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The Introduction Thread...


Darren Jeffries

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Thanks for the welcome! The Japanese prototype will definitely have some influence on my layout I think, particularly from the density and transition aspects you've mentioned. I get a lot of inspiration from what you guys have done here. Can't wait to look through more layout threads.

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Hi Everyone:

 

I am Riff from India. I am fond of trains and have been regular reader of this forum. However, I never had chance to get into this hobby due to unavailability of items in my country. Just starting now with Tomix N-scale (importing from Amazon JP with 40% import duty). So, starting out slow due to the investment required.

 

I have posted a plan for my first layout in this thread. Looking to get some feedback and help from veteran members. I look forward to participating in this forum.

 

Thanks

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Riff,

 

welcome, glad you found us! 
 

bummer on the 40% duty. That hurts. A good friend here was starting to do import of HO and N scale into india. He has reps in three cities and was doing some weekend model train events to get more exposure for model trains and they were a huge success. Unfortunately it was very difficult to import stuff in, requiring a lot of monitoring and negotiating on shipments, then sadly he passed away a couple of years ago.

 

jeff

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Yes, duty hurts a lot. I get only half of what I can afford.

 

Sorry to hear about your friend. Any hobby stuff is a very niche market so there are very limited retailers or shops. So, importing is the only option to get quality stuff.

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well the good news is that even with that duty Japanese trains are an excellent bang for the rupee! Also there can be some very good deals, just have to watch it as some can be at or above retail.
 

Yeah he determined there was little competition and the little there was was aimed at the very high end items. His model railroad events were super popular. He had 5 or 6 guys he hired to come and run trains, do some scenery stuff and show the basics of how to set stuff up. he felt there was a big pent up hobby market that just needed encouragement with events like this. He even charged for admission that covered the event cost. He also started making some Indian HO trains with a company in Brazil or all places as they made some very similar equipment.
 

He was working on Kato distributorship as well. Sadly it was too much for him when health issues hit so he had to shut it all down. 
 

He really was an excellent chap.

 

jeff

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Hello my name is Alexander and am from Germany - next to Cologne - from that city where the Topmodel Heidi Klum is coming from and am a great fan of Japanese Models - thx a lot !

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Hello everyone!

My name is Jan, I‘m 25 years old and from Germany. My model train history had a classic start, so to say, everything started when I was a little boy playing with the old H0 Fleischmann model trains of my dad when visiting my grandparents.
It was at that time that I also joined our local model train club and after saving up quite a litte money from christmas and birthdays I got myself my own H0 Märklin DCC train set. I then went ahead and got some rails, cars, houses and a second loco and basically wanted to build a whole layout with landscape and everything with my grandfather. Unfortunately space and time somehow never were there and then gramps got Alzheimer‘s and everything was abandoned.


A few years later I got a japanese N scale train to run at out club‘s layout imported from Japan when a friend imported some car parts for his AE86 and since then that‘s basically what I was focusing on model wise. I got a second loco (E851) from Japan quickly after but unfortunately never had money to buy cars for that and now they‘re sold out everywhere. For the past few years everything has been on a hiatus now and only recently when browsing YAJ I thought of checking for some more stuff. I found a Twilight Express which is now on it‘s way to me and will hopefully arrive soon. Also I‘m now keeping an eye out for used sets of the Taki1900 freight cars I couldn‘t buy when I got the E851.
The only thing really missing atm are tracks, I‘d like to get some Kato Unitrack rails and hopefully can one day build an actual layout at home (to also finish what I wanted to do when my grandfather was still alive).

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Welcome Jan! Good luck in finding the Japanese items you want. I’m sure that the other members here will have good advice to offer. 

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Welcome Jan! Glad you found Japanese trains and the forum!

 

get some basic Unitrak to start running trains at home, start simple and keep adding. Unitrak is so robust you can have fun changing things around and playing before heading into a big layout. Also check around for any ttrakers as that’s another way to start doing some layout stuff with low investment if time, money and space and gets you around other modelers as well.

 

cheers

 

jeff

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Hello!

I am Thomas from Austria. My main interest in model trains is Czech branchline steam in 0 gauge tinplate. However I like big electric engines and long trains, too.  As this interest is not compatibel with neither my available space nor my financial resources to do it justice in 0 gauge, something had to be done. So here I am, with lots of enthusiasm but lacking any knowledge of Japanese model railways.  

I start a thread in the layout planning section to take profit of the collective wisdom of this forum.

 

Thomas

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