Bandai B-Train Shorty

[cteno4]

For the eva you want to put the power chassis in a center car. Then end car doesn’t have the room.

 

jeff

[Welshbloke]

The dummy bogies on the E235 should just pull off, leaving holes for the Kato bogie pivots to clip into. That said, I have a feeling some of the later shorties I built came with new mouldings which had the bogies as part of the floor. I don't remember whether they came with spare floors, as Bandai sell their own trailer chassis which include floor and bogies.

[Nornicle]

4 hours ago, Welshbloke said:

The dummy bogies on the E235 should just pull off, leaving holes for the Kato bogie pivots to clip into. That said, I have a feeling some of the later shorties I built came with new mouldings which had the bogies as part of the floor. I don't remember whether they came with spare floors, as Bandai sell their own trailer chassis which include floor and bogies.

 

thanks the undercarriage and fake bogeys are all one soft plastic piece. i think i need to buy the bandai trailer chassis.. i suspect maybe b train is less popular now since bandai made it so you have to get bandai running gear (i noticed the bandai bogeys were sold out in all stores, but motors were available).

[Welshbloke]

That's a pain. Might be worth looking for another older model to use the Kato bogies under, or if you're still in Tokyo see if any of the shops have some spare floors kicking about. I can't remember when the change occurred, all my leftover bits are in a big box so I've no idea which kit they came with.

 

The Bandai chassis are higher drag due to the inside bearings, and take the bogie sideframes from the kit. A power car and three trailers is fine on the standard Kato inclines in my experience, you may need to add some weight to the power car as I don't think the Kato chassis includes ballast weights (unlike the Bandai one).

[Welshbloke]

Got most of the rest of my Shorties into a Casco case:

 

 

 

I may buy more Kintetsu units as either Bandai have made another batch or Hobbysearch have found a stash of them. The 12200, 12400, the extra two vehicles to suit either and two of the 15200 two car sets are back in stock. Definitely ordering the two car units in a fortnight if they're still available, after that I hope to grab at least one 12400 and the extra vehicles for it. Another case will then be needed for the freight locos and stock which are currently occupying spare slots in the two I have...

Edited February 23, 2019 by Welshbloke
Wrong type number!

[hans-diesel]

Yokosuka livery:

 

Hi all,

 

I have 2 questions about the Yokosuka livery:

1: I know that it is named after the Yokosuka Line, but why is it often shortened to "Ska"? Or is this a translation mistake from Google Translate?

2: The Yokosuka livery from Bandai: is it the early version using Blue No. 2 and Cream No. 2 or is Bandai's version the later version using Blue no. 15 and Cream No. 1? Or does it differ per item?

 

Thanks in advance, Hans

[Welshbloke]

It may be that Japanese modellers use Ska as a shorthand for Yokosuka. The Yamanote line is sometimes known as the Yamate, particularly in older texts. Can't help with the colours though as I don't have any shorties in Yokosuka blue/white.

[bill937ca]

Making a 【B Train】Odakyu Techno Inspector! 

 

https://railway-models.net/201510/312/?fbclid=IwAR0e4eh3jWKh7mahQgzsD7B37YPTC5Z2DYvTLf_QvSVgjRMA-1LraXDsV5k

 

https://railway-models.net/201510/572/

 

https://railway-models.net/201512/923/

[hans-diesel]

About Yokosuka livery again:

I have the 42 series of the Minobu Line and the 52 series of the Iida line. In the real world the Yokosuka livery was on these 2 lines used after 1963 (from 1963 the colors of the yokosuka livery changed). Also the 113 and 115 series with Yokosuka livery were build after 1963. So I asume that the later Yokosuka livery was used by Bandai for these sets.

 

Now a new question: Do you see color differences between these sets and for instance the 70 series and/or the 72 series?

In the real world the 70 series had already Yokosuka livery from the begin 1950's, so thats possible. The 72 series is a complicated one.

 

Thanks in advance, Hans

[EF57]

well the huge amount of shorty restocks recently announced by hobbysearch shows that they are still being produced -- but just old models, nothing (or little) new.

[chinbeard]

I believe October last year 2018 saw the last new stuff and not on general release only at certain stations and outlets,.

[bill937ca]

That limited release items is nothing new. It has been going on for years.

[NYCentral_88]

Does anybody know if Bandai has stopped making the "T" running frames (three-packs)?  They have disappeared from E-Bay entirely and I can't find any in stock anywhere except on Amazon for the ungodly sum of $9311.14 (YES!!! US Dollar).

 

Edited June 29, 2019 by NYCentral_88
additional details

[railsquid]

On 3/10/2019 at 12:46 AM, hans-diesel said:

Yokosuka livery:

 

Hi all,

 

I have 2 questions about the Yokosuka livery:

1: I know that it is named after the Yokosuka Line, but why is it often shortened to "Ska"? Or is this a translation mistake from Google Translate?

 

 

The Yokosuka livery as applied to trains which run in inland mountainous lines (as opposed to the Yamasuka Line's coastal route) is traditionally referred to as "Yamasuka" (山スカ), "Yama" being "mountain" of course.

[Welshbloke]

18 hours ago, NYCentral_88 said:

Does anybody know if Bandai has stopped making the "T" running frames (three-packs)?  They have disappeared from E-Bay entirely and I can't find any in stock anywhere except on Amazon for the ungodly sum of $9311.14 (YES!!! US Dollar).

 

They seem to go through phases of being available. Have you tried Hobbysearch? They have an option to receive an automated no-obligation email if something comes back into stock.

 

One thing I'm not sure about is whether the Kato 8w chassis have all wheel drive or just one power bogie? The Bandai ones have all wheels driven and picking up power, a good one will run as smoothly, quietly and slowly as a Kato chassis from the pre-flywheel era.

Edited June 29, 2019 by Welshbloke
Remembered Kato Vs Bandai chassis query

[bill937ca]

I learned a couple of months ago that the B Train Shorty originally sold by Bandai were transferred to Bandai Spirits on April 1, 2018, following the reorganization of the Bandai Namco Group.  I believe B- Train Shorty has a lesser profile now.

 

https://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/press/824.pdf

[bill937ca]

I came across a 2015 article about the B-Train Shorty line.  Approximately 1600 vehicles have been released since 2002 and 16 million units sold by 2014. Mr. Toshio Kondo of Bandai management cited several changes over the years. The Bandai trains were aimed at a gap between Plarail and N Gauge. One is a change in the target market from "target age 8 and over" to "15 and over". If it was  age 8 and over the  trains would have to meet standards for toys which  cannot have sharp edges. Initially released as a closed box set (i.e. a set of 8 in a single box)this was later changed to today's two-car set or four-car set.  Private issue sets for sale by railways  at Railway Day originated with request by the Enoden rather than as a plan by Bandai. But the biggest reason for the lack of new releases would be Mr. kondo citing an unexpectedly  low  market share of N gauge at 10%. As the B-Train Shorty dates back 2002 it predates Tomytec's Railway Collection and Plarail Advance.

 

https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/68385

Edited July 3, 2019 by bill937ca

[Welshbloke]

I suspect a major part of their problem is pricing. Shorties are about the same price as a scale length Tomytec unit when you add up the extras for both to turn them into working models. Other than prototypes where the scale versions seem unusually expensive (like Kintetsu units) they're not particularly good value.

[EF57]

true, but: 1. most shorties use the standard power unit which can be switched about to whatever train you want to run, whereas the tomytecs require many different types of power units; 2. I don‘t think most people buy the shorties for their cheapness, but rather for their cuteness and the large range of prototypes.  but it is clear that bandai simply has no interest in making a profit from the shorties anymore— there are too many missed opportunities in recent times.  SAD!!

[cteno4]

Im sure if they thought there was a good profit there they would be on it even with corporate rearrangement going on.

 

They may have saturated the market a bit, seems Tomytec did this with many of their vehicle collection sets and have tuned it way back in speed and variety of releases. Bandai actually started with vehicle sets just before Tomytec, but Tomytec quickly drove them out with better quality vehicles. Then Bandai btrains have had to compete with Tomytec rail collection which has the only collection that seems to be steaming along nowadays.

 

jeff

[Welshbloke]

There are some odd decisions from most Japanese manufacturers. Tooling which was a huge sales success (judging by how hard the models are to find) doesn't reappear, even when there are liveries they didn't make last time. I'm aware that being able to make multiple variants is a key part of deciding what to spend the new tooling budget on, which makes this especially odd.

[NYCentral_88]

On 6/29/2019 at 3:29 PM, Welshbloke said:

They seem to go through phases of being available. Have you tried Hobbysearch? They have an option to receive an automated no-obligation email if something comes back into stock.

 

One thing I'm not sure about is whether the Kato 8w chassis have all wheel drive or just one power bogie? The Bandai ones have all wheels driven and picking up power, a good one will run as smoothly, quietly and slowly as a Kato chassis from the pre-flywheel era.

At your recommendation, I've checked Hobbysearch and have set up an E-mail alert for the running frames to come back into stock.  Thanks for the suggestion!  I'm hoping Bandai get out another batch of running frames.  At the moment I have adequate running gear for all my shorties, but I've been wanting to mess around with a strategy for re-attaching the pilots on my Kaisei 3000 Skyliners and would need some extra bogies to fiddle with.  I have been considering switching over to Kato gear, but it doesn't look as good on shorties as the larger Bandai bogies.

As for the Kato 8w chassis I presently have two of them (one #11-106 and one #11-107 only difference being the cosmetic look) They are only 4-wheel-drive from one bogie.  Electrical pickup is from all wheels on both bogies.  I haven't yet got them running on my layout (which is presently without a working power supply) yet but plan on doing extensive testing and comparison between the Bandai Chassis 3 and the Kato 8w units as soon as the new supply arrives and time allows.  Alas, it is summer time here in NY and I find myself unwilling to do anything indoors.  Warm sun is a rarity and I don't like letting it go unused. 
 

Bill937ca, thanks for the info on the situation with the Bandai Namco Group!  I had no idea.

[Welshbloke]

Yep, reread a few pages ago and found we'd already talked about Bandai and Kato driven wheels. It looks as if the Kato trailing bogie has pinpoint bearings so there won't be much drag, but I still suspect only driving one end will make for weaker performance on gradients.

 

The Kato mech will have to go some to beat the best of my Bandai ones. I have one which is slightly lumpy (seems to be improving with more high speed running), and the new ones appear to run faster than the older ones, but the best run as well as a full size Kato or Tomix unit. My DD51s embarrass four or six wheel scale steamers for low speed running, mostly as the extra flexibility of bogies makes for more reliable power collection.

[railsquid]

Not sure where to put this, or if already known, but a page with some creative B-train-esque mods:

 

https://tokkou-b-team.net/remodeled-cars-ma2.html

 

including e.g. an EF64 hacked down from a Kato one.

[MichiK]

I'm pretty sure that this is the person who inspired me to my WaKi 8000 conversion at first!

 

He showed many of his creations at the july meeting of the Tokkou-B-Team - note the "Dutch" Koploper, in particular:

https://tokkou-b-team.net/image/report/img-1907-16.jpg