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

[chadbag]

15 minutes ago, defor said:

Also what the hell happened to the 106+107 Kato sets? are they already out of print? I need more card, and as I only have one full cased set, I only have one lighted Koki!

 

I am glad I got that set at a "good" price last January.

 

I think I've seen some restock at HS or somewhere recently?  Maybe sold out already?

[Welshbloke]

41 minutes ago, defor said:

I've been mixing and matching between B-Train Mini, Tomix, Kato, Tomytec (truck collection), Hogarakadou, and Greenmac, and yes, this IS a problem- there doesn't seem to be any overall consistency. All my Koki are Kato and B-Train, but the 'snap' of the containers is a bit of a mixed bag. That said, none of them simply 'lay' there, and dont seem to fall off in motion, so for now I havent had to go with the glue option. At some point I was hoping to do a rundown of the various options out there and their pros and cons. For now I'm simply chasing quantity, as no self-resppecting freight terminal doesnt have stacks of freight on platform!

 

Also what the hell happened to the 106+107 Kato sets? are they already out of print? I need more card, and as I only have one full cased set, I only have one lighted Koki!

 

The Tomix 19Fs have a poor clip moulding compared to others from the same brand. It's sloped top and bottom so they tend to ride up the clips on the KoKi and pop off. A dab of Glue 'n Glaze seems to have fixed it.

 

Can't comment on Kato but Tomix KoKis seem to be in scarcity driven pricing at the moment. Or some are anyway. The pack of an EF210 and two loaded KoKi 107s I have on order from Amazon UK marketplace is only £20 more than the bare wagons at current prices!

[nah00]

The fit problem with a lot of containers can be fixed by dipping them in almost boiling water, taking the container out and slight bending it in and dipping it in cold water. It doesn't sound like it would make much of a difference but you're generally less than a quarter of a mm off when they don't stay on, that little but helps. The containers from the Truck/Trailer Collection and the Tetsudo Musume series are especially good at not staying on, double sided tape can help.

 

Tomix Kokis might be 'rare' now but they get regular re-releases. The 50000 series box set already got a re-release and they're doing a Koki 200 with ISO tank containers (I think) later this year or early next year. 

 

11 hours ago, Welshbloke said:

I'm sticking at five for now as it's the maximum length for the Kato passing loop set, which is my usual way of isolating one train to run another.

 

First it's 5, then 10, then 50, then you have to build shelves around the edges of your layout to hold the extras you can't fit in bookcases...

 

9 hours ago, defor said:

Also what the hell happened to the 106+107 Kato sets? are they already out of print? I need more card, and as I only have one full cased set, I only have one lighted Koki!

 

Should be re-released at some point, it wasn't a limited release but freight generally gets lower priority than passenger stock. If Kato really wants me to shut up and give them my money they'd release this set but with different numbered cars. 

[Welshbloke]

Put the starting bid down for a slightly dogeared looking Tomix EF81 in Hokutosei livery and got it for £24. Pantographs are in the box but detached, and can't tell whether the numbers and TN couplers are in there. Another rescue for my fleet!

[defor]

On 8/22/2018 at 10:09 AM, chadbag said:

This is cool.  This should go into some reference section of the forum 🙂
 

Just going to point out that I saw two non-conforming loads in person today while walking back from sightseeing.

_ _ X X X  and  _ X X X X

[defor]

Also, not exactly 'delivered', as I decided to go shopping a little today and yesterday:

 

 

I really enjoy these custom 'souvenir' type items-

 

Bought a litte tomix tram and compact loop so I could test out the Kato bluetooth box- THIS THING IS AMAZING! (Now I just need to get it to all run off battery!):

Edited August 23, 2018 by defor

[kvp]

23 minutes ago, defor said:

(Now I just need to get it to all run off battery!):

8 * 1.5V AA or AAA single use batteries or 10 * 1.2V rechargable AA or AAA batteries or a 2-3A 5V USB power bank and a 12V to 14V boost converter could work.

[defor]

2 hours ago, kvp said:

8 * 1.5V AA or AAA single use batteries or 10 * 1.2V rechargable AA or AAA batteries or a 2-3A 5V USB power bank and a 12V to 14V boost converter could work.

Is that much voltage even necessary?

I ask because if I go above 33% throttle it's already too fast.

I was honestly curious if a single 9v might do the trick, and if so, how long would it last...

5V phone power bank with boost converter though is a solid idea.

Edited August 23, 2018 by defor

[gavino200]

2 hours ago, defor said:

Also, not exactly 'delivered', as I decided to go shopping a little today and yesterday:

 

 

 

I really enjoy these custom 'souvenir' type items-

 

Bought a litte tomix tram and compact loop so I could test out the Kato bluetooth box- THIS THING IS AMAZING! (Now I just need to get it to all run off battery!):

 

 

I'm so jealous. I didn't buy these when I was there. Real missed opportunity. I'd love to build a train out of souvenir loads. I was actually looking the other day to see if the Railway Museum sold them online. No luck 😞

[cteno4]

Nariichi has had some of the souvenir cars from time to time, might check with him or plant it with him you want some if he runs across them in his travels/contacts.

 

jeff

[kvp]

9 hours ago, defor said:

Is that much voltage even necessary?

I ask because if I go above 33% throttle it's already too fast.

I was honestly curious if a single 9v might do the trick, and if so, how long would it last...

5V phone power bank with boost converter though is a solid idea.

I'm assuming you would like to operate the bluetooth throttle which is using PWM, so at least 12V is needed. Accessories, like turnouts might even need a bit more. I don't know the minimum input voltage for the bluetooth PWM controller, but i guess it depends on the internal voltage levels, so it could be as little as 5 or 7V, but afaik officially it uses the 13.5V Kato adapter. Imho slow speed running is better with 10% pulsed 12V than 20% pulsed 6V.

[chadbag]

16 hours ago, gavino200 said:

 

I'm so jealous. I didn't buy these when I was there. Real missed opportunity. I'd love to build a train out of souvenir loads. I was actually looking the other day to see if the Railway Museum sold them online. No luck 😞

 

I would bet you could find these (or at least other commemorative) cars/containers on Yahoo Auctions.  I saw a bunch of KATO ones from some exhibitions available there when I last looked on YA...  I am afraid to look now as it leads to loss of money.

 

[gavino200]

1 hour ago, chadbag said:

 

I would bet you could find these (or at least other commemorative) cars/containers on Yahoo Auctions.  I saw a bunch of KATO ones from some exhibitions available there when I last looked on YA...  I am afraid to look now as it leads to loss of money.

 

 

You mean Buyee? I looked. No joy.

[chadbag]

56 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

 

You mean Buyee? I looked. No joy.

 

I used Zenmarket, but yeah.  I did not find these particular ones when I looked, but found many other similar ones.  And I bet these show up there occasionally.  Things are hard to search for on YA -- especially for non Japanese speakers.  I ended up doing a very very generic search and scrolling through literall hundreds of pages of n-scale stuff one night.  Found some good deals no one bid on and I got as well.

 

[Sascha]

My Microace A2654 - Tobu Railway Type 200 "RYOMO" von Nariichi arrived. 

[defor]

Visited family owned hobby shop, “Pony” in Nerima, found a nice selection of B-Train shorties- I needed power unit 1’s as you can tell, also impulse bought both Kiha111/112 sets-then popped over to Kato before they closed, and bought some spare parts-it’s really wierd to me how they practically don’t acknowledge either of the things I need exist(ed), EH500 (I need a body shell and they barely had anything), and Koki 106/107 set were nowhere to be seen.

[Kiha66]

4 minutes ago, defor said:

Visited family owned hobby shop, “Pony” in Nerima, found a nice selection of B-Train shorties- I needed power unit 1’s as you can tell, also impulse bought both Kiha111/112 sets-then popped over to Kato before they closed, and bought some spare parts-it’s really wierd to me how they practically don’t acknowledge either of the things I need exist(ed), EH500 (I need a body shell and they barely had anything), and Koki 106/107 set were nowhere to be seen.

 

Love all the spare parts!   Thats one of my favorite things about Japanese model companies, its easy to get plenty of spares and no questions asked if you want them for more than just repairing one of their models.

[defor]

Oh, does anyone need any spare EF64 front coupler/cattle catchers?

 

I have (3) 3024-1C3 I’ll likely never use.

 

Kato is really bad at organizing their parts racks! My mistake for assuming they were 210’s when I grabbed 4 sets!

[Welshbloke]

Second KoKi arrived, a 106 this time:

 

There will eventually be a Seino UC-7 container in the middle, although I'm not sure whether those are still in use?

 

[railsquid]

From the Yahoo Auctions Bargain Basement of MicroAce "junk", this very fine Tokyo Metro 5000 series, marred only by the roof of one car being "dirty" so junk price, evidently a failed weathering attempt which can be cleared off with a bit of damp tissue; and a somewhat less fine MicroAce 209-500 series, excellent condition apart from the somewhat growly motor (it will probably respond to some TLC). The MicroAce rendering of this model is somewhat sub-par around the cab ends and passenger doors; however at the price it was going for, it will make excellent "yard filler", if nothing else.

 

MicroAce E209-500 series and Tokyo Metro 5000 series by Rail Squid, on Flickr

[Pauljag900]

On 8/25/2018 at 3:51 PM, Welshbloke said:

Second KoKi arrived, a 106 this time:

 

There will eventually be a Seino UC-7 container in the middle, although I'm not sure whether those are still in use?

 

Nice,I love this👍👍😀

[nah00]

Though it's a bit out of my era I'm a sucker for the color scheme so I ended up with an older Kato 165 Series Tokai. This set has to have the brightest non-LED lights of any set I've ever seen. Also came with a nice sleeve and booklet commemorating the last run. 

 

[comeng84]

My delivery of a Kato E235 4-car starter set arrived yesterday. My first model train purchase since 2013!

[katoftw]

1 minute ago, comeng84 said:

My delivery of a Kato E235 4-car starter set arrived yesterday. My first model train purchase since 2013!

That is a large gap between purchases. In a coma?

[Lina_Blue]

My next E231 has arrived!

 

Thanks to @JR 500系. Arrived save.