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

[serotta1972]

Hey Kiha66, looks like you'll have some trains to bring to the Los Altos Train Day in two weeks.  Would love to see a 16 car Series 0 Shinkansen running on the N-Trak Exhibit along with Brad's 16 car Series 700.  That would be a sight to see and command some oohs and aahs.

[TheNicofabi]

Don't have any pics but thanks to kami_illy for his offer on his B-Train Shorties, just had a look at them and they are really cool!

[serotta1972]

Not a Japanese train but they are Japanese made.  :)

 

Kato SDP40F Amtrak Phase I and II

Kato Amfleet I Cars Phase I

 

[katoftw]

 

got another one of these mags added into my monthly order.  the mag + 285-0 + green shuttle liner containers.

[railsquid]

Yep, the layout is a folded dogbone with one end looped over the other.  

20160908_113750.jpg20160908_113449.jpg

 

The "finished version" of this layout is on display at the Kato store in Tokyo, I've uploaded some photos from various angles:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129145651@N06/albums/72157673872064446

 

Funnily enough I acquired the very same book yesterday.

[Das Steinkopf]

The "finished version" of this layout is on display at the Kato store in Tokyo, I've uploaded some photos from various angles:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129145651@N06/albums/72157673872064446

Seems like it is a popular layout with JNS members, mind you the perspex cover makes it a nightmare to get decent shots of but on the other hand it stops the dust from building up on it.

 

 

Edited September 17, 2016 by Das Steinkopf

[nah00]

Not exactly a recent delivery, but a while back I acquire this Kato TGV for about 6,000 yen:

 

kato-s14701-tgv by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Have only just got around to giving it a decent run, I think it's from the 1980s but apart from the non-LED lighting it looks like it just came off a production line. It was sold as a poor runner, a condition which was resolved by scraping the grime off the wheels, but runs as pretty much as well as my 2-year old 0-series Shinkansen.

 

kato-s14701-tgv-powercar by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

I have the same one, got it for a song from my LHS since it was in storage for decades. Tested it in the store and it ran fine, took it home and it ran great, not even as loud as I thought it would be. The pantographs are bit fiddly though and I'm not a fan of the way the cars couple together, afraid the plastic will break.

[railsquid]

Yeah, though they seem OK on mine, probably more robust than the Eurostar ones which seem notorious for breaking.

 

Meanwhile another blast from the Kato past:

Kato 253 Series Narita Express by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

I picked this up from Yahoo Auctions a while back at the kind of price it would be rude to pass on, to my surprise it dates from 1991 (lot number and copyright date on the booklet confirm this), is in perfect condition with all the original paperwork and unused stickers.

 

The funny thing is, when I first tried it, it sounded like a bag of spanners in any direction at any speed, and put it away for further attention... Got it out earlier and it runs fine, a little scratchy at lower speeds but nothing out-of-the-ordinary. Not sure what magic processes were at work there. And I didn't notice it had interior lighting until today.

[Pauljag900]

Sounds like you had a good find there buddy

[Suica]

Nice find, Squid. I like these late 80s / early 90s Kato models. A lot of them come complete with interior lighting. It was before Kato realised you could make some good money by selling lighting kits.

Also, I like the 253 series a lot. Personally I'd need the Nagaden Snow Monkey Express version though.

 

 

I already returned from Japan one week ago but now I finally had time to snap some quick photos of the stuff I bought there.

 

I picked some of these up right after riding their real counterpart. The Super Azusa was a bit of a surprise. It seems to be quite a popular model but I found it for about half the price these usually go for.

The Tomix N700-8000 Add-On Set was an equally lucky find. I got the base set over a year ago. Been looking for the add-on set ever since but I could never find it for less than ~$200, which is just crazy. But then there was this one seller at JAM 2016.

Edited September 18, 2016 by Suica

[Pauljag900]

Hey suica,did you leave any fro anyone else to buy? Looks like you ve cleared the shop out there!

Nice haul mate.

[serotta1972]

Suica must've left his clothes in Japan to make room in the suitcase. You're an example of being good and rewarding yourself for all your hardwork.

[cteno4]

I think he had them strapped all over his body! I think Honshu is sitting a cm higher in the pacific now.

 

In 84 I came back from my first Japan trip with a large carryon duffle bag packed full of windup toys (I use to collect them). When I looked at the $ limit on the customs form at the time I sort of freaked as I did not keep receipts and probably had that in toys... Customs agent sleeply asked me what was in the duffle bag and I said wind up toys. He said really? I said yes and he said lets see... I'm starting to sweat now and I'm sure he sees this as I open up the bag and thinks he may have something here, but his reaction turned into a kid in a toy store when he looked into the bag! He started pulling them out and asking what each did. Of course line has stopped now and people think he's busting me! He came to the prize one a helecopter that flies after you push it a bit in the table. He wanted to see it work so I took it out and flew it up like 3' and he asked to try so he did it a little higher. Now the supervisor comes over with the stalled line and seeing something pop up in the air and he's pissed, but when shown he spends 2 or 3 minutes looking at the toys with a big smile on his face form his childhood. I get let thru with big smiles and they even help me pack it all back up. They never did ask me the valuation...

 

Jeff

[Pauljag900]

No matter where in the world you live we re all the same when it comes to toys,like big kids! Especially mechanical ones! Ha ha

[cteno4]

Also scaring the crap out of them is universal. I had a glass box with a dozen large mounted nasty looking bugs in my bag once and when the us agent just unzipped the bag and did the quick poke he uncovered it and really jumped back! He hated bugs! I apologized profusely as it just did not occur to me that would happen as I had said I had mounted insects and had the little farmed and fumigated certificate that I Had showed him, it's just when ever folks had that in his experience they were butterflies, not nasty looking bugs!

 

I had a really scary looking devil mask (actually fits over your whole head and is just nasty looking) I picked up in the Amazon and when going thru security in Ecuador an agent asked what was in the bag and I said mask, but I don't think he understood me. He pulled off the shirts I had on top of it to uncover it and jumped back horrified and the two guards jumped forward and leveled machine guns thinking I had weapons and we all froze. The guards looked into the bag and then proceeded to completely razz the agent for being scared of the mask. Of course the agent had to pull it all the way out to prove how scary looking it was and shove it in the guards faces and they then winced and backed off some. Got many nasty looks waiting for the flight from the rest of the passengers for creating a disturbance and slowing things up!

 

Friends have too many stories of traveling with me like this. You think they would learn...

 

Jeff

Edited September 18, 2016 by cteno4

[Pauljag900]

Yeah,but how funny to see their faces,that ll teach em to be so miserable and serious all the time,most wo nt even give you the time of day

[cteno4]

its a very hard job and folks can give you all sorts of grief. they tend to be a bit cold as it puts folks on edge and those doing bad things tend to then get nervous in different ways than the innocent. a fiend's father was a customs agent at Miami international and the stories he would tell. later he became a profiler, just looking at rosters and info and then driving around watching the ones he profiled go thru customs and pulling them if he thought viable. he had an amazing success rate and they got him to postpone retirement a long time with big salary increases each year!

 

not fun to see the faces when guns come up! too many wild places ive been around security folks who look 16 and are holding a machine gun! tarmac searches were the worst where they line you up facing a hanger wall and have your luggage behind you and they run a dog down behind you on you and the luggage. apparently having it all happening behind you really makes it work better. scared the crap out of me!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

I think he had them strapped all over his body! I think Honshu is sitting a cm higher in the pacific now.

 

In 84 I came back from my first Japan trip with a large carryon duffle bag packed full of windup toys (I use to collect them). When I looked at the $ limit on the customs form at the time I sort of freaked as I did not keep receipts and probably had that in toys... Customs agent sleeply asked me what was in the duffle bag and I said wind up toys. He said really? I said yes and he said lets see... I'm starting to sweat now and I'm sure he sees this as I open up the bag and thinks he may have something here, but his reaction turned into a kid in a toy store when he looked into the bag! He started pulling them out and asking what each did. Of course line has stopped now and people think he's busting me! He came to the prize one a helecopter that flies after you push it a bit in the table. He wanted to see it work so I took it out and flew it up like 3' and he asked to try so he did it a little higher. Now the supervisor comes over with the stalled line and seeing something pop up in the air and he's pissed, but when shown he spends 2 or 3 minutes looking at the toys with a big smile on his face form his childhood. I get let thru with big smiles and they even help me pack it all back up. They never did ask me the valuation...

 

Jeff

 

I can imagine the custom officers face when the bag of toys showed up! Actually, after they have seen the toy box, are they authorised to actually ask you to open it and operate the toy yo show them?

[railsquid]

Going through a German airport a couple of years ago with a carry-on bag packed full of British/German locomotives and rolling stock, I was pulled aside by a concerned-looking X-ray operator and asked to open it... turned out she was quite new on the job and the supervisor said she should have been trained to recognise this kind of thing, anyway relief all round and a quick question on what scale it all was, and I was on my way.

[NXCALE]

 

[cteno4]

They can probably ask you to do anything with them! This was 84 so way pre 911 and customs was a but mellower and free form. Besides I was happy to play toys to avoid the customs duty questions! Both were really amused by it. Guy with the bugs was not, but I had told him it was insects and had the certificate out! He could have righteously been a dick, but he let it go. With the mask I really didn't think anything about it, he just jumped!

 

Funny thing is I have long hair and and tee shirt and jeans usually so look like the probable drug runner, but usually it's the nicer dressed friends with me that have gotten the big searches! Guess i would look too obvious. One friend it's happen to with me like every other trip where they shine me on with my bag of weird items and always poke thru all her stuff. Always pisses her off.

 

Jeff

[linkey]

After getting the Sunrise Express (Series 285-3000) with two sets of lighting for the Sunrise Express (LED Interior Lighting Kit, Ver.2 for Series 285 for 7 Car), just waiting for the delivery of the Sunrise Express (Series 285-0) to arrive so both units will have the lights in them. Going to be fun with the amount of rollingstock keeps building. Might have to build a cabinet like the one at Japan Railway Journals have just so I have them ready to be placed on the layout when the layout is built or brought (from a very credited eBay seller)

Next awaiting order is the H5 set, I think I am a sucker to all of the HSJ sales and keep getting questioned why I am not getting them from David's store. Sorry David :(

Edited September 19, 2016 by linkey

[Suica]

Suica must've left his clothes in Japan to make room in the suitcase.

Haha, actually I sent a bit of that stuff.

[Pauljag900]

Some new arrivals came this morning courtesy of serotta,

Cheers serotta

 

Also arrived via eBay

Edited September 19, 2016 by Pauljag900

[Suica]

Those KiHa 110 are so nice! I surely need a set as well. Kato just didn't release the right model yet. I want a Koumi-line 110.