Grumbeast's ventures into Japanese Railways

[grumbeast]

i figured I should start a thread for my projects (I do occasionally get 1/2hr a week to play!  (not suprising with a 2yr old and a wife I work for!! :))

Anyway,

Some of my orders are starting to arrive, my latests is a Kato Viaduct station.  I've started assemby and am very impressed with the kit but somewhat frustrated by THE NUMBER OF STICKERS!!! and the fact that I can't read Japanese!, I wouldn't be suprised if my trains will end up going to the end of the line at coca-cola!

I have two projects on the go, one is my Japanese layout, around three walls of a 11'x12' room (still working on a trackplan, if anyone has any ideas... I'm open to suggestions :)

The other is a test layout I started building when I first bought some unitrack.  I hadn't built anything for years so I thought a small door layout would be a good place to start.  I'm going to run British N Scale on it, so its a simple doble track roundy-roundy with a small fiddle yard in the back.  There are some pics below.

 

[Bernard]

Grumbeast - It's good to see a cardboard ribbed slates for a mountain. What are you planning on having on the other side of the partition? 

[grumbeast]

Bernard,

 I'm a big pan of using cardboard as a sub-structure, its my kinda cheap :) , and I've never had a problem once the plaster cloth covers it (I'm at that stage now, I'll try and pop some snaps later tonight.

I wasn't planning on having anything behind the mountain, it seems to be a fairly british thing that we have a fiddle yard behind the sceniced section. I hope to take this to a few shows, so I'll stand behind messing with the trains, and the audience just see the scenicked section.

G.

[Mudkip Orange]

You think you could take some exact measurements of the 11x12 room with the location of the door, windows, etc? I'd have fun playing around with track plan ideas.

[grumbeast]

Mudkip, that would be great!,, I'd love to see what you come up with.  I've got the shelves in place so I'll draw a diagram of the exact space


G.

[grumbeast]

Well, Haven't measured the room yet,

 But I did have a chance to finally get some work done on my door layout and finished the Kato Viaduct station.

Took some pictures for all to see.

The first two are of the new station on the main layout.

Th enext two are the scenery so far for the small British door layout.  A simple double track through station, with a high hill behind and an roadway crossing the line at two points.  As I said, very simple :) !

The last pic shows the over frontage of the door, and above you can see the back shelf of the "to be completed" Japanese layout (as well as part of a huge American Flyer collection I inherited (know anyone who wants a bunch of Flyer trains?  let me know!)

Graham

[Bernard]

Does the shelf layout go around the room? Wow it looks like you have 2 layouts.
American Flyers are my 1st train set that my father bought when I was about 5. We made many layouts with those trains and I still have then today. 

[grumbeast]

The shelf goes around three walls of the room, with each shelf deep enough for a double track loopback at the ends.  I do indeed have 2 layouts, the 3x6 is really a tester to get back up to speed before tackling the main one, and also something to drag to the local shows (Its very limited here, I've seem the same layouts at the local shows for around 10 years!!!, all 5 of them!

I got my Father in Law into Flyer a few years ago.. it was what he had as a boy in the late 40s and we found exaclty the same set he had in a friends attic.  So we gave it to him and created an AF collecting monster! :)  I know have over 60 locomotives more frieght cars / passenger cars/ track and just STUFF than I know what to do with.  I'm going to keep the sutff that was special to him, but there is still so much I need to list on eBay and convert into Shinkansen :)  he definately would've approved :)

[Bernard]

I inherited my Uncle's Lionel train collection. My wife was surprised when I came home with more boxes of trains.
AF can go for quite a "pretty penny" especially if you have the older sets.

[Mudkip Orange]

Loving both layouts. I see you went with the new-style Kato station - spiffy, but expensive.

[grumbeast]

yep, its a lovely station, I splashed out on the extension too, now all I need are some trains to run through it! :)

g.

[Mudkip Orange]

Post your room! Now that I've actually built a layout, I need other things to trackplan.

[grumbeast]

Hi Mudkip.

 managed to get downstairs for 5 minutes to measure the exact space.  I'll be using the shelves I used to have so its an interesting shape around the walls.  excuse the very very rough sketch..

I also have a question for people.  I have the Kato Viaduct Station.  I would like to expand it to be able to take four tracks, what do I need to do this?
surely I don't need to buy another station kit?

Cheers

  Graham

[inobu]

Hi Mudkip.

 managed to get downstairs for 5 minutes to measure the exact space.  I'll be using the shelves I used to have so its an interesting shape around the walls.  excuse the very very rough sketch..

I also have a question for people.  I have the Kato Viaduct Station.  I would like to expand it to be able to take four tracks, what do I need to do this?
surely I don't need to buy another station kit?

Cheers

  Graham

Funny you ask that. I have been researching that very question. Yes you can use another viaduct station or the extension set. They can be attached in parallel to each other by the slots for the jointers on the sides of the track plates. This allows for lateral connections.

Information is difficult to gather and the language structure in Japanese is different so the translation becomes some what confusing.

Platform ends are built for #4 turnouts, there are basic sets "like the one you have" 20-806 an island configuration and the 20-815 which is an one sided platform. These sets are combination of pieces 20-100 20-101 103 and 104 as well as 20-110 - 114 being the 20-815 set. There are straight platform ends with ladder/step or rounded platform end all depending on what you want. You just have to understand whats there which is somewhat difficult.

I'm going to try to compile the info I find so the next guy may have an easier time with finding out what is what. You don't want to order the wrong thing or find out that there was something simpler out there to buy.

So, to answer your question is it all depends on how you want to configure it, two stations or just extend the one you have using a few #23-232 Viaduct Platform Extension Kit. Good info can be found at http://www.kato-unitrack.co.uk/kato-unitrack-23-125-viaduct-station-kit-1420-0.html a Kato UK web site.

Hope it helps.

Inobu
  

[grumbeast]

Inobu,

 Thanks for that, its very helpful.  I think it would be nice to have a 4 track viaduct station rather than simply the two.

In other news, I've managed to get another 1/2 hr in the basement and have put a bit of paint over the white plaster just to deliniate where the scenic materials will go.  I took a few pics below

I know this one isn't Japanese, but it is getting me some practice before I go whole hog on the main layout.

 Cheers

  Graham

[cteno4]

Grumbeast,

you can also use the #6 points in the double wide viaduct configuration. then put 64mm spacers off the divergent point then the 718 and you will create passing tracks that go around the kato platforms. from last remember if you want to make a double wide station of any size it was cheaper to pick up an extra station kit rather than buying the extensions.

on the jrm layout (http://www.japanrailmodelers.org) we use this configuration of #6 points to make a 9' long shinkansen station that can hold 4 16 car shinkansen trains.

to make a cheaper alternative than using the kato viaduct station plates to make your station there is a very cheap alternative! i made our station bases out of a sandwich of three layers. first layer of 1/8" masonite hard board, then a layer of 3/16" foam core (good black kind that is very stiff), then topped with a layer of formica that is mottled like gray granite and matches kato unitrack road bed pretty well! i just used contact cement between the three layers, then trimmed it all up to size on the table saw. this makes a very stiff and flat platform that resists warping well and is just the same thickness as the kato platform bases. you can then take a drill bit and make holes into the foam core layer on the edges where the fingers of the viaduct station walls fit in. this way you can make a very large station and only need the walls from the viaduct station kits. to do this even cheaper you can just buy a few extension kits as each extension kit has a pair of each of the three kinds of walls, so you get 248mm x 3 per extension kit of walls.

if you make your own platforms you can just use wood to create walls under the platforms and the station buildings slide right under them.

i have a similar layout configuration that i have started knoodling on for my eventual basement layout at home!

cheers

jeff

[Mudkip Orange]

Platform ends are built for #4 turnouts

This is wrong info, all Kato curved platforms are designed to work with R718mm track, which is the #6.

Granted you *can* use the #4, but the train sides won't follow the platform quite as smoothly.

[cteno4]

from what i remember there are two sets of curved kato platform ends and one fits the 718 and the other maybe the 481.

i have both kinds at homes and also the kato diagrams for both using 481 and 718 that i can dig out when i get home. i cant remember if the 418s fit any of them perfectly, but the 718s definitely do match the one set. kato actually diagrams the  use of the #4 to do the simple viaduct station with a single platform and two tracks. it was one of the first bits of kato stuff i bought when i scored a viaduct station and double viaduct track set very cheap.

cheers,

jeff