The Introduction Thread...

[miyakoji]

Hi @Jordiand @tripel7welcome to the forum!

[cteno4]

Hi Tripel, welcome to jns forum, glad you found us.

 

Lots of folks getting back into the hobby here lately on the forum so I expect a lot of new discussions on things to do and play with! 
 

cheers,

 

jeff

[mfairhu1]

Hi, 

 

Taking a long hard look at Kato’s Unitram system at the moment and particularly the starter sets.  Not taken the plunge yet but have looked at what my local suppliers in England are selling.  Space is the biggest issue for me, but love the idea of tinkering with a modular Unitram layout that could be later put away if required.  
 

Bit of background is I have little experience in the general modelling hobby, but this could be a good time right now to get involved.  A turning point for me was finding Kato unitrack which helped me rekindle an interest in N scale modelling which will work best for my space compromise.  I like the way it comes together and apart with little fuss and the high quality of the Kato loco (that came in a Kato basic train set I purchased) plus the simplicity of the DC controller.

 

Not sure how permanent I want the layout to be which is a big consideration I know and just really want to complete an initial layout to gain experience.  Will probably be asking loads of newbie questions so please be tolerant, haha!
 

Cheers,

Mfairhu1

Edited March 16, 2023 by mfairhu1

[bill937ca]

Welcome.  There is a Trams, LRV's & Buses forum where you can ask your Unitram questions. The minimum depth is about 2 feet. I have layout on 3' x 2' garage unit with a simple rectangle.

[cteno4]

Welcome @mfairhu1, Glad you found us!

 

take a look in the trams & busses forum and also in the layout forum and you will find a number of examples of what folks have done with unitram. It is a way to set something pretty finished looking fast and take down easily or modify later. Also take a look at Rich’s (active member here brill27mcb) website on using the Tomix tram track system for temporary setups http://www.trainweb.org/tomix/.

unitram and Tomix tram track stock may be pretty spotty outside Japan as it’s a bit of a subset of regular track. But luckily ordering from japan is very easy with many good sources. These days just have to deal with high air freight and of course your local customs, but those will be issues even if buying locally in the final price, but may find more availability if you can’t source locally.

 

start a layout topic when you get going and let us watch!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[miyakoji]

Hi @mfairhu1welcome to the forum!

[MeTheSwede]

Welcome @mfairhu1

 

Two great things about Japanese n-scale is that it's newbie friendly and that permanency is very much an optional feature when making layouts.

[Skasaha]

Hi everyone

 

I started getting back into the hobby last year after spending too much time on YT. A long time ago when I was a kid I had a bunch of OO UK stuff - second hand from train shows and the like. No idea where any of that is now of course. I also grew up around a preserved steam railway so that colours my interests pretty heavily.

 

I have limited space at home so I was eying up OO9, TT and N as options. Japanese N blows the others out of the water for variety and cost though, and I also saw the then upcoming SL Hitoyoshi set from Kato that I absolutely love. Beautiful train, beautiful line. I haven't had the chance to travel to Kyushu on my past trips to Japan but I'll definitely have to make it happen next time.

 

I've now got that SL Hitoyoshi set, a small collection of extra locos and rolling stock and a bunch of track I just set up on my coffee table, but I'm planning on building something with actual scenery soon.

 

I have very little experience modelling so I imagine it'll be a bit of a challenge. And a bit wonky.

 

 

[cteno4]

Welcome Shasaha! Glad you found us!

 

lots of fun to be had with Japanese N scale. Like you said lots of variety and and nice prices! Plus most any scene can be a stones throw from train tracks in Japan.

 

just jump in an try, it’s an iterative process to learn. With limited space you might look into Ttrak as a an option.

 

cheers and welcome,

 

jeff

[Wolf]

Welcome skasaha, glad you found us.

 

Also, dont undersell your value, nothing is "wonky" if you made it yourself! Ppl tend to compare their work to layouts that are made out of 25+ years of experience, wich can be a show stopper. Just start building, look at problems, laugh over mistakes and be astonished obout how others did stuff. Well, and of course gaze on the marvelous 25+ year experience layouts haha. Just dont let them block your view on your own work.

[miyakoji]

Hi @Skasahawelcome to the forum!

[SwallowAngel]

Hey everyone,

Greetings from Germany. I got into japanese modelling through my combined interest in anime and british trains (somehow).

I have accumulated a small collection of OO-Gauge locomotives and am happy to now own a Kato Series-100 (my favourite shinkansen) and a Kato C62 2 with a small rake of coaches. 

To put it bluntly i am extremely limited in terms of space, which is why n-scale seemed very appealing. In fact I am so limited in space that me and my dad fashioned a triple-combo desk for myself. It currently serves as my work desk, a case for my computer and a model train display. Unfortunately I am currently not able to decorate my layout for now, so I tend to call it a "train set with ambitions".

Anyhow, I look forward to being on this forum, as it is one of the few (english-speaking) sources of (decent) information on these beautiful models. In fact I already have a question prepared...

[Wolf]

Welcome @SwallowAngel, more germans yay!

 

Also, dont let a lack of space hold your imagination back, and I am actually interested in that tripple Feature desk construction 🙂

 

 

[disturbman]

Hallo Swallow, don’t hesitate to ask questions and welcome aboard!

[cteno4]

Welcome @SwallowAngel, glad you found us! N scale does help on the space issue a lot. Have you looked at doing a sectional or modular layout you could pop together and then take apart and store on a bookshelf?

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[miyakoji]

Hi @SwallowAngelwelcome to the forum!

[Vossibear]

Hello,

 

my Name is Gerhard, I live in Germany and i am in multiple ways involved in railways and tramways. It began when my father bougt me a fischer-technik "bau-spiel-bahn" when i was four years old; my second self propelled vehicle was an articulated tramway from roco in the livery from Karlsruhe, the town we then lived. My interest in japanese trams and trains begun when i happend to have the opportunity to buy a mo510 from the Gifu interurban system of nagoya railroad in ho. From the forum i learned there exists something like buyee what I now tried for the first time to buy some articles. I will tell when and how the package arrives, I tried to collect several orders but had to learn about the increasing shipment costs... I am mostly in to secondary lines and like interurbans very much, thus i think these meitetsu mo510s are really very attractive.

I have already a question, but that could sound rather egoistic.... I will look for the right place to post and hope no one thinks i am rude.

 

Cheers

 

Gerhard.

 

BTW: I don't speak japanese, only swedish, english, a bit of french, danish and I can read italian and a bit of spanish. And obviously german, but alas no japanese. In these days we luckily have so many cool apps an devices, so understanding japanese sites on the net becomes rather easy.

[cteno4]

Gerhard,

 

Welcome to the forum, glad you found us! Please ask away on your questions. Best to put them as new topics in he most appropriate forum to get the best chance of good answers, but no worries, we are a friendly group.

 

Most of us don’t speak Japanese, but as you say with all the translators these days it’s not much of an issue. There are also many good model train exporters in japan for stuff more in stock and no big buyee surcharges. But for odder stuff and second had stuff buyee is a good option as a lot there on yahoo.jp auctions and smaller shops that don’t export on their own. The shops have excellent service and someone that speaks English as well.

 

Enjoy the forums!

 

jeff

[Wolf]

Welcome aboard Gerhard! Keep us posted on your Buyee endavours!

[disturbman]

3 hours ago, Vossibear said:

I will tell when and how the package arrives, I tried to collect several orders but had to learn about the increasing shipment costs...

Ask them do downsize the package by removing shipping boxes and/or unnecessary packaging material. They do it for free and it brings shipping cost a lot. You just have to contact them via the 'inquiry' button at the bottom of the Contact Us/FAQ page. You need to request this after consolidating several packages. Simply select 'Other' and provide the new package number. This option is easier to use if you select the 'Lite plan' when bidding. Have fun hunting.

[miyakoji]

Hi Gerhard, welcome to the forum!

[lighthouse]

Moin Gerhard, welcome to the forum!

[Vossibear]

On 5/10/2023 at 10:27 PM, disturbman said:

Ask them do downsize the package ...

Thank you very much, that sounds really like a good advice!

 

Viele Grüße

 

Gerhard.

[GameTime]

Hi All,

I was recommended this site by a Reddit poster.

I'm new to the hobby and have interest in putting together a layout that focuses on Japanese Trains during the late 60s early 70s, Steam and Diesel. I recently purchased the Kato M1 starter set.

 

Look forward to posting more on here and working through the amazing content on here to streamline my knowledge.

 

Thank you

[cteno4]

Welcome Gametime, glad you found us and the hobby. I think you will find Japanese trains and scene modeling quite fun as there is such an amazing variety of trains and just about any scene you can imagine might have a train nearby in japan.

 

cheers

 

jeff