And so it begins...

[railsquid]

I could have told you the model number if you wanted, but I guess it's more fun that way :D

 

I must admit I wasn't too thrilled about it but it's growing on me - it's very nicely detailed and one of those objects whose presence even in a simple scene lends the whole a certain degree of plausibility.

[beakaboy]

adds weight to the subject! ( metal bus!!!)HaHa!

[railsquid]

I'm die(cast)ing with laughter...

 

Meanwhile back at the Planning Department, a German station pops up:

german-station by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Intended to be a very freelance homage to Berlin's Stadtbahn, and indirectly its Tokyo cousin.

 

For those taking notes, the concrete viaduct visible at the rear extends rightwards from the Shinkansen station on the previous photo.

[Densha]

Could very well be in Tokyo indeed: https://www.google.nl/maps/@35.6970823,139.770895,3a,75y,271.23h,89.11t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFmIgFUkS-QgApkIX5pCnBQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DFmIgFUkS-QgApkIX5pCnBQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D28.947157%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

[railsquid]

The similarity is not entirely coinincidental, the one was inspired by the other.

 

http://japanin.berlin/teleportation-zwischen-s-bahn-boegen-in-berlin-tokio/

http://www.tokyostationcity.com/en/tsc/history/

[Densha]

Hmm... interesting. We also have a similar viaduct in the Netherlands in Rotterdam, opened in 1908. It's been 10 years since the last trains ran on this line, but the structure is still intact, although largely in an ugly state. A small part has been renovated though. Big chance that it was also based on the Berlin S-Bahn Bögen.

[railsquid]

Hmm... interesting. We also have a similar viaduct in the Netherlands in Rotterdam, opened in 1908. It's been 10 years since the last trains ran on this line, but the structure is still intact, although largely in an ugly state. A small part has been renovated though. Big chance that it was also based on the Berlin S-Bahn Bögen.

 

Looks kind of similar, but it's two-track and made from reinforced concrete rather than brick. I think the common factor between the Berlin and Tokyo viaducts, apart from the similarities in construction, is that they're both strategic projects build through their respective city centres to create a through-route between existing "legacy" terminus stations, and both have separate lines for local and long-distance traffic.

[bill937ca]

Looks kind of similar, but it's two-track and made from reinforced concrete rather than brick. I think the common factor between the Berlin and Tokyo viaducts, apart from the similarities in construction, is that they're both strategic projects build through their respective city centres to create a through-route between existing "legacy" terminus stations, and both have separate lines for local and long-distance traffic.

 

There is a good reason for this.  Recently I saw a video with a brass plate on a pier naming a German civil engineering company. I knew of British involvement in Japanese railways but wasn't aware of the German angle. Franz Baltzar was a German railway engineering, born 1857 and died 1927, who designed  the central Tokyo rail network includng the Chuo line, the crisscross at Akihabara and Tokyo Station. His plan for Tokyo Station was rejected as too Japanese, a sign of the times. More info in Wikipedia. 

Edited June 13, 2016 by bill937ca

[railsquid]

The world's shortest and most-badly lit Shinkansen station.

 

shinkansen-station-inside by Rail Squid, on Flickr

[JR 500系]

Kinda cool really squid ~ The thing is you need some yellow tapes to mark the Tomix platforms. The bad thing with Tomix platforms are they never come with the Yellow Line which is so evident and important of a station platform...

[cteno4]

Yakuza only stop...

 

jeff

[railsquid]

Kinda cool really squid ~ The thing is you need some yellow tapes to mark the Tomix platforms. The bad thing with Tomix platforms are they never come with the Yellow Line which is so evident and important of a station platform...

 

It's on the todo-list :D I'm just mocking things up at the moment to see how they fit together and plan things like wiring. I'll probably paint those platforms as they look very plasticy and shiny.

[railsquid]

And finally it goes round and round:

 

Just a quick mockup for planning purposes.

[JR 500系]

Oh wow looking nice Squid! A perfect round now!

 

Again I would like to ask about, the onboard train camera? These N scale 'Front View' videos are quite interesting to watch!  :)

[railsquid]

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, it's a cheap USB camera which writes to a micro-SD card. I just mount it on a flat wagon and push it round the layout with a suitable loco:

 

 

Now I just need to plan this very carefully so I don't model myself into a corner in terms of wiring, accessibility etc. To complicate things the layout will be split ca. 50/35/15 between Japanese, British and German sections. And a bit of tramline so I can run the Keihan 800 on-street. There are also plans for an underground station if I ever get that far :D

Edited June 26, 2016 by railsquid

[railsquid]

Random scene

random-scene by Rail Squid, on Flickr

[railsquid]

Meanwhile, back at the drawing board, ideas have been emerging on how to connect the existing high-level town with the new lower-llevel one; a few minutes with some scissors and old cardboard produced this (sorry about the blurred pictures but you get the idea).

 

A narrow, steep but two-lane road curves down from the upper level, heading towards a bridge, where it's joined by an even narrower road snaking up from the town, lined with a typical mix of grotty mainly Showa-era buildings, overlooked by an onsen:

 

road-incline-1 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

In this less blurry view, the road bridge will lead to a level crossing over the main running lines:

road-incline-2 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Unless I make a hole in the wall the road won't lead anywhere, but it will be straddled by the a bridge carrying the line down from the upper level, and it will be in a corner not visible from normal viewing angles, so should be easy enough to disguise. The road bridge will hopefully make the lower-level tunnel portals less prominent, which will help disguise the geologically implausible combination of tunnels on two adjacent levels.

 

Finally, another blurry shot looking upwards from the lower end:

road-incline-3 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Buildings, orientation and placement subject to change. I'll implement this as removable segments on styrene blocks as it's easier to work on, and to provide access to the track in the tunnels behind.

[Bernard]

You must be having a blast making your layout! I enjoyed taking a virtual ride on it with the on board camera.

[cteno4]

Squid,

 

Great cardboard prototyping! That's the way to suss out ideas!

 

Jeff

[railsquid]

Playing around with space and perspective - here a local shotengai leading up to a local station.

 

shotengai-mockup by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

(I am very taken with the Diocolle bathhouse btw, especially as it only cost me 500 yen ;) )

 

Note: one of the building signs was attached for the benefit of the Japanese-Australian community ;) ;)

Edited July 7, 2016 by railsquid

[beakaboy]

Just a quick mockup for planning purposes.

I like the line ending at about 1:37 on this video test run. A great place to send all your British locos! LOL!

[railsquid]

If you mean the station visible in that bit of the video, it will indeed be a British station (inspired by Moor Street station in Birmingham) to provide somewhere for my British stuff to feel at home. For added fun the next station along will German :D

[railsquid]

Oh I guess you mean the bit where the outside track ends hanging in the air... just a temporary "feature"...

[railsquid]

A bit more mocking-up/planning combined with a teensy bit of actual construction:

 

rear-left-overview by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

This corner is pretty much the lynchpin upon which the rest of the layout depends so need to get it right, starting with the middle level (with the brown coaches), for which I've started making a plywood elevated section to curve under the IKEA shelf towards the front of the layout.

[railsquid]

And some more actual construction work:

elevated-station-approach-construction by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

This is the plywood plate visible in the shot in the previous post, now actually supported by supports of appropriate height, rather than 100 yen shop wooden boxes.

 

While doing that it occurred to me that I had a Kato signal box/station platform office (23-315) knocking about, which would be a great way of filling half of the Tomix plate which was otherwise empty to prevent trains coming out of the curve fouling the platform. I'll need to do a cut-and-shunt job on the Tomix end platform to create a half-length segment.

Edited July 10, 2016 by railsquid