cteno4 Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) Hmm ill have to ask Matthew if they are bandai or kato trucks. It seems to happen every time we do it. Usually fine, but once and a while it causes a derailment when it synchs up at just the right place on the points. I'm going to let the cc recharge a while befor I start buying the trucks and mechs as well! Maybe a pack or two of truck with the next orders to ease into it! Jeff Edited September 1, 2013 by cteno4 Link to comment
tossedman Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) All of ours are Kato Jeff. No problems so far. We've been to the Yukon this summer. Road the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad up there. Great trip! But took a few bucks. Also poured some $$$ into our RC cars. Trains may have to wait a bit (he says after dropping $70 at the LHS for track yesterday). Todd Edited September 1, 2013 by tossedman Link to comment
nickhp Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 I mentioned my 4x2 B-Train layout a while back, as well as a larger layout which hasn't materialised yet. Anyway, I started a new topic on the personal projects forum for my 4x2 layout. In case anyone is interested, here is a link directly to the thread. http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/7889-b-train-layout/ Cheers! Nick Link to comment
tossedman Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Here's a few more looks of our new additions to the B Train roster. Link to comment
Densha Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Are you sure the 2nd car of the 485 isn't falling apart? The parts are quite a bit loose. :P Link to comment
tossedman Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Yup, that's what happens when a seven year old plays with them. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Tossed, looks like you guys are having great fun! they are holding up well to a 7 year old. great way to get him into the trains and the more gentle/fine treatment learned! question is which one of you is having more fun?! cheers jeff Link to comment
tossedman Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) Jeff that's hard to say. Best part is we get to spend time together. In fact he's asking if we can go downstairs again right now. He had three layouts up last weekend, Back to one and a half today. He can build these B Train Shorties on his own now and has learned to put them together when bits get loose. He just needs to be reminded to do so from time to time. Cheers eh, Todd Edited October 10, 2013 by tossedman Link to comment
cteno4 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Todd, hey thats really great! learning it all so fast! really great stuff for you guys to do together and wonderful critical thinking skills learned along with being creative to boot, the best mix! really this is stuff that will last his whole life in both memories and skills and the confidence to try to figure things out for himself. I have to start assembling the 16 car series 0 here! jeff 1 Link to comment
Guest j_doug Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Hi, Does anyone happen to know the name of Bandai set in the lower half of this photograph? (for ordering purposes): http://www.japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/btrainshorty/Fig5.jpg I've sent an email to the publication, but a response could be a few days at least. Thanks in advance, and I look forward to making a more substantive contribution to these forums once I start to build up a decent Japanese n-scale collection. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Doug, Sorry just looked in that email box and saw your email. our club secretary usually deals with those emails, he may be out this weekend. im pretty sure those are the E231 bi-level cars. unfortunately they are pretty well out of production. yahoo.jp auctions might be a possibility. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10087989 http://www.1999.co.jp/search_e.asp?Typ1_c=104&scope=0&scope2=0&itkey=e231+bandai thats the down side of btrain shorties as they tend to be short runs with the collector type marketing, so you need to grab things when they come out. keep your eye on hlj.com as they tend to have some older btrains sold out elsewhere at times. cheers, jeff Link to comment
Guest j_doug Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Thank you Jeff, for your prompt reply and assistance with this query, and also to all involved in the very helpful and informative Japan Rail Modelers of Washington website. Link to comment
Keikyu Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I see those pop up on Yahoo Japan occasionally, just have to be lucky now I guess. I would like one of the Keihan ones floating around but they are like 30 bucks for one. Link to comment
nickhp Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 The same cars are also used in the E217 trains, so you could look out for those although the shonan color E217's are much rarer than E231's... Link to comment
Keikyu Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Do they make rubber grips to fit over the wheels of the locomotive engines? The DMU/EMU one has one but doesn't grip much, and the locomotive engine doesn't have one at all. Link to comment
nickhp Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I asked HSJ about the traction tires, they said they didn't know which one would work as you would have to measure the width of the tire and also the required diameter. I haven't done that yet. On the locomotive power unit there is no traction tire groove cut into the wheels so adding a rubber traction tire would cause the loco to sit uneven and spoil the electrical pickup. The pickup is the main reason for no traction tires - you only have 2 wheels per side picking up electricity, if one wheel lifts the likelihood is the other wheel on that side will also lift cutting off the juice to the loco. Would not make for smooth running... Link to comment
cteno4 Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 The same cars are also used in the E217 trains, so you could look out for those although the shonan color E217's are much rarer than E231's... Nick, did they make a 217 bi level car in btrain shorty? jeff Link to comment
cteno4 Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 yeah 4 wheel pickup is dicy enough, going to two wheel would not make a good runner at all. on the 4 wheel chassis they seem to run fine pulling 4 or 5 cars, about all you would want with a shorty. but i have not tried it up grades yet which i eventually want to do on my shorty layout. jeff Link to comment
westfalen Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 My brother has one of these http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10113309 which has the same mechanism as the one Kato make for the B-Train Shortys, he put another mechanism under the second coach and wired the two together and the train now runs as smoothly over dirty track and turnouts as any other. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 yep i have both the old original ones and the new release and they run very well. the engine takes a bit to push as its heavy and it has the working drive rods to turn. never tried them on a grade though. jeff Link to comment
tossedman Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 (edited) The nice thing about the B Train Shorty is that you can put in a motorized chassis anywhere in your train. My son runs a 16 car zero series Shinkansen with 2 motorized chassis and it goes everywhere with no trouble. Up hills, down hills and everything in between. Make sure that you put in all of the weights that come with it. We use the Kato motorized chassis with its 8 wheel drive. It's a great little unit, especial when used in pairs. It may not pull other heavy N scale cars but it hauls the B Train Shorty trains like nobody's business. We've also got the Fun Town Steam Locomotive along with six more passenger cars. The one powered car (the second one) moves the whole train quite well. Cheers eh, Todd Edited October 23, 2013 by tossedman Link to comment
nickhp Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 "We use the Kato motorized chassis with its 8 wheel drive. " The Kato unit is only 4 wheel drive (2 axle). The bandai is 8 wheel (4 axle) drive. And yes, there was an E217 bi level car in both liveries but given they are pretty hard to come by, using the E231 bi level for the Shonan livery E217 makes perfect sense since there is no difference between the 2. Of course finding a Shonan livery E217 isn't too easy either! Cheers! Nick Link to comment
tossedman Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 (edited) Ah, I stand corrected! We have Bandai units and Kato trucks. Thanks Nick. Edited October 23, 2013 by tossedman Link to comment
Keikyu Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 They come with weights? I must have lost mine. Link to comment
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