in Kyoto, which I would love to see.

 

I'm currently looking at renting an apartment for several weeks rather than a hotel. The big advantage is that it's much cheaper, but it also gives you the feeling that you actually live in Kyoto for a few weeks.

 

The going by myself thing is scary though, but I don't know anyone who wants to come along, so I really don't have much of a choice if I ever want to see Japan :)

[Densha]

Kishiru,

You should start a female train club! They have them in Japan if I'm right... but that's not really that useful I think.

 

On tax and stuff: I do live in the Netherlands, but I think the most of it can be applied to the UK as well (EU), you should check the local rates at the website of the government.

Usually you pay an import tax, in mine case 19% (unfortunately it will be changed to 21% in a while because of political stuff where I live). You also have to pay an extra fee for the postal service to bring it to the customs office which differs on what kind of delivery method you chose. Sometimes there's also differences when your order is of a higher value, so it may be worth ordering them separate sometimes. But I'm not sure if this all applies to the UK too, and as I said the website of the government probably knows a lot more about this.

If you're lucky the customs sometimes oversee your package and you don't have to pay any tax or fees or whatever at all. From the 3 times I've ordered from Japan I didn't have to pay anything for 1 out of the 3 times.

[Kishiru]

Densha - Thanks for the info, I'll check the Government website but as it's written in lawspeak it can be a little hard to understand exactly what they're trying to tell you!

 

Martijn -  I like the traditional Japan feel, as well as the thought of the big cities. I'm hoping to do a grand tour someday when I can save up the money. Renting sounds much better than a hotel, probably cheaper too!

[Fenway Park]

Welcome to the Forum. Chris at Wellington Models has stocks of Kato Tomix Modemo and Micro Ace both new and secondhand. He has an E Bay and Facebook shop so check out his stocks.

He is in the UK 01823 669636.

 

Have purchased quite a few items from him over the years.

 

Gaugemaster who are the wholesaler's for Kato have very poor stocks.

 

Good luck.

[Martijn Meerts]

Kishiru, renting an apartment can be done for about 500 euro a month. It's a small one, but it comes with basic furniture, kitchen, washing machine and private bathroom. There's even cheaper than that actually (and more expensive of course ;))

 

Last I checked, a return ticket from Amsterdam to Osaka with KLM was 950 euro. The first time I checked (which was a long time ago, I've been wanting to go to Japan for at least 15 years ;)) a ticket was closer to 4000 euro. I've pretty much decided to visit multiple times and focus a bit more on 1 area each time, although, doing a tour through all of Japan using mostly smaller, local train lines would be fun as well. Walking one of the old pilgrim routes sounds interesting as well, and then staying at a temple after a long day of hiking ..

 

There's just too many interesting things to do 

[The_Ghan]

Kishiru,

You should start a female train club! ...

 

A woman !!!? 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Finding clubs with an interest in Japanese railways is a bit of a challenge...although there are a couple. The Berkshire N gauge group has a few Japanese modules and there are one or two club layouts scattered around. Ours is located in West Sussex, so pretty much miles from anyone!

 

Dealers in the UK are the aforementioned M G Sharp, Wellington Models and Gaugemaster, whose stock list is better than it has been for a while, but still not at the level you would expect from the Wholesaler. Orsbourns Models also have a few bits. For someone on a budget, Wellington models have some basic KiHa two-car units for under £40.

 

I get a lot of stuff from Japan. Basic rule is anything over about £15.00 will be subject to VAT. Also EMS have a tie-in with Parcel Force, who very kindly hit you with a fee of between £10 - £20 depending on size and value. Import duty only applies to really expensive stuff. Not sure of the threashold, but I have had a complete Kato E231-500 unit and 500 series bullet add-ons in one shipment that did not trigger it.

 

Hope you enjoy the forum and  Japanese trains.

[JR 500系]

Good day to all!

 

I'm Sammy here, from Singapore. Yes the tiny mirco country on the map and oh so very few rail enthusiasts here. I'm a real fan of Japan and anything Japanese since i was 13, which makes it about 19 years now! Wow!

 

A little history about myself: I'm so into Japanese when i was 13, especially during the peak of Gundam robots and such. Had bought and built ALOT of gundams, but sold them all off to move into Lego, my second interest. The train spark in me began in Lego, where i bought my first train set and it never stopped since. Having recently stumbled into Tomix/ Tomytec and Kato, this hobby basically combines two of my best love, Trains and Japan together! Now, how can i not fall in love with them?    Great to see a forum which specialises in this hobby and thanks for the registration!

 

I do know abit of Japanese (took lessons before, and watch PLENTLY of anime, dramas and movies, listen to J-Pop etc.) and have just returned on 9th March from my dream country of Japan, fully optimising my JR Pass!

 

Good to see everyone here and a BIG hello!  Cheers and have a nice day! 

 

初めまして。よろしくお願いします

[Martijn Meerts]

Welcome Sammy :)

 

Lots of people here with similar interests to yours (obviously ;))

 

Been tempted getting some Lego again myself, but I have too much stuff to do as is, what with building a layout and doing Gundam kits etc ;)

[The_Ghan]

Hey N500,

 

Firstly, welcome to the forum.  You'll have a lot of fun here.

 

Secondly, the 500 series shinkansen is one of my favourites ... after the 0, 200, and 100 series, of course.  I admire your taste.

 

Third, as you're into Lego, consider making contact with john_ibw here.  He's just left Sydney for India.  His two big passions are Japanese model railways and Lego.  He has organised several official Lego builds and has one of the most comprehensive collections in the world.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[JR 500系]

Thanks Martijn and The_Ghan for the warm welcome! 

 

OOhhh interesting! Would like to make contact with john_ibw! Truely, i've been collecting Lego for a very long time now and due to several reasons, mainly being Lego layout taking up too much space, an ever increasing prices of Lego sets and the shocking increase of 'scaplers' (people who 'act' like true interested fans of Lego but main aim was to leech and get infomation as to which set is good and where to get at a cut throat price with only a sole intention of wiping out the stocks for true collectors only to sell to them later at a SUPER inflated price) here in Singapore...

 

Hence with the recent exposure to N guage and Tomytec, i'm selling most of my collection (except the trains, of course) to fund my new japanese diorama project, in a bid to move to a 'cheaper' hobby (i hope.. Hopefully not jumping from pot to pan or wife is gonna hammer me with a pan!) and away from 'scaplers'...

 

Ooopps sorry for going on and on ~ Now slowly digesting and learning all the tricks from all the pros here! Cheers!

[Martijn Meerts]

The main problem I have with Lego, is that all the modern sets have way too many customized parts. Not to mention all the weird thematic stuff .. The Technic, Mindstorms and the more old-fashioned City stuff is still pretty nice though :)

[Densha]

Hey Sammy,

I've also had a past interest in Lego, I haven't sold them so I have a few boxes full of Lego City buildings and trains. I don't do anything with them, a bit of a shame considering how much I have, but my interest lies more with scale models at the moment.

[JR 500系]

Yes i do agree Martijin... Lego has diversified over the years and sort of 'losing' out on the classic feel of bricks and building... However, the new modular buildings are REALLY nice in design and even interior fitted! BUT BE WARNED! They are NOT cheap at all...

 

 

Lego is increasingly becoming more of an investment rather than a hobby, with a lot of people buying and keeping ONLY to sell them later for profits, which is rather sad coming from an ex-moderator in a local Lego forum... Part of the reason why i left there anyway... Too many scaplers to apprehend~~

 

Hi Densha! You might be interested to know, several of the older Lego trains and buildings can fetch way way high prices now, esp the BNSF and Santa Fe Super Chief models... You might consider using them to fund your scale modelling...

[Densha]

I only own a few of those standard Lego models from those sets, unfortunately I've never bought any of those, though I was planning to do so for a long while. But if I did, perhaps I didn't even sell them because they are really nice.

[The_Ghan]

N500,

 

I've sent John an email.  He might drop into the forum and make contact with you.  However, as he's been in India for just a week I guess he's still unpacking his stuff.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[JR 500系]

Wow!

 

Thank you so much The_Ghan for the connection! Appreciate that!

 

BTW, i heard India's trains are also 'well-known'... 'Well-known' for being inefficient, super crowded and most certainly not safe...

[cteno4]

Welcome n500

 

I think you will find a lot of fun folks here on the forum to talk Japan and trains with!

 

I was into Legos for a long time since childhood and still have some I can't give up (although I did give the last box of childhood Legos from like the late 60 early 70s  to the neighbor kids as I saw how much fun they were having with them and wanted to keep them doing that for as long as possible before the video game controllers were implanted in their hands...

 

One of our japanese train club members here in washington dc has been very active in the local Lego club for a long time.

 

Enjoy!

 

Jeff

[bandOblades]

Good morning!

 

My hubby is a huge HO rail fan and I am here because I am interested to know more about what makes him happy. We are from the US but we are currently living in Tokyo. Hope to find some  great information here!:-)