Which Yamanote to get?

[Little-Kinder]

Hello there,

 

I'm planning to purchase a yamanote line train, easy thing right? except it's not.

There are so many options that I'm not sure what to look for.

Kato has many options, tomix as well, then comes micro ace with some as well.

 

First of all I prefer the E235 as it's the one i take on week ends to get around.

 

From what I can tell, micro ace doesn't produce this one (yet).

So my only options would be kato or tomix. (or the moku one from popondetta lol)

 

So that narrows it down to 10-1468S and 10-1468 for kato, is there a difference between them? I can see the S one was release a few months after

 

https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/e235_yamate

 

https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/e235_yamanote_slm

 

For tomix there is only the set 98525.

 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/98525.html

 

Is there one that is obviously closer to the real thing/more reliable when running?

 

Thank you very much

Edited April 16 by Little-Kinder

[Wolf]

S is with the new slotless motor, otherwise same model.

[Little-Kinder]

1 hour ago, Wolf said:

S is with the new slotless motor, otherwise same model.

not familiar with that, is that better? 

[Wolf]

Supposed to be quiter, smoother driving and more torque.

I personally never had issues with non-slotless motors.

[disturbman]

Kato new motor can also famously interact in unwanted ways with Tomix points.

All these should be about the same quality, with variations in how some details are modeled. Since you live in Japan, the best would be for you to check the models in a shop. In this case, it mostly comes down to brand loyalty and subjective perception.

 

And also, MicroAce will never produce this kind of trains. The market is too well covered by Kato and Tomix, and they have been slowly pushed into more niche markets than mainstay JR East Tokyo commuter trains.

Edited April 16 by disturbman

[Kamome]

Kato come with more realistic shibata style couplers in between cars from the box. Tomix have rapido bogie mounted couplers from the box. You can add more realistic body mounted couplers to Tomix at extra cost. (As you cut off part of the bogie, this is non reversible without purchasing new bogie parts) Not a deal breaker but something to consider. 

 

Kato Yamanote green to my eye looks a little more vibrant than Tomix but it would be down to the individual to decide which looks closer to the real thing. 

 

Personally I still prefer the E231-500 to the newer E235 but more for nostalgia as when I lived in Kanto, this is what I rode around on. 

[Little-Kinder]

2 hours ago, disturbman said:

Kato new motor can also famously interact in unwanted ways with Tomix points.

All these should be about the same quality, with variations in how some details are modeled. Since you live in Japan, the best would be for you to check the models in a shop. In this case, it mostly comes down to brand loyalty and subjective perception.

 

And also, MicroAce will never produce this kind of trains. The market is too well covered by Kato and Tomix, and they have been slowly pushed into more niche markets than mainstay JR East Tokyo commuter trains.

I'm a unitrack kind of guy so not an issue 😜 but good to know though.

 

Thanks 

[cteno4]

Discussion on it if you are curious is here

 

https://jnsforum.com/community/topic/19414-kato-slotless-motors-magnets-effecting-tomix-points/#comment-241909

jeff

 

[Little-Kinder]

Thanks,

This was interesting,

 

Will check to see if they have videos of this motor to explain how it works and how it's different than the new one