The start of an N layout with the TRAMS

[john_ibw]

Many firsts! Starting work on a layout. Posting on the internet. Kit building, painting and weathering. It may seem a little silly, but this is huge for me!

 

The layout was made possible when I was introduced to KATO Unitrams. That and also the fact, there are so many of you that have created exceptional layouts and kindly shared those with others such as myself.

 

The layout is only a start. I now have the basic layout, track in place for the TRAMS, and a few buildings. The design is certainly not a new or original one. But given the number of track sections and town plates, it is a good start. I am learning a lot already. Thanks to the modular nature of the UNITRAM sections, once can always change the layout later. I plan to have a park scenery created in the large vacant block in the front. The church will remain in the current block. Scenery around the church also to be completed when additional funds are available. Talking about funds, I am hoping to have a viaduct loop around the city with a the large viaduct station right behind. I however have not decided how I will bring it around in the front. One thought was to slope downward on the left of the city (as viewed) and go under the park and again surface just short of the church block on the right. 

 

A few images below of the layout. I have also included the kit that I built. It is a KIBRI 7025 model. Though it is not a Japanese kit, my wife was involved it obtaining it for me and it had to find a place in the layout. Having said hat, it grew on me and I enjoyed building and painting it. I have more detailing work to complete and hope to do it next weekend if possible.

 

I welcome suggestions and feedback please. Any recommendation on structures and track design for the train will also be much appreciated.

[Tenorikuma]

That looks like a nice start. I just got the Unitram starter kit myself — it's an incredibly quick and efficient way to build a nice-looking urban layout.

 

That church is an impressive kit. Some Japanese cities actually do have ornate European-style Catholic churches like that.

[cteno4]

John,

 

hey great start! glad to see you jumped in and are just doing it! turns out to not be so hard and quite enjoyable, hey?!

 

thats the fun with the unitrak as you can keep fiddling with ideas and moving things around till you find where you might want to lock in a design or never do that and just let it keep evolving! also think about doing some of the extra scenery bits on little scraps of plastic so you can easily move them around and try different ideas out. you can even do this with figures, just glue them to small pieces of acetate (like the stuff used for overhead projectors). if you use the sort of matte finish stuff (ie not the really glossy stuff) it pretty much disappears at a distance. you can just cut little pieces (or use a small hole punch to make little circles) and glue the figures on with tacky glue (the thick white glue) or ws sticky bond (sort of like white glue and rubber cement combined). the glue will dry clear and then later if you decide you want to glue figures on something else, just soak them in water and the glue will let go. but this way you can populate your sidewalks fast or if you have only a few figures you can move them into one area temporarily to take pictures, try out ideas, etc. the cheap chinese architectural figures are great for filling in streets. then put the nicer tomy tec, kato, etc more expensive figures out at the edges where you see the people more. later if you decide you want to use all nice figures you can slowly replace the cheaper ones as funds allow.

 

one caution with the viaduct is to be careful of the grades. keep them to about 2% max (ie go up 1 inch every 50 inches) as the trains dont like much more than that. also the transitions from flat to your grade must be done carefully with unitrak or you can get a big bend up at one joint and this can lead to decouplings and derailments.

 

with the church you could do the two fold city, european at one end and japanese at the other! one of our club members has a huge unitrak layout (none nailed down!) in his basement that is kyoto at one end, philly in the middle and switzerland at the other!

 

another thing to keep in mind for later if you ever want to grow is expansion points, ie places where you could easily open the layout up and add more in. good to have a plan and not paint yourself into a corner.

 

keep posting more picts as things evolve and grow! always great to see what folks come up with and you will be great encouragement (and ideas) especially for others like you who are thinking of getting started as well!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Hobby Dreamer]

Hi John,

 

Great layout!

 

You did a nice job on the church - super paint job....

 

Rick

[KenS]

It looks like you're off to a good start. Keep us posted as it develops.

 

Although stone and brick buildings are uncommon now due to earthquake risks, you will still find older ones that were built in the 1800s and early 1900s (prior to the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake that leveled much of Tokyo). And some of the buildings from that era have a distinctively European look to them. I don't think your church looks unrealistic. Even though Christians are a minority in Japan, it's the kind of large public structure some outside group might have helped fund as part of "opening" Japan to western influence, or that a wealthy Japanese businessman might have constructed. And it's a great model.

 

And, of course, it's your layout, so you can bend history (or reality) if you want to.

 

BTW, for forum viewing, full-size images are a bit large (I had to save them to disk to see the full image).  I usually shrink mine to no more than 1024 pixels wide (some software will let you do that via a Save As or Export function).

[john_ibw]

Thanks all for the encouraging words and advice. I have been busy at work and have had friends visiting. So, my layout work was on pause and my responses delayed.

 

The events at Japan have played in mind. I checked to watch the forumers. And I sincerely wish all my friends at Japan well.

 

~KenS. I will keep the size of pictures down. Sorry to hear that you had to do download it to the PC to view them

~jeff. Good advice. Like I said before, though I have been in the hobby, it is my first layout. I will keep in mind the gradients and remember your advice on scenery / people.

~Hobby Dreamer and Tenorikuma....thanks!

 

My wife, my biggest fan is also my greatest supporter. While I was working on a wish list which included structures and track pieces, she decided to make it worthwhile by "donating" all the track to the build the "infrastructure" for the new "city" as she calls it! :)

 

Since I will have double track that can run trains, I was hoping that I can plan my trains. White Sonic and Narita Express have caught my fancy. Any thoughts? I liked them instantly. I am not sure how they run and how reliable they are. Searches have revealed they are very popular.

 

Also, a suggestion for a commuter and a disel loco would be really appreciated. It should be Japanese, bright livery, modern and run well. Is it too much? I don't have expertise or knowledge to theme the layout as yet. I would prefer to start with what I like and progress towards more specific themes later as I gain experience and understanding I guess. Right now, I am going to just have fun building my layout and collection.

 

Thanks again.

[Martijn Meerts]

On the whole, Japanese trains run really well. There's a few exceptions though, with Tomix trains using the spring worm drive being the best example. I don't think they're still using that system on new locomotives though.

 

For diesel loco's, you can't go wrong with a DD51 really. For bright liveries you might want to check out the Dr. Yellow trains, or have a look at some of the many painted train, MicroAce's Doraemon train for example is just lovely, and certainly an eye catcher :)

[john_ibw]

Thanks Martjin. I liked the MicroAce's Doraemon :)

 

I was considering the following:

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10052152

hauling the following

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10056257

[disturbman]

Commuter with bright livery? For sure the JR West Series 103 in green livery.

 

http://www.popondetta.jp/asp/cgi-bin/shop.php?forward=gds_inf&back_screen=gds_srh&stock_no=571E0101G1803803

 

The picture doesn't show it but this green is very luminous and vibrant (the pictures available at HS are nearer to reality than the one from Popondetta). It's not really what you can call modern per say but those trains are still in use on local services between Osaka and Nara.

[Martijn Meerts]

Thanks Martjin. I liked the MicroAce's Doraemon :)

 

I was considering the following:

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10052152

hauling the following

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10056257

 

 

 

Those container cars are American cars, and they'll likely have the American-looking knuckle coupler. Not sure if those are compatible with Kato's Japanese knuckle coupler. Obviously, you can just use the standard Rapido's, but I think most American Kato comes with the knuckle coupler as standard.

 

The loco should run fine though, pretty much all Kato stuff does ;)

[Bernard]

John - Where did you find your wife?! She actually brought you train items?!

 

The White Sonic is one of my favorite trains besides the Nozomi 500. I love it's sleek design and it's a tilt train...as for the Narita Airport Express there are 2 designs but each has a different coupler systems. I know Leo was the new design and he can comment on it. I have the older design, here are photos of both trains:

[FFISKIV]

You gotta love that unitram stuff.  I have all the Kato Unitrams and took a chance on the Tomytec TLR0607 (in purple).  I highly recommend this unit I think you will like it, especially if your looking to expand your tram fleet quickly and economically.  I really like your layout, I fiddled around with the figure 8 configuration too and eventually got another V50. and then another. Have you tried incorporating Unitrak?

Look at my albums for the Unitram -to- unitrak mod.  It works good for adding double track.  Are you looking to do mostly Urban area?  If you are I came across a real cool construction site and tower crane kit at Hobby search, its a Studio Build Kit series.  The crane would look real cool on top of a skyscraper.

Good luck with your layout!

[john_ibw]

Thank you FFISKIV. Your layout is very impressive! I will not hesitate to 'copy' some of your design elements as I liked it and gives me a place to start.

 

I have not tried incorporating Unitrack as yet. Because, I do not own any Unitrack as yet. I hope to have some in the coming weeks. I will then then have a chance to test some designs. Unitram grows on you. I can't afford more Unitram V50 at this point since I am already spending money I do not have :)

 

Urban mostly. But, I want to have a residential side with uneven terrain. I will have a track plan ready in a week that I can post. Maybe, you can look at it and provide some thoughts. Some bends of the viaducts in my layout may tend to look like yours. It will be that obvious! :)

 

Crane. I did not think about it until you mentioned. I love them.  I may get one for the layout. 

 

Thanks again.

[cumber_s]

 

The project looks quite nice , hoping to see more , even with the meagre budget

(been there done that)

 

 

The church looks general enough for Japan, its the "Kibri" modell? right.

keep up the work

[john_ibw]

The church looks general enough for Japan, its the "Kibri" modell? right.

keep up the work

 

Thanks and yes, you are right. It is the Kibri 7025.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Trams are that little piece of action that keeps a train layout alive.  Like the Turtle in the pond.