What was the first Japanese train you purchased?

[Bernard]

For me it was Kato's Toki, the Sunliner and C11. I was in Nagano for 3 weeks working and had 1 morning off where I could go shopping. I stumbled on a Hobby store that's windows were filled with Model trains. It took me a while to figure out the exchange rate and no one in the store spoke English. Through a lot of hand gestures I was able to purchase the trains

[gmat]

Where was the hobby shop in Nagano? Nagano City? I used to live in Ueda City from 87-90. I don't remember Nagano City having a good Hobby shop, but there were nice ones in Matsumoto and Ueda. But I wasn't looking for trains then. My first was the Thomas the Train set and before that, the Shortie 185 and 183. About 9 years ago, I bought a bunch of Plarail Thomas trains for my students to play with after class.

Grant

[bikkuri bahn]

Mine wasn't purchased by me, it was a (Christmas?) present.  I was in the first grade of primary school, Tomix had just started selling N scale trains, and I got their 0-6-0 tank steam locomotive with freight car set and a loop of track.  My previous experience with model trains was a Lionel set with the iconic F7 in ATSF Super Chief colors (my Dad's boyhood set), so this one was considerably smaller.

[quinntopia]

Kato Series 787 Relay Tsubame!

http://quinntopia.blogspot.com/2009/04/locomotive-roster-kato-series-787-relay.html

[KenS]

Kato Yamanote E231 (10-261 basic 6-car set). Still one of my favorites.

 

I'd been looking for something different from HO freight, and thinking about contemporary passenger trains. After considering British OO (I'd been reading Model Rail, which is what had inspired the interest in contemporary passenger trains to begin with) I noticed an ad for Kato Japanese trains that planted the seed.  One train and some track later, the hook was firmly set.  The second train (my Nozomi Series 500) followed a couple of months later, and I've been addicted ever since.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

First Japanese train was a Tram.

 

Kato Portram, Red

 

First full train, Kato JR 500 Shinkansen.

 

She said my train is sexy.

[bill937ca]

Kato Kintetsu 21000 Series Urban Liner from Plaza Japan.

[Fenway Park]

Kato C50 and some wagons from a shop in Thames Ditton in 1985.

[jappomania]

purchased was one Kato E1 MAX (yeah! the train with my name on both sides)

like Christmas gift one Lima Shinkansen 0 in H0 scale in 1978 (and still run  )

 

Ciao

Massimo

[sedril]

Kato N700 from MB Klein back in October.

[disturbman]

A Kato EF63 and some freight cars. Then I bought some Tomix Kihas 48 but I really got hooked when I bite the bullet and hunted down my first EMU, a JR Shikoku 8000 Series.

[bigford]

this was my first japanese buy. I needed a loco for my passenger service

[David]

Kato E531 4-car set. Now have the complete 10-car set and may buy the 5 car attached formation this year.

[ShinCanadaSen]

Kato 10-003(?) 500 series Shinkansen starter set. First Japanese train I found in any of my LHS'. Took about 2 years to find, because I didn't think of checking online !!!

[Martijn Meerts]

Kato 800 series. It was also the first to get a motor decoder, first to get 2 function decoders in the cab cars, first to get interior light, and soon the first to have switchable interior light in the full train =)

[Nozomi]

Kato N700 Series and 800 Series in Jan 2009 from HS

[Claude_Dreyfus]

My first Japanese-built model was the Kato Eurostar.

 

A couple of years later - in about 1997 - came my first Japanese prototype...a Tomix EF81 in Twilight Express livery with a set of Tomix Naniwa Saloon cars; obtained for JR Models in Somerset

 

[Tecchan]

A classic: Series 0 Shinkansen (Tomix). ^_^

[qwertyaardvark]

As far as Japanese trains go, Tomix 300 Series Shinkansen and EF66 plus Hayabusa 7-car set. As far as Japanese-made trains go, Kato Eurostar and 700T were my first purchases. :)

[cteno4]

An old Aurora 200 set off ebay for $40!

 

actually in grad school i did buy the pair of tomix snow plow ends as they use to sell them w/o the de15. saw them in the berkeley student union store of all places and just bought them on a whim!

 

jeff

[keiman]

T Gauge- but have gone back to something I can see properly, still have all my T gauge

[marknewton]

Tenshodo DD13 in HO scale.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Martijn Meerts]

That's a serious motor =)

[ToniBabelony]

A crummy ED75 from KATO. 2nd hand for 20€. Still have it and runs crappy, very loud but still running... Bought it as a test. The first motorised train I bought new was a DD54 from Tomix.

 

Now only concentrating on interurbans and small electric freight.

[CaptOblivious]

Same as KenS: Kato's E231-500 "Yamanote Line" box set.