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The Introduction Thread...


Darren Jeffries

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Hi everyone! So another newbie here, thought I'd join up even though my focus isn't exactly on Japan - my interests are directed mostly towards the South Manchuria Railway, the Chosen Government Railway and private railways in Korea pre-1945, and the North Korean railways. But that aside the EF66 is one of my favourite locomotives in the world, alongside Mantetsu's Pashina class (as my username might suggest), and the Sentetsu Mikasa class.

 

As far as modelling goes I'm mostly just a dabbler... my interests are too wide-ranging to commit to a single subject. So I've just got plans for several smallish modules - something North Korean (I've got an M62 model completed, in TT scale), something Manchurian (have an Asia Express with a Pashina in the planning stages), and eventually probably a Sentetsu module too..

 

Anyways that's me in brief. Hi! :)

 

Xenia

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Welcome Xenia,

 

There are a number of folks interested in various Asian railways on the forum!

 

Jeff

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Welcome to the forums. I'm sure there is some literature on the Japanese colonial railways out there. I'll keep an eye open for them, though all would be Japanese only.

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Welcome to the forums. I'm sure there is some literature on the Japanese colonial railways out there. I'll keep an eye open for them, though all would be Japanese only.

Thank you! Japanese text I'm okay with, I can deal with it. I have several books on Mantetsu and DPRK in Japanese. I know there's a 6 volume set on the Chosen Government Railway (朝鮮総督府鉄道) that I'd like to get. I did find it at one online retailer but they didn't ship outside Japan, alas. I'd really appreciate a line on that set if you find it!

 

edited to add kanji!

Edited by Pashina12
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I can't fault your taste in railways or locos, Xenia. I have an interest in Mantetsu, and have a few books, photos and postcards related to it. One of the books I have is this:

 

gallery_22_66_828372.jpg

 

If you haven't already got it, I think you'd find it's worth having.

 

Another book I have has a chapter on Mantetsu and the CGR:

 

gallery_22_66_12691.jpg

 

I found this print in a flea market in Changhun years ago:

 

gallery_22_66_876452.jpg

 

And I've been all over the two preserved SL7s like a rash!

 

Anyway, it's nice to have another fan of the obscure and unusual join the forum.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

Edited by marknewton
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That's a fantastic photo! I also don't have either of those books - the first one, is it as the title says and is just a photo collection, or is there some info, too? And how is it for freight cars?

 

 

I never did make it to the Shenyang museum, unfortunately. I did go up north for a couple weeks and of that spent a week and a half in Harbin but a good 6 days of that was lost time due to my mum being sick. I wasn't about to leave her alone in the hotel room for several days, and when she was well enough to travel again, I just took her back down south to where I was living and the climate was a little warmer (this was the middle of February). And besides, I'm not sure she'd have appreciated a second day dedicated to trains (after the Beijing museum) in the same way as I would have, even if the Mantetsu bug bit me *after* I left the area. But eventually I'll get back up there, if not before, then when I go do my long-hoped-for visit to the DPRK.

 

Obscure and unusual? I've given serious consideration to doing a little TT9 module representing a Rhodesia Railways branchline that was closed in the 1930s, and another module to represent the St Clair Tunnel between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan, back in the days it was electrified. I don't know about the tunnel idea anymore, as that'd also require rather large yards at either end, but the RR idea I may well revisit as it seems ideal for a little linear modular/shelf layout. Cuba's another locale I've considered for modelling - where else would you find an ALCO FA/PA and an M62 together in one place?

 

There's something special about those obscure little nooks and corners!

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The Mantetsu appears in Herge's "The Blue Lotus", not obscure at all. Now, ex-FGC's "granotes" in the Hershey's railway near Havana, ok, that's a bit out there...  :)

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Hi everyone,
I'm from France & My real firstname is Benoît. (My apologize for my approximate English. :) )
5 years ago I'm back from travel in Japan with a couple of Kato train in my baggage. The initial idea is to use it on western brand track, but I finally choose Kato unitrack.
Since a year I looking for an solution to make it rolling, I plan to build T Track modules in the future. But I buy train faster than I build... :)
So I decide to start by a tiny b-train layout to improve my diorama skills, the T Track project comes later.

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Welcome Benoit!

 

That sounds like a perfect way to get started and build up skills and keep moving well! Japananese trains tend to make you buy them faster than you can build layouts, way too many tempting trains to buy!

 

Start a thread on your shortie mini layout.

 

Your English is fine, we are and international forum here so it's no worries!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

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Hi everyone,

 

recently got back into model trains after I found some of my "old" rolling stock. Since I'm also interested into Anime amongst other things I made the mistake on looking into Japanese model trains and before I knew it, I ended up with several of them, I love how much there is available when it comes different trains (+ the prices are good compared to Germany).

 

Sadly I don't have the space for a permament layout at the moment (would love to do a mixed german/(rural) japanese layout one day) so I am restricted to collecting trains and running on a small temporary floor layout, though I thought of maybe trying to build some T-Trak modules in the future to practice modelling. I guess the future will probably hold more trains (much to the dismay of my wallet...) and tracks to expand the layout.

(On that note, forgive me for asking a question in this thread, but is it possible to easily remove the white plugs from the Kato Feeder Cables? I still have some Fleischmann Trafos I'd like to use but they take naked wire instead of plugs).

 

 

 

 

 

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lesliegibson

Just registered. I live in Wales (UK) and model OO gauge. Also have interest in Locomotive hauled trains in Japan. Sadly seems to be only freight now as all the overnight expresses have been withdrawn.

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Just registered. I live in Wales (UK) and model OO gauge. Also have interest in Locomotive hauled trains in Japan. Sadly seems to be only freight now as all the overnight expresses have been withdrawn.

 

Hi Leslie, welcome to the forum :)

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Welcome gryphr!

 

You can do a lot with temporary layouts and have a lot of fun with them and work on ideas. Ttrak is great for learning scenery and detailing w.o a lot of time and money investment and end up with a nice diorama to display on the book shelf to boot.

 

I would just cut the kato power feed and then you can just twist the wires together as needed and solder or just tape them. There are also some simple crimp plug systems you could put in the various feeders to have a universal connection between brands. These you can crimp and don't have to solder (although soldering them tends to make them more solid.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

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Hello everyone,

I'm Dustin, from the southeast United States. I got interested in Japanese rail after a 3 week trip in Japan, traveling from Sendai to Nagasaki. I was originally drawn to the r/model_trains reddit, but they mostly work with American and some European rail. This forum was mentioned as the go-to for Japanese railway modeling, so here I am. 

I very recently finished building a 3x6ft table to run my small collection on, with the Kato M1 loop and the mainline passing set. Current lineup is an "All Around Kyushu" 787 series (KATO), a KiHa 58/65 Seaside Liner (TOMIX), and the Sendai A1/A2 485 series Aizu liner (TOMIX). My primary interest is JR Kyushu, and specifically the Nagasaki and Omura lines.

Edited by dgreen787
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Hello Dustin!  

Welcome to the forum, always glad to have more Kyushu modelers here.  I'm quite a fan of that area myself, as you may be able to guess from my name/avatar.  I my first Japanese trains were tomix kiha 66/67 seaside liners, as I spent a bit of time at the Sasebo end of the Omura line back in 2015.  Sounds like your collection is off to a good start!

-Sam

Edited by Kiha66
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