Hello!

[DennisAkaTECHNO]

Hey, my name is Dennis and I'm from Germany!
I came across this forum on Google by accident and since I have a question (I'll ask in a seperate thread :P) I thought: why not register?

 

I'm 26 years old and an (ICE) traindriver in reallife here in Germany (some of my friends say I'm 3 cats in a trenchcoat tho). I collect HO scaled model trains since quite a few years now and got my first japanese HO scaled model in february 2023. It was a Kato EF65 that has fully been rebuild to DCC-sound by myself (I'll attatch a photo). I'm pretty new to japanese railway, means I'm still learning and gathering information.

 

Since then, I've bought quite a few model from @Modellbahn JP, who I stumbled across on eBay! This includes various model variants of the Tomix EF210, an EH200, an EF66, some freight cars and some EMU's. But that's a topic for the "what's in my rooster" section. 😛

 

 

 

Greets
Dennis

[disturbman]

Hi Dennis,

 

Welcome aboard! Nice to see more people from Germany joining the forum. Where are you in Germany?

 

I imagine collecting Japanese H0 in Germany must be quite a lonely hobby 🙂

[DennisAkaTECHNO]

45 minutes ago, disturbman said:

Where are you in Germany?

Northern Germany, near Hamburg 🙂

 

45 minutes ago, disturbman said:

I imagine collecting Japanese H0 in Germany must be quite a lonely hobby 🙂

Yeah it is, however I have some friends that are interested in japanese trains as well and I know at least one other person that collects japanese models. But in total it's quite lonely, yeah 🙂

[cteno4]

Welcome Dennis, glad you stumbled onto the forum.

 

youll have some company on the forum for Japanese HO at least!

 

enjoy!

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Oooh, Hamburg. I love Hamburg (and not just because of Miniatur Wunderland 🙂 )

 

I have Japanese H0 as well, although a slightly different version...

 

[miyakoji]

Hi @DennisAkaTECHNO welcome to the forum!

[SL58654号]

Welcome, @DennisAkaTECHNO! Happy to meet a German rail fan here.
I've been to Germany and had a fantastic adventure exploring much of Europe and rode on the Harzer Schmalspurbahn with the driver and fireman once. 
It's super cool that you're a real life train driver. I know that's what I've wanted to be! Driven any Dampflokotiven? 
I also enjoyed Eisenbahn Romantik as they have a wide coverage of railways including Japanese ones.

[disturbman]

11 hours ago, Martijn Meerts said:

I have Japanese H0 as well, although a slightly different version...

H0mm, H0martijnmmeerts ^^

 

@DennisAkaTECHNO So not that far off from a lot of us. There is a clump of Japanese N enthusiasts around Berlin, and a few others around the country. Not sure we have any other Germans interested in Japanese H0 here. But I think it's more by lack of easy availability of the models rather than a lack of interest. Plus, the lack of easy DCC option and the rather hefty price tags of some of the models.
 

13 hours ago, DennisAkaTECHNO said:

Yeah it is, however I have some friends that are interested in japanese trains as well and I know at least one other person that collects japanese models. But in total it's quite lonely, yeah 🙂

It's already something, and maybe there is a club around you that could let you run your models without poking too much fun at your trains 🙂

[DennisAkaTECHNO]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:24 AM, SL58654号 said:

Welcome, @DennisAkaTECHNO! ...super cool that you're a real life train driver ... Driven any Dampflokotiven? 

Judging by the job itself: yes! But the work hours sometimes really slow down the progress of my model railway projects... 😉 Yet I haven't driven any Dampflokomotiven, in my area of Germany there's not many heritage clubs preserving steam engines, but I was at the Harzer Schmalspurbahn once myself and I quite enjoyed it, even tho I'm more the modern-trains-type of guy.

[DennisAkaTECHNO]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:56 AM, disturbman said:

@DennisAkaTECHNO So not that far off from a lot of us. There is a clump of Japanese N enthusiasts around Berlin, and a few others around the country. Not sure we have any other Germans interested in Japanese H0 here.

Interesting! I heard of a club with a japanese N scale layout somewhere in Germany, but I haven't seen a larger group with H0 models. Just the one other person I've mentioned, collecting some H0 stuff as well.

 

On 2/25/2024 at 10:56 AM, disturbman said:

It's already something, and maybe there is a club around you that could let you run your models without poking too much fun at your trains 🙂

While we've got the Minitatur Wunderland in Germany, there's actually not that many clubs. I'm not aware of any within 30-60 minutes of driving from where I live. But I enjoy collecting and modifiying the models even with the lack of a layout. Maybe I'll build a diorama one day to properly display my models, but for now the photobox with white or black backround is enough. 🙂

[disturbman]

21 hours ago, DennisAkaTECHNO said:

Interesting! I heard of a club with a japanese N scale layout somewhere in Germany, but I haven't seen a larger group with H0 models. Just the one other person I've mentioned, collecting some H0 stuff as well.

Probably IG Nippon,but it's a loose club that only meets a few times a year. Some of their members come here from time to time. @lighthouse and @mwagner are usually the most active here. But most of the activity is probably happening on their Discord server.
 

22 hours ago, DennisAkaTECHNO said:

While we've got the Minitatur Wunderland in Germany, there's actually not that many clubs.

Maybe. I always have the impression most of our German members are part of a club. There is definitely more here than in France where I come from.

[lighthouse]

@DennisAkaTECHNO Welcome to the JNS!

 

Nice to see another new member from Germany. H0 gauge is one project, i wanted to do like a modular layout called Minimax.

But I couldn't really motivate anyone to join IG Nippon in this idea. Afterwards I resold my short train.

 

 

[Wolf]

On 2/24/2024 at 10:52 PM, Martijn Meerts said:

I have Japanese H0 as well, although a slightly different version...

 

Your Version is just torture XD

 

@DennisAkaTECHNO Welcome aboard.

 

As for the club, IG Nippon like disturbman said, otherwise there is a club near Leipzig that did a Japanese (inspired) Layout years ago, think got even sponsored.

[SwallowAngel]

Welcome @DennisAkaTECHNO, can't have to hurt more germans here lol...

 

On 2/26/2024 at 1:01 PM, DennisAkaTECHNO said:

I'm not aware of any within 30-60 minutes of driving from where I live

I am in the exact same boat, though here in southern germany instead of up in the north. Interesting that we have an ICE driver among us now, shame I get very few opportunities to ride one though...

[Martijn Meerts]

11 hours ago, Wolf said:

Your Version is just torture XD

 

Only when things don't go like you want them to go, and I'm getting better at preventing things going the way I don't want them to go 😄

 

 

 

[lighthouse]

12 hours ago, SwallowAngel said:

Welcome @DennisAkaTECHNO, can't have to hurt more germans here lol...

 

I am in the exact same boat, though here in southern germany instead of up in the north. Interesting that we have an ICE driver among us now, shame I get very few opportunities to ride one though...

 

Wich area in southern Germany?

Edited February 28 by lighthouse

[DennisAkaTECHNO]

23 hours ago, disturbman said:

I always have the impression most of our German members are part of a club.

In eastern and southern Germany, the people somehow value (model) railway more than in other parts. There are more heritage clubs for the real railway as well compared to northern Germany.

 

23 hours ago, lighthouse said:

...i wanted to do like a modular layout called Minimax.

Interesting idea! But I have a feeling, japanese landscape building will be much more DIY than european models for example due to the lack of available structures/houses in 1/80 scale.

 

12 hours ago, Wolf said:

...otherwise there is a club near Leipzig that did a Japanese (inspired) Layout years ago...

Interesting! I'm in Leipzig regularly due to work.

 

12 hours ago, SwallowAngel said:

Interesting that we have an ICE driver among us now, shame I get very few opportunities to ride one though...

I won't drive one to southern Germany (due to work time regulations) but let me know if you're in northern Germany sometime 😛 I'm mostly driving the Route Leipzig/Berlin <-> Hamburg at the moment.

[SwallowAngel]

1 hour ago, lighthouse said:

 

Wich area in southern Germany?

Very far south of Baden-Württemberg, I live like 5 mins from Switzerland

[lighthouse]

@SwallowAngel

 

funny... I am in the far northeast of Baden-Württemberg, 10 min to Bavaria 😅

 

[lighthouse]

2 hours ago, DennisAkaTECHNO said:

Interesting idea! But I have a feeling, japanese landscape building will be much more DIY than european models for example due to the lack of available structures/houses in 1/80 scale.

 

Yes sure, but DIY is a big fun in this hobby.

Because of the "Minimax" idea... I don´t close this topic yet, but I think it is more than difficult of lack of members.

In Germany "Minimax" is working because of the theme "Bundesbahn Epoche 3/4", for Japan i think a small railway line with a bit of regular freight service had a chance.

[disturbman]

Berlin - Hamburg is the ICE I take the most often. Not looking forward the announced detour.

 

12 minutes ago, DennisAkaTECHNO said:

Interesting idea! But I have a feeling, japanese landscape building will be much more DIY than european models for example due to the lack of available structures/houses in 1/80 scale.

You can get Sankei kits, though they are more on the nostalgic side. It's really too bad TDF doesn't do H0 structures.

[DennisAkaTECHNO]

1 hour ago, lighthouse said:

Yes sure, but DIY is a big fun in this hobby.

Sure, I just wanted to say, the percentage of DIY built scenery objects/building would probably be higher, compared to european layouts 🙂

 

1 hour ago, lighthouse said:

for Japan i think a small railway line with a bit of regular freight service had a chance.

Hm yeah sounds not too bad. Since I'm more into the modern stuff, I tought of a diorama with a scene somewhere in a suburban area, with ~4 tracks and some switches or maybe a small station with platforms to allow a good mixture of passenger and freight traffic.

 

1 hour ago, disturbman said:

Berlin - Hamburg is the ICE I take the most often. Not looking forward the announced detour.

Haha nice! 🙂 No, me neither. The detour will be stressful for us train drivers as well, since the shifts get longer and there are (even more) possibilities for delays or operational disruptions.