Tomytec Building Collection

[cteno4]

Gavin,

 

I've just got them off ebay cheap. At times I lurk auctions while watching tv and find some really cheap, but 200 for $1.50 is pretty good! Take 2-4 weeks to get here. May be a more local source but will be more expensive and take some digging probably.

 

Don't think every building needs to be switched. Maybe by blocks or streets and just power on off the whole power feed to a street.

 

What I like to do though is put more than one led in a structure and wall off a room or two so no light (rarely are all the rooms lit in a building at night). Also putting a pot in for each led so you can dim it just right. These can be glued along a wall inside the structure for easy access when flipped over.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DZ912-2K-OHM-Trimpot-Trimmer-Potentiometer-Pot-Variable-Resistor-RM065-202-x10-/122195890485?hash=item1c73715135:g:K1kAAOSwXeJYDXmJ

 

I am a fan of 5v buss for lighting, not burning up most of the power in resistors then. Just add a 100R resistor to the pot to limit the led when the pot is full off (no resistance). I've gotten tiny smd pots cheap on ebay before in bulk (like 100 for $5) but they are not there cheap all the time.

 

Protyping printed circuit board is great to solder up pots and resistors to and create a power bus along it to feed multiple circuits. Cuts easily with a razor saw or dementia with circular saw blade, but it is fiber glass so the saw dust can be itchy, do outside with gloves and then wash it all off well.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10PCS-5x7cm-Bakelite-DIY-Prototype-Board-PCB-Universal-Breadboard-High-Quality-/200979359499?hash=item2ecb4da70b:g:YQgAAOSwu4BVzaGM

 

Again I find the 30g wrapping wire perfect for wiring up building and buildings to a power bus or all the way back to the control panel if you want at its less than a penny a foot.

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=wrapping+wire+30&LH_BIN=1&_osacat=12576&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xwrapping+wire+30awg.TRS0&_nkw=wrapping+wire+30awg&_sacat=12576

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[kvp]

One remark: Never cut a raster proto pcb if you can help it. Just nicking it with pliers and snapping it is enough. The break will go through the center of the holes. No dust and it's fast.

[cteno4]

Doesn't work so well on the cheap photo pc boards, I tried. Even with scoring I've found they don't always snap along the hole lines. Works well with the nicer green or blue boards and probably worth it to avoid the dust.

 

I get the dirt cheap ones and cheat with the micro table saw and saw them down to the min and sand them on the strap sander. Both are hooked up to a vacuum.

 

Jeff

[gavino200]

 

I am a fan of 5v buss for lighting, not burning up most of the power in resistors then. Just add a 100R resistor to the pot to limit the led when the pot is full off (no resistance). 

 

Thanks Jeff. That's great information. I agree about one block/sector per switch. That would be a lot simpler. Still, room by room control would be fun for playing cops'n'robbers. I'll have to give it some thought.

 

Is that a typo in the quoted text above? Did you mean 100 Ohm or 1000 Ohm?

 

Also, do you by any chance have a picture of one of those mini LED/potentiometer circuits that you make?

[cteno4]

Gavin,

 

100 ohm most white leds are 3 something volts so with 5v supply need to burn 2 volts to limit to 20ma current then is 100 ohms. Then pot in series will pull down to dim it to desired levels.

 

Been meaning to do a little photo workup on this, I'll get one up in the next day or so with some options.

 

Jeff

[cteno4]

Gavin,

 

One other do it yourself connector that is small and cheap is to use 2.54mm pitch PC board connectors. You can get ones you can clip up into however many pins you need. Just solder onto them and then insulate with a little heat shrink.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-5-Pcs-Plastic-2-45mPitch-40-Position-Single-Row-Round-Male-Pin-Header-/252184546296?hash=item3ab75ecbf8:g:VCUAAOSwcBhWVMO0

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3Pcs-40Pin-2-54mm-Single-Row-Round-Female-Pin-Header-Socket-gold-plated-EFU-/401183584465?hash=item5d6867b0d1:g:~xwAAOxyhS9TfWBY

 

The females actually can fit their board pin into the round socket so you can just use females and solder one wire into the female socket on one side if you want.

 

I use the round pin as the square pin version are harder to source female strips you can chop up easily like the round ones.

 

The only issue with these is that they are only good for a few dozen plug/unplugs as they tend to slowly loosen on the female socket, but for things you just need to pull now as then they are great at like 5 cents or less per 2 pin plug pair.

 

Jeff

 

Edit DOH! I thought I had written this up before!

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/11275-pc-board-connector-plugs/?hl=%2B40+%2Bpin+%2Bconnector

Edited April 4, 2017 by cteno4

[gavino200]

Gavin,

 

One other do it yourself connector that is small and cheap is to use 2.54mm pitch PC board connectors. You can get ones you can clip up into however many pins you need. Just solder onto them and then insulate with a little heat shrink.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-5-Pcs-Plastic-2-45mPitch-40-Position-Single-Row-Round-Male-Pin-Header-/252184546296?hash=item3ab75ecbf8:g:VCUAAOSwcBhWVMO0

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3Pcs-40Pin-2-54mm-Single-Row-Round-Female-Pin-Header-Socket-gold-plated-EFU-/401183584465?hash=item5d6867b0d1:g:~xwAAOxyhS9TfWBY

 

The females actually can fit their board pin into the round socket so you can just use females and solder one wire into the female socket on one side if you want.

 

I use the round pin as the square pin version are harder to source female strips you can chop up easily like the round ones.

 

The only issue with these is that they are only good for a few dozen plug/unplugs as they tend to slowly loosen on the female socket, but for things you just need to pull now as then they are great at like 5 cents or less per 2 pin plug pair.

 

Jeff

 

Edit DOH! I thought I had written this up before!

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/11275-pc-board-connector-plugs/?hl=%2B40+%2Bpin+%2Bconnector

 

Thanks. I'm sure those would come in handy sometime. But I'm using magnets for sure on this project. I love magnets.

[Khaul]

I have just found out the Tomytec building collection station and platforms. I did a bit of youtube research to find that

 

 

which led me to that (!)

 

 

and finally that (!!)

 

[gavino200]

These decals are from Tomytec Warehouse B. Can anyone tell me what the characters mean? 

 

[Kiha66]

Not sure about the rest of them, but these ones all say safety first.

[Pashina12]

The yellow one with the crosses says "Always drive safely"

The one below says "restricted height 4.5 m"

The red diamonds say "No open flame"

The big red one above the 'drive safe' one says "No smoking inside"

The single character yellow on black(?) says "Danger"

The red ones sideways, the first one says "Go slowly inside", the second one says "No open flame"

The red vertical one on the bottom right above the 'no person' one says "No open flame".

 

Can't tell the two yellow sideways ones, or the others.

[gavino200]

20 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

Not sure about the rest of them, but these ones all say safety first.

 

Thanks. My wife suggested I use the the google app visual recognition tool. It flips out over the red signs for some reason, but most seem to be related to smoking and fire hazard. I'm surprised. I'd expected them to be company names. I figured I'd try to match the name with the modeled function. I'm not sure I'll use the big signs here at all. I think I'll wait till later and add a credible company logo or something.

[gavino200]

1 minute ago, Pashina12 said:

The yellow one with the crosses says "Always drive safely"

The one below says "restricted height 4.5 m"

The red diamonds say "No open flame"

The big red one above the 'drive safe' one says "No smoking inside"

The single character yellow on black(?) says "Danger"

The red ones sideways, the first one says "Go slowly inside", the second one says "No open flame"

The red vertical one on the bottom right above the 'no person' one says "No open flame".

 

Can't tell the two yellow sideways ones, or the others.

 

Arigato Gozaimas :)

[Pashina12]

Just now, gavino200 said:

 

Arigato Gozaimas :)

 

Douitashimashite!

[Kiha66]

2 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

 

Thanks. My wife suggested I use the the google app visual recognition tool. It flips out over the red signs for some reason, but most seem to be related to smoking and fire hazard. I'm surprised. I'd expected them to be company names. I figured I'd try to match the name with the modeled function. I'm not sure I'll use the big signs here at all. I think I'll wait till later and add a credible company logo or something.

 

One of the most striking differences (to me at least) between Asian and western companies seems to be the lack of company logos plastered over every flat surface.  While in the US every locomotive at least has a large logo on the tender, JNR seemed content to leave most trains rather bare, aside for headmarks and the later small stainless JNR next to the cab on limited expresses.  Most warehouses seem to be have safety writing, but little in the way of company embellishments.  At least from my time there and in pictures I've seen.

[Pashina12]

2 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

 

One of the most striking differences (to me at least) between Asian and western companies seems to be the lack of company logos plastered over every flat surface.  While in the US every locomotive at least has a large logo on the tender, JNR seemed content to leave most trains rather bare, aside for headmarks and the later small stainless JNR next to the cab on limited expresses.  Most warehouses seem to be have safety writing, but little in the way of company embellishments.  At least from my time there and in pictures I've seen.

 

I made this observation whilst studying the South Manchuria Railway, too. Those locomotives that were built in the US all had "South Manchuria Railway" written across the tender when delivered, the ones built in Japan, or at the SMR's Shahekou Works (today CRRC Dalian), or at the Gyeongseong Works in Seoul, didn't have any ownership information on them aside from the road number (which per the numbering system in use automatically identified whether the locomotive in question was owned by the SMR, the Manchukuo National Railway, or the North China Transportation Company; the Central China Railway in the southern portion of Japanese-occupied China didn't seem to have a standardised classification system, and the Chosen Government Railway and the private railways in Korea used a numbering system similar to that of the SMR, but independent of it). Freight cars, however, did carry the company logo of the SMR, MNR, NCTC, or CGR; the CGR was more liberal with the use of its logo - its electric locomotives were marked with the logo, as were the tenders of most of the steam locomotives.

 

It's interesting to note that the logos used today by the China Railways and by the Korean State Railway in the DPRK are both derived from the design of the logo of the South Manchuria Railway.

[Pashina12]

(Sorry for the long off-topic, but I don't often get a chance to talk about the pre-1945 railways in Korea and northeast China/Manchuria - which in broad terms are my primary interest in Asian railways!)

[Kiha66]

Interesting, thanks for sharing!  I wonder if the US locomotive builders painted the new owners name before shipping, without being asked. I should see if the early US built JGR locomotives had something similar done.

[Pashina12]

8 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

Interesting, thanks for sharing!  I wonder if the US locomotive builders painted the new owners name before shipping, without being asked. I should see if the early US built JGR locomotives had something similar done.

 

That would be my guess, yeah, with the builders just doing it as standard practice. It's also interesting to observe how much the American designs ended up influencing locomotive design in Korea and Manchuria/China, despite them also having bought a not insignificant number of locomotives built in the UK, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Belgium. But looking at the railways of Korea and Manchuria in the 1920s through 1940s (and even afterwards through the rest of the steam era), one notes a decidedly American atmosphere. (Indeed, an official of the Erie Railroad, on visiting Manchuria in the 1930s, commented that the railways there were the only ones in the world comparable to those of the US, which 'of course' were the "world standard").

[gavino200]

2 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

 

One of the most striking differences (to me at least) between Asian and western companies seems to be the lack of company logos plastered over every flat surface.  While in the US every locomotive at least has a large logo on the tender, JNR seemed content to leave most trains rather bare, aside for headmarks and the later small stainless JNR next to the cab on limited expresses.  Most warehouses seem to be have safety writing, but little in the way of company embellishments.  At least from my time there and in pictures I've seen.

 

Thanks Kiha. That's really interesting. I think I'll go with the safety messages then.

[bill937ca]

Rolling stock designs are not exclusive to one manufacturer in Japan. You will find several manufacturers building the exact same design frequently.  This is the hand of the transport sector of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the role of the Ministry of Finance in controlling who gets funding.  Industry and government are very close in Japan and get referred to as Japan inc.  Because of the non-confrontational nature of Japanese society this is often very subtle in application. If a company breaks the rules they may be denied a license or permit for no defined reason.  There are very few lawyers in Japan. Overall, this is an element of business culture.

Edited December 3, 2017 by bill937ca

[kvp]

3 hours ago, bill937ca said:

Rolling stock designs are not exclusive to one manufacturer in Japan. You will find several manufacturers building the exact same design frequently. 

Imho this has more to do with standardization by the ordering company. For JGR/JNR, they had an in house design team for standard plans that were given out to suppliers. The Railway Technical Research Institute still exist today.

 

For Europe it was also a norm to use standard stock and buildings. The best known examples are the german Einheitslokomotive designs, but the earlier prussian freight interchange standard made the G10 boxcar a standard design and also set the loading gauge standards for rolling stock in international traffic. Station buildings were also standardised by either the railway companies (good examples are the Austro-Hungarian Southern Railway and the Hungarian MAV) or the local laws (like the local interest /aka. 3rd sector/ railway act of 1880).

 

In Japan, we can see a drifting apart from the JNR standards with the Hitachi A train and the JTREC standard platform creating two similar but non matching industry standards.

 

I wonder if there ever was a JNR station standard? (like standard buildings, track layouts, etc.)

[Pashina12]

Given the number of same/very similar stations on the (old) Aizu line, I'm gonna guess there were standards. 

[gavino200]

This was basically a failure, but I was able to barely salvage it. I have a bunch of buildings that I put together with cyanoacrylate before I got a full dose of train fever. I want to put lights and interiors in them but they're sealed shut. With the bank below, I tried to use "gentle" force, to take it apart. It seemed like it was going to break at the glued seem, but then part of the break went through the side wall. Fortunately, it fits back together fairly seamlessly. But, needless to say, I abandoned that "technique" and won't use it again.

 

I lit this by blackening the non-lit windows. It's barely acceptable, but not ideal. For the next attempt I'll cut out the floor and replace it after doing the interior.

 

BTW this Tomytec bank 'glows' pretty badly if the interior walls aren't painted.

 

Edited January 1, 2018 by gavino200

[cteno4]

Gavin,

 

if you put acc all along the wall edge seams I doubt they will come apart at all gracefully.

 

i would try using a smal router bit in the roto tool to cut out most of he interior of the base. Roto tools are very handy for work like this. Safer than using knives just use eye protection from the flying bits. That should let you in enough to paint or slip in some cut up cardstock to light seal walls. This kind of interior work shouldn’t be tough for your fingers! May have to adapt a few tools and brushes by bending them to do a bit of the ship inthe bottle work, but again your brain is trained well like that better than any of us! Then make a new base plate you can glue or screw into the bottom of the base out of 040 styrene.

 

another idea on the rectangular interior structures would be to cut the hole in the base and just make an interior wall structure just a bit smaller than the interiors. Cut window holes at appropriate places and glue to your new sub base. This way you can light up the new interior structure and just slip the tomytec shell on to it. Easy to keep fiddling with it till it’s just right and easier than trying to do all the work inside the tomytec shell.

 

when I’ve glued tomytec together I usually just put tiny daps of acc in tabs. This hold it pretty well but they pop apart easily then. Actually a drop of about 12” onto a corner and they explode with everything coming apart! Pretty funny, something about the tension in them as the just pressure fit don’t do the same thing.

 

jeff