What was the first Japanese train you purchased?

[nik_n_dad]

The first Japanese train I got for Nik was the classic Kato Shinkansen 500 Nozomi when he was about 5.  Bought it (without knowing anything about Japanese model trains) at a hobby shop in Mountain View, CA that no longer exists.  I can't remember the first Japanese model Nik picked out himself, but it was either the Kato 787 Relay Tsubame or the Kato Mount Fuji set.

[marknewton]

That's a serious motor =)

 

It sure is! It's going to be replaced at some stage, with something that doesn't draw 100 amps and doesn't sound like a coffee grinder... 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[westfalen]

A Kato 0 series Shinkansen I won in an auction at the Sydney N scale convention in 1989 but I really got hooked after my first trip to Japan a year later when I found out there was more to the place than bullet trains.

[Dani]

Kato Mangattan Liner Comic train, very funny one, and high detailed:

 

[cteno4]

OOOH a great first train! now you are stuck!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[cumber_s]

The first locomotive of mine was this one:

EF81 Hokutosei from Tomix,

bought 2nd hand at the local hobby store for 2200 yen.

 

But the first engine(though without motor) was the diesel unit from the 2009 magazine  collection (name lost).

The motor came much later...

[harukablue]

I have never modeled Japanese N scale,, my first model of a Japanese HO train was a LIMA 4 car 103 EMU in green, this was about 1983, the importer of LIMA was based in my home town and they also had a retail outlet,,after a gap of 20 years modeling German, US etc i returned to Japanese HO after working there for a while.

[Nozomi4ever]

My kato Shirasagi.

[alpineaustralia]

Kato E4

[EWS60008]

My first Japanese train I bought was a EH500 Locomotive in 2006 when I first started out in N gauge, it was the exotic Japanese trains availible in N gauge that convinced me to model in N gauge .

[scott]

IIRC, it was the Tomix Minobu-line 115 that I got off eBay. It ran pretty horribly until kind people here helped me out. :-) Last year it ran around our christmas tree for several days.

[Klaus (kjh58)]

My first Japanese train was a Tomix E2 in a MS-E2 set with brown Tomix tracks.

I bought it back in 2003 from my favourite store for Japanese Model Railroads over here in Germany http://www.japanmodelrailways.com/

I fell in love with Tomix trains immediately and bought every set and brown tracks Heiko Stoll had in store that time.

It was the time Tomix introduced the new FineTrack into the market and perhaps I should have waited for this apparently better track.

Klaus

[spacecadet]

Kato 0 series shinkansen.  Even though now that I think about it, it is one of only two shinkansen models to have run on the Tokaido Line that I have *not* actually ridden.  I'm usually predisposed to buying trains I've ridden on (for my American stuff too; I have a lot of Amtrak), but I figured for my first Japanese purchase, I may as well get a shinkansen and it may as well be the one that started it all.

[railbusgerman]

Mine was a set of Nanbu Jyukan railbusses in N-gauge, shown here with coach KIHA 10(4) (which arrived a few weeks later) at Shichinohe station  

www.japanese-railbus.com

 

Cheers!

[Sir Madog]

I ordered this beauty directly in Japan:

 

 

It is a Kato D51 in N scale, which sells at a little over 80 Euros incl. shipping - a top bargain when compared to the 175 Euros being asked for locally.

Due to Japanese National Holidays, I have not yet received the delivery confirmation, but I am certainly eager to get it!

[HST.]

I'm sure you will like it, mine arrived just over a week ago from HS and it is superb!

 

Dave.

[IST]

A 4 car N700 Shinkansen set. I did not think that I will buy it, but when I was in Tokyo 2 weeks ago (transfer at Narita with 10 hours between the airplanes), I could not left the set in the hobby shop in Akihabara. Still I do not know how it works, how fine it runs, but looks good. 

[sedril]

That D51 is very pretty!  I think I know what I'm getting the next time I order...

 

I have the Kato N700, I find it runs really smooth.  (on DC anyway)

It does look a little funny because my corners are 315 and 282's, but that'll fix itself when I have more space :)

[marknewton]

I ordered this beauty directly in Japan:

 

 

 

Envy!!! 

 

It's almost enough to make me change to N scale.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Martijn Meerts]

Wonder how the Kato D51 compares to the Tomix C57 detail wise, because the Tomix is quite amazing.

 

MicroAce will have to work on improving their steamers if Kato and Tomix continue to release steamers of such high quality and detail.

[grumbeast]

Well

 

My first actual purchase was a KATO 6 car Series 0.. second hand off ebay, also my first ebay purchase.  and Ironically it turned out that the seller lives in the same city as me and I knew him.... who would have figured that would happen in Nova Scotia!.  My first ever Japanese train however was purchased for me by my wife years ago, a Kato C11, I was amazed at the time at how well it ran being used to Poole built Graham Farish 3 pole motor steam.  I so love my wife! she glazes over when I harp on about railways, but she has a way of finding and buying me awesome trains :)

 

Graham

[keitaro]

3 car basic 800 series shinkansen

[Tosaden]

My first one was the Portram in white/violet.

[Sir Madog]

I ordered this beauty directly in Japan:

 

 

 

Envy!!!  

 

It's almost enough to make me change to N scale.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

Mark - take a look at this video:

 

 

It´ll make you think seriously about changing from the "Horribly Oversized" scale to the "iNvisible" one! Had the guy been using code 55 rail, you would think it to be HO scale!

[Guest JRF-1935]

Kato EF-15