Tomytec - Painted & Anything Model Bus Related

[JR 500系]

Hi Ken:

 

I found this on Yahoo Auctions:

 

http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e150101319

 

thought u might be interested~

[Ken Ford]

Oh, yes - but I have no idea how to order it!  Something like that would be perfect, all the busses I could ever need in one box.

[cteno4]

Ken,

 

nariichi -San at modeltrainplus will do auction service for a small, reasonable fee. There are other general auction and purchasing agencies out there as well, there is an auction thread on this topic. Nice thing about nariichi is he knows the train stuff just in case whereas other services may or may not.

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/801-how-to-bid-in-japanese-auctions-for-dummies/

 

Jeff

Edited June 30, 2014 by cteno4

[Ken Ford]

Thanks, Jeff - I just sent Nariichi-san a note. If anyone has advice on a fair maximum bid for these, I'm all ears.

[JR 500系]

Thanks, Jeff - I just sent Nariichi-san a note. If anyone has advice on a fair maximum bid for these, I'm all ears.

 

Well Ken, that's no hard and fast rule to the max bid of things, especially so for buses since they are smaller in value. This auction does have some of the rarer buses like the Collection 7 Isuzu Erga and the 96MC which was only available in a 5-bus box sets, which kinda make them rare.

 

Do remember to factor in Auction fees such as internal shipping, bank fees and commission for the agent.

 

As a gut feeling, this should wind up ending somewhere between 1500-2500yen or so, depending on how popular these Kyoto buses are with the Japanese people. While i'm quite sure if they are Toei buses they were cost even more as I think the Japanese people relate more to Toei buses, but there might be someone out there that is also very interested in these Kyoto buses.

 

That's the fun of auction anyway, watching the auction end and knowing you won before your eyes with heart-pounding feeling is nice!

[JR 500系]

Oh my, seems I need to change my gut feeling.... The auction ended at 5275yen.... I'm not sure if Ken got it?

 

It seems quite a lot of people are looking for Kyoto buses, maybe next to Toei buses...

 

Here's another: http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r116680463

[Ken Ford]

Sadly it ended up going for more than I could justify!  I'll keep looking, though - that newest auction you posted may be a good one for me to consider.

[Ken Ford]

MTP did win the latest auction for me: http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r116680463

 

What do I have here?

[JR 500系]

Congrats Ken!

 

From the description in the auction:

 

５弾２種、７弾１個、９弾１個、１１弾１個、１３弾１個の合計６個と、おまけの日野ブルーリボンHT/HU５台セットバラシの京阪１台です。

 

Means:

 

5th Bullet - 2 numbers:

 

1996年にモデルチェンジした路線バスタイプ(B型)で、ノンステップバスは1998年から製造を開始し、現在は日産ディーゼルの標準車体として全国的に導入されています。モデルは日産ディーゼルと三菱ふそうを作り分けホイールベースは4800ミリの短尺車です。

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/buscolle5.html

 

7th Bullet - 1 No.

 

2000年に登場したエルガは、それまでの直線的なデザインのキュービックとは対照的に曲線を多用したデザインになりました。縦に並んだヘッドライトが特徴的です。前中扉間ノンステップのtype-Aとフルフラットノンステップのtype-Bを作り分けました。ホイールベース4800mm

 

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/buscolle7.html

 

9th Bullet - 1 No.

1983年にそれまでの53MCをフルモデルチェンジしてデビューしたのが58MCです。リベットレスのスマートなボディーで４エンジンメーカーへの袈装を行い、西日本の事業者を中心に導入が進みました。モデルは前面形状をB-Iタイプと視野拡大B-IIを作り分け、側面は前中折戸・前後引戸・トップドアを作り分け実車をリアルに再現しました。

 

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/buscolle9.html

 

11th Bullet - 1 No.

 

 

1984年に登場したいすゞ自動車の大型路線バスです。
四角を基調とした斬新なデザインで、全国の事業者に導入されました。
今回はホイールベース4.65mのK尺と5mのL尺の2種を作りわけ、同時にK尺は初期型、L尺はマイナーチェンジ後のボディースタイルを作りわけしました。

商品化事業者・・・

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/buscolle11.html

 

13th Bullet - 1 No.

 

 

新呉羽車体を架装したエアロスターKをモデル化しました。第4弾でモデル化したエアロスターMとの違いを再現！ホイールベース4800mmの短尺で製品化。
商品化事業者…道北バス、羽後交通、東京都交通局、横浜市交通局、しずてつジャストライン、富山地方鉄道、京都市交通局、大阪市交通局

 

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/buscolle13.html

 

Special included: Hino Blue Ribbon HT/HU Keihan Bus from Hino Blue Ribbon 5-bus set:

 

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/blueribbon02.html

 

 

I felt the package was quite good, and the price is ok. Liked the last Keihan bus included that is quite hard to get. Quite a great bargain you got there!

[The Next Station Is...]

Interesting new Tomytec bus set up for pre-order based on the Bus Rapid Transit...

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10287700

 

There's some brand new road pieces in the set, including Y-shaped pieces for the 'reversing loop' effect - I really want those pieces!!!

[Densha]

That's pretty cool! Interesting because it's based on the rapid bus on the former section of the destroyed JR East line in the 2011 earthquake.

 

The last sentence is quite important, but the computer translation makes no sense. The Japanese description says that operation with 2 buses is possible, but only when operating the levers for the stops manually by hand. On automatic mode only 1 bus is possible. I guess the two buses will collide with auto mode.

[kvp]

On automatic mode only 1 bus is possible. I guess the two buses will collide with auto mode.

Since the automatic stop times are the same, but the speeds are be different, one of the buses either catches the other one or collides head on. The solution would be to wait for both buses to be at the stops (for example with two hall sensors) and start them at the same time. I would like to know what solution did they use for the four 'turnouts'. They probably have fixed direction running, like a fixed spring loaded turnout, but it would be interesting to know if they can be modified to allow controlled branching at a multi bay bus terminal or for route control on a larger layout. The L pieces should also allow gauntlet tracks, where a 2 lane road is reduced to a single lane for a short distance, like on a bridge.

[velotrain]

A note on wire for creating your own bus roads.

 

I have some Busch HOf Feldbahn equipment, which also has magnets and is meant to run on track with embedded steel.

 

Wanting to lay my own flextrack, I decided to see what was available. 

 

I took a Busch engine to Home Depot, where they have several thickness of steel "rope" available by the foot.  I got a few feet of 3/32 for 30 cents a foot, and the attraction between it and my engine was very strong.  I think they may have had 1/16" which I didn't test - or didn't feel powerful enough, and I decided that the 1/8" was overkill - as well as being more expensive.

 

BTW - the connection is so strong (with their regular track), that I can run the engine on an absolute vertical plane.  Now I need to find some small magnets for the wagons that won't drag the engine down excessively.

 

Another option (at least for trains) is thePowerbase product for N scale, available from Hatton's in the UK.  This was originally created to add traction for going up a helix, etc.  They're thin steel plates, shaped such that you can lay a continuous line of them under your track.  It's made by the Australian firm DCC Concepts, but they have absolutely the worst web site that I've ever seen, so I suggest not even going there - unless perhaps you don't believe me.  There's no search and no functional index, and as I recall I had to scroll through their entire catalog to eventually reach the Powerbase product.

 

There's a thread on it here (and elsewhere on the web) :

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/78114-dcc-concepts-powerbase/

[cteno4]

I was able to do quite a bit of roll my own roadway with the faller bus and their iron wire. I experimented using 020, 040, and thin chipboard and just taped the wire under it in a bunch of patterns to see what could be done with it. I was able to make Ys that had a gap to allow a bus to turn around and go back down the same lane if you wanted. Also was able to of some easement curves to make them reach around a 90 corners more realistically than a big wide arc. I was also able to do points and would be easy to do a multiple direction point.

 

I recently got one of the tomytec mechs to try similar tests and from reports their steering magnets were stronger than the old faller ones.

 

Jeff

[JR 500系]

This is really interesting! A circle loop?

 

What's interesting is how the turnout is made. With a remote switch? I'm still waiting for my cross junction set to come in so that I may get a better idea as to how to work this. (Perhaps those whose sets have arrived might understand this) With the turnout, an many variation of roads can be made, like switching out to minor roads and merging back to main stream traffic again. It seriously makes me wanna make a layout just for moving buses!

 

When is the 'T-junction' gonna be release?   :)

[IST]

One of the Hungarian N-gaugers is making experiments with the Tomytec chassis. Here is a small video from him, the truck is a Faller product, while the bus has a Tomytec chassis (and an early production of 3D printed Ikarus bus model is on it). Currently he is testing guitar strings as wire with good results, but I think on this layout he used something else.

 

[JR 500系]

Interesting! But the vehicles travel on both directions; i.e. on the left driving and on the right driving?

 

Can I know how the turnout works; i.e. how to select between going straight and turning out?

[cteno4]

Very nice. This is the kind of thing I was experimenting with.

 

Jr, the points here are working like spring points or the Y I was talking about.. You can make a regular point by just having a wire bend between two route wires like the blade on a point. Move mechanically with a slider or use something like a tortoise mech or a rc servo.

 

Jeff

[macdon]

New Tomytec Moving Bus product

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10287700

 

Mardon

[brill27mcb]

This is really interesting! A circle loop?

 

What's interesting is how the turnout is made. With a remote switch? I'm still waiting for my cross junction set to come in so that I may get a better idea as to how to work this. (Perhaps those whose sets have arrived might understand this) With the turnout, an many variation of roads can be made, like switching out to minor roads and merging back to main stream traffic again. It seriously makes me wanna make a layout just for moving buses!

 

When is the 'T-junction' gonna be release?   :)

 

No, I do not believe the turnout is controlled. My guess, based on how they made the original bus stop section, is that there is a continuous guide wire running through the turnout to the left-hand diverging route. On the right-hand diverging route, where a bus will merge In from the other direction, there is probably a short gap. A merging bus goes unguided for a short distance until it finds and follows the main guide wire. So, the bus stop and the various turnouts, including the intersection, are based on the left-side-of road driving convention used in Japan. On the regular straight and curved pieces, you can run in whatever direction you want.

 

You can make a T-junction now, as I explained a few weeks ago in a post on the Yahoo Tomix group:

 

This [intersection] version is for left-side-of-road operation. As I stated in an earlier post, the intersection consists of four identical "L"-shaped section, which go together sort of like the German Cross symbol on WW2 airplanes. I have done some arithmetic calculations and determined that each "L" piece has overall leg lengths of 103+18.5=121.5mm. This makes the whole intersection twice that length at 243mm.

 

The 90-degree corner created by the basic intersection is the same size as a 140/103mm double-lane curved track corner. With the 74mm straight stop-control straights added on each leg, it is the same size as a 214/177mm curved track corner.

 

It is possible to use just two "L" pieces to make a "T"-shaped intersection. To complete it with the straight-through lane across the top of the "T" requires 3 70mm straight pieces, plus a 4th piece cut down to 33mm length. Unlike the tram track pieces, there is no need to worry about the end connectors that get cut off - the small "U"-clips provided to hold one lane against a parallel lane should be enough to hold everything together, and the under-surface ferrous wire the bus follows will work OK. It is unfortunate that Tomytec does not offer other lengths of straight roadway.

 

On a "T" intersection you will need to ensure that you tape over, disable or never throw the two slide controls that would send buses turning off to where there is no roadway!

 

Another cautionary note: If you look closely at the right side of the last image on the second Hobby Search listing [http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10250634], there appears to be a caution (in Japanese) that two buses passing each other on concentric paths can collide. If this is so, it certainly adds to the "operator diligence" required!

 

Rich K.

[JR 500系]

Thanks Rich! That was an impressive write up on the moving system.

 

Could I get the original posting? I was wondering if there were some pictures to look at to get a better idea. I understand the concept of the turnout so, so it means that the buses can only move into the turnout lane, and can't travel straight since there isn't a turnout selector? That would seriously restrict the amount of routing possible to create.

 

I'm waiting for my cross junction to come in so I can experiment more on the possible routing I can plan for. I doubt i'll be able to create any by myself though...

[brill27mcb]

I pretty much copied the original posting in the message above. You can join the Tomix Yahoo group, although it does not have much activity from the present subscribers. All of the pictures I looked at are in the Hobby Search website product listings, either for the intersection (cross junction) or the intersection track set.

 

It's my educated guess that, on the newly announced "Y" and turnout roadways, the bus will simply take the left-hand choice (whether curved or straight) where two routes diverge, following a continuous guidance wire under the roadway that leads to that side.

 

Rich K.

[JR 500系]

Now, I've just received my Tomytec bus junction and is playing with it until...

 

Something seems really weird about the bus when it approaches the junction. Please see a short video I made regarding what I meant:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8VkTX493r8&feature=youtu.be

 

As you can see, the bus struggles over that certain road piece that is susposed to be the new 'stopper' road piece. Some very strong magnet seems to be preventing the bus from moving.

 

Here's a video of what I mean about the magnet from the road piece:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j9ejJTj5aU&feature=youtu.be

 

The thing is, the magnet is susposed to be the stopper for the bus at the junction, but even at 'go' setting the bus looks like it struggles so much to move forward. The motor is not a problem, since I have tried 3 motors and 1 of them is brand new from box. It moves smoothly over the older bus road plates that I have, but the new ones seem really weird and always causes the bus to stall.  

 

Is it something i'm doing wrong here?

 

I attached the instructional booklet that came with the set, but due to my limited Japanese I cannot understand much of it.

 

Would appreciate if someone with the set can assist to explain the problem and possible solution I can deploy to make it work nicely. Thanks in advance!

[cteno4]

im guessing the retainer magnet may be pushed in too far to the road bed and thus grabbing the bus even when in the go position.  does it look like it can be pulled down some from the underside?

 

maybe they got a batch of magnets that were more strongly magnetized than they should be.

 

jeff

[velotrain]

I noticed something interesting in the video that IST posted.  There appears to be a "true turnout" at the top of the layout, with no gap on either line shown in the schematic that alternates with the road surface.  However, for a second or two at the very beginning - which may show the actual wiring, there is a very slight gap on the straight route here.

 

With right-hand running, both the truck and the bus turn left at this location.  The truck is seen approaching this point twice with both vehicles running, but in each case the scene is cut just before the truck gets to the split, so we can't tell which way it goes.