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

[Cat]

Oh well, didn't win the HLJ cashback on shipping costs lottery, but our package of two-month's worth of goodies has shipped.

[Pauljag900]

These arrived earlier this week,

 

 

 

And so the “space visitors Center” is born😂

[cteno4]

Theme park city!

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

Little more imports coming in, with the E233-7000 finally completing the E233 series!  🙂

 

 

Pretty huge box for not so much stuff... i wonder why...

 

 

Yes i love buses and couldnt resist them when they went on sale!

 

 

LOVE these articulated buses....

 

 

 

The last of the E233 to complete my E233 series !  🙂

[defor]

Some fun new small trains and conversion parts from ModelTrainPlus

 

Some Tomix Finetrak parts to get started (yard set was a gift)

Really like that premade long bridge- considering two different usages for it on my layout...

 

 

While I'm waiting for the rest of my finetrak order, setup the basic A+B+Yard- I really like Finetrak as compared to Unitrack, so I'm pleased with my decision to change over:

[brill27mcb]

Hey, there's a TNOS setup for the A+B+Yard layout, or are you already thinking in that direction?

 

Rich K.

[Cat]

12 hours ago, defor said:

While I'm waiting for the rest of my finetrak order, setup the basic A+B+Yard- I really like Finetrak as compared to Unitrack, so I'm pleased with my decision to change over:

 

We're using a mix.  Unitrack on the mainline for compatible T-Trak connections and Fine Track for the B-Train Shorty branchlines.  For this use, I really like the look of the taller and wider ballast on the Joban Line compared to the KRT and Minato Line.  But overall. i do prefer the much greater variety of Fine Track available, especially for tighter radius curves; the yard tracks are works of beauty, and the wide tram tracks have so much flexibiity for koki and taki terminals.

[Kamome]

I am heavily invested in Kato Unitrack due to availability when I lived in the Uk.  I do agree that the variety of Finetrack make it a far better option for layouts. My one gripe with Finetrack is that I find their elevated tracks a bit flimsy compared with the Unitrack equivalent but at least it’s very flexible in terms of track plans.

 

I’m considering using a combination of both once I get some bench work made. I do very much like the controller you’ve got in the A+B set and I really want that rail yard set and it’s expansions.

[Pauljag900]

25 minutes ago, Kamome said:

I am heavily invested in Kato Unitrack due to availability when I lived in the Uk.  I do agree that the variety of Finetrack make it a far better option for layouts. My one gripe with Finetrack is that I find their elevated tracks a bit flimsy compared with the Unitrack equivalent but at least it’s very flexible in terms of track plans.

 

I’m considering using a combination of both once I get some bench work made. I do very much like the controller you’ve got in the A+B set and I really want that rail yard set and it’s expansions.

That’s the very same reason I stuck with Kato,availability in the uk,tho I have to say I did use a small amount of fine track to make a tram station with points etc,when I used the tram track,I had to order the tram track so ordered the rest in tomix as well.

i guess it’s a matter of personal preference but I have to say the tomix track has a very nice,more delicate look to it.

[Cat]

A wealth of goodies has arrived, HLJ and a couple of domestic orders.  

Two month's of stockpiling at HLJ.  While scrolling through their in-stock B-Train Shorties, I spotted the Series 223-1000 which I had overlooked before.  Squee — these are beautiful for kitbashing Shorty Kiha E130, E131, and E132 for the Suigun Line!!!  Out of each box, I can use one non-pantograph roof and the sides with driver doors to make one car.  For the cab ends, I'll need to fit on parts from some other Shorty that looks like a better fit.  I've got a number of junk parts options to try out coming in the next ZenMarket shipment.  We've had a number of YSK detail bits on backorder for several months, when of them just came in: the Miko and Shrine pieces.  In the box beside the Miko is a die cast Chi-nu tank for Ôarai's Girls' und Panzer team.

From Model Train Stuff, a couple of packs of roof greeblies and a brass fire escape.  The Walther's HVAC units don't quite look like the ones on the rooftops in Mito, but can be cut down easily to work.  The ones in Mito have no blank top space, they are just wide enough to hold the round fans.  The rooftop sheds will be handy, and some of the random small roof details will work, some of the US style details don't seem to appear on Mito rooftops.

And from All Scale Miniatures, some more detail bits.  Their small single-unit HVAC pieces are perfect.  Their large HVACs have excess top space, but do provide nice variety.  I did put in a request with them for some modern style units as seen on Mito Station, and they did add this to their new parts list!  Each month they add 2-3 new pieces, so these might come along some month.  Other fun bits in this order will detail a front of the layout Dental Clinic — drill presses and table saws will look just like dental office equipment when painted white and chrome (and with the saw blade removed).  And we have a canoe and a casket for good measure.
 

[railsquid]

Ding ding ding! My Seibu E85x fleet is now complete with the addition of the MicroAce E852/E854 double pack:

 

MicroAce Seibu E851 (E852 / E854) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

I already have two of the Kato version, cunningly numbered E851 and E853 (for those unfamiliar with Seibu arcana, there were only ever four locos of this type built, which AFAIR were the largest locomotives ever operated by a private railway and heavily inspired by the EF65 and EF81 designs).

 

Tragically for rivet counters they are further proof that MicroAce inherited Lima's old scale ruler and are somewhat shorter than the Kato version, but as these represent the locomotives at the very end of their working lives there's no imperative to run them together with the Kato versions.

 

On the plus side, like pretty much all MicroAce models the numbers come pre-attached, which saves a lot of heartache.

[roadstar_na6]

3 hours ago, railsquid said:

On the plus side, like pretty much all MicroAce models the numbers come pre-attached, which saves a lot of heartache.

*cries in scratched shell*
 

I found one on YAJ tho. 🙂 So soon I got three of these pulling the Sayonara Special and the regular Cement Train 😎 

[Cat]

The boat came in!!!  This is the Hobby Search package that we had ordered just before Japan Post shut off shipments to the US, it eventually got returned to them, after waiting over a month and they hadn't signed a deal with DHL yet, we requested surface shipping on 3 June, got the shipped notice on 8 June, landed on doorstep today.  If my track planning and tallying has been accurate, this completes track acquisitions for the layout.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Cat

[Cat]

On 7/16/2020 at 5:47 PM, matt_d10 said:

A parcel arrived for me today containing a few ARU model brass kits. I've picked up a few before when I've been in Japan, but as travel is out of the question I did a mail order with them directly. 

 

 

The cost certainly shoots up when you take into account shipping, customs and handling; but I like the simplicity of the kits and they're fun to make (already assembled 2!)

 

Successfully ordered an MoW engine and a couple of work cars with all the fittings: extra floodlamps, Kato motor, and GreenMax chassis.  Got the shipping notice yesterday that they're on their way to the docks.  Shipping to the US, they had to go surface.

[JR 500系]

A small parcel from HS, and i am REALLY stunned by the details that went into that Scania Low bed! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And another parcel from Ami, this time, containing that beautiful Keisei Skyliner from Tomix! And more Kato kiha-110s single motor carriage:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not wanting to start another PTE line but the Keisei skyliner was too beautiful to resist.... 

[cteno4]

Our big order of building signs for club members here showed up today! Harry from modelrailwaysigns.com was able to get the shipping from the Uk to us down some with the bulk order.

 

jeff

[Yavianice]

I received the A9960 0 Series Shinkansen with "Royal" stripe, and it is quite interesting, because it is the first japanese N gauge train I've seen that uses the "NEM" coupler standard. None of my other MircoAce Shinkansens have this type of coupler. 

 

Before, Micro Ace had these hideous couplers on their Shinkansens which left a lot of space between cars. Normal trains have bogie mounted couplers, usually. But this newer 0 series Shinkansen has ordinary TN coupler mounts, which is rather excellent. I am not sure why in the product description they explicitly say that this is not possible? Normal TN couplers fit on it well, though it does limit the minimum radius a little because the wheels smash into the coupler assembly when it's tigher than R282.

 

The coupler mechanism is a "NEM" coupler pocket inside an ordinary "TN" style mounting bracket. Were it not that it is slightly smaller than a true "NEM" coupler standard, so while you could use other couplers in it (like Fleischmann Profi or whatever), it doesn't fit quite right and it needs some filing. But the Micro Ace coupler fits in european "NEM" coupler pockets.

 

I found it quite curious. You could also see that this was the only part they changed because the car chassis still has the original coupler nub/spring pocket from when it had hideous couplers.

 

  

 

Left picture: Standard NEM coupler on top, Micro Ace "NEM" coupler on the bottom. Middle and right picture: the coupler assembly on the A9960.

Edited August 12, 2020 by Yavianice

[railsquid]

4 hours ago, Yavianice said:

I received the A9960 0 Series Shinkansen with "Royal" stripe, and it is quite interesting, because it is the first japanese N gauge train I've seen that uses the "NEM" coupler standard.

 

I came across this MicroAce "not-quite NEM" coupler on something else fairly recently. Can't remember what right now, but certainly not a Shinkansen, very likely a commuter EMU and definitely a few years old (I don't think I've bought anything new from MA for a long time).

[railsquid]

A brace of Tomix EF64-0s:

 

Tomix EF64-0 series (EF64-31) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Tomix EF64-0 series (EF64-59) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Tomix EF64-0 series (EF64-32) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

All cheap "junk", basically in good condition but the previous owner had messed up a few of the number plates and there are no spares. I may need to renumber them anyway.

[Cat]

A couple of 1999 packages arrived, by air and sea.

DHL was overnight delivery, made it here the next day!  2 more 16 car 21m train cases that should be sufficient  for our growing shorty fleet, 2 Shorties can fit in each slot.  Plus 1 more Minibus collection case to hold assorted vehicles and provide another ghost minibus for the painting, and some fun Maruwa Tsuun containers.

The surface package was two months at sea.

[SuperAzusa]

Ordered E257-0 Series from RG-R. I quite liked the old livery on the E257s, but that's gone for good, so this'll do.

[ED75-775]

My 'final' package finally arrived today from Zenmarket with two Kato goodies - the Oha 31 museum coach and the 7002-3 Hokutosei DD51. The coach looks fantastic, the DD51 had a damaged coupler spring which got trimmed without any ill effect noted, and then when I took the box inner apart... the one bit I wanted, the number boards, were missing! It still had the headmark disks though, and a quick check on Yahoo! Auctions via Zenmarket has confirmed that there's a set of number boards available for the 7008 version. Guess what my next purchase will be...

While I'm at it, it may be worthwhile buying some new couplings for my knuckle-fitted locos and rolling stock, and some ED75 end assemblies to fix my battered Kato one with the broken plough. I had planned on buying these in Tokyo earlier this year, but that plan got cancelled by coronavirus. I still remain cautiously optimistic I might be able to go next year.

[200系]

Have been wanting to post a few of my, received, pre-orders over the last few months, but each time I got time to post the next one would (almost) arive.

Hence  a few months worth of (pre) orders:

 

The first is a bit of an outlier, my only non-Japanese (N-gauge) train in my collection, a Kato TGV Réseau (tricourant)

Though I'm generally not especially interested in HST's that aren't shinkansen, the first, second and third generation TGV's (PSE, Atlantique and Réseau) do hold a place in my heart (as do the French railways in general). And as I had already reserved the upcoming Kato TGV Réseau Thalys (PBA), I actually wanted to give her a running mate, which arrived a few weeks ago:

 

 

Now for the real deal:

 

First up, the Kansai area:

Kato DD54 (late type, one of the machines used as traction for the Limited Express Izumo), 221系 (8 car Kyōto/Kōbe line formation, post renewal) and 489系 (9 car JR West formation, Notto (~2015)), as well as a Tomix 207系1000番台 7 car formation:

 

 

Moving along the Kosai/Kyōto line, we get the new Kato 117系 (Kosai version). As I've always been a fan of the 117系, and they fit in well with my growing JR West/Kansai collection, it didn't take much convincing to pre-order the new models:

(JNR version (Shinkaisoku livery) on the left, and renewed JR West (300番台) Kyōto version on the right, both are 6 car formations)

 

 

Moving towards Ōsaka:

 

Ōsaka Municipal Transportation Bureau 50系4 car formation 5085F, or former 5000形, as she appeared after transferring  from the (Ōsaka subway) Chūō line to the Sennichimae line in the mid 1980's. This formation also happens to represent the last active 50系/5000形 cars to run on the Ōsaka Municipal Subway system in April of 1994. Car 5085 of this formation also happens to be the only car in this series to be preserved.

 

I've wanted to get myself a 50系 for some quite some time now, as they are one of my favorite subway designs of this era (though the (modified) frond end, post 1970's ATC installation, is a bit of an acquired taste I have to admit) fortunately HS restocked them in June. Unfortunately I'll have to wait until September for the power unit.

 

 

Also for the Sennichimae line, though progressing into the Ōsaka Metro era:

Microace Ōsaka Metro 25系 (4 car formation):

 

 

 

Adding to both my Kantō area, Shōwa/(early-mid)Heisei era, commuter/suburban type collection, as well as my 103系 collection (formation number 8).

Tomix KeihinTōhoku line 103系 (10 car formation, post 1974 high cab version with ATC), unfortunately because of time constraints I couldn't get a good shot on the layout, so this shot of the set it's self will have to do: 

 

 

And last but not least,

 

One of my most anticipated releases of the first half of this year: The new Tomix 200系 F formation(s).

First is the "Shark Nose", 200系200番台 (for the 221/222形 end cars), based F formation (F5/F8 or F40).

 

Fortunately, Tomix fixed one of the inaccuracies of their previous 200系 H formation, the shape of the headlights, which were slanted (like those used on the 100系). The headlights on the "shark nose" 200系 cars however, though based on the 100系 nose design, were actually straight as opposed to angled. The new model has the correct headlights.

The 

 

 

And as I just couldn't resist adding another 200系 formation to my collection, I also reserved the "standard" 'Odango/round nose' based F formation.

Though I already own the previous release, adding another 200系 formation doesn't hurt (except my wallet off course... poor wallet..):

 

 

Family portrait:

 

 

[JR 500系]

Holy! I love that shot of all the 200 series! Lovely!!! 

[cteno4]

Holy 200s batman!

 

jeff