And so it begins...

[railsquid]

Looking good! You just need the black and white photo of your layout shot to make it look identical. I get satisfaction trying to replicate a scene from a photo. Hence none of my modules will ever likely look like they belong next to each other.

 

Quick'n'dirty filter-and-flip:

 

 

Not trying to replicate the original exactly, but it provided some inspiration.

 

Hmm, seeing the layout mirrored provides a refreshing perspective.

[railsquid]

Meanwhile, in a bid to increase income, railway management has started renting out space opposite the platform for advertising hoardings.

 

[railsquid]

By a freak of topography, this innocuous level crossing is the meeting point of many routes from different parts of Japan, and highly-complex through-running arrangements mean the oddest combinations of trains can be seen.

 

[JR 500系]

Nice! May I ask what is that train? It looks Kintetsu - ish, but I cant make out the JNR colouring to it...

[railsquid]

It is indeed Kintetsu - a 15200 series, rebuilt from a 12200 series as an excursion train (団体専用車), which might just about explain its presence. Bought it mainly because I wanted something from Greenmax and it was cheap and I liked the look of it.

 

The Kiha 40 in the background is migrating south from Hokkaido for the winter ;)

[nah00]

What do you use to adhere the crossing piece between the rails? Just white glue?

[railsquid]

Gravity :D

 

They actually stay in place quite well by themselves. I might add a blob of the stuff known in Japan as "Hitsukimushi" and in the UK as "Blutack" to prevent movement without actually gluing them.

[katoftw]

Glue it down.  You might get a 6.5 shake and it'll fly off and poke you in the eye.  :icon_smile:

[cteno4]

Blue tack, the duct tape of the museum world! (Well actually the archival stuff is sometimes green).

[railsquid]

Glue it down.  You might get a 6.5 shake and it'll fly off and poke you in the eye.  :icon_smile:

 

I'd be more worried about concussion from the box locomotives flying off the shelf above.

[railsquid]

Though come to think of it, the same type of shelf - Ikea Ivar, 30cm deep - withstood the 2011 quake (registered intensity: 5+ at the location) very well, despite being on the 7th floor of a steel-framed building, and despite not being secured in any way. You could see how the books had moved from side-to-side, but nothing much fell off.

[katoftw]

I'd be more worried about concussion from the box locomotives flying off the shelf above.

Glue the box down too. :P

[railsquid]

Anyway, how about some freight for a change?

 

[railsquid]

Another day, another photo - finally got some road markings down:

 

[katoftw]

Silly question.  should those school markings be on both sides of the road?

[railsquid]

The green markings aren't specifically school-related (although they happen to be on the same Kobaru sheet as the school zone markings), just generic pedestrian strip markings on busier roads not quite wide enough to have barriers. On one side only because the road is quite narrow.

[Kabutoni]

Actually, the green markings do imply a 'school zone', which marks a major route for (mainly elementary) children to walk to and from school in the morning and afternoon. During certain times, a special traffic law is to be abided here and school crossing patrol officers (midori no ojisan/obasan) watch over the children and traffic.

 

For example, in our neighbourhood, this is between about 07:45 to around 08:10 and when classes are out (depending on the day). From time to time, traffic police are also monitoring on hazardous spots. At busy pedestrian crossings there are also spots with yellow flags for older children to take when they are leading a group across the road.

[railsquid]

Oh, I stand corrected. I wasn't able to determine any particular pattern from the markings in my local area.

[Kabutoni]

Oh, I stand corrected. I wasn't able to determine any particular pattern from the markings in my local area.

 

They appear also near nurseries and other places that are frequented by young children, like community centres and so on.

[railsquid]

Upon further reflection I'll stand by my original statement - most of the streets around my station have these green markings, but most of them aren't school routes (i.e. don't have the green "文" signs on utility poles).

 

A bit of investigation produces this PDF:

 

http://www.npa.go.jp/pdc/notification/koutuu/kisei/kisei20140128.pdf

 

according to which they're a recommendation by the NPA to better highlight pedestrian strips, pretty much anywhere where it makes sense (see pages 4 and 5):

 

a ゾーン30、あんしん歩行エリア、コミュニティ・ゾーン、生活ゾーン、

スクール・ゾーン、シルバー・ゾーン等の区域内の道路
b 生活道路並びにモール及びアーケードが設置されている道路
c 市(区)民センター、小学校、公園等の公共施設の周辺道路又はこれらに

接続している道路
d 上記以外の道路で、歩行者、自転車利用者等の保護のため、効果の認めら

れる道路

 

So can imply a school zone, but not necessarily.

 

Thinking about it, these must be a fairly new development.

[Kabutoni]

Ah thanks for that. It seems then, it's up to every city/district/area to apply these zones accordingly, so you can go all out on your own version in 1/150! :D

 

P.s. these are about the only (major) road markings in our neighbourhood. Most streets don't even have the space for pedestrian areas and/or space to have a sedan make a turn! A friend of mine even has to take a detour when he wants to put his fat Crown Majesta in our street...

[railsquid]

Yup, seems to vary by location. Neither the school or the kindergarten close to our house have these in the immediate vicinity, I suspect they get added when roads are renewed.

 

Looking on Google's handy street view facility they've been around here since at least 2009, but in the next district over appear more recently. I'd better make up an alternative version of that strip of road sans green strip if I want to pretend it's a couple of decades ago :D

[katoftw]

On one side only because the road is quite narrow.

I think that is the point of being on both sides on narrow roads.  Traffic looks to be bi-directional on the road you have the pedestrian road surface marking on.

 

They are quite new yes.  Many regions do not have them.  Fukuoka for example got there first in 2014.

 

Edited February 3, 2016 by katoftw

[railsquid]

I think that is the point of being on both sides on narrow roads.  Traffic looks to be bi-directional on the road you have the pedestrian road surface marking on.

 

A road can be bi-directional with the pedestrian area on one side only. Here's one not far from Chez Railsquid:

 

https://goo.gl/maps/ktTx8D1qnyH2

 

(Streetview)

Edited February 3, 2016 by railsquid

[katoftw]

Well there you go.  Thanks.  Hadn't seen them on one side only before.