The Introduction Thread...

[alpineaustralia]

Yes and as our 100th member, you win the knowledge (and the right to claim) that you are our 100th member!

[Bernard]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for taking me up on my invitation. As you can see there is an on going discussion about Unitrack and your JJJ&E layout. Please talk about it and post photos.

Again welcome aboard,

Bernard

[Guest Powersteamguy1790]

Darren and Bernard:

 

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'll be 68 years old tomorrow, February 2nd and have been in model railroading for over sixty years. I have been retired for 15 years

 

I have had large O Scale and HO scale layouts before switching to N scale in 1999. I chose N scale because when I moved to Florida in 1994, none of the houses have basements. I bulit the JJJ&E in my third garage which has been separated from the main two car garage by a finished wall. The third garage is completely air conditioned and heated for the few days that heat is necessary.

 

The JJJ&E started out with a footprint of 4x11' and has been expanded four times. The layout is now 10x15' on multiple levels. The JJJ&E is run by a Lenz 100 DCC system and all the locomotives (about 200) have decoders installed except for a few remaining Japanese steamers. I use Kato Unitrack on the JJJ&E and the mainline is 130'.

 

I have written many articles for N Scale Magazine and I just published a website in the beginning of January. The link for the website is:

 

htp://www.powersteamguy1790.com

 

I'll bookmark this forum ... Thanks

 

Stay cool and run steam..... 8) 8)

[thugs_or_die]

hi..

i am modeler from malaysia.. doing some railroad modeling n other kinds of modeling..i used to live in japan...got lots of good stuff there..thats all for now..nice to meet you all..

[lbriand_fr]

Hi!

 

I'm Lionel, from Paris, France.

I was searching informations on how to digitalise a  C53 Streamlined (Micro Ace), and I found your forum.

At last, some peoples who likes other trains than french and german.

 

Actually, I have some Kato, Micro Ace and Kawai locomotives and cars.

I'm digitilazing my locomotives to use it with Trix system. My first 2 locs works perfectly.

 

Ah, and sorry, but my last english lesson was 20 years ago  ;D

[Bernard]

Hi Lionel and first off welcome to the forum.

As for installing a decoder into a C53 Streamlined Micro Ace train, we have some real pros here....and then you have me. ::)

 

First off, is this the train you are talking about:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10066760

 

My next suggestion is to start a new thread called: "C53, Installing a Decoder"

What will help some of the members is for you to post multiple photos of the engine including the outside and the inside. Show the motor area and where the engine picks up current from the track. Also show the tender and its inside, you might have to place the decoder inside the tender.

I look forward to your thread and don't worry about your English, we understood you perfectly so lets get you up and running!

[alpineaustralia]

Bienvenue Lionel

[lbriand_fr]

Thanks!

 

Yes, the C53 is this one.

 

I'll begin soon a thread about this.

[N Scale Al]

Become very interested in Japanese Model Railroading. Been in N scale for years but all US lines. Looking for a change! ANy suggestions on where to veiw and get ideas for track plan? I only have a small area of 5' by 10'to work in

Thank you

N Scale Al

[CaptOblivious]

Become very interested in Japanese Model Railroading. Been in N scale for years but all US lines. Looking for a change! ANy suggestions on where to veiw and get ideas for track plan? I only have a small area of 5' by 10'to work in

Thank you

N Scale Al

 

Welcome! 5' by 10' is room enough for an entire Empire by Japanese modeling standards! Here are some hints to help you start looking for plans:

We have a thread going here:

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,475.0.html

Tomix, if you are using their brand of track, has a special book to help you out, the Layout Support Book:

http://jtrains.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/tomix-layout-support-book/

Kato publishes plans to their US website; I don't know if the Japanese website has any, perhaps someone else knows?

 

Finally, try searching Google for "Nゲージ レイアウト" (which means "N-gauge layout"), and using the "Translate this page" function to help you read. This has helped me find plan ideas.

 

Again, welcome!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Hi, my name is Nick and I am from Sussex in the UK. I have been a bit of a Japanese N Gauge fiend for the last couple of years, compounded by a holiday there last year. I mainly model in N gauge, although have recently aquired some H0 DMUs and dabble in a little T Gauge as well  ;D

 

Currently our model railway club and gearing up to start work on a Japanese N Gauge exhibition layout set on the Keihin-Tohoku/Tokaido lines, with a little bit of Yamanote thrown in, as well as the Tokaiko Shinkansen. Going to be a very interesting project...

[Bernard]

Claude - Welcome to the JNS Forum! I find it interesting that your club is going to do a layout based on a Japanese line. Could you tell us a little bit about your club and what made the member decide to this as their next project? We have other members here who are apart of club. One in Washington, DC and the other is in Germany which if you are interested is in Club News. Feel free to talk about your club in that platform.

[CaptOblivious]

So, you want to know just how deep the rabbit hole goes, eh?

 

Nice to have you here!

[quinntopia]

Thanks for the welcome! I'm glad to be here, and thanks for inviting me!  :) As you know from my blog, I am into N Scale becuase its fun and, well...I like trains! I am especially interested in trains from Europe and Japan, inspired by my good fortune to travel in both Europe, Japan and China.  Although all of my locomotives and rolling stock (to date) are from Europe, I am a dedicated Unitrack user and am in love with the Tomix, Greenmax, and Kato structures!  I've found that of equal interest to me of trains, is actually constructing 'urban' / downtown environments.  I'm spending most of my time recently adding LED's and painting various 'modern' buildings to begin my N scale (metropolis).  This of course is an area where the Japanese models have no peer.  Additionally, I run exclusively in DCC, which is one of the challenges for me to expand into Japanese locomotives, but I am working on my sodering skills  :'( so the time for a Narita Express or Shinkansen is soon approaching!  I am also seriously considering adding a trolley line and the Tomix fine track system looks like a a lot of fun.  Anyway, got to stay focused, so the trolley may wait until the layout and other projects are complete! I look forward to learning from this forum and discovering all of your 'secrets' (and admiring your work).  If you're interested in my layout and projects, check out my blog at http://quinntopia.blogspot.com/

[Bernard]

Quinntopia - Welcome to the JNS Forum. I took a look at your blog and you have to tell us more about you layout, it looks very interesting! (size, main lines, etc.) I look forward to your posts.

[serenityFan]

quinntopia, I thought that name rings a bell ... welcome to the forum! ;D ;D

[quinntopia]

Thanks for the welcome!  :)  Yeah, its me!  'Captain Oblivious' is converting me from Europe to Japanese prototypes! This is a great forum, learning a lot!

[Sushi Train]

Hello, my name is Jansen and I'm from Brisbane, Australia.

 

I love Japanese trains and travelled Japan last year during winter just for the trains with two of my work friends who also love Japanese trains, I'm going back this September with my family and have just started an Nゲージ layout in my garage.

 

Kyoto Station. I'm the one in the middle.

[Bernard]

Jansen - Welcome to the forum and you will find a lot of fellow Aussies here. I envy you being able to travel to Japan for a vacation. When I went to Japan in '98 I was lucky enough to get a non-stop flight from NYC to Tokyo but it was a long flight. The good thing was we were on a 747 with only 21 passengers on board.

[CaptOblivious]

Hello, my name is Jansen and I'm from Brisbane, Australia.

 

I love Japanese trains and traveled Japan last year during winter just for the trains with two of my work friends who also love Japanese trains, I'm going back this September with my family and have just started an Nゲージ layout in my garage.

 

Kyoto Station. I'm the one in the middle.

 

Welcome! As it happens, I'll be in Brisbane for the month July. Anything you'd recommend?

[Sushi Train]

Not a huge amount to do here, have a look at the city and beyond (on a clear day) from up at Mt. Coot-tha Scenic Lookout http://www.brisbanelookout.com/ Or take a stroll along the Southbank park lands across from the city but your best bet is if you can, go to the Gold Coast for Surfers Paradise beaches or up to the Sunshine coast maybe visiting Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, well worth a visit.

 

Finished building my layout base today, bit of over kill but its solid as a rock with lockable wheels. 9' x 4'

[Bernard]

Jansen - This is a great start!! Would you mind starting you own thread in the platform "Personal Projects"? It is going to be interesting to see the development of a layout from the very beginning. Do you have a track plan and do you know what type of track you are going to use?

Great wood work, that is one solid piece of bench work you've made!

[Sushi Train]

Ok will do.

 

I'm using Kato uni-track with an emphasis on passenger services, it will have an elevated Shinkansen track (almost the length of the base, 9 ft) which I have with 4 truss bridges joined together and a partial river underneath as seen in all those iconic photo's. As its main feature I'm hoping to sculpt Mt Fuji.

 

The plan is to have 5 tracks in total but apart from the Shinkansen track I haven't decided on a track plan, that's the beauty of uni-track, plan as you go.....to some extent  ;)

 

I'm planning to pick up a lot for it while in Japan later this year, just hope the exchange rate gets better.  ::)

 

Regarding your earlier post Bernard, I don't know whats better, me only 8 hours flight to Tokyo or you living in New York!!!!  :o  I loved NYC in 06 and plan to go back.  8)

[mrpig]

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm Gordon and I live in the northern burbs of Adelaide, Oz. I'm 43 and have been an aircraft maintenance engineer for the past 23 years.

I was born in Scotland but decided to drag my parents to Australia at the ripe old age of 3 months. My hobbies over the years have included flight sims, RC planes helis cars bikes & boats, plastic models, fast cars & bikes and now trains.

 

I am here at JNS after posting a decoder install tutorial on Traiboard. Bernard asked if I would post it here as well, which is how I discovered JNS

I got into this quite by accident. I went to HK with my friends family 3 years ago for christmas, upon returning home, his wife suggested that next time we should have a stopover in Japan. We agreed just for the gadget and rc shopping. So then the little voice in my head ( with the speed affliction) starts thinking, speed, Japan, bullets, we had better take a ride if we go. So I started surfing and the 500 caught my imagination and decided to buy a Kato model from the bay to sit on top of the telly. Still haven't been to Japan because that single 500 has now grown into a fleet, as follows;

 

0 series 30th anniversary

100 series "last run"

200 series 25th anniversary

300 series

400 series

500 series

700 series rail star

N700 series

800 series

E1

E2

E3

E4

922

923

Superview Odoriko

Kansai Rap:t

285 Sunrise Express

885 Kamome

Orient Express - still waiting for the steamer to pull it

Eurostar

TGV PSE

TGV POS

TGV Euromed

ICE-3

Various North American prototype as well

 

Still only have a Unitrack loop on the lounge room floor while a mate is helping me build a dedicated shed in the back yard. The shed is 16' x 30' and the 20yr plan is to have 2 levels around the walls with peninsulas. North American on the bottom, Japanese/high speed European on top.

[Bernard]

Mrpig - Again welcome and you have some roster including the sought after 300 series here at the forum. I look forward to your posts and you will find a lot of fellow Aussies here at the forum.