Bandai B-Train Shorty

[gmat]

Apparently these are only available at JR station kiosks as the Odakyu kiosks at Shinjuku didn't have them. And Yodobashi Camera's Hobby Store didn't have them either. The JR Newsday kiosk at the South Exit had sold out their stock and said that the weren't getting an more. The Newsday koisk inside the station sill had at least two unopened cartons, but they'll be gone by Friday, I think.

 

These Newsday B-Shorty kits have apparently been released before as regular items.

630 yen for one car it a bit expensive as you have no idea which one you are getting. But the 185 series is one that I'd like to get. Want to have a Kuroiso one. After getting the last one at the South Exit kiosk, I stood near the ticket gates while opening the box and heard a child telling his mother about the box. That was quick. It's almost a part of growing up a boy (and some girls) in Japan to like trains and have the mother or father helping you by taking you to the station or buying trains or train sets.

 

There are 12 possible trains and one secret train in this set. Out of three boxes purchased, I only got two different ones. and the duplicate came from the same carton. Probably a consolidation of two cartons, though. Bummer. The first one I got was the secret item, but although the regular ones have at least two or more cars for each line, (either end cars or middle ones plus one or two other cars) since there is only one secret car, it has two tops and five end parts but only two side parts, so to get a two car set, you have to hope to get at least two secret car sets. Bummer again.

 

 

 

 

Can't seem to take a good close up shot right now, sorry.

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Sorry, wasn't thinking right. Forgot to think that B-Shorty is N-gauge.

Grant

[disturbman]

Grant, don't worry. Shorties are in between and it has been a while since this thread had been used. :)

 

One thing I don't get, how many cars were in your box?

[gmat]

Alas, only one car in each box for the regular ones, but the secret car had the option to make either an end car or a middle car, but the devil is in getting more than one.

 

Will post photos later.

Best wishes,

Grant

[disturbman]

You, if you really want one particular car you should look around Popondetta. From what I recall they were selling those type of boxes open. I guess it was second hand, someone getting the car they didn't want and reselling it.

[gmat]

Thank you very much for the tip, Disturbman. You can also call me Grant or gmat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[disturbman]

Thank you very much for the tip, Disturbman. You can also call me Grant or gmat.

 

Yes, sorry. I think the first "you" was a typo.

 

Grant, I might be mistaken but I'm pretty sure you confused a tad bit your trains. The Series 455 is the one with the Akabeko, this is (if the transfer sheet is correct) a Series 101.

[gmat]

Disturbman, Sorry, I should have realized that.

You're right. I was mistaken. I confused the two green and dark green side stripes with the single green stripe at the ends. I don't have the secret car. I guess the extra parts allows you to make different cars, or they were produced that way in the initial run.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[bill937ca]

I came across diagrams with dimensions of the new Bandai drives which are again on the market.  The single truck drive and the double truck drive.

 

The source web page in case their is problems opening the images.

[ShinCanadaSen]

Hi Guys,

 

I received my B Train 0 Series on Thursday. I think it is awesome. I had my 3 year old son helping me assemble the cars. Anyway, now I have a few questions.

I think I need to go back and reassemble with some glue as a few of the parts are a little loose, anyone espy need to do this?

I'm thinking of going with thre grey power chassis and bogies (11-107 & 11-097) but I was wondering if it is worth upgrading to the shorter Schaffenberg(sp?) couplers?

 

I've read that upgrading the pantographs makes a big difference, perhaps I could get some suggestions as to which one. Also do they just pop in like the ones that come with the kit? Or is there some installing required.

 

Also wondering of anyone had any success with converting the power chassis to DCC?

 

I've also had no luck sourcing the chassis and bogies in north america other than newhall, so I guess I'll have to place another HS order. One hobby shop I went into, the guy behind the counter looked at the B Train and said "why would you bother motorizing that!"

 

I'll post some photos later when I can get to my pc.

 

Thanks,

Kai

[bill937ca]

Hobby shops over here are completely unaware of Japanese products apart from mainline Kato stuff.

 

Plaza Japan also has the B-Train drives and Bandai trucks.

[disturbman]

Upgrading a shorty can be very demanding but it's definitely recommended. It changes a lot the appreciation of the model. Make it look way better.

 

So I say: Off with the Rapido! Hello the Scharfenbergs!...You could actually simply use the knuckle couplers, it's not prototypical but they work and look quite adapted to the size of the shorty.

 

I have never upgraded the pantos but from what I've read the Kato pantograph just pop in the roof holes. Choose one that look likes the one on the real-life prototype or look up the part number for Kato's own model.

 

I also never had to glue some parts together. In my experience, if some parts are a tad loose it's because the assembling was slightly faulty. They don't look like much but you can develop some quite elaborate technic to build those shorties. Also, in my experience a loose part is not a problem. These are quite sturdy and simple. If I were you, I wouldn't bother adding glue. It's not like a loose part was going to damage the model. ;)

 

Yes. Some people did convert those to DCC. I had a link (in japanese) of a guy doing just that but I don't know where it is. Those motors are quite simple and easily accessible. It must be quite easy to convert them.

[David]

If you buy the Kato pantograph that matches the model it should drop right in. Tomix pantographs require modification (need to cut off the nubs and just glue it on without any guides).

 

If you need to know which pantograph you can usually get it from the Japanese wikipedia, it's usually "PSxx" where xx is a number. Or you can ask here. Personally I recommend the coupler upgrade (though I am not 100% sure if they work with the new Bandai power chasis, they may not use the t-shank pocket) simply because it's so cheap and easy (10 cars for $4).

[bill937ca]

Hobby Link Japan has just advised they have some Bandai B-Train Shorty items on inventory clearance up to 70% off.

 

HLJ's normal B-Train listings.

 

HLJ takes Visa, MC and PayPal and ships SAL, EMS or FedEX with shipping rates shown on each item.

[keiman]

For those interested , having converted my Kato Pocket line trams to DCC the 4 wheel chassis are easy to do.

Will pull apart the Bogie Chassis of one of mine over the weekend to see how easy they are to modify.

[clem24]

Just noticed that Bandai is releasing their own trucks and chassis for B-train shorty's:

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10123656

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10123652

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10123648

 

 

So I ordered a few sets of these. Originally, I had thought about using these to replace the trucks on Bachmann Amfleets but they are significantly smaller and thus would look strange (besides, Kato makes a superior, though very expensive, truck). Anyway, I can say, they run *horribly*. They have a lot of drag (but still better than the Amfleets), and they do not reliably stay on the train -- they clip on to the chassis rather flimsily. I have a Kato power unit for my shorty, and it can only handle 3 cars, including itself, and strains really bad going up my incline of double track graduated piers. Though perhaps adding more weight and putting on traction tires might help. In any case, these trucks were quite the disappointment.

[nickhp]

Has anyone got any feedback on the bandai revised power chassis?  How well does it run compared to the kato unit? 

 

Another newbie question.  Why does hobby search have limits on all items?  If there is a limit of say 3 per household on something, can I go back a week later and buy an additional quantity of the item, or will they go back and  check if I have ordered any of that item in the past?

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

[bill937ca]

Has anyone got any feedback on the bandai revised power chassis?  How well does it run compared to the kato unit? 

 

Another newbie question.  Why does hobby search have limits on all items?  If there is a limit of say 3 per household on something, can I go back a week later and buy an additional quantity of the item, or will they go back and  check if I have ordered any of that item in the past?

 

 

I`ve used a Bandai 1 drive and like it better than the Kato drives which are very much old technology.  The Bandai drives have smaller shells with less molding.

 

The limits are something new at HS. As they are new I suspect we don`t have too much info on how its applied.  Sounds like they had a dealer draining their stock.

[nickhp]

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

It does seem strange that on a chassis there would be a limit, the more trains you buy the more chassis' you need.  I will try an order that exceeds the household limit and let you all know how it works out.  I will get a couple of friends here to help out if I can't order over the household quantity limit...

 

Nick

[disturbman]

I guess it should be ok if you don't order them at the same moment but after your first package was shipped.

[nickhp]

Sorry, I have more questions!  

 

Do the Bandai and Kato powered chassis and trucks run okay on Peco code "55" track (the finescale stuff) and on the new Atlas code 55 track?  Or do I need to stick with code 80 from these manufacturers?

 

Also, I notice there is a Bandai chassis 2 and 3 that both look the same except one (the "3" chassis) has the corners of the chassis cut away at an angle.  What chassis goes with the standard EMU'w, and what is the other chassis designed for?

 

Thanks!

 

Nick

[ospen]

Has anyone got any feedback on the bandai revised power chassis?  How well does it run compared to the kato unit? 

 

Another newbie question.  Why does hobby search have limits on all items?  If there is a limit of say 3 per household on something, can I go back a week later and buy an additional quantity of the item, or will they go back and  check if I have ordered any of that item in the past?

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

 

I just got 2 of these in the mail from Hobby Search. Prior to this, I've also tried using the Kato motor chassis and the old Bandai motor chassis. I always felt the old Bandai was outperforming the Kato. The new Bandai is as advertised--all 4 axes are powered, one wheel has rubber traction, comes with 4 weights as the old motor kits did, a little more compact in size. It runs better than the old Bandai. My old Bandai motor was wheezing trying to pull 4 shorty cars up an incline. The new Bandai motor has no trouble pulling 6 cars up the same incline.

 

And WRT the order question. It's limit per order in my experience. So you can buy more in a later order.

[nickhp]

Thanks for the response, Ospen.

 

I don't line the idea of the rubber traction tire - makes for more gunk on the track.  Might have to replace that wheelset.  My layout plan has no grades so I am not sure the rubber tire would be of much benefit.  Will play with it for a while and see how to proceed.

 

Thanks again!

[nickhp]

Just received my Bandai 3 power chassis and trailing trucks.

 

I took a shorty I had already assembled, took out the old trucks and replaced with the Bandai trailing trucks.  While most fit okay (on a couple the sideframes kept springing out of the trucks, not sure why), once the sideframes were put on the trucks did not want to swivel at all.  I had to file down quite a bit of the top of the sideframes to allow the trucks to swivel properly.

 

The same thing on the power chassis.  The sideframes did not seem to want to sit in the pockets properly, and again the trucks were just not able to swivel unless I filed down the top of each sideframe substantially. 

 

Needless to say I am disappointed.  I thought being made by the same people that built the kits, everything would work fine.  So, before I get too dejected, I have to ask if there is something I am doing wrong that explains my problems?  FYI, the kit I was motorizing is the Nankai Series 10000 4 car train.  This has the "HG" chassis which is supposed to be the motorizing-friendly chassis.

 

Can anyone offer any help or advice?

 

I think I will order a Kato power chassis and some trucks and try those to see how they perform.  On the Kato unit I see they say 4 wheel drive, does that mean 2 axle drive? 

 

Thanks!

 

Nick

[cteno4]

Nick

 

All the shorties I've built have needed a bit od shaving here and there to assemble and to add the cchassis and turn into a running train. Nothing horrible, but some fiddling. They are a bit more on the toy model side than the fine scale running model, but they are less expensive!

 

Not tried the bandai power units yet.

 

I think you are on the right track of just slowly modifying to work as needed.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff