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

[katoftw]

There are other buses I want, but started down the good end of Japan before venturing north.

 

Makes 5 Kyushu buses now.  Just gotta get the Hinokuni Go bus from Popondetta.  Last two orders I forgotten to include it.

Edited February 23, 2015 by katoftw

[beakaboy]

just won these 2 second-hand items on a NZ auction site. from a deceased estate. They were very dusty, but have cleaned up very well.

The last 2 photos are a set I am currently watching on the auction. Does anyone have any info .The pamphlet states #437 201

[Dave1960]

I have just received my Kato 24 Series sleeping cars 'Hokutosei' (10-831 & 10-832) from MTP. Delivery from Japan to my house here in the UK has taken just 4 days, which I think is amazing and add to that the fact I didn't have to stump up for customs / clearance fees. The wallet has let out its breath ready for the next onslaught.

 

Many thanks Nariichi

 

Dave

[gerryo]

I just received my E7 Hokuriku Shinkansen, also from Nariichi. Thanx.

 

Now have 2 Shinkansens and 2 Odakyu Line trains.

 

I think I'm hooked on Japanese.

 

gerryo

Edited February 24, 2015 by gerryo

[choco.miruku]

I just received my E7 Hokuriku Shinkansen, also from Nariichi. Thanx.

 

Now have 2 Shinkansens and 2 Odakyu Line trains.

 

I think I'm hooked on Japanese.

 

gerryo

 

welcome to the club, lol.

[katoftw]

Currently finalizing orders from multiple retailers for:-

 

Tomytec Kumamoto Electric Rail Type 200

Tomytec Keihan Type 600

Tomytec Keihan Type 600 Tetsudou Musume Wrapped

Tomytec Keihan Type 600 K-On Wrapped

Tomytec TM-05R Power Unit

Tomix PT4811N Pantographs 2pk

2x Tomytec TT-04R Trailer Converstion Parts

3x Tomytec TM-20 Power Unit

3x Tomix PG16 Pantographs 2pk

Kato WS64PC 2pk

Edited February 26, 2015 by katoftw

[VJM]

Kansengar 500 series arrived from Loco1Hobby yesterday (along with a few other things)

 

 

I'll get the hang of getting the camera to focus eventually...

Edited February 26, 2015 by VJM

[JR 500系]

Kansengar 500 series arrived from Loco1Hobby yesterday (along with a few other things)

 

 

Nice layout! Sweet! The Kansengar is really beautiful eh, and what can be better than power couplers! :)

[enodenlover]

A nice package from Hobby Search arrived on Wednesday containing two Diotown buildings ( the old time shop with the traditional eaves and the office supply shop ), two different sets of Diotown roadside detail parts ( 23-416 and 23-420 ), two packs of Tomix tram track curves and a packet of Sankei hanging advertising banners. I've never worked with paper in any kind of model kit before so I'm a bit apprehensive about those banners, especially considering how tiny those things are. My tax refund arrived on Monday so I spent money that should have been used for other things on a large order to HS and a small one to Plaza Japan. To heck with the bills, I've gotta have more trains. :)

[railsquid]

These railbuses have been on my "buy if available cheaply" list for a while:

 

 

Tiny little things, both motorised with front and rear light. The Kato tram is shown for comparison. In contrast to the Kato tram, the railbus motors are packed in below window height and hidden, so unless you look very closely it's not obvious that the "floor" is raised up. They run absolutely fine on my currently sub-optimal setup and also Tomix 140-radius tram track curves. Interestingly there are also weights included (the black square) to improve traction, but unless they're going to be hauling rolling stock I don't see the point.

[Ken Ford]

Two Modemo Hakone Tozan MUs arrived today - the three unit Glacier Express paint one and the two unit St. Moritz set.

[brill27mcb]

These railbuses have been on my "buy if available cheaply" list for a while:

 

tomix-railbus-92157.jpg

 

Tiny little things, both motorised with front and rear light. The Kato tram is shown for comparison. In contrast to the Kato tram, the railbus motors are packed in below window height and hidden, so unless you look very closely it's not obvious that the "floor" is raised up. They run absolutely fine on my currently sub-optimal setup and also Tomix 140-radius tram track curves. Interestingly there are also weights included (the black square) to improve traction, but unless they're going to be hauling rolling stock I don't see the point.

 

Wow, you have to wonder about the scales of the models when the 4-wheel tram looks tall compared to a railbus.

 

Rich K.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I have a couple of those railbuses. Despite their short wheel-base they are pretty reliable...not to mention being very cute. In that livery they bear more than a passing similarity to the old German rail buses.

[kvp]

 

Wow, you have to wonder about the scales of the models when the 4-wheel tram looks tall compared to a railbus.

The duewag aufbauwagen (the tram) is 9.6m, while the kiha 02-03 is 10.9m. The result is that the kiha-s are 1:160, true N scale, while the tram is 1:150, Nj scale. The railbuses seem to be made to the european size standards instead of the japanese one.

[marknewton]

Rich, I think both models are fairly accurate scale-wise. The KiHa01/02 railbuses are tiny little things, whereas the Dresden "Aufbauwagen" are quite tall narrow cars. I remember being surprised just how big they are for a single-trucker the first time I saw one in the flesh. The tramway museum I volunteer at has two Berlin "Rekowagens", they're built to similar dimensions and they're a big car as well.

 

Here's one of the two standing next to our Muni PCC car, which as you know isn't exactly small:

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited March 3, 2015 by marknewton

[railsquid]

Wow, you have to wonder about the scales of the models when the 4-wheel tram looks tall compared to a railbus.

 

Rich K.

 

Either the driver is very tall or the headroom in these things was pretty tight:

[railsquid]

 The tramway museum I volunteer at has two Berlin "Rekowagens", they're built to similar dimensions and they're a big car as well.

 

OT, but nice to see you've got some of those, they were still in service when I started living in Berlin in the early 1990s (albeit in an orange livery). Does the destination blind on the one in the picture read "Bersarinplatz" by any chance?

[marknewton]

Yes, it does:

 

 

Is that one of your old haunts? :)

 

Our other Rekowagen is in the orange and cream livery that you remember:

 

 

This car is on loan to the museum in the old Hawthorn tram depot in Melbourne. The photo shows it running out, being driven by my friend and mentor Greg King.

 

As an enthusiast I love working on and running these cars because they're so different to the typical Australian trams that make up our collection. I'd be interested to know what your views are on them from the point of view of a paying passenger.

 

(As this is now getting very OT, could I ask one of the mods to please move this to the appropriate forum? Thanks!)

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[enodenlover]

I'm having a pretty good week so far. On Monday the large order that I've been expecting from Hobby Search arrived with almost twenty items in it; four Showa era Diotown shops, a gas station and a suburban house from Tomix, the just-rereleased Iyo tram, Kato single track viaduct pieces and piers, Diotown traffic signs and the Unitram streetcar platform set . These platforms are almost identical to the ones on the Toden Arakawa tram line and will go very nicely with the Toden 7000 series tram I just ordered from Plaza Japan. Today's mail brought three of the items I ordered last month from PJ, all of them Tomytec: a bus turntable, a pair of electrical pylons and a powered chassis for my 1960s era Osaka City subway train. Got a question, I ordered a 3 car Meitetsu interurban set  from PJ last month and the eBay site shows anticipated delivery by Feb. 27th, but it still hasn't arrived. Am I being a naive dodo by taking that anticipated date so literally or do items occasionally ( or frequently ) arrive days after that date. Since I'm not the biggest fan of the USPS I tend to worry about lost or stolen packages that never arrive. Do I have reason to be concerned or am I just worrying about nothing? 

[JR 500系]

What service are you using to send the Meitetsu set from PJ? EMS or SAL? SAL tends to take a longer time that anticipated date, but EMS performs almost to target, or sometimes even faster than anticipated!

[cteno4]

Enodenlover,

 

SAL usually takes 2 weeks to the U.S. from Japan. Larger boxes can take 3+ weeks at times as SAL goes as there is extra space on planes so the smaller packages seem to get priority over the smaller ones (I've had small ones show up in a week). But the average is usually around 2 weeks. PJ can sometimes take a few days to get packages off as well. I would not trust the ebay date.

 

I've had 200-300 packages come SAL from Japan to California and Maryland over the last 15 years and not one has gone astray or been damaged! Takes a little longer than EMS, but with the savings you can save quite a bit and within 5-10 packages you can be self insured! EMS use to be 2-3 days to the U.S. (it comes express mail on the US side) but over the last few years it's more like 3-6 days so not as snappy many times.

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

Edited March 5, 2015 by cteno4

[choco.miruku]

My E657 took about 3 weeks and 4 days to arrive in Singapore via SAL from Japan, my slowest SAL packages from the states can take around the same time to arrive as well.

[JR 500系]

Small Little parcel came in today via SAL, from HS during their bargain sales. So I did get something from there...  :P

 

A MA 4-car case for my growing fleet of boxless MA cars....

 

A rural bus station from the recent bargains bin (can't beat half price!)

 

Some interior lights which I love, mainly the WID WHITE, also from the Bargains bin. First time getting TORM as I have been using illumi for sometime now... At 3000 yen for 10 pieces of the Torm lights, they're unbeatable!

[linkey]

What came in today is 2x Tomytec Keihan 600 "K-ON!" trains and the KATO D51 Standard [Tohoku Specifed], just in time for the Model Train Show but they will not be running.

[enodenlover]

I just looked at what eBay has to say about anticipated delivery dates and I learned that these are at best educated guesses that do not take into account such things as how long after receiving payment does the seller take to actually ship the item. Looks like I was getting concerned about nothing.