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

[HantuBlauLOL]

This?

Looks like the whole JR is selling all of their trains.

[katoftw]

 

I'm having good luck with Yahoo at the moment. Just won a auction for a Series 321 Kobe/Kyoto Line 10-1121 + 10-1122 3 + 4 car sets for 8,800 yen. Both new. Well under the list price of around 19,200 combined or up to 10-15% cheaper from retailers offerings.

 

880 yen 10% purchase fee + 200 yen bank fee + 872 yen shipping to kanto region. Then EMS cost from Tokyo to Australia to be added onto that, but still well cheaper than buying from regular avenues.

 

Should cost me somewhere around the 13,000 yen region in total shipped to my door. So about 6,000 yen cheaper than normal avenues.

 

And since the AUD vs JPY is at an 15 month high, the deal is looking sweeter.

EMS shipping ended up being 2400. So all up cost me 12,952 yen shipped to my door. Not bad for 19,000 yen + shippings worth of train Edited November 21, 2014 by katoftw

[railsquid]

Definitely a good time for anyone purchasing at Yen prices from outside Japan (OTOH I've now suspended any overseas purchasing activity as my CC is Japanese and the conversion rate is too painful).

[katoftw]

Yup, when I started collecting middle of last year, it was 88 yen to 1 aussie dollar. Currently sitting at 102 yen.

Edited November 21, 2014 by katoftw

[JR 500系]

Yes! It just made buying a lot sweeter! More excuses to get more!

 

Just ordered quite a bunch of trains....

 

Now i'm seriously thinking about the 100th Anniversary Yamanote... I never have a full set of the most famous loop train in Japan, and what makes this even sweeter is it is painted (painted train fan here) and of course it's made by Tomix (Tomix biased decision)... And now the yen...  

 

BUT... Wonder if that will hold up till March as pre-orders only get paid off when the stock releases.... not now... 

[katoftw]

Depends on how deep Japan slips into recession. This could only be the start.

[Martijn Meerts]

Got the new Tama train a while ago, along with the required items to motorise it. Only have 2 more locomotives on pre-order now, seems this 'not buying new trains and concentrate more on buying DCC stuff and layout stuff' idea is working for now :)

[railsquid]

The yen is back in the low part of the dollar/yen cycle and will probably remain that way for a couple of years until the markets decide that Japan is less bad than the USA and rush to buy yen again...

[kvp]

This situation was artificially created by the japanese government to boost exports. Well, i think it worked, since we do buy more japanese trains...

 

ps: I'm almost finished with assembling the Tama and Ichigo trains, because i did buy them too. (the new cat eared version is just too cute, so i couldn't resist getting it and got the ichigo to have at least two sets from the Kishigawa line)

[Sascha]

I know I said no more trains till after my Japan vacation, but I didn't had a choice.Got the MicroAce A7370 Keisei Skyliner.Got it for $120 inc shipping. NEW!!!  :laughing6:    :laughing6: 

Edited November 21, 2014 by Sascha

[spacecadet]

This situation was artificially created by the japanese government to boost exports. Well, i think it worked, since we do buy more japanese trains...

 

Everything in terms of currency is artificially created. Currency itself is an artificial creation; it's only worth anything because we all agree it is. My point being when it was 76 yen to the USD, that was artificially created too. The Japanese government at that time wanted a strong yen; now the current government wants a weak yen. We're benefiting now, so it all evens out.

 

The yen in the 1980's was in the 250 range, so it's still incredibly strong by historical standards.

 

My 100 series shinkansen set arrived along with my close couplers for my 0 series. The 100 series looks and runs great; no complaints at all except for the way they broke up the set (I bought the 6 car basic set + 2 car add-on to make an 8 car train, but the 2 cars you get with the add-on don't really fit in well with the 6 in the basic set). Installed the couplers in the 0 series last night and they look marginally better but there's still a big gap between cars. I wish somebody in Japan made some kind of generic between-car side "skirt" that you could just stick on to sets like this. It seems to me that most shinkansen trains have a similar setup between cars, with that aerodynamic enclosed skirt (or whatever it's called). The 100 series set does model this with kind of a spring-loaded combination diaphragm/skirt even though it seems to be an even older set judging by the model number (10-354 vs. 10-453). It surprises me that I can't seem to find something like that in the aftermarket.

[kvp]

 

 I wish somebody in Japan made some kind of generic between-car side "skirt" that you could just stick on to sets like this.

The shinkansen way requires space inside the cars so the connecting pieces can move back inside in curves. Personally i prefer the Tomix way of using close couplers on normal stock, so the standard gangways touch fully in straight position and open only on the outer side in curves. This can be added to many older cars and even Tomytec train collection items have the mounting clips for them. Simple and retrofittable by cliping them in from the underside after the removal of the rapido couplers.

[Densha]

I present thee this train that had the fortunate fate to only take one week to get from the Loco1hobby grounds to the other side of the world by SAL: za Keihan 800 series bai MaikuroEesu.

 

Unpacking:

 

On Toni's diorama:

 

(I don't have my good camera around now, so the shots are not as good as I would like them to be)

[Kabutoni]

Darnit. That looks weird but good on that diorama xD Too modern for unpaved streets, but good.

[Densha]

Oh yes it does. Weird but good. The continuously changing plan for the modules I'm telling I'm going to build already for years is now leaning towards scenery based on the Keishin line and Ishiyama-Sakamoto line. But yeah, it's just a plan as always, don't have any time at all now.

[katoftw]

It is a magical line for train buffs. Part subway, part train, part streetcar. The whole Otsu/Hamaotsu/Lake Biwa/shiga region is beutiful also. I can see why it appeals to many. But then it is also a reletive unknown also. IT is very high on the list to do for my next Japan trip.

Edited November 22, 2014 by katoftw

[JR 500系]

Beautiful Densha! That Keihan 800 looks really good! Now you need to change to tight couplers... That gap is kinda big. Which always makes me think why MicroAce always deploy the standard Rapido Couplers with those horrible spacing... So that it generate sales for the tight coupler set?

[railsquid]

Hmm, what a coincidence:

 

Picked this up on my weeky perambulation through Akihabara the other day. It's kind of stretching the upper limits of my era range, but hard to resist. I've been on the original twice, and managed to photograph the old on-street line in Kyoto a couple of months before it closed. Now I have find a street for it to run down on my layout.

[zibbu]

Those news for my collection has arrived yesterday night. They are already used but the price was very very very good :-)

Kato 10-164 Series 651 Series Super Hitachi (7-Car Set)
Kato 10-161 Odakyu Type 10000 HiSE Romancecar (11-Car Set)
Kato 10-345 Series 681 `Thunderbird` (Basic 6-Car Set) + Kato 10-346 Series 681 `Thunderbird` (Add-On 3-Car Set)
Kato 10-330 Series 281 `Haruka` (6-Car Set)

[Densha]

It is a magical line for train buffs. Part subway, part train, part streetcar. The whole Otsu/Hamaotsu/Lake Biwa/shiga region is beutiful also. I can see why it appeals to many. But then it is also a reletive unknown also. IT is very high on the list to do for my next Japan trip.

I've never been to Japan, but when I do I surely also want to visit this area. I might actually be studying close to that area in two years, but although that's not entirely decided yet I intend to visit it anyways.

 

Beautiful Densha! That Keihan 800 looks really good! Now you need to change to tight couplers... That gap is kinda big. Which always makes me think why MicroAce always deploy the standard Rapido Couplers with those horrible spacing... So that it generate sales for the tight coupler set?

I noticed the gap is not that big at all! You can change it to TN couplers, but you can only use the boogie-attached coupler shaft for it, there's no option for body-mounted couplers.

 

Hmm, what a coincidence:

keihan-800.jpg

 

Picked this up on my weeky perambulation through Akihabara the other day. It's kind of stretching the upper limits of my era range, but hard to resist. I've been on the original twice, and managed to photograph the old on-street line in Kyoto a couple of months before it closed. Now I have find a street for it to run down on my layout.

Nice! That's the version with the old logo, isn't it?

 

Do you have pictures of it? Of the old line before it closed, that is.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Densha

[railsquid]

 

Nice! That's the version with the old logo, isn't it?

 

Yup, which suits me fine. The newer ones were out of stock anyway, but the guy in the shop was somewhat surprised I actually wanted the old logo version.

 

Do you have pictures of it? Of the old line before it closed, that is.

 

 

Somewhere, if I can dig them out and scan them in. It'll only be a couple around the old terminus in Kyoto, as this was pre-digital cameras and I was an impoverished student.

[Densha]

Today I did a test run with the Keihan 800 and it is not as smooth as the other MA trains I own, but it's okayish. The motor makes a little bit more noise than the motors of my other trains, but apart from that it doesn't perform badly. It has front and back lights of course and the destination display on the front is also lightened as are the warning lights. The only downside is that these warning lights only work with the front lights turned on and don't work when the back lights are turned on, as you can see in the pictures below. The other warning lights don't work out of the box, but I think they can be made into working lights by using car illumination strips, but I don't have proof of that yet.

 

I only have one little problem with my model: all lights on one side are constantly flickering. I guess something is just not connected very well, but I don't have the time to check that for now.

 

 

 

Also, as a bonus for Toni, a picture how the Keihan 350 I already own for a year looks on his diorama:

 

[katoftw]

The description on the product sheet on has the front skirt lighting as operational.

 

All my Micro Ace trains were a little rough running out of the box the first time. And slow speeds were jumpy. I just run them at full speed (in the red) for about 5 minutes, they loosen up and perform better after that.

[Densha]

Aha I just didn't look into it enough. The 'front skirt lightning' should only be working, it shouldn't at the back side: http://sonotablog.mogiriya.com/article/70772016.html (first pic above)

The skirt lightning on the side does work in prototype though, but it's just not incorporated into the model as you can see here: http://mokei1968.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-1637.html

 

This front lightning combination is also interesting, but not usual in prototype either: http://kurumanokototoka.blog15.fc2.com/blog-entry-2438.html

[katoftw]

The second link of yours, does that show the rest of the lights working is the interior light is added? The photo was a very poor low light photo and made it really difficult to see.

 

And yes prototype would be all lighting on at all times.