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

[cteno4]

Wow! 😮 

 

jeff

[Cat]

55 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Wow! 😮 

 

jeff

Well, my woodworking skills have always been extremely mediocre, available shop space and suitable tools in our basement are kind of pitiful for the job, so purchasing kits was our best option.

[cteno4]

They are nice modules.

 

jeff

[foxhsu]

On 2/23/2022 at 11:58 AM, foxhsu said:

Order something new. 

 

Light kit for 800 series "Shooting Star", also some light kits for Kato, Tomix with capacitor

 

My clubmember just finished his set. Here is the test run. 

https://fb.watch/bNMR__UuTn/

[Kamome]

Just enjoying my new train.

 

 

But seriously

 

 

Amazon still have plenty of stock so managed to get both 215 sets and 3 sets of  TN couplers for the necessary conversion. 

 

What I like

 

Tomix have managed to capture the mundanity of this rather ugly looking commuter train very well. The lack of colour but also the hints of beige and purple have been realised exceptionally accurately. The DDL logo with its very 80s but art deco inspired typeface looks crisp, as do the green car and JR logos. 

 

We have blackened wheels, ok they’re a bit shiny but dark enough not to draw the eye.  

 

The internal parts have nice moulded details including stair cases which can’t be seen with the body on. Nice that had been considered and perhaps with lighting, you may get a slight glimpse through one of the windows. I particularly like the inclusion of the separately (user) fitted telephone aerials. These also could have been easily omitted but nice to have some extra points of detail. 

 

The newer current collection pieces and springs look very robust. This may have been on many other Tomix models before this but I am certainly impressed with the look of durability. The motor is also incredibly smooth and quiet so a very nice runner. 

 

What I don’t like

 

Despite this being an excellent model, there were a few times when I didn’t understand Tomix’s decision making. 

 

Fitting the service name and number stickers to the front was more challenging than it should’ve been. The light board is well designed but the body feels incredibly thin and there were a couple of times trying to remove the relevant cab section, I thought I was going to snap the body shell. 

 

Tomix decided to not add car numbers to the sides of cars. Included are the rolling stock numbers which I applaud Tomix for allowing users to select which 215 set they wish to model. All 4 consist numbers are included, but why no coach 1-10 numbers printed? There are included dry rub decals for this but these should have been printed to the coaches in the factory.

 

Again, there are no destination display stickers despite the destination displays being modelled. I was expecting this from my previous Tomix EMU but this shouldn’t really be the case for a model costing ¥25,000. 

 

Conclusion

 

All in all this is a great looking model. I understand that Tomix will tend to fulfil a toy train mentality when producing their products. “What if Timmy wants some double deck coaches to run behind his EF81?” The lack of pre-installed coach numbers and TN couplers was a minor irritation but for a train that no one has touched in n scale other than the older Microace version, this is certainly a very well realised depiction.  It makes a nice addition to the Kanto fleet and I would certainly recommend the model to others wanting a touch of the boring but necessary.

Edited March 19, 2022 by disturbman

[disturbman]

4 hours ago, Kamome said:

Just enjoying my new train.

Part of the pleasure 🙃

 

4 hours ago, Kamome said:

All 4 consist numbers are included, but why no coach 1-10 numbers printed? There are included dry rub decals for this but these should have been printed to the coaches in the factory.

I'm guessing it's for those that intend to run theirs as partial consists, to avoid running trains with coaches in non-sequential order. I kind of like it like that, as user installed parts. It always irks me a little bit to see trains running cars numbered 1-3-4-5-10.

Edited March 19, 2022 by disturbman

[ED75-775]

Good review from @Kamome there on the 215. I still haven't touched mine yet, at some stage I might get the extra six coaches to go with mine but at the moment that's a long-term goal along with the extra coaches for my Osaka Loop 103.

 

I haven't really been buying any new train stuff lately, largely because I haven't seen anything that demands my buying it immediately, and also because a family member is selling off their model trains and I'm determined to buy many - but not all (there are some duplicate items present) - of his trains and track. Well, you don't get to do that very often around here... Anyway, back on topic, the latest items I did manage to find the motivation to buy are a set of Kato 28-194 spoke wheels for my C56 loco, two Kato catalogs (2009 and 2015 - complete the set up to the present day), the Tomix 2007-8 catalog and the 50 Track Plans book that @Tony Galiani recommended a while back. I snagged a good second-hand copy for 2,720 yen ex-Amazon.

 

And on the preorders front, I couldn't walk past a Kato C11 tank; small, compact branchline locomotive, you really can't go wrong with that. I had been marking myself safe from the other Kato and Tomix new items up until now, up until Tomix announced their DE10-1000 and matching HoKi 800 ballast hoppers. OK, so I'd seen both types of vehicles at the Oku switch yard on my first full day in Tokyo in 2019, but the loco didn't much speak to me... still marking myself safe... until I found this photo in my collection from the Tabata side of the switch yard:

 

 

Yep, I had photographed DE10 1654, which happens to be one of the number choices for the new Tomix loco. Nope, not safe after all! Once I knew that, both the DE10 and the HoKi's ended up in my shopping cart at HobbySearch along with the aforementioned C11. Funnily enough, none of the numbers the HoKi's come with are anywhere close to those I saw. Here's one of my photos of the real things, being shunted into the maintenance shed at Oku by DE10 1752 (it seems that Oku's DE10's were being a bit camera-shy by this point! 😄)

 

 

And before anyone asks, it's not like I knew much about the switchyard being there, or that JR East would be putting on that display for me (well, OK, they didn't, I was just there at the right train time!). I was really there because Oku was the nearest JR station to the Märklin Rheingold Tokyo store and the switch yard was the icing on the cake. Riiiight?

 

Alastair

[Wolf]

These are some very nice pictures @ED75-775! Around here (Germany) you would have a hard time (or an expensive Lens) getting that close.

To keep with the topic, I ordered 2 T-Track modules (in Poland) now, as you all were showing off I figured I give it a try. Went alongside with ordering some tracks, ballast, scenery and random cyclists as well. So guess I have to hide some packages from the lady again ... XD

[Kamome]

On 3/19/2022 at 8:52 PM, disturbman said:

I'm guessing it's for those that intend to run theirs as partial consists, to avoid running trains with coaches in non-sequential order. I kind of like it like that, as user installed parts. It always irks me a little bit to see trains running cars numbered 1-3-4-5-10.

Yeah, I guess i’m used to the Kato methodology. But I think if you’re running a shortened version of the consist what does it matter that the car numbers are out of sync. Anyway “potato, potarto” (not sure how to accurately write that phrase😂) I’ll have a go at numbering the coaches in the near future. Do other members find the decals robust by themselves or is it best to clear coat them after application?

 

6 hours ago, ED75-775 said:

And on the preorders front, I couldn't walk past a Kato C11 tank; small, compact branchline locomotive, you really can't go wrong with that. I had been marking myself safe from the other Kato and Tomix new items up until now, up until Tomix announced their DE10-1000 and matching HoKi 800 ballast hoppers.

 

You can’t go wrong with that C11. Nice runners like all of the Kato steamies. Since discovering Tomix wagons take the shortened HC  Kato knuckles without modification, a new world has opened up to me. Quite looking forward to those ballast hoppers too.

 

[disturbman]

2 hours ago, Kamome said:

Yeah, I guess i’m used to the Kato methodology. But I think if you’re running a shortened version of the consist what does it matter that the car numbers are out of sync.

 

It's not because the train is shortened that it's to look stupid 😉 
 

2 hours ago, Kamome said:

I’ll have a go at numbering the coaches in the near future. Do other members find the decals robust by themselves or is it best to clear coat them after application?

 

I find Tomix decals (how do you spell rub-ons?) quite sturdy. Never found the necessity to protect them. But I don't manipulate my trains often, or constantly take them out of their storage boxes.

Edited March 21, 2022 by disturbman

[lighthouse]

Some new stuff has arrived.... 😁

 

 

[Jimbo]

i finally got a 115 series!!

[ED75-775]

On 3/22/2022 at 1:47 AM, Wolf said:

Around here (Germany) you would have a hard time (or an expensive Lens) getting that close.

Thanks @Wolf! I have to admit, I was very lucky and took these photos from publicly accessible areas. Just poke the camera lens through the fence, and shoot! If anyone's interested, I could post some more of my 2019 photos in a separate thread.

 

Meanwhile, Hobbysearch have announced that the JiHaNi 6055 steam railmotor has come into stock, and I've been ransomed the asking price. It should arrive next week, then it'll be time to review and see whether it was worth it.

[Wolf]

So, had a glass yesterday, so aparently I did order two Shinkansen ...

This leaves my current list of shame ... errr, "expectation" as now like this.

- Tomix Series 80000 `Hinotori` (August)
- Tomix HOKI800 (J.R. East) Style 8 Set (September)
- Tomitec Contemporary Townhouses A5 and B5 because Houses ... (August)

- Tomix Series 500-7000 Shinkansen 8 Car Set (August)

- Greenmax 3 Story Buisness Buildings (July)

- Tomix N700S Shinkansen (700-3000) 8 Car Set

- 2 pieces of T-Track Modules from Pikart in Poland

- Random Assortment of Kato Track (and Ballast) to use on above

- HKTILC Light Boards for Tomix and Kato
- Tomix E5 Tohoku Shinkansen 10 car Set
- Kato Tora90000 Set

Edited March 24, 2022 by Wolf
Added stuff :/

[Arctic]

Received some goodies from Plaza Japan today:

 

 

Nankai 1000 Series x Sumikko Gurashi (on sale so I couldn't resist), Kiha 47 in San'in renewal livery and some Dairy Cows

[Wolf]

Yay, my very first TTrack modules ... Looking foreward to have them catch dust.

[Martijn Meerts]

Would've been nice if they caught ALL the dust in a room, and not just the dust that happens to fall on them 😉

 

[beakaboy]

A very nice condition secondhand set collected from a friend this past weekend  for $100 

[JR 500系]

Another pre-order in, and this time, i cannot resist the Hamanasu any further...

 

 

 

 

 

Really like these Tomix Kiha-100s... their nifty, looks great, comes with both ends directional lighting, lovely detail parts and most importantly factory fitted interior lights ~

 

 

 

I caved in... I wanted to really wait it out for Kato to make the Kiha-261, for their couplers and yes hopefully the tilting mechanism, but i guess i just couldnt pass that LOVELY pinky... and i'm glad i didnt ~

[Wolf]

12 minutes ago, JR 500系 said:

Really like these Tomix Kiha-100s... their nifty, looks great, comes with both ends directional lighting, lovely detail parts and most importantly factory fitted interior lights ~

 

I really want two of these as well, I should look at these.

Also, One Shinkansen arrived ^^
 

[ED75-775]

Latest Zenmarket haul arrived today after an abortive attempt to intercept it yesterday:

 

 

Thanks to this delivery, I’ve now got a full house of Kato catalogs from 2008 to 2022. Still need the Tomix 2011-12 and 2022 catalogs to complete that set back to 2006; by my count this now means my Japanese catalog hoard totals 28 against 30 Märklin catalogs to date. Don’t get me started on my Trix, LGB and Hornby catalogs, please, or we might be here a while!

 

Alastair

[Madsing]

I see that you have purchased the "N Gauge Layout Plan Collection 50" book. I have it too! It's really inspirational. Layouts #39 and 40 are particularly interesting!

[shiniji]

A "little" has also arrived for me in the last few months 😮 The best one arrived yesterday, the World Kougei JIHANI6055!

 

Japan's first steam train was a bargain on ebay... I paid €50 for the locomotive and the 3 cars 😮

 

[ED75-775]

On 3/31/2022 at 1:34 AM, Madsing said:

I see that you have purchased the "N Gauge Layout Plan Collection 50" book. I have it too! It's really inspirational. Layouts #39 and 40 are particularly interesting!

Yep! I've flicked through it a few times, and it's giving me some ideas about where I can go and what I can do with my N-scale stuff. I notice that there's a heavy emphasis on just watching the trains run, which is nice but for someone like me who likes to sometimes play shunter, not always my thing. I was going to say 'cup of tea', then I remembered I don't drink tea...

 

Pointless digression about refreshment choices aside, the real reason for my being here tonight is to write a review!

 

World Kogei JiHaNi 6055 Steam Railmotor - Great, Good, or just Plain?

Steam railmotors are interesting critters, simply because there aren't very many of them left that I am aware of. Of course there are some lucky survivors, including the very topically-appropriate and superbly restored HoJi 6005 as part of SCMAGLEV & Railway Park collection in Nagoya, and a very smart looking machine it is too. Here's one of my photos of said vehicle from May 2019.

 

 

Unfortunately, no-one that I am aware of has produced a model of this type of steam railmotor, though in saying that someone may pop up and announce that, actually, someone actually has done it in the past! However, the good folks at World Kogei have offered in the past kits for a similar type of railmotor, the JiHaNi type as running after 1925. Then, mid-way through last year, Hobbysearch opened reservations for a limited-edition, ready-to-run version of the JiHaNi. After mulling on it for three days, I decided to preorder one. After all, it wasn't due until February 2022, that would be plenty of time to scrape together some funds and use it as a celebration of paying off my student loan.

 

Fast forward to March 2022. After mild, and understandable, delays, the promised railmotor arrived this afternoon, all the way from Tokyo. Was it worth the hype? And more importantly, was it worth the ¥55,370 price tag for this model? Let's find out...

 

What you get

 

Rather than going the traditional clear case route, Kogei have provided a nice hard-case for their completed products. There is a label showing the contents of the case, but only on one end. Given that other manufacturers will put a label or description of a case's contents on each end, as per Kato and Tomix, this seems a bit odd, though then again neither Kato nor Tomix put images of rolling stock on the ends of their cases. Yes, I know Tomix does pictures of some trains on their cases, but only the book-type ones...

 

Alright, that gripe aside, I think we're all bored of looking at a box. What's inside?

 

 

Squee! One shiny, new piece of railway rolling stock, carefully wrapped up to prevent any knocks and bumps that might damage that pristine paintwork. You also get an A4-sized single-sided sheet with a few maintenance tips, and instructions on how to replace the dummy knuckle couplers with Arnold-type couplers that are also conveniently included with the railmotor. These couplers also come with two coupler 'pockets' and 1.2mm screws to affix them, which hide nicely down the inside of the box between the edge and the foam insert.

 

Given that this is a high-quality model, I would have expected slightly more detail about maintenance and servicing, or maybe even a short potted history of the vehicle in question, as Tomix does. But nope, all you get are a few quick bullet points, a nice colour picture of the railmotor, and an explanation of how to fold and install those Arnold coupler pockets, or a Micro-Trains scale knuckle coupler if that's your thing. The instructions do warn though if you do intend to fit Arnold couplers, you will have to accept the removal of part of the chassis detail. The choice is up to you.

 

The Model Itself

 

And here it is! On first impressions, this is a gorgeous little model. Clocking in at 123 grams according to Hobbysearch (though they don't state whether this is with or without packaging), it weighs more than some of the smaller Kato locos like the C11/C12/C56/8620 and in fact isn't too far off the stated 128g weight for the C57. This would of course be helped by the fact that most of this model - roof, ends, and chassis - are solid brass. The 'wooden' sides are plastic, and I suspect the windows too but didn't want to test those.

 

Looking at the paint quality, everything is nice and even with no blemishes. Internally, there's two motors, one geared to each bogie, for plenty of tractive power which is a must-have if you intend to fit functional couplings and pull an extra coach or maybe a goods wagon behind. This may also compensate for the fact that the railmotor lacks traction tires on any wheels, possibly to allow all-wheel current pickup for those motors. Having never had a Kogei before this, I can't comment if this is their standard approach, but no doubt someone else will know!

 

If you're looking for interior detail though... well, forget it. There's little to none. While the 'front' motor in the boiler space might be able to pass off as the boiler with some imagination and a bit of squinting, that's about as much as you'll get. The passenger compartment looks pretty empty, apart from that second motor. There is however some nice underframe detail with the truss rods, water tank and so on nicely replicated.

 

Does it run well?

Yes it does! I set up a quick oval of Kato Unitrack to test it out. The JiHaNi railmotor takes very little current to get running, and once it gets running is very smooth in either direction with only minimal motor noise. No minimum radius is given for operation, but it handled both my R282 and R718 curves beautifully. Disappointingly, and especially for a model of this level, there are no working headlights, or provision to install working headlights which seems to have been a 'missed trick' on Kogei's part. Beyond that though, I really can't fault this model for running quality.

 

Final thoughts?

Ok, if you've managed to get this far, you probably deserve a cookie... or something. Anyway. The World Kogei JiHaNi 6055 railmotor is certainly up there in terms of running quality, there's no doubt about that. Smooth, almost silent, and probably enough pull for an extra coach to trail behind, or maybe one or two goods wagons. Against that though, the lack of small things like internal details or even working headlights does detract just a little.

 

Normally, this model retails for ¥62,150, or $736.90NZD, full price according to both the box label and the HS website, although I 'only' paid ¥55,370 for my railmotor, or roughly $656.51NZD. This was the price at time of reservation opening in August 2021, and doesn't include any points deductions made by the HS team. Do I think this model was worth that? In my mind, no. As nice as it is, this model is mildly overpriced and to me, would be better around the ¥35,000-40,000 mark in my mind. The smooth running and exterior detail alone aren't enough to make up for the lack of internal detail, scant maintenance documentation, or even those headlights. Yep. Pet peeve.

 

Irrespective of those niggles and that hefty price tag, there's no denying - this is a nice model, and I'm glad I got it. As a one-off, it's pretty neat. Would I do it again? Probably not in a hurry, but... find me that HoJi railmotor, and then I might reconsider.

 

Enjoy your evening!

Alastair

[Martijn Meerts]

One thing to keep in mind with the pre-built World Kougei kits, is that there are usually hand built and hand painted, which explains their price tag. As far as I can remember, none of the kits I have in N-scale come with lights, or even an easy possibility to add lights. Even their H0 models don't always have lights.

 

Most of the World Kougei kits / models are a bit niche, and manufactured in limited quantities. Reruns are also not common. By now though, both Kato and Tomix have produced some models that were only available from World Kougei when I started getting familiar with them.