Does any one have a fuel length 16-car Shinkansen Station?

[VentureForth]

How long is it? Around 9 ft is what I figure. What is the best way to buy the station parts? I see Kato has a viaduct station with add ons. Can this be done with Tomix?

 

And what the heck do you do for the rest of your layout?

[Martijn Meerts]

I'm planning a station that can handle 16 car shinkansen actually. The station will also be one of the few area's the shinkansen will be visible considering most of the rest of the layout will be more rural-like. My storage yard has through tracks that are 255 cm long, which is just enough for a shinkansen :)

[Densha]

I haven't really been following this topic, but these self-made platforms look pretty cool: http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/7376-platforms-for-a-one-off-viaduct-station/

[Martijn Meerts]

Oh, forgot to mention.. I use Peco code 55 flex track, so station platforms will need to be scratch built. In fact, most of the station will likely need to be scratch built :)

[JR 500系]

Hi VentureForth:

 

While i do not have a 16-car length shinkansen station (and probably wont have the space nor heart nor cash to), i have a 8-car station, which i just measured to be about 1.7m or 5 and a half feet, starting from the 'switches/ turn-outs' all the way to the other end with the switches/ turnouts. Subtract that, it measures about 5 feet or 1.6m, so a 16-car should be around 1.6m x 2 = 3.2m or 10 feet long.

 

I'm using Tomix by the way, as i tried to measure and discovered Kato's might be a little more expensive than Tomixs. I started off with the basic viaduct Tomix 91075 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10073998 that can accomodate 4-cars, which i slowly added in S140-55.5 Tomix 3062 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10028718 and island platforms Tomix 4022 island platform extensions x 2 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10009838 to extend the station till it can accomodate 8-cars nicely.  

 

So i would reckon to do a 16-car would mean twice as much as mine, not to forget twice as many tracks to run a simple loop. I envy those with a layout that can accomodate 16-cars shinkansens...

[Keikyu]

I hope you don't mind me asking 2 questions since this is a thread about stations.

 

With the viaduct stations, how do they work? Are they just the base model but flat on top and you place your own track and platforms on them?

 

And another, bit less related, but mixing up Tomix stations and Kato track and other manufactured trains is alright isn't it? Can you use the curved Tomix stations with any Kato curved track?

[VentureForth]

Sounds like I may just have to stick to E201 sizes. lol

[lurkingknight]

I think the longest in the group here would be Ken's urban station in sumida crossing...

 

I'm planning an 11 car E231 double station... that's already 1.5ish meters of just platform... finding space to put that layout will be more of an issue than building it. From an my artistic/design point of view you also want a little bit of straight before hitting your station, plus switches off the main line, bypasses, etc... I know I'll be dealing with a station straight of at least 2m when I get to building.

Edited July 3, 2013 by lurkingknight

[VentureForth]

Tomix and Kato have different radii. I have a very old viaduct set from Tomix. I've seen at 1999 the old Tomix viaduct station that includes room for a turnout at either end of the platform station. Not really realistic for shinkansens but it would do for my E201...

 

Oops. Misread the item. Its long gone..... :(

Edited July 3, 2013 by VentureForth

[Densha]

What's a E201??

[lurkingknight]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/201_series ?

[cteno4]

venture,

 

we have a 16 car shinkansen station on the jrm layout. its 3m from end to end. just enough room to handle 16 car shinkansens on the passing sidings. its untrak and was started with using the kato base plates, but that gets expensive. what i found was i could make custom base material out of laminating 3/16" masonite on the bottom, 3/16" foam core (good stiff black stuff) in the middle and formica on the top. the formica i found was a gray granite that looks very close to unitrak ballast at home despot. this laminate gives great rigid strength while being light weight and is the same thickness as the kato plates and the foam core layer is right at the spot where the wall section pegs can be pushed in so you can use the kato wall sections around the edges (or make your own). the new base can then sit on your own wood structure or on top of the kato supports and station buildings. meets up with viaduct track pieces on kato supports.

 

we use kato platforms although we had to chop one down slightly as its best to shorten the platform some to avoid some cars hitting the curved end of the platform on certain situations and tipping a bit. no big deal just take the razor saw and shrink one to fit.

 

you could probably easily build your own base and walls and even platforms as mardon has done and just get it up to the height of the tomix viaduct as well.

 

one word of caution if you have passing tracks with points at the ends, dont put the viaduct curves straight into the points. at times the long shinkansen cars coming out of curves at speed can end up picking the point and derailing. on the old jrm layout we had this issue now and then (certain trains were worse than others, usually with a few cars who's diaphragm couplers were a tiny bit sticky and did not bend as gracefully as others). on v2.o we put at least a 124 straight section on either end before the curves and this has pretty much gone away.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Oh, forgot to mention.. I use Peco code 55 flex track, so station platforms will need to be scratch built. In fact, most of the station will likely need to be scratch built :)

 

I found that cork strips under the PECO track works well in getting it to fit with Unitrack platforms.

 

Our platforms in Yamanouchi Oshika can handle an 8-coach unit visibly, but it has been designed in such a way that it implies the platform continue under the town. A useful little scenic device.

 

We can run full-langth bullets...I can just about fit a 16-car set in our longest fiddle yard tracks!

[Martijn Meerts]

I found that cork strips under the PECO track works well in getting it to fit with Unitrack platforms.

 

Only problem is that a good part of the station has a slight curve, so the Kato platforms won't work. I may get some for the straight parts and try to scratch built similar looking platforms for the curved parts.

 

On the other hand, I'm nowhere near starting on the station, so everything might still change. Right now I'm waiting for ESU to produce a new batch of servo decoders so I can continue the storage yard, and after that it's a rather large helix that needs to be built :)

[Densha]

Right now I'm waiting for ESU to produce a new batch of servo decoders so I can continue the storage yard

You're using that much servos that ESU can't cope with the demand?! :rolleyes:

[Martijn Meerts]

You're using that much servos that ESU can't cope with the demand?! :rolleyes:

 

So it seems :) Although it's more likely that they don't produce the decoders all year round, and they just run out of stock. They should get new ones this month though =)

[KenS]

Jeff and the JRM folks have my station beat.  The long platform in my station is about 211 cm (I say about because I keep changing it). It's presently formed of 8 Kato platform segments plus one short end (5.5 cm platform surface) and one long end (7 cm platform surface).  The overall space including the two V15 ends that widen the track around the platform take the overall length of the track to 286 cm, and the viaduct containing it is just over 3m, because I have some other trackwork at the end. I also have two shorter platforms sized for 11-car Yamanote trains (about 149 cm).

 

When I was planning the station, I worked out the needed platform length for a 16-car 500 Series (based on the Kato model) as 253 cm, so I don't quite make that.  I could, if I was willing to get rid of the V15 ends and use R481 curves and also take some more room at the end of my viaduct, but at least at the moment I'm not doing that.  I do keep changing my mind though...

 

Keikyu:

With the viaduct stations, how do they work? Are they just the base model but flat on top and you place your own track and platforms on them?

 

The Viaduct Station (or extension) is a set of flat elements 99mm wide and 248mm long with snap-in sidewalls that add 5mm on each side.  These connect together with the white "S-Joiners" used for viaduct and platforms, and sit atop supports you buy separately (Kato 23-020 Double Track Piers), except at the "station" portion, when an entrance building and two shop buildings fit below one (I think one) segment in place of supports. My station is three plates wide in the middle (six tracks with island platforms) and would be about 12 segments long, except that the two ends are actually made of a masonite/foamcore sandwich, based on a suggestion by Jeff.  I did use the plastic viaduct segments in the middle. For construction details on my station see this page on my site, and for more photos see this page.

 

The big problem with the viaduct is that a long one is very flexy due to all the S-Joiner joints, and you need to support it at many points (this gets expensive in support sets). For that reason, and because I needed to raise mine, I built my own support structure using strips of aluminum and threaded rods.

 

Ordinary unitrack can be laid directly on the viaduct, and in fact it has to be if you want to join up with viaduct or bridge units at the end.  In my case, I put down sheets of Woodland Scenics black trackbed foam for sound absorption (I don't use S-joiner connections at the end, so I was able to adjust for the different height).