Hey Everyone

[RavenMaster]

G'day everyone at JNSForum!

 

Long time lurker here and I've finally decided to join the forums, now that I've decided to take up model railroading. Suppose I should tell you a bit about myself... My name is Rhece (RavenMaster, I know is a terrible screen name!), I'm 22 years old and I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I've only just recently decided that I'd like to get into collecting and running Japanese Trains, but I'm pretty excited about it.

 

I've been to Japan twice now, first was last November and I just came back from my second trip a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't all that interested in trains before hand, but absolutely fell in love with the rails in Japan. I guess it was how diverse the models are between different regions, how they ran like clockwork and the sheer speed the Shinkansens run at. I caught a ton of different trains on my most recent trip and even caught the E5 series Hayabusa train with the E6 series Akita train, which is what I was most excited about and loved it. (That's me in my Avatar btw :D)

 

I went to the Yodobashi in Akihabara when I was there and bought a Kato E5 Hayabusa (3 Cars) as well as the Add-On set A for it, so 6 cars all up. I also bought a set of 6 LED lights and have installed those. The only track I have at the moment is the M1 Starter set, I bought that here since we run on 240V and it had the Australian power plug for it, I just didn't want to worry about power issues with the train.

 

I'll be getting a more permanent layout together very soon, hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll start getting bits and pieces coming in. I have a room out the back of my house where I'll be able to set the layout up. I measured the space before and I'll be able to get a layout of around 1.5m x 3m in there, so a bit of room to work with, plus I'd also if possible like to get some city/Tokyo scenery in there as well. I've been checking various sites and of course here as well and the layout I've decided I'd like to have a go at is this:

 

Thoughts/suggestions are most welcome!

 

Thanks for reading, hopefully I get to know some of you a bit better in the near future. I took a ton of pics when I in Japan so if anyone would like to see them, Rails or otherwise, I'm more than happy to post them up!

 

Cheers,

- Rhece (RavenMaster)

[bikkuri bahn]

Welcome to the forum.  Glad you have chosen trains as your new hobby, and even more because of what you saw in Japan Please post some of your favorite train pics, as well as ask any questions you may have.

[Densha]

Hi Rhece! Welcome to the forum!

 

As for your layout, you might want to take a look at these cool realistic Kato track before getting the old style track for your layout: http://www.katomodels.com/n/unitrack_v11/

The V11 and V13 sets fit in your space and have much wider curves=more realistic curves for high speed trains. The V16 set may also fit but it's a bit cramped for your space, I think...

Not to forget this awesome (but quite expensive) Kato station sets: http://www.katomodels.com/product/nmi/unitrack_v15.shtml

[Ochanomizu]

Hello Mr Rhece,

 

Please allow me to provide some basic information as you embark on this rather expensive hobby.

 

First: my suggestion is to learn also about Tomix track.  It is a competitor to Kato.  Many of us prefer.  Cross section is more realistic.  You can read in English here: http://www.trainweb.org/tomix/.  Please consider also this page: http://www.quinntopia.com/2009/09/fleischmann-tomix-and-kato-roadbed.html  Mr Quinntopia is a member here.

 

Second:  Member Keitaro is from Australia but lives in Japan.  He has online shop called http://loco1hobby.net/.  His price is competitive even for local shopper.  I suggest you make contact with him.

 

Third: If you choose Kato brand and make the suggested layout please make following changes to enable running of shinkansen models: minimum radius of curve is R315, and lengthen layout to accommodate 8-car train at station.  Approximate station need to be 1.3m.

 

Fourth: I recommend purchase of current Kato and Tomix model catalog before committing to brand of track.

 

Finally, HobbySearch website provide much information about product however price is not competitive.  Please review here: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/rail/

[RavenMaster]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, suggestions and links!

I'm not committed to any one brand or layout just yet so I'm still going to do my research and decide what I think will be best for my needs etc.

 

For those interested, here are some of the better pics I took on holiday. Nothing special and I'm no pro photographer, but it was fun to do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

[E6系]

Hello Mr RavenMaster,

 

Welcome to forum.   I am also fan of E6系.  It is best shinkansen ever.  I think so.

 

I present you good English website for information about Tomix.  But I am not author: http://jtrains.wordpress.com/tag/tomix-track/

 

Please enjoy the exciting hobby of Japanese model railway.

[westfalen]

Good to see another aussie, there are a few of us here. Once you've been bitten by the bug there's no escape, I was taken with the Japanese railways during my first visit in 1990 and now I'm planning my eleventh trip in November.

 

Good photos. I saw an E5/E6 combination heading north on a test run from my hotel window in Furukawa last November but never got to see one up close.