First Japan Rail Layout

[yakumo381]

About to head back out to India on a business trip but as a consolation have booked myself a trip out to Japan in May - 2 weeks photographing freight on the Sanyo main line. :)

 

Interesting that even more EF510 have now left JRE and joined JRW down in Hiroshima ( http://ameblo.jp/jrf-ef200/entry-11776553477.html ) so will definitely be on my target list especially if they get a repaint in the interim.

[yakumo381]

To compliment my "Hokutsei" 25 Series set running behind blue DD51 for the more recent era, I have now got a "10 Series" Sleeper set to run behind red DD51 for the late JNR era.

 

Does anyone know if these Express Sleepers were named "blue trains" or not?

[yakumo381]

Some in-progress detailing at Niihama Depot using a "spares only" loco off eBay to create a scene of a dismantled DD51 waiting for the scrapman's truck to take away its last remains. I am baseing this on pictures off the net of a DD51 that had been cut up at Washibetsu Depot - see example attached.

 

I am now looking for suitable figures with oxy cutting equipment to include - does anyone know if Tomytec do anything suitable? Possibly also a truck with a low loader as well? Also "euroliner" livery is not right for Hokkaido, I will repaint the DD51 into JNR livery if I can get some suitable paint when I am in Japan.

 

 

[yakumo381]

Hi, back posting as now having some free time after being abroad as back to get my working visa renewed.

 

Niihama has gained a 6 tier pagoda along with additional trees, changes in houses and additional detailing - see if you can spot the differences.

 

Had a great trip to Japan last semester and brought back as souvenirs a happi coat and hand towel from the Hokutosei.

 

Unfortunately did not get to go on the actual train but they were courtesy of a railfan shop in Nagoya where I was tempted to also buy the windscreen assembly with spinning glass from a Hokkaido DD51 as well but it was outside of my budget not to say luggage allowance for the flight back.

 

Still working through printing and labelling in albums something like 1500 photos, mainly freight down the Tokaido and Sanyo mainlines. Highlights were Okayama loco depot - very open access for photographing - Himeji, Suita and Nagoya freight terminals plus, for the maximum number of working DD51 I have ever seen in one place at one time, Yokkaichi. Low point was trying to photo freight around Tokyo/Omiya area in a tropical storm - got soaked but did get manage to get some reasonable photos at Tabata Shingōjō Depot and great photos at Shin-Fuji of Fuji-san.

 

Will now start to get into planning next year's trip which Mrs Yakumo will be hopefully joining me on - probably less freight and more temples and gardens ;-)

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Nice pictures of Fuji. Would love to see some of your photos on here...

[cteno4]

Great work! Temple will be a nice addition there.

 

Jeff

[Sean]

Really great looking layout!

 

I think I know the Railfan shop in Nagoya you went to, was it the one next to the TV Tower?  I`ve picked up a few things there too.

[railsquid]

Looks good.

 

Maybe you could combine the torii with the new pagoda - it looks a bit lost all by itself down there by the river, and AFAIK (not an expert on these things, just general observation) they mark the entrance to shrines. Though they don't necessarily have to be on the grounds of the shrine itself, a common pattern is to have one on the road leading up to the shrine (参道 / sandō).

[Densha]

If I am saying this correctly: a pagoda is belongs to a Buddhist temple, while a torii is placed in front of a shinto shrine. Two different things.

[railsquid]

In general yes... I kind of had the pagoda at Asakusa Jinja in mind,which actually belongs to the neighbouring Sensōji. Though there are Buddhist temples with torii too. Anyway the torii does strike me as a bit out-of-place. But that's just my opinion.

[kvp]

Many times the shrine behind a torii is just a small carved stone block with a slab before it, to place offerings.

[Sean]

It is true that pagodas  are parts of Buddhist temples while Torii are parts of shrines, but it is pretty common to see them next to each other since temples sometimes have shrines on their grounds.

 

Agree with railsquid that Tori usually have a road or trail leading to a shrine running underneath them.  Sometimes I have seen them on their own like that though, usually because development has swallowed them up and covered up the original road to the shrine which might be a couple of km away.  When I lived in Fukuoka we had a torii near our apartment that was like that, completely surrounded by apartment blocks built on the former road that led to the Kashii shrine.  When building the apartments they had preserved the torii but obliterated everything else.

[yakumo381]

Really great looking layout!

 

I think I know the Railfan shop in Nagoya you went to, was it the one next to the TV Tower?  I`ve picked up a few things there too.

Yep, that's the one. Great selection and the staff are really friendly and helpfull. Only problem is that they do not send packages abroad so will try to make a return visit next year with a bit more cash in hand and more luggage space.

[yakumo381]

It is true that pagodas  are parts of Buddhist temples while Torii are parts of shrines, but it is pretty common to see them next to each other since temples sometimes have shrines on their grounds.

 

Agree with railsquid that Tori usually have a road or trail leading to a shrine running underneath them.  Sometimes I have seen them on their own like that though, usually because development has swallowed them up and covered up the original road to the shrine which might be a couple of km away.  When I lived in Fukuoka we had a torii near our apartment that was like that, completely surrounded by apartment blocks built on the former road that led to the Kashii shrine.  When building the apartments they had preserved the torii but obliterated everything else.

My reasoning is that at Niihama, the shrine has disappeared under the sea inlet behind it. :)

[yakumo381]

Even though it is always the 5th May (こどもの日 or Boy's Day) in Niihama, the local depot has somewhat belatedly taken delivery of a DD16 and is running it in whilst checking clearances ready for next winter. :)

[miyakoji]

yakumo381, it looks great.  Are those billboards for Nikkatsu movies?

[yakumo381]

Presume so. The small ones came with a kit for a house so not sure but the larger is from a photograph of an old cinema I came across in Mojiko some years ago.

[miyakoji]

Apparently it's "Return of the Vagabond" in English. http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%B8%A1%E3%82%8A%E9%B3%A5%E3%81%84%E3%81%A4%E3%81%BE%E3%81%9F%E5%B8%B0%E3%82%8B-DVD-%E5%B0%8F%E6%9E%97%E6%97%AD/dp/B0006GAY1I

[yakumo381]

The end has come for my Peru Rail layout mentioned some time back in this thread on Niihama. The house extension it lives in is to be converted to an "orangery" so it must go.

 

First job has been to strip it of anything that can be used to add detail to my Niihama layout and then anything that can go on to EBay such as the controllers. Then the big job of breaking it up needs to start...

 

All layouts have a limited life either based on how long it keeps your interest, availability of space or through natural wear and deterioration. My Peru layout has lasted for about 10 years and I aim to keep developing Niihama for at least another 7 years (up to downsizing / relocating when/if I get around to retiring...).

 

What are other peoples thoughts on what the life expectancy of a layout is and coping with "layout end of life"?

[velotrain]

Do you have any photos you can post of the Peru layout?

 

- in its operating days ;-)

[Claude_Dreyfus]

It is a pity to see the end of the Peruvian layout; especially as they are so unusual - you could have reduced the number of Peruvian layouts in the UK by 100%! Perhaps we might see another one from you in the future!

[cteno4]

Yakumo,

 

Yes its bittersweet, but like life there are the cycles like this. Best to do it before you loose interest like you are and move to a new layout and fresh challenges and interests. A lot of learning comes with each cycle and can be used in the next cycle as well as trying new techniques that can give better results than the last cycle and be more efficient in time and energy!

 

My big fear with home layouts is just getting going on them and then something forcing a move. I've seen this happen a number of times with friends as they are kind of forced to abandon a lot of work. This is why i have been planning my home layout to at least be in sections as i kind of figure that even though not planning on moving, murphy would raise his head (is murphy male or female, nothing i know of identifies its sex!) and we will move! Figure this way it would head off the move and also in some situations like home repair or such you can at least disassemble the layout in times of emergency repairs. There was one chap in a forum years ago who had built in a lot of plumbing, electrical, hot water heater and furnace behind his layout with very little access. within a year he had the hot water heater fail and was able to replace it with herculean efforts and cost w/o tearing into the layout, but the water damage from the hot water heater failure then caused the furnace and some wiring to fail w/in the year then it required tearing out half the layout to replace the furnace and wiring!

 

One of our club members had a wonderful professional layout built for him. Of course the company had to build it in sections to transport it to his house, but he was also planning forward as he retired a year back and just move out to the country into a new house he built and was able to have the layout easily moved out to the new house! worked out very well for him and the layout is happy in its new home (the room was designed to be a nice train/hobby/media room on the lower level with a nice view out the back slope) and there was room planned for the new extension he is putting on next year with a large yard, industrial area and long running section.

 

I know with our club show layouts we are on about a 5-6 year cycle. we are getting to the end of our second show layout and starting on the design of the third layout. While it feels like a huge amount of work to do yet another layout, it is nice to have some refresh and each time around we figure out some things to make life easier on us transporting, setting up and tearing down the layout. with more variables and demands with a show layout this cycle is even a bigger benefit to total redo things, i could see on home layouts doing a revamp of something that was bothersome without totally staring over. The show layouts are also a challenge as layout wise they are quite a juggle in the design needs and restrictions of breakdown, some levels of stardardization and transport, so it takes us a while to settle on the design!

 

It will give us some great vicarious fun watching Niihama grow hopefully!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Quite agree - every layout has a finite lifespan, either through the evolution of your modelling standards, interests or just anno domini with the track or electrics resulting in gradual unreliability (I have had all three). It will be good to see Niihama develop further...

[kvp]

What are other peoples thoughts on what the life expectancy of a layout is and coping with "layout end of life"?

 

When carefully planned to be movable and not destoryed accidentally or intentionally, then most layouts can have a rather large shelf life. I even know of a non movable club layout that is around 80 years old. All of the original builders are gone, but the club exists and so is the layout. They even keep the older models running and rewired everything when it got dangerous.

 

For personal experience, i had to stop working on a larger Z scale layout and a smaller N scale hakone tozan shelf layout a few years ago when i had to move. This was the time i decided to only build movable, modular ones in the future. Also i had a medium sized TT layout when i was a kid, which was damaged by painters in an almost unreparable way. (it was put into storage as a todo project around 20 years ago, but then i started dating in high school and forgot about trains for some time)

 

So imho if you get bored with a layout, then put it away instead of destorying it. It might be good to have it a few years later. Just make sure you can put it away. This solves the moving problem too.

 

murphy would raise his head (is murphy male or female, nothing i know of identifies its sex!)

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_A._Murphy,_Jr.

[yakumo381]

Do you have any photos you can post of the Peru layout?

 

- in its operating days ;-)

If you go back to the post I made in this thread as "Posted 13 January 2011 - 11:47 PM",  you will see some pictures of my Peru layout when still operating.

 

I have transferred useful detail items like oil drums, bumpers and yard lights to Niihama along with converting three Series 35 coaches back to JNR spec (by removing the Peru Rail transfers and uncovering the japanese markings that were hidden under acrylic paint). Also brought across one of my train driver figures from Peru to Japan emulating a degree of reality as whilst working in an electronics factory in Nagano a few years back,  I was amazed to find most of the assembly line operatives were either Peruvian or Japanese-Peruvian...

Edited June 9, 2015 by yakumo381