Trams

[alpineaustralia]

Does anyone run a tram in, or along side, their layout?

Is therer anything particularly tricky about them? eg difficult decoder installations etc?

Anything that anyone would like to share would be greatly appreciated as I am thinking of running a tram along tomix track..

[Martijn Meerts]

I don't run one, but I have 2 trams. Modemo's S.K.I.P. Go and S.K.I.P. Go 2. I bought them mainly for their designs, but it's very likely I'll make a couple of modules with a standalone tram line at some point.

 

Decoder install should be fairly easy, there's a lot of space in the trams, and I don't think the power pickup is all too exotic either. I can have a look when I get home from work if no one's come up with better information by then.

[alpineaustralia]

Cheers Martijn. That would be good.

[kashirigi]

Did you buy the trams in Japan, or do you have an outside supplier? I'd love to add a tram to my layout.

[Martijn Meerts]

Here's a few pictures. The first one shows an overview of the whole tram with the shells taken off, quite a bit of space there.

 

The 2nd one shows the front part of the tram which has the motor in it. Looks like there's plenty space to put in a decoder near the motor. I wouldn't worry too much about the decoder being visible, considering there's no interior in the trams in the first place.

 

The 3rd one is a (not so good) close-up of the motor, which shows that it's easy enough to isolate it from the power pickups.

 

On a sidenote, the trams looks real nice, and overall build quality seems good as well. Power pickup strips are screwed in place in stead of using some plastic clip. Motor is screwed as well. Strangely enough though, the tram has no lights whatsoever, not even any head or tail lights. It's quite possible to install those of course, but it's a bit strange it doesn't come with them pre-installed.

 

 

 

 

[alpineaustralia]

Martijn

Attached is a list of trams from your favourite supplier:

 

http://www.japanmodelrailways.com/shopenglish/start.php?P_255_2.php

 

Do you know if Modemo's other trams have lights? or if any of the other maufacturers eg. Dauphin, MicroAce, Tomix , Kato etc have trams with lights?

[Martijn Meerts]

Kashirigi, forgot to mention, I get my trams from Japan Model Railways in Germany (as I do pretty much all my other stuff.)

 

 

Alpine, don't think MicroAce, Tomix and Kato make trams, at least not often or not in N-scale (I know Kato has an H0 Hiroshima tram.) According to Japan Model Railways, the "Yuki go" tram they have there has direction dependant head and tail lights, so maybe Modemo has started doing that recently.

[kashirigi]

With the shipping costs from there, it may be cheaper to buy a ticket to Japan and load up at the source!

[Martijn Meerts]

Hehe, not if you live in Norway ;) Tickets to Japan from here are about 2200-2300 USD with the current rates...

 

I could probably get somewhat better shipping costs elsewhere (eventhough shipping to Norway often costs quite a bit), but the service I get from Japan Model Railways is well worth the little extra I pay.

[alpineaustralia]

To put it into perspective,the price for the Enoden Type 1500 "S.K.I.P. Go II" at Japan Model Railways is Euro 85.90 (about USD$134.46). The postage to Australia would be Euro 58.00 airfreight (about USD$90.79).  A total of about US$225.25. 

 

The same tram from Plazajapan on ebay is US$94.00. The airmail postage to Australia is US$15.00. A total of about US$109.00. 

 

There is no doubt that the range at Japan Model Railways is second to none and I believe you when you say their service is great.  But if you don't earn Euro, it is a fair bit more expensive. Especially given our proximity to Japan here - an airfare is AUD $1400 in low season.

 

The Euro is shaping up to be the dominant world currency. 

[Martijn Meerts]

In your case it would make sense to order from Japan yes. The Euro is very strong at the moment (and so is the Norwegian Kroner.. Norwegians are stubborn people, don't belong to the EU, and don't use Euro ;)) and the Dollar is quite weak.

[alpineaustralia]

It is great for you because you can buy from anywhere relatively cheaply. That is pretty important given that ever month you treat yourself to a christmas present. It must be nice having christmas 12 times a year.