Going Japanese!!!

[Pauljag900]

Thanks jeff,the lead shot idea is more or less the same way as I was thinking of doing it.i ve just been admiring the jrm layout,AGAIN,

I d love to think that one day mine could look something like that,it s awesome!

[kvp]

Adding weight helps with pickups. Using a pwm based speed controller helps with slow speed running. Painting the weights black helps to hide them. Actually i always paint the shiny metal weights that come with tomytec motors black before installing. If you don't want to mess up the tram's shell, just use double sided tape. It keeps the weights in place but can be removed without damaging anything. One warning tough, lead weights hate any kind of water based glue and will rust and expand, often breaking the shell they are glued into.

[Pauljag900]

Hi ,thanks for that info mate,I did nt know that about the water based glue,the tape is a great idea.

The controllers I use are hammant and Morgan,they have nt been made for about twenty years so can only be obtained second hand.

However,in their day they were considered to be the rolls Royce of controllers and are virtually bomb proof!i have six in total,they have a half power switch and a high/low frequency switch which is designed for better control at low speed.

To be honest mate I m not sure wot a pwm controller is,probably just called something else over here! Ha ha

[ozman2009]

Another option for weights is to use lead tape. Tennis players and golfers use it, so you should be able to find it in sporting goods shops.

[Pauljag900]

Cheers mate,we ve got a sports shop close by so I ll give it a try

[railsquid]

Well it's a combo of both really! Your issues and results may vary! As seen by squid not having as many problems with his on his setup.

 

 

Just to confirm - my version works very well on my layout, which is a temporary setup consisting of a mix of Kato/Tomix track, 243mm minimum radius and curved gradients. There is one spot which is electrically a bit dodgy and causes some mightier vehicles to stutter or stall, which the masters just fine. It zips around at a comically unrealistically high top speed.

 

I haven't tested it on smaller radius tram tracks yet, though I have now aquired some.

[Pauljag900]

I m running mine on tomix wide tram track and a combo of 140mm and 177mm radius,I do have some 103 mm as well but it really struggled on that,even tho plazzajapan said it would be ok.That's one of the reasons I thought it may be binding on the track .I would just like to add that it s only a problem at slow speed,at normal or fast it s fine,maybe I m being a bit critical and expecting too much from a cheap tram.Another reason I thought it may be was kato tram on tomix track? So my next move was to buy a tomix tram or rail us to see if that made a diference,I suppose it's like jeff said and a combo of things,but at the moment mine seems to be fine with the extra weight on it,mind you it looks a bit daft running around the layout with two coins fastened to the roof!! I must sort it this week!

[Pauljag900]

Just in case anyone is interested here s a few pics of how it all began.In 2002 I went to work in Hamburg,Germany and I visited minature wonderland,I saw a model fairground and I vowed that one day I would make one.THat day came in may 2011,I d made a few model kits when I was younger but nothing on this scale,I knew nothing about voltage,ac or dc,wiring,soldering,leds,i went into it completely blind.But with the help of the internet and lots of mistakes I got there,two years later this was the finished layout in ho/oo. I put it into a glass case with the switches on the outside so my grand children could play with it without causing any damage.

By this time I had well and truly got the bug so I sold it on eBay to fund my next project,a simple double oval train layout,my main aim was to try my hand at scenic stuff,it's far from perfect but I think it turned out ok.it s got an oval on the bottom with a small goods train on it and a figure of eight above it with a three car dmu on it,so basically it's on three levels.The grey area is where the fairground will be when I get around to doing it.This one is n gauge and lives in my shed in the garden.

This is also in a glass case for the same reason as the fair.the model underneath in the photo is an ho model of a town square with shops bars and restaurants around the outside with a carnival and fair in the middle and is called "just a fun day in town".

Once the train layout was done I decided I really wanted to do something different and came across the street trams and then the Japanese railways,having seen a few on YouTube I decided that's what I was going to do.its now got a bit out of hand as I m completely hooked! I ve very little space in the house so decided to do the tram layout and to keep it fairly small and then incorporate it into a larger layout in time.

Next summer I m having a log cabin built in my garden 16ft x 12ft and it will be purely for my layouts.

Sorry if I ve bored you all,just thought I d share my experience of the introduction into the world of modelling! Ha ha

[railsquid]

Interesting, thanks for the background :)

 

Meanwhile I've acquired some 177mm radius Tomix tram track, so gave the Kato tram a quick try-out on that and yes, it does seem to "stick" or "bind" a bit on the curve in a way bogied stock doesn't. Nothing too dramatic, but I can't imagine it working so well on the smallest radius curve.

[Pauljag900]

Mine is running on the inside oval of the two and has a combination of 140mm and 177mm curves,I have to say that it s definately better with the extra weight on it.I m not so sure I d use the tomix again,I think I d be inclined to use kato train track and then try to cover it myself with a thick card or thin plastic painted grey.

[Pauljag900]

Happy new year everyone,Santa was kind enough to bring me a few models for Xmas so thought I d post an update.i decided to stick with the German themed village on a Japanese layout.the models were for the two sides mainly,I have just ordered the last five for the small plazza area in the middle,the next step will be to add some detailing to it all and then finally the small fairground on the grassed area.

Once finished I intend to start the Japanese train sections.I ve decided that as the tram is separate I m going to make the train layout in a further two sections and bolt them all together.

I m going to use kato v11 on one module,maybe adding in the smaller v14 later,and kato starter set m1 basic oval on the other,giving me a kato transformer for the operation of points etc which I ll add to both modules.once these are laid in place I m going to use kato v13 viaduct trAck to run around the tram layout.module one,v11 will be laid flat and will basically be the Japanese village/town area,m1 oval will be laid on a raised area with hills and tunnels etc,I ll work out how to run one into the other when I get there hopefully!

The trains I have chosen are as follows,

Elevated Viaduct track- kato 10-510 and kato 10-1136

V11-kato 10-847 and kato 10-1224

M1 kato 10-1145 glacier express

If anyone has these trains or knows of any reason why I should nt use them I d be gratefull for any info,good or bad.

That's the grand plan anyway guys,any advice will be very gratefully recieved,paul

[katoftw]

I think the trains listed are fine to use.

 

The Yokohama 8 car set is alot longer than all the other sets you are planning on using.  And you'll never get to use all 8 cars with your current track plans.  Maybe a E233 4 car set from Tokaido or Takasaki/Utsunomiya Lines could be supplemented.

 

The Kato JR500 is not DCC friendly.  Dunno if that makes any difference to you or not.  All others are DCC friendly.

[Pauljag900]

Hi mate,thanks for your reply,I ll bear that in mind before I buy it,being a relative novice I do nt know a great deal about dcc so it's not that important at the moment,but that's not to say I wo nt have it in the future.

[kvp]

I would only add that it's worth to get the close coupler pack for the Glacier Express and the dedicated station looks great with the train.

 

DCC is not really important for the track setups above. There are no turnouts, no space to run more than one train on a loop, so using plan old DC (with separate controllers for each loop) is perfectly fine. Imho, with the current track plans, there is not much space to expand the layouts later either, so the only possible operation seems to be go around for each loop.

[Pauljag900]

Thanks for that mate,I ll bear all that in mind,I m limited to the width be coz the log cabin is only 3metres wide,but I could extend the sides up to about 3.5 metres on one side and 5 metres on the other,the plans I ve chosen initially are just a starting point really mate,and it may all change once I get started,I m sure you know what I mean,ha,ha

[Pauljag900]

My proposed layout(once I get my summerhouse built) the "train" layout is a small English layout,the tram is the model I m working on at present and the pics of kato track is where my Japanese layout will be,I ll try and combine all three together using scenic materials.

[cteno4]

Paul,

 

great, looks like a bit more room here. perhaps try to fit the track into an L shape to merge with the tram layout on the left. will give you a much more interesting shape and room along the back of the viaduct to do a longer station to maybe get in 8 car trains. would be fun to have the tram side scene integrated to the japanese layout, that end of the tram layout is japanese!

 

the longer you can get the ground and viaduct track runs and to get out of the oval shape will really help things be more fun running and look better. maybe eventually extend the tram over into the japanese train layout?

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Pauljag900]

Cheers jeff,the other option I thought of was to have the tram running length ways across the back and to run the viaduct track over it but it's difficult to picture/measure it out without any track so I ll wait now till I actually have some to try,paul

[Pauljag900]

Hi guys,can anyone tell me the overall width of the kato viaduct track including the viaduct ? I can t seem to find it anywhere,only the lengths and radius,many thanks

[katoftw]

65mm from memory

[Pauljag900]

Cheers mate

[cteno4]

Double viaduct is 77mm to the outside of the viaduct walls.

 

Jeff

[Pauljag900]

Cheers jeff

[katoftw]

Jeez I was way off.

[Pauljag900]

At least you made the effort,ha ha,no probs mate,I had it in my head to add 6 inches overall to the baseboard to allow for it,no idea where that came from so just wanted to be sure,thanks mate