Toni's Model Train Adventures

[cteno4]

Hey congrats toni! Another mini toni or mini mrs toni?

 

sleep, what’s sleep? 

 

Cheers,

 

jeff

[ToniBabelony]

A pair of Tetsukore Hitachi Dentetsu MoHa 2230 came (motorised and so on) for a very reasonable price as part of tye last running classic cars used for morning rush hour services:

 

 

Currently eyeballing yet another Kotoden 700 series or more ex-Ginza line units, and having another power unit on the way. That should be the final few rolling stock for this project. After that it's about the repainting and detailing, but that can take some time.

[bill937ca]

5 minutes ago, Kabutoni said:

A pair of Tetsukore Hitachi Dentetsu MoHa 2230 came (motorised and so on) for a very reasonable price as part of tye last running classic cars used for morning rush hour services:

 

 

Currently eyeballing yet another Kotoden 700 series or more ex-Ginza line units, and having another power unit on the way. That should be the final few rolling stock for this project. After that it's about the repainting and detailing, but that can take some time.

 

It wasn't that long ago that rolling stock like those were running on minor private railways.  

[Densha]

You're making me want to pick up my own fictional small private railway project again as well!

[ToniBabelony]

22 minutes ago, bill937ca said:

It wasn't that long ago that rolling stock like those were running on minor private railways.  

 

As time is relative, I'm thinking of about the 1990s, which is when I was still in elementary xD that's a long time ago for me! The setting here is however more contemporary where the management got a complete overhaul from conservative/traditional to getting a big financial boost and having a more progressive look for regional development or something like that. Ergo, rapid modernisation with containing some older elements on the go (Kominato railway perhaps inspires).

 

20 minutes ago, Densha said:

You're making me want to pick up my own fictional small private railway project again as well!

 

I can only say it's financially far cheaper and more creative, thus has a bigger satisfactory reward :) you can always drop in some non-fictional trains in the setting on the side.

 

On 09/03/2018 at 8:25 AM, cteno4 said:

Hey congrats toni! Another mini toni or mini mrs toni?

 

sleep, what’s sleep? 

 

Thanks! It's all planning and her mother's love of sleep that makes the newborn sleep long hours in the night. In that regard we're doing fine ;)

[ToniBabelony]

They're so unfriendly to use and hard to install (let alone make), especially compared to Kato ones, but the Tomix TN couplers sure look damn good...

 

 

 

Did I mention that they're a pain to install?

Edited March 14, 2018 by Kabutoni

[Densha]

Are those body-mounted or bogie-mounted TN couplers?

[ToniBabelony]

35 minutes ago, Densha said:

Are those body-mounted or bogie-mounted TN couplers?

 

Yes.

 

Someare bogie mounted and some body mounted. The ones in the focus of these pictures are all bogie mounted, but on thr Kotoden ones, I've installed body mounted as well. The bogie mounted are more obvious and harder to couple, but feel more reliable when coupled.

[ToniBabelony]

I couldn't motivate myself to work due to a lack of sleep, so I decided to couple my fleet even shorter with couple bars instead of TN couplers on the non-cab ends:

 

 

 

It's a process that needs no extra parts, but spacers that you get in the tomytec motorising packs. Just cut the massive Arnold couplers' hook off and slide it in where the coupler first was plugged in after cutting off the lower part of the holder (pictures should make it clear).

 

 

As you can see, the distance is reduced by  2~3mm which makes a difference, but not much. It now looks a little closer to the real thing and I might consider putting in a  diaphragm to increase realism even more.

 

I'm not sure how this performs over curves and points, but I'm sure there are several limitations popping up. For now it's a nice visual feature and I have freed up a few TN  couplers to put at the cab ends.

 

P.s. yes, I know, these trains in reality are coupled by claw couplers in the middle, but eeeeeeh. It's more about intercompatibility between my rolling stock here.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Kabutoni

[kvp]

8 hours ago, Kabutoni said:

I'm not sure how this performs over curves and points, but I'm sure there are several limitations popping up. For now it's a nice visual feature and I have freed up a few TN  couplers to put at the cab ends.

The bogie mounted TN couplers are the absolute minimum for going around sharp curves with diaphragms installed. The body mounted TN couplers have the right mech to automatically increase the distance on curves. The hardest points for non kinematic close coupled sets are the short turnouts as most of them are actually S curves.

[ToniBabelony]

Having taken apart, modified and put back together a few types of TN couplers, I think I know them a little bit...

 

 

Passing through an R140 curve, things look and run fine, though this is the limit of this distance.

 

 

Running through an S-R140 curve is where things get wonky and everything gets messy. However, this is also a very unrealistic type of layout. Even for a railway that runs this type of cars.

 

 

Now, running through a standard S-curve of a PL/R541 set looks fine. I think, if any, I'll be using tighter than R245 curves in hidden areas only. For now, tye focus is on improving rolling stock, rather than building a layout.

[ToniBabelony]

Testing a little setup and my new phone a bit:

 

 

This layout is probably the maximum amount of tracks I can squeeze into a little space. The eventual staging tracks (three on the left) will be extended by an S140 length probably. The platform tracks (two on the right) will remain this length.

[kvp]

6 hours ago, Kabutoni said:

Passing through an R140 curve, things look and run fine, though this is the limit of this distance.

I just see three problems:

- if you had continued the curve (in a say 180 degree arc), then the cars would collide at their corners

- if you keep pushing the cars until the middle of the coupler is right above the middle of the S curve, then the door frames would be next to each other and collide

- if you wanted to add diaphragms (see above), then this car distance would be way too small and also the car distances could vary depending on if the cars are pulled or pushed

 

On the other hand, by using the standard bogie mounted Tomix TN couplers, the cars would go through all curves without problems and still not look as ugly as with the rapidos. Your idea is good, but imho limits the minimal usable radius of the connected sets.

Edited March 28, 2018 by kvp

[ToniBabelony]

I experiment and show results with my findings. Maybe my ideas work, maybe they don't, but I will see via experiments. However, I now remember why I left this forum for a bit. Not just personal life getting in the way, but also prejudice on the basis of limited insight. Maybe I should refrain from posting again and avoid the trouble.

[kvp]

18 minutes ago, Kabutoni said:

Maybe I should refrain from posting again and avoid the trouble.

Not at all. I just wanted to show a few rare cases where the idea might not be the best. If it works for you however, it's good. I don't want to discourage you and i'm sorry if i offended you in any way. So please keep posting!

[ToniBabelony]

Today the last order/win of trains came in to complete my private railway collection. In total there are:

- 5x two car generic commuter trains;

- 4x single car generic commuter trains;

- maintenance train;

- 1x two car heritage unit.

 

 

 

I think this is a nice base for a local/rural private railway operation.

 

One of the single car units can become another ex-Ginza line unit, but for now it's an Eizan 300 type. I'm not sure if I'll keep the Eizan unit, as I don't want to ruin it.

 

So far, all except the undecided single car unit are motorised and have received TN couplers, weights and metal wheels. At some point they'll get matching liveries and a canon will be developed around the company, but for now the collection is complete as it is.

 

P.s. don't look at the pretty colours, but at the form. Those colours will go away and make place for a uniform livery.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Kabutoni

[ToniBabelony]

In an attempt to drop some thoughts on train liveries, I conducted a few studies with the placing of stripes and so on and so forth. Each time I came to the same conclusion that just a simple beige and red combination is best. Simple, effective and easy to recreate.

 

Don't mind that character in the foreground...

 

This livery will be the staple my rolling stock once I have an opportunity to work on them. A more modern look will be developed later for the two flat front units (ex-Nagoya subway 250 series).

[Alejandro_SCL]

On 2/24/2015 at 4:20 AM, Kabutoni said:

Slow and steady.

 

 

Today, I made the first ramp from the middle station to the lower station from some new foam core board. Now, I said I would make the ramps of wide-rail or bridge tracks, but because I'm on a tight budget and will repaint the ballast anyway, the colour doesn't really matter. Maybe even the brown tracks can indicate older tracks and the grey ones an updated/new double track section. Later, retaining walls will be added to this part, as these sections lead into a tunnel.

Hi!!

 

Nice foam curves.  How did you cut them?.