Rokuhan Z scale track system

[bill937ca]

I noticed on another board that there is going to be a new line of Japanese Z gauge track.  This is set for late November 2010 release in Japan and there may be a distributor in the US as early as January 2011.

 

Here is the English language link.

 

http://www.rokuhan.com/english/index.html

 

And a video of the yet to be released remote turnout.

 

 

From the Rokuhan web site:

 

"A new wind is blowing in the world of model trains in Japan. Our company name is "Rokuhan". This name refers to the distance between the rails of "six point five" or 6.5mm. So Rokuhan will specialize in Z scale railroad models and Z gauge track. The following are our company goals:

 

  1. Rokuhan will start our design of roadbed track including a range of curved, straight, track including turnout switches or points. Then, we would like to offer model trains, model buildings, a power pack or controller for our trains, and others accessories all in Z scale.

  2. Rokuhan is a group of technical experts. All of our products are planned and designed in Japan. Our production is in China.

  3. Rokuhan will produce products that take advantage of their small size which is the biggest feature of Z scale. Our focus is on the small layout, with small trains, and small structures, to provide model railroad picture which is fun for viewing, building, and of course, running and showing.

  4. Rokuhan products are of a scale of 1:220 or Z-scale operating on 6.5mm or Z gauge track system.

 

Rokuhan started with the above-mentioned aims. We are all working toward making a new splash in the world of Z scale model railroading. In achieving these goals we would like to listen to our customers as much as we can."

[ToniBabelony]

Hmmm.... Very interesting! I'm coming along with my N-gauge module project and I think there is room for an Nm project incorporated in it. Always interested in these kinds of rails, as they are easy to reuse after destroying a previous project.

[Krackel Hopper]

This is some interesting track!

 

It's like they took Kato and Tomix design concepts to make a Z scale super-track..

 

The "prong" is certainly a Tomix design, but I also noticed from the empty spacing and that the "connector" is a different color of plastic.. it appears the connector is removable.. like the unijoiner.

 

I don't do any Z scale, yet.  I certainly like the space savings.. but there is a pretty hefty cost increase.  Since I cannot afford to do both N and Z, I will stick with N.. at least until Z becomes popular enough that I can get my painted trains in Z.. lol.. also a Z scale Dr. Yellow would be a must..

[westfalen]

This looks like Micro Trains Z scale track with different tie spacing and a wider variety of pieces, all the Micro Trains pieces have counterparts in the Rokuhan range. I'm holding some Micro Trains track in my hand as I type and the joiners look similar and the turnouts appear to be the same design with minor differences. The new track looks like it could be useful in making Nn3 modeling a bit easier, I bought the Micro Trains track with that in mind but the tie spacing represents US mainline track and wouldn't look right.

 

The Japanese Z scale I was drooling over at Tam Tam the day before yesterday might get more tempting too.

[Garth]

If you want to know more in English about Japanese Z and in particular Rokuhan here are a couple of links that might interest you.

 

http:/groups.yahoo.com/group/Japanese-Z-Scale/

 

http://www.nn3.ca/main/main-japanese-zj-gauge-p9.htm

 

cheerz Garth

[Darklighter]

I noticed that all my S220 track pieces (bought around 8 years ago) have a bump in the rails where the steel ball is welded to the bottom of the rail. Found a thread about the same problem (and others) in a German forum: https://www.stummiforum.de/t139603f3-Rokuhan-Frage-zu-Gleissystem.html

I hope that the quality of recently produced track is better... 

[VJM]

I've checked the rails on my Z scale layout and my Rokuhan track doesn't have any steel balls welded to the track.  It was built in 2017, but I know that Rokuhan revised the track system about a year or two prior to that, such as cutting part of the ballast of the track for the points and bringing new pieces to the range.