My Layout so far

[Sean]

4 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

Totally prototypical for Japan 😉.

Very much so!  

 

My son loves re-arranging the buildings on our layout and I sometimes have to point out that he hasn't left any space between them for roads, etc.  But his method seems to more accurately capture the reality of this country 🙂

[Sean]

Little video of the city after expanding the elevated train track a bit. Ignore the Hankyu and Meitetsu trains passing each other at the same station, realism isn’t our strong point! Otherwise though I think we are making some nice progress.

 

 

[Sean]

Overall shape of the layout is starting to come into focus.  Kids and I had a busy weekend with it.  Got that single elevated track winding in between a bunch of high rises which I quite like.  Back end is still kind of a rough sketch though.

 

My son really wants a Shinkansen now which this has no place for so we`re starting to talk about expanding it already.....

 

Took another video of it in action too.

 

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Sean

[Wolf]

What are the high rise condos in rhe Background? They look great.

[Sean]

16 minutes ago, Wolf said:

What are the high rise condos in rhe Background? They look great.

Thanks. I bought them a few years ago, they are architectural models made for property developers. I guess once they sell all the apartments they don’t need the models anymore, so they sometimes show up in online auctions. I like the way they let the city skyline get a lot taller than the regular model kits.

[Wolf]

Yes, they do a great job. Also love how they "hide" the back.

 

I will need to keep an eye on these stuff on auctions from now on.

[railsquid]

1 hour ago, Sean said:

Got that single elevated track winding in between a bunch of high rises which I quite like. 

 

I do love me a bit of track between tall buildings. Hope the passengers don't suffer from too much whiplash though!

 

1 hour ago, Sean said:

My son really wants a Shinkansen now which this has no place for so we`re starting to talk about expanding it already.....

 

One of the Akita/Yamagata "Mini" Shinkasen types might work well on that upper loop, especially if shortened to say 5 cars.

[Wolf]

56 minutes ago, railsquid said:

One of the Akita/Yamagata "Mini" Shinkasen types might work well on that upper loop, especially if shortened to say 5 cars.

 

Yeah, I can totally see an e3 or an e6 running there.

[Sean]

11 hours ago, Wolf said:

Yes, they do a great job. Also love how they "hide" the back.

 

I will need to keep an eye on these stuff on auctions from now on.

Yeah, the detail on them isn't great, but they are perfect for that "hiding the background" role too.

 

I bought these on Yahoo Auctions back in 2015 or 2016, I think they do pop up here and there and are worth keeping an eye out for.

[Sean]

11 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

I do love me a bit of track between tall buildings. Hope the passengers don't suffer from too much whiplash though!

 

 

One of the Akita/Yamagata "Mini" Shinkasen types might work well on that upper loop, especially if shortened to say 5 cars.

We make all passengers sign a strict waiver of liability form before boarding that line. Whiplash injuries are common.

 

A mini Shinkansen is a good suggestion that would probably fit on the line, but the only problem is that it would seem out of place with the dilapidated, unmanned rural station that sits on it.  I've got a bit more closet space for future expansion and I'm thinking of (being urged by  my son to) build a big, elevated shinkansen station when we do.  Which I'm fine with if I can make it fit!

 

Also, being the Nagoya boy that he is, he wants a Shinkansen that runs on the Tokaido line!

Edited January 30, 2023 by Sean

[Sean]

Going through some old photos and found these of the N-scale layout my dad and I built when I was a kid, living in Germany at the time.  From the dates on the back of each this details the progress from 1986, 1987 and 1989 (yours truly in the first two photos).   Watching my son re-arrange the buildings and scenery on ours reminds me of me doing the same 35 years ago on this!

 

My dad still has this layout, though its disassembled and in storage now.  Someday it will be re-assembled next to our Japanese layout.  

Edited January 30, 2023 by Sean

[Sean]

Two new updates.  Built a little public park in one corner of the layout which some kids can play baseball in in the shadows of high rises while the trains go by.  I`m rather fond of it already. 

 

And we also picked up an urban scenery backdrop for the wall which is really making that closet look like its got a whole city in it now, which is neat 🙂

Edited January 31, 2023 by Sean

[cteno4]

Excellent Sean, backdrops are super hard to do and come off well. The taller buildings along the back of the layout really meshes with the backdrop buildings effectively! Kudos.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Tom C]

7 hours ago, Sean said:

I`m rather fond of it already. 

Me too 🙂

[Sean]

5 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Excellent Sean, backdrops are super hard to do and come off well. The taller buildings along the back of the layout really meshes with the backdrop buildings effectively! Kudos.

 

cheers

 

jeff

Thanks!  I was lucky to find this one that works well with the buildings I have.  Adds a bit of depth to it 🙂

3 hours ago, Tom C said:

Me too 🙂

Thanks 🙂

[Sean]

Another little in action video with the new scenery. We are proceeding way faster than I thought with this layout, looks like we’re going to need to expand soon.

 

 

[Sean]

Added a forested mountain scenery backdrop to the right side of the layout which ties that end together quite nicely I think. 

[Sean]

Kiddo has been working with me on the scenery almost every day for the past few weeks.  To expand it, since we clearly can't just be done with it,  I'm weighing two options:

 

1) building an expansion off the left side that will lead to a major station with a shinkansen line.

 

2) raising the entire layout and building a subway level underneath it.

 

Option 1 has the advantage of being close to what Kiddo is interested in (Tokkaido Shinkansens), but has the disadvantage of requiring more space than we have.  Option 2 has the advantage of not taking up any more space (major benefit) but is a bit less exciting, especially since there aren't any Nagoya subway sets available.

 

Could do both I suppose.....

[Cat]

Popondetta has some N1000 cars coming out!
https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10869686

Edited February 9, 2023 by Cat

[railsquid]

For those of us in Japan: https://www.1999.co.jp/10869686

 

Tomytec seems to have some as well, e.g.:

• https://diocolle.tomytec.co.jp/product/detail.html?jan=4543736322122
• https://diocolle.tomytec.co.jp/product/detail.html?jan=4543736321996

[Sean]

Oh nice, Higashiyama Sen!  Thanks.

[Sean]

Anybody ever try playing around with those apps which convert photos into oil paintings?  I discovered those yesterday and found that you can spend a ton of time playing around with photos of your layout on them!

 

Highly recommended way to spend an hour.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Sean