And so it begins...

[railsquid]

Certainly some interesting developments in your little world, especially the British Railway Museum...although a real one of those requires a rusty tender, a couple of manky mark 1s (one doubling up as a tatty shop selling ancient Lima carriages and triang coal wagons) and some sort of shunter painted in mock-Thomas livery... Still, this is a perfect world; where the locos are clean (and interesting) and the carriages don't smell of mould!

 

Upon closer inspection it turns out that a couple of the Graham Farish MK1s I bought were the older kind with no interior fittings and flat exteriors with no real mouldings and "anti-close" couplings. Which explains why they were so cheap. Won't make that mistake again. I suppose they could be recycled as sufficiently manky static exhibits.

 

Also I am worried that this might become an Anglo-German railway museum...

[marknewton]

Gotta save that one! I really can't understand how people can live with only things like pop music/movies, social networks and other modern 21st century shit. I really, really can't.

I couldn't agree more with you and Jeff. A woman I work with asked me why I'm interested in trains. I responded by asking her why she was interested in a woman whose only claim to "fame" was having a big arse. She quickly changed the subject.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[kvp]

Upon closer inspection it turns out that a couple of the Graham Farish MK1s I bought were the older kind with no interior fittings and flat exteriors with no real mouldings and "anti-close" couplings. Which explains why they were so cheap.

The new ones which look really good are the ones with the 'Graham Farish by Bachmann' text on them. Anything older than the latest version usually has either a printed smooth side or thick walls which looks way too thick around the window frames.

[marknewton]

Yes, I do wonder about 'normal' people sometimes...

As far as I'm concerned we are the normal people.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[railsquid]

The new ones which look really good are the ones with the 'Graham Farish by Bachmann' text on them. Anything older than the latest version usually has either a printed smooth side or thick walls which looks way too thick around the window frames.

 

I have compensated for my error by acquiring a bunch of Fleischmann coaches :)

[ToniBabelony]

I have compensated for my error by acquiring a bunch of Fleischmann coaches :)

 

I think, we, a pal and you and I need to get together on a rental layout and do an international run. Shit'll be out of this world!

[cteno4]

As far as I'm concerned we are the normal people.

Cheers,

Mark.

Normal is in the eye of the beholder!

 

Jeff

[Melandir]

Normal is in the eye of the beholder!

Jeff

Thanks Jeff

 

It was a long time ago since I played it last time

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_the_Beholder_(video_game)

Edited November 1, 2014 by Melandir

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Hmmm...an Anglo German museum. German railways - particularly H0 - is a slippery slope I'm trying hard to resist. Not helped by our club layout - you've just got to love those gorgeous three-wheeled articulated carriages topped of by a BR74.... I have been perving at an N gauge Trix BR74 set in Prussian livery, so cute and working it's magic on the weak-willed.

 

Oh dear, there I go again.

[railsquid]

I think, we, a pal and you and I need to get together on a rental layout and do an international run. Shit'll be out of this world!

 

Sounds like it might be fun :)

 

Especially as I just noticed the Fleischmann coaches are even longer than the Shinkansen ones, which will kind of limit how I can run them on my layout.

[kvp]

Especially as I just noticed the Fleischmann coaches are even longer than the Shinkansen ones, which will kind of limit how I can run them on my layout.

So you managed to get some deutche bundesbahn 26.4 meter coaches? In which paint? (solid, pop or tee?) Yes, those are 1.4 meter longer than the shinkansen standard coach length, but they are less wide, so they should run on most japanese layouts that are shinkansen proof. High platforms won't help tough and protuding low steps might be a problem. The general solution for their length was to shrink them 80% longitudinally, so there were shorty versions made until the 80-ies that are effectively 21 meters long and missing a few middle windows. They are better suited for smaller layouts with sharper curves but still have relative length compared to locomotives and 2 axle coaches. (this way a 4 car + locomotive train could fit into the space of 4 normal length cars or in japanese terms a 3 car + locomotive train will fit into the platform made for a 4 car 203 series emu. (generally they were run on most layouts in the following consist: locomotive, baggage car (optional), first class, restaurant, second class)

Edited November 2, 2014 by kvp

[railsquid]

Paint is the (late?) 80's style Deutsche Bundesbahn two-tone (I forget which era/Epoche that is, but I recall seeing them in the early 90's pre-Deutsche Bahn). They should just about work on the Shinkansen-compatible parts of my layout but they might be too much for my planned "museum" area. Never mind, first world problems and all that. I did nab some DR "Reko" coaches which are much shorter, and a rake of olde-style green 2-axle coaches (which I have actually been on). Anyway I'll no doubt post some photos once I've managed to unpack all this stuff...

[railsquid]

Hmmm...an Anglo German museum. German railways - particularly H0 - is a slippery slope I'm trying hard to resist. Not helped by our club layout - you've just got to love those gorgeous three-wheeled articulated carriages topped of by a BR74.... I have been perving at an N gauge Trix BR74 set in Prussian livery, so cute and working it's magic on the weak-willed.

 

Oh dear, there I go again.

 

I try and limit myself to things I've seen (or have some tangible connection with), and which would have run in roughly the period 1983 - 1993 (without being too pedantic about it), unfortunately as I lived in three countries that still leaves open a wide range of possibilities. I did manage to persuade myself not to buy a Trix ICE 3 at a comparatively reasonable 120 EUR, as that would be a tad too modern.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Likewise, I try to limit myself...to varying degrees of success! Your self-control in the presence of much model railway goodness is to be commended...

 

Should I be surprised some sort of DMU has not made it not your collection - after all you need a special train to serve your museum, a la the Holland Village Express...

 

I take it you are back in Tokyo now...fighting off the effects of jet lag?

[railsquid]

Yup, back in Tokyo. Jetlag not so bad so far; I think it helps having a bag full of trains to play with until my normal bedtime ;).

 

The museum will be based on a private line with sufficient run-around facilities to run loco-hauled trains to and from the connecting J(N)R station. As it's electrified, EMU services (including through-running) will also be available ;) Oh, and there's also the Squid DMU for special shuttle services.

[railsquid]

 The general solution for their length was to shrink them 80% longitudinally, so there were shorty versions made until the 80-ies that are effectively 21 meters long and missing a few middle windows.

 

Interesting; Hornby used to do that with their British OO MK3 coaches.

[railsquid]

So you managed to get some deutche bundesbahn 26.4 meter coaches? In which paint? (solid, pop or tee?) Yes, those are 1.4 meter longer than the shinkansen standard coach length, but they are less wide, so they should run on most japanese layouts that are shinkansen proof. High platforms won't help tough and protuding low steps might be a problem.

 

Just to follow up on this - the DB coaches do actually run fine on my layout, and being narrower they actually have better clearance than the Shinkansen cars.

[Densha]

The general solution for their length was to shrink them 80% longitudinally, so there were shorty versions made until the 80-ies that are effectively 21 meters long and missing a few middle windows. They are better suited for smaller layouts with sharper curves but still have relative length compared to locomotives and 2 axle coaches.

Märklin still does so with (most) of their 1:87 scale trains. I believe the length is usually 1:93 while the other sizes are 1:87. But many other European manufacturers did so with both their N scale and H0 scale trains until somewhere in the '90s.

[railsquid]

So, almost one year from the start of this thread... we have some scenery, embedded in some shelving from a well-known Swedish furniture retailer.

Please excuse the British locomotive, it's inspecting the bricked-up tunnel portals from Tomytec Greenmax TGW Peco, which I found in Poppondetta Shinjuku's junk box much to my delight.

Edited August 3, 2015 by railsquid

[railsquid]

Hello Mr railsquid,

 

So sorry, but yes, I'm pleased to say that the worst you will get from your kids is poo, vomit, and toast jammed into the DVD player.

 

You will learn that sleep deprivation is an excellent form of torture ... but that only goes on until they are 2.

 

Freaky little blighter, this Babysquid chappie. 3.5 months of irregular sleep patterns, then within the space of a week he goes from "will only sleep odd hours in immediate vicinity of a parent" to "9pm - 6am in his own cot in his own room". However my spring drive EF66 is one of the few things which makes him cry, I discovered this weekend.

[cteno4]

LOL squid, those spring drives make many adults cry! glad to hear sleep is now part of life again! sleep deprivation is a horrid torture.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

 

ps baby squid present should be showing up there any day now, sorry for the delay.

[railsquid]

In celebration of its arrival :)

[cteno4]

Hope it still fits! Those little cephelopods grow fast!

 

Jeff

[railsquid]

Gradual progress is gradual.

[miyakoji]

Nice background image, do you know where it was taken?