The Introduction Thread...

[Kiha66]

Welcome back Graham!

[cteno4]

hey Welcome back graham! Still a few of us old farts still here!

 

newt idea to try generic module scenery and just have swappable buildings for different continents! 

 

Jeff

 

[railsquid]

3 hours ago, grumbeast said:

reHi! 

 

Not new new to the forum, but back after about a years absence!  I. Now 8000kms closer to Japan back home in Canada on Vancouver Island.  Sad to say I couldn’t pack my T-track module, but I have salvaged everything off it, I’m building a new layout that’s going to be confusing as I want European, Canadian an Japanese Trains.  I’m thinking of generic scenery with swapable built up areas?  It’s a challenge but I just love Trains from everywhere and want to run the, all.

 

going to try and stay engaged on the forum as much as possible as I don’t know anyone here and it would be nice to speak to people occasionally!

 

I believe we may have crossed paths on the N Gauge Forum?

 

British, German and Japanese trains here, with some occasional North American cameos.

[grumbeast]

Yep, I used to use the ngauge forum, but things got a little political there and I only have the time of day for trains 😀 so I left

 

i think we have the same interests, Canadian, European, Japanese and British for me...

[miyakoji]

Hi Graham, welcome back!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Welcome back Graham!

[Kiran]

Hi All, This is Kiran. I am new to the forum and so thought I would introduce myself. I always loved trains. I grew up in India and trains where part of your life. I lived in the UK for 7 years and used trains pretty much every day. I am now in the San Francisco bay area and miss the convenience of good public transportation. I am blind from birth and so can't drive. One more reason for me to love trains.

 

I never thought seriously about model trains. But I was in Japan last week and walked into a shop called Tenshodo in Ginza, Tokyo. Most of the train sets were behind glass but the shop workers were happy to show me a few. I was hooked.

 

So now I have a Tomix 500-7000 98215 8 car set and a Tomix LT-PC MyPlan track set with controller. I also bought a couple of additional straight track. I believe it is 9 scale. I guess I should have done more research but I just got the one suggested by the store folks.

 

It was a bit of a struggle to set it up especially since I am blind but I now have all the track and the controller setup. I also ran the power car in the train and coupled front and back cars as well. They are chugging away nicely. I have to figure out a way to couple all the 8 cars. This is proving to be a challenge. But I will get there.

 

I look forward to learning more about model trains.

 

Regards,

Kiran

[Kiha66]

Welcome to the forum Kiran!  Sounds like you're off to a good start.  Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people on this site, and there are a few other forum members in the bay area too!

 

-Sam

[cteno4]

Kiran,

 

Welcome! glad you found the site and are finding model trains as a hobby! Lots of fun folks here to chat with. 

 

Jeff

[serotta1972]

Hi Kiran,

 

Welcome, there's actually a few of us in the SF Bay Area.  I am in San Francisco and a couple of us have been going to an NTrak club in Crockett to run trains.  You're welcome to join.  Look under clubs and the Crockett thread, I will post the date when we go.  Lots of good folks in the forum and always willing to share their experience and knowledge.

 

-Junior

[Kiran]

39 minutes ago, serotta1972 said:

Hi Kiran,

 

Welcome, there's actually a few of us in the SF Bay Area.  I am in San Francisco and a couple of us have been going to an NTrak club in Crockett to run trains.  You're welcome to join.  Look under clubs and the Crockett thread, I will post the date when we go.  Lots of good folks in the forum and always willing to share their experience and knowledge.

 

-Junior

Hi Junior,

 

Thanks ever so much. I didn't think there would be a club for this but sounds great! How does it work? Do we bring our own trains and track? Do you know if there a something similar in the south bay? I live in Mountain View.

[Kiran]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. I have managed to couple all the 8 cars of my Tomix 500 and they are running happily. I managed to derail it once though at full throttle.

 

Is there somewhere I can learn about all the terminology being used here?

 

Thanks,

Kiran

[Pauljag900]

Hi Kieran,

welcome to the best forum in the world!

Anything  at all you need or want to know just ask,there s always someone to help or explain things👍😀

paul

[miyakoji]

Hi Kiran, welcome to the forum!

[Sascha]

Welcome to the forum.

[JR 500系]

Welcome to the forums Kiran! The 500 series is my absolute favourite train !  It's easy to derail a shinkansen at full throttle... what is the curves you are using? The wider the radius of the curve, the less likely to derail. Shinkansen aka bullet trains require a minimum of R317 to make full throttle turns smoothly... 

 

Please feel free to ask around for anything in the right sections of the forums! The people here are very nice and friendly and always willing to share! Cheers!

[chadbag]

Welcome Kiran!

 

While I don't have a 500 in N-Scale yet (have a pre-order on a reissue), the 500 is my favorite of the Shinkansen, and is what we bought my son in Tomy Plarail when he was small.  You will definitely enjoy that model.

 

Just be careful:  this hobby can become terribly addictive, which is bad both for your time and money budgets...

 

Welcome!

[Pauljag900]

And so say all of us👍

A chance viewing of the Nozomi 500 on YouTube 5 years ago is how it all started.It started as a hobby but very soon became an addiction!!😂😂

 

[serotta1972]

On 5/2/2018 at 9:45 PM, Kiran said:

Hi Junior,

 

Thanks ever so much. I didn't think there would be a club for this but sounds great! How does it work? Do we bring our own trains and track? Do you know if there a something similar in the south bay? I live in Mountain View.

 

Hi Kiran, yeah there's a bunch of clubs around the Bay Area but this one is unique as such that you just bring your trains and run them on the layout.  It's a permanent N-Trak layout, usually N-Trak clubs would just meet every so often and put together their modules for club meets and or exhibits.  There's no work being done on the layout although I have offered.  I might be heading out there one May 25th.  If you can get yourself to San Francisco by Caltrain, I can pick you up and we can go together.

Edited May 6, 2018 by serotta1972

[Kiran]

On 04/05/2018 at 9:06 PM, JR 500系 said:

Welcome to the forums Kiran! The 500 series is my absolute favourite train !  It's easy to derail a shinkansen at full throttle... what is the curves you are using? The wider the radius of the curve, the less likely to derail. Shinkansen aka bullet trains require a minimum of R317 to make full throttle turns smoothly... 

 

Please feel free to ask around for anything in the right sections of the forums! The people here are very nice and friendly and always willing to share! Cheers!

Thank you. I am not sure what curve I am using. It is the track I got as part of the Tomix LT-PC Myplan track and controller set. I am guessing it is R317. Oddly, the 500 doesn't derail in full throttle in one direction but does derail in the opposite direction. Don't know if there is terminology but the track is in the formation of a long oval. When I run the train anti-clockwise, it runs fine. Clockwise, sometimes at full throttle it derails at the beginning of the curve.

 

Sorry, I think I should be talking about this in the correct subforums. But I am loving the 500 series so far.

[Pauljag900]

Kieran,

Try changing the lead cars over,ie put the front car at the back and the back car at the front and see if it’s the same car that derails,if so check the wheels are correctly installed into the bogie.

i have an E6 that does the same and I have to run it with the correct car at the rear othersise it derails.

[cteno4]

Kiran,

 

as paul notes this is probably due to the front truck (also called a bogie, the things that hold the wheel sets) on the derailing car being a bit sticky. Somethings this is the screw that holds it in place (if that model uses that kind of attachment) being too tight or just a small burr in the plastic some where rubbing a bit. Take it along with you if you meetup with any of the other Bay Area guys and I’m sure they can take a look at it.

 

but also check your track joints. Run your finger each way over each track joints and see if you find one really having a big rough bump. Once and a while when you snap sectional track together one rail just does not pop into the joiner (the little metal bit that connects the two rails together) quite right and one rail end is left up high. Then rains can usually go ok in one direction (going with the raised rail, kind of jumping off the raised rail) but can derail the other way when the wheel hits the raised rail end head on.

 

do you have any track switches (the track pieces that branch the tracks to the side if desired) in the loop? 

 

See if you can make one of the meetups wirh the Bay Area guys as they can show you a lot of little things about runningnthe trains.

 

Cheers

 

jeff

[Railtunes]

Hello, Graham - and welcome back!

I'm coordinator for the AsiaNRail modular group here in the San Francisco Bay Area. A couple of our other members, Sam [Kiha66] and Junior [Serotta1972], have also posted replies to other nearby postings and elsewhere on this forum.

I'm another modeller doing multiple prototypes with interchangeable scenery elements and structures.

I have a modular N scale layout that depicts scenes from several different prototypes worldwide. 

My Asian prototype line is the Pingxi branchline in northeastern Taiwan, but also supports scenes from Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

I also use those same modules to serve my British [Kyle of Lochalsh line in Scotland] and Canadian [Canadian Pacific Nakusp subdivision in southeastern B.C.] branchline interests. I'm now adding a fourth prototype to the mix with an Australian theme, though I haven't made a definitive choice for that prototype yet, pending further research into possible branch lines that fit into the overall schematic operational format of my railway. Any Aussies on the forum that would care to offer suggestions are strongly encouraged to do so!!!

The key to making this work is that all the chosen lines are branchlines with the same basic configuration: a single track branchline starting from a mainline junction, running through mountainous terrain, and terminating at a port, using a bit of modeller's license where required to accomplish that general scenario. As "landmarks" for each line, I've chosen one iconic element and modeled its track layout fairly closely. The structures and other scenic details within each module are then made interchangeable among the four prototypes. 

I also have some European continental stock left from a previous Swiss layout, along with Spanish Talgo equipment.

I'm finding this to be an interesting approach to the hobby that allows me to pursue international interests without being too outlandish in my mix of trains and their environment - unless I want to be, just to spite the "rivet counters"!

 Keep us posted on how you are pursuing this creative challenge!

- Paul Ingraham [railtunes], Coordinator, AsiaNRail N scale modular group, San Francisco Bay Area, California

 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Railtunes
fill in missing information

[Railtunes]

Hello, Kiran - and welcome to the forum!

 

I'm an N scale modeler and coordinator of AsiaNRail, a modular N scale group on the San Francsco peninsula, focusing on diverse Asian railway modeling. I live just two blocks from the Sunnyvale, California, CalTrain station, the next stop south of you in Mountain View! Another of our members, Junior Flores [Serotta1972], mentioned your post and suggested I contact you. Like Junior, I also sometimes go to the Crockett model railway club to run trains on their club layout, and I could give you a ride there if you'd like to visit. You can contact me more directly at my personal email <pei@sonic.net>, and we can arrange to meet.

Meanwhile, you can get a bit of an idea about my modeling interests in my reply to Graham (above) regarding his - and my - multi-prototype approach to modeling and in my profile.

Looking forward to meeting you.

- Paul Ingraham [railtunes] 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Railtunes
fill in missing information

[Patrick McGrath]

Greetings,

 

I am somewhat new to the hobby, although I have been dabbling with a layout for three or four years now. Dabbling meaning starting, tearing it up, starting again, etc.

I finally settled on a track plan with room for expansion and for the past year have been slowly making progress. Of course, there is no real hurry and the detail is half the fun. I am eagerly anticipating running a few trains soon though.

Like you guys, my focus is Japan rail and Japan itself. I am not modeling a specific prototype but rather a general overview of trains and scenery. 

The photos are a kit bash of the Tomix rural station, just to give you an idea where I'm headed.

Anyway, this place is a great source of info and I hope to share my experiences on a regular basis as well.