What did you order or the post deliver? (Japanese N Gauge)

[Densha]

That pic with the Shonan livery and JR Shikoku 115 series and the 223 series is not good for my mental train buying syndrome.

They are exactly the region I also want to model as well... but first Keihan... of which the collection will actually soon be finished because after Tomytec's Grand March 2014 Keihan Ishiyama-Sakamoto Line 600 Series Release Event I'll have four different versions of the Keihan 600, a 2-car 350 series and an 800 series (latter by MicroAce). The Tomytecs will not all be motorized though (I'll switch power chassis' with the 600 series), and I wonder if I'll ever be able to find the TM19 motor chassis for the 350 series. The only Keihan Ishiyama-Sakamoto Line or Keishin Line train left that has a model, the 80 series, is almost impossible to get because it was a limited edition and I don't wanna pay extraordinary prices now.

[katoftw]

I got sick of waiting for Micro Ace to release their 3 car Isaburo-Shinpei train, so I brought this new off Yahoo for 8000jpy:-

 

Edited November 5, 2014 by katoftw

[Claude_Dreyfus]

It has been a while, but I have a couple of new arrivals to report...some newer than others...

 

First up is the latest addition to the Dreyfus stud; a Kato 'Tohoku Emotion' Joyful train. Not the right area for Kanjiyama, but this KiHa110-derived set seems to fit with the overall vibe of Kanjiyama...it also looks pretty!

 

 

Next is something that won't be seen on Kanjiyama...a set of buses for my Tokyo collection; I have it in mind to set my next (or next but one) project in Tokyo.

 

 

Finally, something not Japanese at all. I have a set of Roco Cargowagons, which have been crying out for a loco ever since I got shot of my Kato class '66', which couldn't pull the skin off of a rice pudding. I saw this for sale at our club open day the other week, and was rather taken with it. A very cute little engine, which is a Brawa offering.

 

 

Still to come, a Greenmax class 119 EMU in JNR Iida line blue and white livery. Aside from a motor chassis a good few years ago - long since sold on - I have not had any Greenmax trains, so this will be a first for me. 

 

[Densha]

Oh I like that DB diesel! It's from the Vossloh Gravita series. Pretty cool locos!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Yes, it is a Gravita BB10. A naughty impulse purchase at our club open day the other week. I have a soft-spot for centre cab locos.

[railsquid]

Yes, it is a Gravita BB10. A naughty impulse purchase at our club open day the other week. I have a soft-spot for centre cab locos.

 

Me too, for some reason. Tragically the one I purchased in Germany, a Fleischmann BR 110, failed after a few laps :(

[railsquid]

Finally, something not Japanese at all. I have a set of Roco Cargowagons, which have been crying out for a loco ever since I got shot of my Kato class '66', which couldn't pull the skin off of a rice pudding.

 

 

Is that an issue with that particular model or a general Kato issue? I just realised the only Kato locomotive I have is a DE10, which is not very powerful but then it's a tiny little thing.

Edited November 5, 2014 by railsquid

[JR 500系]

I got sick of waiting for Micro Ace to release their 3 car Isaburo-Shinpei train, so I brought this new off Yahoo for 8000jpy:-

 

!!!  Haha ~ Well at least you didn't have to wait anymore, and it's quite a good bargain at 8000 ~~

 

 

 

Next is something that won't be seen on Kanjiyama...a set of buses for my Tokyo collection; I have it in mind to set my next (or next but one) project in Tokyo.

 

 

Erga bus! My favourite bus! I like the Tokyo Toei colouring, really nice! I've got 2 more sets coming in soon ~~  :)

[kvp]

Generally kato motors are good and the ones with traction tires are even better. However some of the kato class 66-s seem to lack this feature, which i don't really understand, since their european nohab-s have them. On the other hand, the pocket line motors are very light, weak and also lack traction tires.

 

I think i found the problem:

 

Bis zum Produktionsjahr 2008 (10818) waren alle Modelle ohne Haftreifen. Ab 2009 (10819) wurden die Modelle mit 2 Haftreifen ausgeliefert. Ausnahme: Das Exportmodell 66033 hatte ebenfalls keine Haftreifen. Zum Umbau benötigt man 1 x X01-4322 Radsatz mit Haftreifen (2 St.).

The first batch was without traction tires. Exchange wheelsets are required from Kato to upgrade them. That would solve the power problem... :)

[railsquid]

Alles klar... Now if only Bachmann/Graham Farish would offer the same for their British diesels. Dapol too, come to think of it.

Edited November 6, 2014 by railsquid

[miyakoji]

Oh I like that DB diesel! It's from the Vossloh Gravita series. Pretty cool locos!

it's like half a DE10: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:G6_0650_076-9_1.jpg

 

Still to come, a Greenmax class 119 EMU in JNR Iida line blue and white livery. Aside from a motor chassis a good few years ago - long since sold on - I have not had any Greenmax trains, so this will be a first for me.

Looking forward to pics. This has got to be one of the better liveries to exist in central Japan.

[Densha]

Oops was confused about the Gravita. It's not from Vossloh, but from Voith. The new Vossloh locos look very similar though: http://www.vossloh.com/en/press/press_photos/press_transportation/transportation_1.html The Vossloh's are available in different lengths, pretty much like the DD16/DD10/DD51.

This is the Voith Gravita: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voith_Gravita

Edited November 6, 2014 by Densha

[railsquid]

I picked this up out of the bargain bin at Hobbyland Pochi in Shinjuku for 1500 yen with the intention of using it for locomotive surgery practice or whatever other potentially destructive operations occur to me. Worst case - I get a decorative non-runner to grace a scrap line or something.

 

 

I put it on the track, expecting it to grind and wobble or something, and it pulled away like a racehorse. Well, not a racehorse necessarily, but certainly one which enjoys a good gallop every now and again. Mechanically it beats the pants off most of my newly acquired British locos; the only things wrong with it, as far as I can see, are a lack of number plates and other associated gubbins, and some very minor damage to the window trim (visible on the side cab window on the left-hand side).

Hmm. Almost too nice to waste. Turns out it's an EF64-1000 (model 9110), but probably an older version as the roof detailing is not as good as the current model. Hmm, and fitting a DCC coder will not be easy as it's all chassis inside.  OTOH there's a raised section on the roof which clips on and which looks like it could house a small decoder if one were to drill holes for the wires.

Edited November 6, 2014 by railsquid

[JR 500系]

It's so nice to be staying in Japan, fishing out deals on promotional bargain bins in hobby shops.... Envy...

[railsquid]

It's a hard job, but someone has to do it... ;)

 

Meanwhile, some Tomytec building kits courtesy of Japan Railfan Magazine and Mrs. Railsquid who entered the survey competition for me.

 

[katoftw]

Mr EMS says that my Isaburo-Shinpei arrived in Sydney at 13:06 Japan time (same as East Coast Australia time).  Lucky for me, it is Saturday.  So I'll guess it'll sit around until Monday morning. haha

[JR 500系]

A small parcel collected yesterday from the post, from MTP:

 

Reinforcements for my bus fleets! Some trucks, some smaller items, the Yuritetsu train with accompanying motor, and my favourite interior lighting the illumi lights.

 

Also the Tohoku Emotion, a really nice brick printed white diesel!

 

Lastly, very kind of MTP to send me some much holiday trip pamphlets to read and plan ahead! Thanks!

[Densha]

Soo.... how many buses do you have know? ;)

[katoftw]

Soo.... how many buses do you have know? ;)

He lost count at 150!!! :laughing3:

[Sean]

I picked this up out of the bargain bin at Hobbyland Pochi in Shinjuku for 1500 yen with the intention of using it for locomotive surgery practice or whatever other potentially destructive operations occur to me. Worst case - I get a decorative non-runner to grace a scrap line or something.

 

junk-loco.jpg

 

I put it on the track, expecting it to grind and wobble or something, and it pulled away like a racehorse. Well, not a racehorse necessarily, but certainly one which enjoys a good gallop every now and again. Mechanically it beats the pants off most of my newly acquired British locos; the only things wrong with it, as far as I can see, are a lack of number plates and other associated gubbins, and some very minor damage to the window trim (visible on the side cab window on the left-hand side).

 

Hmm. Almost too nice to waste. Turns out it's an EF64-1000 (model 9110), but probably an older version as the roof detailing is not as good as the current model. Hmm, and fitting a DCC coder will not be easy as it's all chassis inside.  OTOH there's a raised section on the roof which clips on and which looks like it could house a small decoder if one were to drill holes for the wires.

 

Nice!  We have a Hobby Land in Nagoya here and I am always rummaging through their bins full of cheap junk engines and cars, but I haven't bought any yet out of fear that they will be dead on arrival.  I might man up and actually try buying one after seeing that yours worked even at that bargain price!

[railsquid]

It was the cheapest one in the box. I tried finding out more about when it might have been made, it does seem to be an older model, from the 90s or earlier. This page shows the restoration of a very similar version which was apparently made around 1984. I took it apart a little today and discovered that the front lights (no rear lights, they're just painted on) are actual miniature filament lightbulbs, not LEDs. I suspect it probably sat unused for many years and never saw much use; it's in pretty damn good condition and runs fantastically.

 

This is what it looks like on the inside (sorry for the poor photo):

 

I suspect I'll have to go out and find one which looks more battered and junky so I can tear it apart without feeling too guilty.

 

As far as these junk bins go, my theory is that there are two kinds of items: genuine junk with some actual damage or missing vital parts; or items which are basically OK but which have been separated from their original set, or are missing their box and additional parts like number plates and decals, and so can't be sold normally.

[katoftw]

Nice!  We have a Hobby Land in Nagoya here and I am always rummaging through their bins full of cheap junk engines and cars, but I haven't bought any yet out of fear that they will be dead on arrival.  I might man up and actually try buying one after seeing that yours worked even at that bargain price!

If you are near Nagoya, then Toy Kings is worth a look also.  They have heaps listed on Yahoo also.

 

http://www.toysking.jp/shop-nagoya.html

Edited November 9, 2014 by katoftw

[JR 500系]

Soo.... how many buses do you have know? ;)

 

Good question... let me see... let me count... 18 buses in 1 case x 6 cases + 5 buses in a box x 5 boxes + 2 buses in a box x 21 boxes + 2 Kato bus = 177~  

 

Not exactly a lot actually..... 

 

 

He lost count at 150!!! :laughing3:

 

Luckily I have more than 150 ~ 

[marknewton]

I've had similar experiences with so-called "junk" on yahoo Japan auctions. One of the Kato D51s I got from there was described as junk simply because it was no longer in it's original box. The seller packaged it in an absolutely beautiful home-made box, and included all the additional parts, numbers and instruction sheet. I'm fairly certain that it had never been run, so I was very, very happy to get it at a very good price.

 

And yes, I kept the box. It was too nicely made to throw away! :)

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited November 9, 2014 by marknewton

[kvp]

 

but I haven't bought any yet out of fear that they will be dead on arrival.

A good trick is to use a 9V block battery or a 9V AA or AAA battery box with bare wires to test locomotives before buying. Just touch the wires to the wheels.

 

On my part, i haven't really found anything that was sold as junk but it was perfectly ok, since rolling stock with missing box and extra parts are usually sold as 'discounted', not in a junk box. However once i did find a whole Z scale train set in a shop off Mariahilfer strasse in Vienna that sold it to me for 10 euros since they had it on the shelf for more than a decade. (turns out it was more than 20 years) That was the only non H0 item in the whole shop.