I heard today that T scale is dying

[kmcsjr]

I was speaking with a friend that does T scale. I was thinking about a set for when I travel on business(it beats movies and bars). His opinion was that the original manufacturer sold out and that it was "up in smoke". Any thoughts on this?

[stevenh]

He 'sold out' to a HK manufacturer/distributor 'The Railway Shop (HK)'.

This simply means that everything is now distributed from HK. It was always manufactured in China.

 

See all the information required here: Talking T-Gauge Forums:Sale of Eishindo?

 

I am still waiting for the Hankyu set... I'd love to see the 9000 Series on my basic loop.

 

I also recently went to the Sanddown Model Railway Exhibition here in Melbourne and ran in to the author of that post detailing the manufacturing in China.... he had an awesome layout using flex track, he even had it for sale... I'm just still sticking with N Scale as T is just too damn tiny.

[Kabutoni]

Looks like some of the newer items (KIHA40, Hankyu 9000) are on sale and in stock here: http://www.trainaidsa.com/shop-tgauge.shtml

 

I've quit T-Gauge for now, as it's just too damn small... :/

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Ahhh good  I've been waiting for the Kiha 40 for ages. Now have two on order to go with the lengths of flexitrack and various other bits...

 

I'm rather tempted by the Hankyu unit....the T Gauge layout I'm involved with will be exhibited in about 6 weeks, and it would be pretty cool to have something different running! Okay, they are a different gauge to the class 103, but most poeple don't care. They are too busy trying to find things like the T gauge bikes, people, dogs etc. scattered about...

[westfalen]

Looks like some of the newer items (KIHA40, Hankyu 9000) are on sale and in stock here: http://www.trainaidsa.com/shop-tgauge.shtml

 

I've quit T-Gauge for now, as it's just too damn small... :/

Do they actually have the Hankyu in stock? I have a set reserved with Hobby Search, but no word from them yet.

[Guest ___]

I wish Matthew from the JRM would post a reply, but maybe Jeff can post it. We have had several meetings with the T-scale people lately here in DC as the US distributor for T-scale is based here in DC, with official news from the guys in Japan on the future of T-scale and their future plans. I'll have to look for it on our boards.

[Guest ___]

March 5th, 2010, 7pm at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rockville.

 

As per reported by Mathew, our JRM member present. There was less "new stuff" (and overall, less "stuff") at tonight's T-gauge meeting, but more specific information about plans and timelines.

 

1 - turnouts - they've resolved the issues they were having, and are starting

production on the left-hand turnout; availability is expected around the end of

April. Right-hand turnouts will follow later (they did all their R&D with the

left turnout, so the tooling is all set and ready to go).

 

2 - cars and trucks - these have been released, and Adarsh will have them in

stock as soon as the next shipment arrives (2 to 3 weeks)

 

3 - "Kiha" and "Hankyu" chassis are being realeased as kitbashing "kits". These

should be available from TrainAidsA in about a week. The kit contains all the

parts for the original model, but is unpainted. The intention is to enable

intrepid modelers to scratch-build or kit-bash their own body shells. The "Kiha"

kit features a slightly longer wheelbase, but has some trouble on the smallest

curves. These are both 2nd generation chassis. They do not recommend using the

103-series for kitbashing, as it is a first generation chassis and much

inferior.

 

4 - Their next new train will be the ICE, followed by the N700 shinkansen (which

will use the same chassis, if I understood correctly).

 

5 - They are thinking about locomotives, but they require a shorter chassis, so

they don't expect anything in these lines until next year.

 

6 - They are planning to release a trailer chassis suitable for kitbashing or

scratch building (U.S.) freight cars. The idea is that it will be relatively

easy to change the wheelbase to whatever you need. Well, cutting will be

involved, but nothing that would be a problem for someone scratch building cars!

No time frame was given.

 

7 - They have no plans to release more buildings at this time, although they are

happy to work with people who want to submit designs. They have the laser

cutters and want to use them! This is a bit of a disappointment to me, as I'd

like to see some more industrial buildings to complement the commercial and

residential they already have.

 

Overall, I get the impression they are somewhat abandoning the Japanese market.

That makes business sense - they're finding a lot of enthusiasm here and in

Europe, plus they've been dropped by all the major Japanese distributors.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I have taken delivery of an example of both the Hankyu and KiHa units... with two more KiHa due from the US any day... Not run them yet, but they look pretty impressive...

[David]

I don't mean to impose, but I have been wanting to try out T-gauge but the delays with the new stuff and the workings of the old have held me off despite there being a good dealer in the US.

 

So I've got 2 questions about the new units:

 

Can they run slower (without stalling) then the original 103 series did. In short, are they more like model trains and not just racing cars.

 

The US dealer I'm eyeing has a single sentence suggesting the Kiha can't or won't go around the smaller of the radii (120mm) well - I'd really like the Kiha 40 since the single car helps increase the perceived amount of space on a tiny layout. Do you have 120mm curves to test on?

 

If the new units really have improved to where they can be considered real models then the relatively low price makes them an easy purchase.

[stevenh]

I have taken delivery of an example of both the Hankyu and KiHa units...

 

i.e. pre-production stock? or are they the finished product? They do look great.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

These are both production stock...

 

I will check them both out on both the larger and smaller radius track... Just based on a visual one-over, there does not look to be a great deal of 'play' in the KiHa's bogies, suggesting that it may not like too tight a radius.

 

I'm planning on running the KiHa on the new flex-track, which comes in very long lengths - bearing in mind the scale - and does look if it has the tendency to warp a little.

 

They both certainly look the part...whether or not they act the part will be seen in the near future...

[David]

Not to bug you more, but you are the source now for first hand information on the new T gauge models so when you get a chance to run them...

 

All the previous T gauge trains had lights and motors in seperate cars (smart idea). The Kiha however is a single car, it has to have a motor, but do the lights on both ends work (and are they directional). I will be blown away if they managed to make a better motor unit and then crammed two sets of directional lights into a car that tiny (and the US price is only $27!).

[cteno4]

Im having coffee with the US distributor on monday (trainaidsusa.com) so ill see what info i can find out!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Bernard]

Im having coffee with the US distributor on monday (trainaidsusa.com) so ill see what info i can find out!

 

cheers

 

jeff

Have fun and I hope he brings free samples! (and not of the coffee) 

[cteno4]

yes should be able to get some more updates on the situation. its turning out the japanese market is tough to crack due to the highly locked down distribution channels, but the international market is much more open and inviting to T gauge so far! I would have though the novelty of T gauge would have sucked it thru the channels, but it appears they are very locked down so consumer demand alone will not make something happen. I also wonder if the aggressive price point just wont work with the japanese channels where you tend to have a few more layers to go thru, thus the overall margin from production costs.

 

i hope he brings the Hankyu and KiHa units to look at. i want a kiha if he has one to sell! im holding off doing a lot on the T gauge right now as i have too many irons in the fire! i really wanted to work on a simple layout scene for the cherry blossom festival this year, but i doubt that will happen. will probably just display and perhaps run a train there, but it requires someone looking after it all the time and the crowds we get at the festival are astounding so its not the best place to show tiny stuff!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Okay, I have had a chance to take a look at these new units properly...

 

For an in-depth technical review, I'll leave it to the expert...http://1-450.blogspot.com/2010/03/hankyu-9000-series.html, however these are based on my observations of a couple of hours running.

 

KiHa 40

 

The KiHa 40comes as a single car unit in JNR livery. From an immediate compare and contrast with a number of pictures, as well as my N Gauge Tomix example, it looks pretty good. Bearing in mind the small size, the model measures 47mm in length, the livery is well applied (although looks to be on the dark side); with crisp lettering. There is a non-working representation of couplings, which although look okay are the same colour as the rest of the chassis...some thing that can be easily remedied with a small drop of black paint.

 

As with the original class 103s, the wheels are magnetic enabling the train to stay of the track whilst negotiating the curves. In answer to an earlier question, the test track was formed of both 120 and 132 curves, and my example seemed to traverse both without a problem.

 

In terms of performance....these are a new generation of motors, and certainly they are much better behaved than the first batch of 103s. It still struggles a little at slow speeds, and seemed to improve after about 20 minutes of running-in. One hopes that these are more durable than the first generation of motors, that did not take too kindly to prolonged running - we found that a day's worth of exhibition running finished off our first models. We have a show in May, where these sets will be exposed to prolonged running, so hopefully we will see some improvements, certainly what I have seen so far suggests this will be the case. The motors are still a little noisy, although far better than previous.

 

As with the 103s, the KiHa has directional lighting, although you do need to be going some for them to show. Another draw-back here is down to the body construction, which is a one-piece transparent block, which has been painted. When running fast, the lights (which are LEDs) shine not only thourgh the headlights, but also through the bodywork!

 

Hankyu 9000

 

We have been waiting even longer for this one than the KiHa. Unlike the diesel, this is a four-car set, much like the 103. Whilst much which I have said about the KiHa applies here my example seemed to run far better. Also the motors are in the end cars, which seems to balance the unit better than the 103 in terms of performance.

 

The 9000 was tested on the same test track, and traversed both radius of track without any issues. These are certainly far moe stable than the 103, and stayed on the track for longer...they are also quieter with much better detailing. I have no compare and contrast in terms of livery, however the shade of maroon looks to be pretty accurate.

 

As with the KiHa, there is directional lightling and unfortunately the issues outlined there apply here as well.

 

The couplings are the same type as the 103...basically scaled down rapido couplings. These have a tendency to be a little fiddly and are rather tight fitting. This can result in the middle carriages lifting a little...this was a main cause of derailments when the occurred. Also I noted that there did seem to be a 'right' way to couple these units in terms of which carriage is on the track first...I suspect this will be a little trail and error unique to each unit.

 

The advantage of having the motors in the end cars means that you don't have the situation where you are constantly righting the driving trainer as it it being pushed by the motor. The down side is that as the two motor coaches have two trailers between them, if there is a mismatch in the speed of the motors you the intermediates often tip on the corners...certainly my set behaved better traveling in one direction than the other.

 

Conclusions

 

So there we have it, Eishindo's latest models are a considerable improvement on their first offerings, but the question is 'it is enough'? I don't personally feel that the motors can run slow enough for 'realistic' running, and we have yet to see the switches arrive...they are due next month, so suspect they will win some new followers to T Gauge (especially the KiHa) but not too many. As has been mentioned earlier, Eishindo are not have a great time with the Japanese market, and their next model will probably be the DB ICE, as well as the N700 Bullet. It has been suggested that they may centre more on the US market, as this seems to be their biggest at present.

 

These two models certainly look good, and are an improvement on what went before, and Eishindo should be applauded for this as it is great to see the development and improvements. For me the Hankyu unit is the better runner, and perhaps the all-round better model, but the KiHa is the better, or rather more flexible, prototype, and whilst I will keep the one 9000 unit, I have another two KiHas on order for my T Gauge project...

[David]

Conclusions

 

So there we have it, Eishindo's latest models are a considerable improvement on their first offerings, but the question is 'it is enough'? I don't personally feel that the motors can run slow enough for 'realistic' running, and we have yet to see the switches arrive...they are due next month, so suspect they will win some new followers to T Gauge (especially the KiHa) but not too many. As has been mentioned earlier, Eishindo are not have a great time with the Japanese market, and their next model will probably be the DB ICE, as well as the N700 Bullet. It has been suggested that they may centre more on the US market, as this seems to be their biggest at present.

 

These two models certainly look good, and are an improvement on what went before, and Eishindo should be applauded for this as it is great to see the development and improvements. For me the Hankyu unit is the better runner, and perhaps the all-round better model, but the KiHa is the better, or rather more flexible, prototype, and whilst I will keep the one 9000 unit, I have another two KiHas on order for my T Gauge project...

 

Thanks for the review. It's interesting that the 9000 motors are now in the end cars - instead of the previous situation where you had two specialized types of cars (motor and lighting), they've now gone with one functional car type and one trailer car type. While the original setup certainly helped fit all the needed parts into those tiny models, it may be less expensive to put all the hard components into just one car now that they've improved the technology.

 

The news of the N700 model leaves me wondering a bit as to why they didn't start with the shinkansen trains - the slow speed issues would not have mattered as much, and the high scenary ratio of T gauge would have fit well with the long distance shinkansens. Since they are 25m cars they would have had 25% more space to put in the mechanism (and shinkansens don't have exposed undercarriages, removing that level of detail that can be difficult even in N scale when motors are required).