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

[chadbag]

My TaKi 43000 set showed up too.  Another one of those long term pre-orders :).  They are very nice.  I think they might show up under the tree so I have not had a chance yet to sneak them out for a photo 

[Pauljag900]

Some new arrivals for the new layout next year from my regular supplier and very good friend serotta1972,along with a couple of gifts,Thank you junior,I love the tie pin👍👍😀

the Overton coaches were originally for the thomas layout but now they re here I m thinking they re too nice for that so could well end up on the main layout😂😂👍

 

Edited December 7, 2018 by Pauljag900

[railsquid]

Good news: I found this nice MicroAce original 1964 (prototype) 0-series box set in almost new condition for very little money :

 

microace-0-series-a0259-box by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Bad news: the diecast (presumed Mazak) chassis blocks from the two power cars (the ones missing in the above shot) were deformed in interesting ways - basically held together by the plastic frames::

 

MicroAce 0 series Shinkansen - chassis issue by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

MicroAce 0 series chassis (2) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

MicroAce 0 series Shinkansen - chassis issue by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Good news: a replacement chassis (part number E0004) is available from MicroAce

Bad news: it's almost sold out everywhere

 

Good news: I found one

 

Bad news: turns out it's for the 300 series

 

Good news: the 0-series bits fit, with a little snipping

 

Bad news: the 300 series bogie drive train is not compatible with the 0 series bogies, so running with the (quite different looking) 300 series bogies for now

 

microace-0-series-a0259-chassis_4 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Good news: unless you look carefully they don't stand out, and when I have time, I think it might be possible to graft the 0 series bogie frames onto the 300 series bogie towers.

 

MicroAce 0 Series Shinkansen by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

MicroAce 0 Series Shinkansen by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

MicroAce 0 Series Shinkansen by Rail Squid, on Flickr

Edited December 7, 2018 by railsquid

[railsquid]

More good news: I acquired a Kato E259 Narita Express starter set a while back for what I thought was a bargain.

 

Bad news: on inspecting contents it turned out my brain hadn't been switched on and I'd missed the part of the description which said it was half of a 6-car set, namely one driving car and two unpowered trailers, which is kind of useless.

 

Good news: on this evening's trawl through Akihabara I stumbled on exactly the three cars needed to make up the full 6-car set.

 

Here it is heading west on the Chuo Line towards Otsuki:

 

Kato E259 "Narita Express (NEX)" by Rail Squid, on Flickr

[nah00]

6 hours ago, railsquid said:

Good news: unless you look carefully they don't stand out, and when I have time, I think it might be possible to graft the 0 series bogie frames onto the 300 series bogie towers.

 

...if one were to paint said bogies black they likely wouldn't stand out at all...

[GDorsett]

Black is a modeler's best friend

[railsquid]

6 hours ago, nah00 said:

 

...if one were to paint said bogies black they likely wouldn't stand out at all...

 

That's also an option, but I'll try the bogie frames first, you never know.

[VentureForth]

Oops!!  I really didn't mean to win this. It's a vintage new in box Tomix 1611 electric turntable. I've wanted one of these for almost 35 years! It's almost full retail, which makes it really cheap for anything here in the US. The new ones are being offered between $5-$600. this will actually go well with some of my brown track. So my question. How do I connect the AC to the new CL power packs?

Edited December 8, 2018 by VentureForth

[Suica]

Kato 221 series Yamatoji Rapid for my JR-West needs.

 

[Yavianice]

Made the mistake of buying a green max inaho express. 

 

Never buying green max again. 

[railsquid]

What's the problem?

[JR 500系]

GreenMax seems to be the most expensive amongst the makers, yet at times, I feel that the quality doesn't measure up to the price we paid... The shell looks like it's thinner than the other makers, and the interior plates looks really cheap at times... They do however, make some models that others don't, and I love their motor... 

[Das Steinkopf]

I will also add to the commentary regarding Greenmax products, I was far from impressed when I got my two 211-5000 Series LL Sets recently, the exterior detail was good and the powered set has the new chassis that runs beautifully, however there was absolutely no interior too speak of. This contrasts with their KiHa 75 release from about 2 years ago, it was one of the first of their releases fitted with the new chassis and it was also fitted with an interior for all cars. To be frank for the money I paid for the 211-5000 Series I should have just sat on my hands and waited for either Kato or Tomix to bring out a model of it, it probably would have cost me about 60% of the price of the Greenmax model.

[Welshbloke]

I have one powered GreenMax item, one of the KuMoYa 90s with the later style bodywork. While it looks great the motor leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes it just slips in place as though only one bogie is powering, and it growls loudly. I have checked and lubricated but it still does this. I suspect the problem is with the long flywheel/worm castings pressed onto the motor shaft with no other bearings, over a 20m unit the outer ends will start to vibrate making the noise. The dummy version I bought earlier therefore gets more exercise, coupled to a powered Tomytec single car.

[cteno4]

Greenmax and Microace have had a spottier motor chassis record in the past, but the new green max does purrrr! 

 

I think a lot of greenmax cost is just production run size as that can push prices up fast. Even with tooling and prototying costs getting a bit better these days they are still big investments that are fixed for a run and so the smaller the run the more they end up being the lions share of the costs. Small runs also tend to put you into a more volatile market for factories and the fixed costs to just get one lined up, stuff set up there, communications (usually need a agent or have your own visiting) are other production costs that are more fixed per run not per item made.

 

they have made a couple of my prized sets though!

 

jeff

[Welshbloke]

Wonder whether I could swap the sideframes and underframe details from mine onto a new chassis. Would the lighting contacts match up?

 

Talking of MicroAce I also have one of their 185 Series with winter scenes painted all over it (good) and a sick motor (in the body of the SaRo, which therefore has blacked out windows and no interior - bad). The lighting pickups on the KuHas are also ridiculously high friction, so it's in the "to be sorted" pile.

[railsquid]

2 minutes ago, Welshbloke said:

Talking of MicroAce I also have one of their 185 Series with winter scenes painted all over it (good) and a sick motor (in the body of the SaRo, which therefore has blacked out windows and no interior - bad). The lighting pickups on the KuHas are also ridiculously high friction, so it's in the "to be sorted" pile.

 

This was one of their very early models, and no doubt has the old Tomix-style pickups (FWIW these are compatible with replacement Tomix wheelsets, though that doesn't improve the friction situation much). They seem to have changed to axle pinpoint pickup on models from around 2004/2005.

[Welshbloke]

Yep, I wouldn't be averse to swapping the bogies if the newer ones are available as spares. Longer term I'll ideally replace the motor and the KuHa bogies, fit some gangway bellows and add TN close couplers. LED head and tail lights would be good too.

[Das Steinkopf]

I picked up my very last order for the year today after an aborted delivery attempt on Saturday. For me it was just a small order of Tomix and Hogaraka Dou Runtec UF42A-38000’s, the main part of the delivery was the  Seibu 30000 Series in Gudetama wrapping for my wife. She wanted to get the 3 car basic set as she likes Gudetama and thinks the train looks cute, I insisted that I get her the 5 car add on set as the train just wouldn’t look right with just 3 cars, I already have the TM-08R chassis as well the C-PS27N pantographs to fit to it.

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2018 by Das Steinkopf

[Drunkenclam]

My second E231 Yamanote Line 3 car add on set turned up. So now have 2 full 11 car sets. 

Still not sure why I did it as my platforms only take 8 cars. But it will still look cool when in use. I got a few months ago. A set of the Love Live wrapping stickers. But unknown if brave enough to attempt to fit them.

 

 

 

[JR 500系]

2 hours ago, Das Steinkopf said:

I picked up my very last order for the year today after an aborted delivery attempt on Saturday. For me it was just a small order of Tomix and Hogaraka Dou Runtec UF42A-38000’s, the main part of the delivery was the  Seibu 30000 Series in Gudetama wrapping for my wife. She wanted to get the 3 car basic set as she likes Gudetama and thinks the train looks cute, I insisted that I get her the 5 car add on set as the train just wouldn’t look right with just 3 cars, I already have the TM-08R chassis as well the C-PS27N pantographs to fit to it.

 

 

Gudetama! Finally! I thought I was the only one getting it... It's such a cute train! Don't know if it is the licensing issue but I never saw any pictures nor photos on the net once it was released, unlike so many other sets that were almost instantly uploaded with pictures on HS site... Now I totally regret not taking the plunge and getting the 5-car add-on set, which I think will be impossible for me to get now.... 

 

45 minutes ago, Drunkenclam said:

My second E231 Yamanote Line 3 car add on set turned up. So now have 2 full 11 car sets. 

Still not sure why I did it as my platforms only take 8 cars. But it will still look cool when in use. I got a few months ago. A set of the Love Live wrapping stickers. But unknown if brave enough to attempt to fit them.

 

 

You know what they say, one can never have too many E231-500s! The whole of Tokyo is running full of them! Go ahead, try the decals on one car first to get a few... nothing looks better than a E231-500 other than one that is customised! 

[chadbag]

4 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

 

Gudetama! Finally! I thought I was the only one getting it... It's such a cute train! Don't know if it is the licensing issue but I never saw any pictures nor photos on the net once it was released, unlike so many other sets that were almost instantly uploaded with pictures on HS site... Now I totally regret not taking the plunge and getting the 5-car add-on set, which I think will be impossible for me to get now.... 

 

 

Still available:  https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07FJY1P1S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[VentureForth]

7 hours ago, Das Steinkopf said:

I picked up my very last order for the year today after an aborted delivery attempt on Saturday. For me it was just a small order of Tomix and Hogaraka Dou Runtec UF42A-38000’s, the main part of the delivery was the  Seibu 30000 Series in Gudetama wrapping for my wife. She wanted to get the 3 car basic set as she likes Gudetama and thinks the train looks cute, I insisted that I get her the 5 car add on set as the train just wouldn’t look right with just 3 cars, I already have the TM-08R chassis as well the C-PS27N pantographs to fit to it.

 

Heck, the Seibu Tamagawa line ran 2 & 4 car trains. :D

 

Now only 4 car trains, I believe...

[cteno4]

1 hour ago, chadbag said:

Still available:  https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07FJY1P1S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

Mtp also has them

 

https://www.modeltrainplus.net/search?q=Gudetama

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

My long delayed Kato 2022-1 C12 arrived today from MTP. Reserved a Kato C11 at HS yesterday.

Edited December 13, 2018 by bill937ca