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

[Kiha66]

I'm jealous, not of the trains but of the foam!  Seems in California most stores don't stock it, and the one time home depot got an order was by mistake.

[Philphil]

40 minutes ago, chadbag said:

 

I'll be getting  several shots myself, and some lumber, in the near future... 

 

Oooooh! Exciting! What do you have planned?

[Philphil]

30 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

I'm jealous, not of the trains but of the foam!  Seems in California most stores don't stock it, and the one time home depot got an order was by mistake.

Really!? Wow, that's surprising! Maybe California has some weird law regarding foam or something like that?

[chadbag]

1 hour ago, Philphil said:

Really!? Wow, that's surprising! Maybe California has some weird law regarding foam or something like that?

 

Probably causes cancer (like everything else in California) or is bad for the environment or something. LOL

Edited March 13, 2018 by chadbag

[chadbag]

4 minutes ago, Philphil said:

Oooooh! Exciting! What do you have planned?

 

Just a simple approx 4x8 layout I can hoist to the ceiling of my basement.  We rent (house, not appt) and there are no spare spots in the house (small house) for any sort of layout, except the kitchen table, which is by necessity a temporary one.

 

I plan on building a simple frame (square, with a spine, ribs, and some angled pieces for support) and topping it with the foam as the base.   That makes it easy to do wiring underneath etc. and avoids the weight of a piece of ply.

 

[tt0880]

Although these didn't arrive in the mail, I picked up something pretty cool at a train show yesterday...

 

They're these little static models of trains! They're N-Scale, and really heavy and nicely made! I picked up all of the Japanese ones I could find, plus one German one... 

 

Here are some close ups. Ignore my messy desk and all of my other little trinkets I keep at my desk at work 

 

Best part? I got them for TWO DOLLARS A PIECE! I thought it was an incredible steal, especially with how heavy and well made they are.

 

Does anyone know anything about these? For the price, I couldn't go wrong, and I like them a lot!

 

 

 

[tt0880]

And also... I have something really special arriving tomorrow... I know a lot of people on the forum have it, but I'm excited to finally get my hands on one... Stay tuned!

[Kiha66]

7 minutes ago, Philphil said:

Really!? Wow, that's surprising! Maybe California has some weird law regarding foam or something like that?

 

I suspect a lot of it is due to the very mild winters with little moisture, as loose fiberglass seems to be the more popular method here.  I think some stores up in the mountains carry them, but I dont want to drive 6 hours for foam!

 

3 minutes ago, tt0880 said:

Although these didn't arrive in the mail, I picked up something pretty cool at a train show yesterday...

 

They're these little static models of trains! They're N-Scale, and really heavy and nicely made! I picked up all of the Japanese ones I could find, plus one German one... 

Does anyone know anything about these? For the price, I couldn't go wrong, and I like them a lot!

 

I believe those are Del Parado models, old moldings but lots of variety in the offerings and great desk decorations.  A lot of them came out years before operating models of the type, so people would convert them so they could have some more uncommon models. 

[Philphil]

4 hours ago, tt0880 said:

And also... I have something really special arriving tomorrow... I know a lot of people on the forum have it, but I'm excited to finally get my hands on one... Stay tuned!

I bet I know where this is going! (Maybe it's the E001?)

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/E001_series#/media/File%3AJR_East_E001_series_Train_Suite_Shiki-shima_20170619.jpg

Edited March 13, 2018 by Philphil

[Das Steinkopf]

5 hours ago, Philphil said:

I bet I know where this is going! (Maybe it's the E001?)

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/E001_series#/media/File%3AJR_East_E001_series_Train_Suite_Shiki-shima_20170619.jpg

 

 

You never know, it could be a Keihan Keishin 80 Series fitted with Air Conditioner, there are plenty of Otsusen fans on this forum.

[Socimi]

 

Quote

They're these little static models of trains! They're N-Scale, and really heavy and nicely made! I picked up all of the Japanese ones I could find, plus one German one... 

 

Here are some close ups. Ignore my messy desk and all of my other little trinkets I keep at my desk at work 

 

[...]

 

Best part? I got them for TWO DOLLARS A PIECE! I thought it was an incredible steal, especially with how heavy and well made they are.

 

Does anyone know anything about these? For the price, I couldn't go wrong, and I like them a lot!

 

 

 

 

They are static models made by the spanish DelPrado. Due to their low price and good detail (in some models), they're often used as a base for motorisation.

 

Here's a list of all the models (in italian):

 

http://digilander.libero.it/sportinglife/

 

Here are some converted models from users of this forum:

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/13219-del-prado-cc7100-conversion/

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/12347-russian-vl-80-delprado-conversion/

 

http://www.utrainia.com/tag/del prado

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2018 by Socimi

[Philphil]

First out of three (or more) Amazon JP boxes of track! I'm surprised they didn't pack more into this box than they did.

[chadbag]

22 minutes ago, Philphil said:

First out of three (or more) Amazon JP boxes of track! I'm surprised they didn't pack more into this box than they did.

 

Yeah I looked into ordering a bunch of track from amazon and shipping got expensive quickly.   I did order one box of mostly switches and end piece buffers.   I'm going to see about ordering a little track each time I order something else from them and see what this does to the shipping costs.

 

For your box, what was the order?   amazon.co.jp seems to be very strict about only shipping what is in a given order and not figuring out they can combine orders that are shipping concurrently like amazon.com will do.   And they also tend, in my experience, to ship everything in an order at once (unless you maybe have checked the "send as available" button).

[cteno4]

Unitrak can be ordered at good prices in the us from places like modeltrainstuff.com as it’s the one Japanese train thing that’s exported thru katousa and kept in pretty good stock and price. One thing you can support your favorite/local lhs with as most can order from kato or a kato distributor. Klein’s price is about 5% off japanese retail, but shipping for a pile of track is a lot less.

 

jeff

[chadbag]

4 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Unitrak can be ordered at good prices in the us from places like modeltrainstuff.com as it’s the one Japanese train thing that’s exported thru katousa and kept in pretty good stock and price. One thing you can support your favorite/local lhs with as most can order from kato or a kato distributor. Klein’s price is about 5% off japanese retail, but shipping for a pile of track is a lot less.

 

jeff

 

I'll have to check out the online places in the US.  I bought some at a local shop when I needed it, but the stuff was almost twice what amazon.co.jp sells it for so for larger purchases it did/does not make sense.  I'll have to see if the local guy will sell larger amounts at a good deal.  I try and throw him business when I can and the cost is not too high.  I buy most of my digitrax decoders and stuff as his prices are not bad.  Not as cheap as online, and I pay the sales tax, but it is competitive.   And the oddball piece of track I need now! ;)

 

Thanks for the tip

 

[cteno4]

18 hours ago, Philphil said:

Really!? Wow, that's surprising! Maybe California has some weird law regarding foam or something like that?

 

Yeah in warmer climates it’s not used much. Even here in dc for a long time the big boxes didn’t carry it much at all except further out in the country. But now it’s back in limited options. I use to have to go to a real contractor supply to get it consistently. When I lived in northern ca it was spotty where it was carried in big box stores but I could usually again get it at a contractor supply place. Folks in places like Florida can have a very hard time finding it, but usually you can finally suss it out at places like refrigeration companies that build walk in freezers as it’s used as secondary insulation there.

 

jeff

[cteno4]

Unfortunately the katousa price is not quite as competitive to kato japan as it use to be, but it seems to be maybe the best price w.o shipping would be 25% discount in japan, but you may end up with ems or dhl shipping prices which could wipe most of that out.

 

we recently did like an over $1k order of Unitrak for the new club layout thru a local supplier and they gave us an extra 5% off for bringing them the order and to help the club, so if you do have a large order shop it around as some may cut you a deal for a big order. 

 

It is nice to support the lhs, unfortunately other than scenery supplies, paint and styrene not a lot else ours can provide... the tomix/Walters deal unfortunately puts the us prices up really high for fine track here and it’s not clear how much is being kept in stock in the us. At the inflated prices I can’t see many lhs investing in it with a very limited market potential, especially with the range of stock required to carry track and sell it well retail (inventory and shelf space costs...)

 

jeff

[chadbag]

My large orders aren't that large :)  

 

There is one LHS who does not do that much train stuff, though they do it lip service.  Mostly R/C, and Japanese imports for the Gundam hysteria, and general hobby stuff.  10 years ago they were much bigger and did a lot more trains.  In fact their name and logo used to have to do with trains.  I used to sometimes buy R/C stuff as needed from him.   But his "deals" on ordering KATO are not that great when I talked with him.  The other is dedicated train and I visit him for stuff I need and generic stuff like DCC stuff from the US and scenery and general modeling stuff he is pretty good for.  He carries KATO USA but of course, no Japanese or European stuff.  He is good for when you need a piece of track NOW.  I'll have a talk with him next time in about ordering track in (for personal sized orders) larger amounts and see what he can do.

 

Thanks for this discussion.

 

[tt0880]

23 hours ago, Philphil said:

I bet I know where this is going! (Maybe it's the E001?)

 

Nope! Although I do hope to get my hands on that someday...

 

On 3/12/2018 at 8:22 PM, Kiha66 said:

I believe those are Del Parado models

 

11 hours ago, Socimi said:

They are static models made by the spanish DelPrado.

Yup, they are indeed Del Parado models! Thanks for the help! I didn't realize I could motorize them! I think that's a project a little too advanced for me, but I love having them at my desk. I still can't believe how nice they are for the price.

[tt0880]

As far as what I got in the mail, well... Here it is!

Yup! I finally got my hands on my very own 500 TYPE EVA. Straight from Kato USA!

The re-railer that came with it is a super nice touch.

 

 

And lastly, here's an extremely cheesy video of running the train for the first time while the Evangelion theme music plays...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JkQMWXn1DOywyrU13

 

I'm super happy with the quality of this thing! It's incredible! Makes me want to really work on my layout so I can run this beauty on a layout to be proud of...

[chadbag]

I am jealous.   Every EVA one I find is way way to expensive now...   Nice job!   Very nice!

 

[railsquid]

Me, ca. 2014:  "this Kato Kokuden which cost about 3,000 yen new is like, wow, amazing, so quiet, it runs on the track without derailing or uncoupling" (this was after ca. 25 years of model railway abstinence)

 

Me, ca. 2018: "nice, this 115-800 series with the low-profile roof for running on the Chuo Line comes with a Saro 165 in Yokosuka colours for running as Kaiji between 1970 and 1972, and it only cost about 6,000 yen from Yahoo Auctions for two whole booksets"

 

microace-a4524-saro-165-14 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

I think I need qualified psychiatric help.

[Philphil]

Got two magical mystery boxes less than five minutes apart from USPS and DHL! 

At about 10:50 today the nice USPS man rang the doorbell and dropped off a package from Buyee. I thanked him, and took the package downstairs, then I checked the clock and said to myself "Hm, it's almost 11am, I wonder where the DHL guy is...?" So I walked back upstairs ONLY TO FIND THAT THE DHL GUY HAD COME WHILE I WAS DOWNSTAIRS!

[bill937ca]

Tease!

[Philphil]

Box onnnnnnnne issssssssss: Curve track and my first ever Kato power pack!