Converting Our UK Layout to Japanese - Yamanouchi Oshika

[Claude_Dreyfus]

You may have noticed a number of pictures in the 'Your Layouts' gallery section showing our fairly large N Gauge layout with a mixture of stock - so far Japanese, Dutch, Chinese and UK. As hinted at in the captions, this layout is due for a significant scenic upgrade to shift the geography several thousand miles east; from the UK to Japan.

The main reason for this change is the evolution in interests, as well as a change in club membership resulting in the original British fleet of well over 100 different trains (not just locomotives) being whittled down to single figures - with even more reductions on the horizon. As you all know, for me this has been a wholesale shift to Japanese models - certainly enough to keep this large model fully stocked.

The track plan is generic enough to keep unchanged, as are certain aspects of the scenery - the industrial estate will probably have minimal change. However the town will be dramatically reworked, as will the station area.

As the pictures show, we have a double-track main line section, as well as two terminus platforms and a branch bay. We also have a couple of small carriage sidings, a loco stabling point and small goods yard - plenty of operational interest, all fed from a 11 road fiddle yard, three of which are by-directional. The branch has its own dedicated two road yard.

The dimensions of the layout are 16' x 3', designed to be carried in the back of two estate cars.

We have our work cut out as it is due for exhibition in February, afterwhich it will be available on the curcuit.

Currently the layout goes by its UK name - Cottleston park, however this is being changed to something more oriental, short list of names are:

Katsuyama
Yamanakako
Kawaguchiko
Oshika
Matsukawa
Takayama
Yamanouchi

All these are towns or villages in the Fuji area, although we are not being too strict on the location for this model; unlike our Tokyo-inspired new layout project which will still go ahead, but now to a slightly longer timetable.

The object of this thread is to follow the progress as we redesign the town and produce a new Japanese layout within 3 months!

[Bernard]

Claude - 3 Months! How many members will be working on the project? (lucky guys.) This is going to be interesting to see develop just for the added fact that the whole layout has to be transportable. You must be going through a lot of design plans. I look forward to the posts on this project. 

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Claude - 3 Months! How many members will be working on the project? (lucky guys.) This is going to be interesting to see develop just for the added fact that the whole layout has to be transportable. You must be going through a lot of design plans. I look forward to the posts on this project. 

It's not too bad as the layout is essentially complete in its UK form. It has been exhibited and is in full working order. All we need to to is redesign the scenery, add Japanese buildings and possibly a tram line - still a pretty daunting task. There will be probably be around 6 of us at the club that will work on here...

[Claude_Dreyfus]

We now have a layout name - Yamanouchi Oshika. I think that sounds pretty neat!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Thought I would add a few pictures to this thread from last nights running session. Next week we start work on stripping the old townscape away. The eagle eyed amongst you will note my newly delivered Micro Ace 215 set has been given a work out...thanks again to Domino!

I have also taken the opportunity in attached a draft of some publicity material for the layout. This has since been modified by our club's publicity maestro.

My next shopping list now consists of a selection of catenery posts and a Green Max urban station building to start with.

[disturbman]

I think you should add as many picture as you can. Also documenting the retrofit might not be a bad idea. ;)

[Bernard]

Love that station terminal! I want to join your club. (a little far to commute though )
Peco flex track is my favorite track to work with. I envy you Claude because it is so easy for you to get that track.
I was able to get the last 4 pieces of Peco flex track at my LHS to do my Tram line otherwise it's almost impossible to get that track in most hobby stores or you have to order a large amount from online...yikes.  
(those 4 pieces with the 4 other pieces I already had just made it to finish the line.  

I agree with Vincent, keep documenting the progress of the new layout.

[bill937ca]

Here is a prototype for keeping an Union Jack on your Japanese layout.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/business/news/20091107p2a00m0na025000c.html?inb=rs

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I like that shop...

Further to the request for more pictures, I took a few last month just to provide an outline of what we have. These are effectively the 'before' snaps, showing how it is at the time of posting.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

At last, work started last night on the town area.

Job one was to remove the old buildings. This was fairly straight-forward as most of this area is removable for access to the return loop to the fiddle yard.

The station building will be situated towards the back, above the walling behind the branch platform. This will be one of the Greenmax concrete type buildings, currently making its way over from Japan.

• The first image shows the town as it was...
• Then with the lifting sections removed.
• You will note that the track climbs to the fiddleyard, a hangover from a much earlier version of the layout.
• A view from the town
• Showing the gradient
• With the new base for the town

We still have to properly decide how the new town will look, although it has been more or less agreed that there will be a tram line  

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Whilst all this work was going on, I was putting my series 100 Grand Hikari Shinkansen through its paces. A very impressive model, and really just an excuse for some gratuitous Bullet pictures...    

[Bernard]

Claude - Will you be re-using any of the buildings or even kitbashing any of them?
What tram do you plan to use on the new line?
Thanks for the photos!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Claude - Will you be re-using any of the buildings or even kitbashing any of them?
What tram do you plan to use on the new line?
Thanks for the photos!

No most of the buildings in the town will not be kept, some are nearly 30 years old, others are a bit tatty...

The idea of the tram has faded a little since I did some measuring; also to achieve a good result we may need to take a little more time than we actually have. No matter, the tram plan is being held over until our next project which will commence pretty much as soon as this one is exhibited in February.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

A little more work has taken place, as well as some new arrivals from the Warley show last weekend. For those that don't know, the Warley exhibition is one of the largest shows in the UK with 30-odd layouts of all gauges plus tons of trade. The highlight for me was Katami Mitsu - one of only a couple of Japanese exhibition layouts on the UK circuit, and Japan Model Railways; over from Germany...

A number of purchases were made, including a very nice Tomix Kiha 40 railcar (picture 1), and a Kato DF50 (the latter for no other reason than I rather like them, and I need another diesel locomotive suitable for passenger trains as I already have two DD51s).

Any number of road vehicles have been obtained, as well as a few buildings - exhibit B will be located on Yamanouchi Oshika for the moment until it will be moved to Torii Ito (see other thread).

In terms of location, I have decided to shelve my plans for the Chuo line layout (which was a personal project) and site Yamanouchi Oshika on the Chuo main line, thus fulfilling my Chuo fix and giving the layout a sense of place. It allows me to continue with my hunting of suitable Chuo line stock... . It also means that I am turning my attention for a personal project to something a little different and altogether smaller. More of that anon...

Anyways, back to progress, which has been a little slow. Picture 3 shows a rough plan being sketched out on the board for the townscape. The Green Max station building will be situated to the left of this picture and will not be on this section. You may be able to make out the planned tram lines, which will more likely than not now disappear. The car you can just about make out is one of the new Tomytec MPV set - this one being the Toyota Estima (Previa).

Picture 4 is a closer shot of the Estima, which also comes with examples of the Honda Odyssey (Shuttle) (5), Nissan Elgrand (6) and the Toyota Alphard (7).

In terms of the night's running; I had two units that will very much be at home on Torii Ito - the Tokaido E217 and E231...

[Mudkip Orange]

This is AWESOME

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Thanks for the comment!

Since my last posting, further consideration was given to the proposal for a tram line on Yamanouchi Oshika.

Initially this was just on the new scenic board, although based on a suggestion from one of our club members, the system is starting to take shape....

To start with, the main line station tram stop has been sited. In this view, the main station building will be located where the bare area is between the road and the arches. There will also be a carpark and bus terminal. The tram stop is on top of the wall in the background - where the track has been positioned (pictures 1 & 2)

The tram line then continues over the little side road, and terminates at the tram depot which will be situated on the embankment (pictures 3 & 4).

Now I need to find a suitable two-road shed for the tram depot as well as other out buildings.

The tram line will be operational and will make use of the Tomytec Portrams as well as a couple of Modermo offerings. Perhaps the new Kato tram may also get a look in...

Tonight's train was a short freight in the hands of another Warley aquisition - a DF50...very nice. The holes on the front are where the hand rails will go when I get round to fitting them...(picture 5).

[scott]

Claude--how were the shrubs and tussocky fields on the layout done? I know they're part of the "old" scene, but they look very believable.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Thanks Scott...

They are created using a number of techniques. Bushes are in the main from two sources; standard Lichen covered with flock powder, and Woodland Scenics coarse foliage material. Trees are also either from Woodland Scenics or part of a range available in the UK called Graham Avis - there are also a couple of examples of unknown origin.

Grass is a mixture of various flock powders from a large number of sources; Woodland Scenics, Noch, PECO, Gaugemaster to name but a few. The tussocky bits are mainly from Gaugemaster 'long grass' - a material very similar to what you find on a grass mat - applied through a tool called the 'Grass Master'. This is a Noch contraption, which essentially creates static and charges the grass particles. This enables them to 'stand up' when applied to a tacky surface.

One of the tricks I try to apply when scenicing is to apply a darker base level, and gradually apply several more layers each of a slightly lighter tone - gives it a little more depth...

[Bernard]

Claude - On your turnouts and I'm assuming they're Peco, what switch machines are you using?

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Claude - On your turnouts and I'm assuming they're Peco, what switch machines are you using?

Hi Bernard,

Yes, all turnouts on the layout are PECO. Those that are powered - the ones in the fiddle yard are manual - use SEEP motors. These are simple to install and pretty reliable, although for optimum performance you need a CPU (Capacitor Discharge Unit) which provides that little extra power to the motors. It is recommended that one CDU is wired to up to 6 motors...

[scott]

Claude--thanks for the ground-cover hints...

[Claude_Dreyfus]

A couple more pictures of progress for the town of Yamanouchi Oshika. These were taken by another club member, as I forgot my camera!

I think we are more or less complete with the building purchase....now time to do the scenery...

It looks a little bare at present, however once the roads and pavements, as well as tram track, trees etc. are complete, it should look okay.

[CaptOblivious]

This is shaping up very nicely, and I'm excited to see how it progresses. However, I worry that your main street may be a little wide?

[Mudkip Orange]

What is the tram line going to look like? Loop? point to point?

[Claude_Dreyfus]

The main street is wide because of the tram line, there will also be a small feeder road for the shops on the right of the main road...so in effect there will be two roads plus tram...

The tram line itself will be a single track point-to-point run. More details of this anon...

In terms of operation, the main line will be electrified, along with one of the bay platforms, the freight reception yard and one line in the loco stabiling point. Essentially what we are looking at is the two other platforms and the centre road being diesel; the centre road will be used to stable units between duties. DMUs from a number of secondary routes will terminate here (Kiha 40, 48 & 110 sets are currently on the roster), and the freight yard will be predominantly used for the transfer of wagons from the main line to the secondary network...

Broadly speaking the main line will be operated using my Chuo line selection - goods services in the hands of the EF64 and EH200. The reverse curve on the gradient will be the ideal foil for the E351 Super Azusa; the Asuza Kaiji and Chuo Liner sets complete the specific line up, with forays from the 185 and 215 sets - both of which operated on the Chuo line. A Narita express may well show itself as well 

Local electric services are in the hands of a rather old, but still very nice, Modemo class 313, plus a class 115 (yet to get this though). The main departure will be the provision of a diesel loco-hauled passenger train - using a set of Suro 81 carriages. Two DD51s and a DF50 are rostered for this service. 

Diesel freight are operated by DD51 locos, with a special guest appearance from a DF200. A small fleet of DE10s will perform shunting and trip operations.

So, as we can see there is plenty of scope for interesting operations...

[Bernard]

Claude - Having just gone through this myself, how do you plan to make the Tram tracks? And will you be using an auto-reversing unit to operate the tram line?

[Mudkip Orange]

Nice.

[Bernard]

Claude - Any more updates, I curious to see the new Tram line.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Not as yet, although we do have a plan of action for the next few weeks...

This Friday we will be doing some work on the tram depot area - basically a two-road shed - and running the line up to the interchange station. This is nothing special, just a single platform with a linking walkway to the main railway station building.

Next Friday is Christmas Day, and somehow I don't think I'm going to get permission to slope off to railway club that evening  . Likewise for the following week, which is New Years Day. That said, there is a threat that the station board - a 4' by 3' section will be taken down to allow some dedicated work, as opposed to just playing trains all night!

Currently the idea is for the tramline to cross roads, instead of running down the middle of them. As the line departs the interchange station, it will curve sharply to the left crossing a road and then running along a small corridor between the main road and a small feeder for the strip mall. It then turns to the right, passing between the houses, on a wide 180 degree curve. It is now following a dedicated trackbed, running behind some traditional style buildings before recrossing the first road it crossed after leaving the interchange.

The line then swings round behind a row of residential buildings to a small hidden yard.

Currently it looks like we will be adding an extra layer of thick card and fitting the tramline flush into this.

Full updates of progress will, of course, be provided in the near future...

[Mudkip Orange]

This Friday we will be doing some work on the tram depot area - basically a two-road shed - and running the line up to the interchange station. This is nothing special, just a single platform with a linking walkway to the main railway station building.

Pics or it didn't happen.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

This Friday we will be doing some work on the tram depot area - basically a two-road shed - and running the line up to the interchange station. This is nothing special, just a single platform with a linking walkway to the main railway station building.

Pics or it didn't happen.

Sadly the snow stopped play. Our club house is situated in a tiny village accessable only to little single-track roads, and given the snow falls, combined with the ice (and a 36 mile round trip for me) it was decided to give it a miss. Sadly due to the way Christmas and New Years fall, we wont have another club night until 8th January 

Running out of time!!!

[Bernard]

Claude - I know Jan 8th is your next meeting, how is everything going in the prep stage?

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Not well I'm afraid. 

We have had yet another very heavy fall of snow, effectively cutting off the village where our club is located. For those of you in the UK, and have been watching the news today, the A3 runs about three miles to the west of our location... Roughly about a foot of snow has fallen over the last 24 hours or so. That in itself is pretty small, but for the UK, especially the southern counties, that's huge - probably the biggest since 1987.

I have a number of kits at home, including the two road modern loco shed from Kato, however I need to measure this against the existing tracks before constructing it. As the show is only a few weeks away, drastic steps are needed, or a redesign of the town area.

Sadly we have been in similar situations before in terms of layout building for shows...I never learn...

[Bernard]

Claude - Has the snow cleared up and are you able to get back to the layout?

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Not yet . Obviously the alarm bells are seriously ringing now as what with Christmas and New Year, as well as the snow, we have lost five weeks worth of work. In the rural areas we have over a foot of snow, which does not seem too much, but these are untreated, narrow and sometimes steep country roads.

The layout will still be shown (we have two exhibitions in February), it's just up to us to make a few modifications in view of the dead-line, as well as spending a couple of days solid on it. Mrs Dreyfus will be away for work in the first week of February, so hopefully I can take a days holiday and make some major progress.

In the meantime, fingers crossed for Friday...

In addition, I am awaiting a couple of boards for a new project (which are being constructed by a couple of fellow club members for me), which is replacing my personal project (Chuo line) covered elsewhere on this forum. This is for a layout challenge for another forum I am a member of (RMWeb). It's Japanese, of course, and inspired by a thread from this forum. More details on this anon...

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Yay!  Finally we managed to get to the club last night.

There have been some rearrangements of the buildings, and the tram line has been significantly altered. We have started to add some of the ground works as well as draw up a proper plan (still at the club for 'out of hours' working). A number of photos were taken for siteing purposes:

The first shows the main town. Note that the boulevard has been rediced as the tram line no long runs this way. I have tried to bunch the buildings together a little more.

Picture 2 shows the location of the police station as well as the trackbed for the tram line.

Picture 3 is looking down the tram line towards the terminal station, which leads onto....

...picture 4 showing the depot area with shed...which looks a little too English at the moment, so will be modified.

Picture 5 tries to convey some of the older streets in Kapanese twons, although it still looks a little open. Once of the usual detritus is added it should look a little more hemmed in. A big advantage is that the town area is on one board, so we can string wiring and such like up.

Picture 6 shows a mixture of the old style buildings and newer apartments.

Picture 7 is the shopping parade...

...and finally we have the station area which has been cleared down. Hopefully the station building will be with us next week. The tram line is on the extreme right.

Hopefully some activity will take place during the week, although I won't be able to make that, so we may see some more significant progress then.

[Bernard]

Claude - Nothing like being under the pressure of having to get the layout ready for a show! It looks like you and the club have done a lot since you were able to work on the layout.
I noticed in one of the photos you use styrofoam under the buildings to raise them. Is this for a sidewalk?
Looks good!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

The two buildings towards there rear have been raised simply for a little added interested. All sidewalks on here will be created just using card...the road will be a board height. I have some sidewalk barriers to add to the Japanese feel.

[EWS60008]

This looks impressive mate! Keep it up! .

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Thanks...

Progress has been running on a couple of fronts tonight. Firstly the townscape has moved down to our hosts house for closer attention. No pictures of that tonight, however the first couple of layers of paint have gone down and it is already looking good.

The platforms have been stripped and repainted, and the old tatty footbridge has been repaired as a stop-gap measure until something more suitable can be fashioned.

Some tinkering with a new controller has got the goods yard working, and hopefully next week we'll have the branch moving as well.

The first tracks have gone down for the tram line, however I am not happy with these, so they will be realigned next week - again no pictures of this as it does look pretty suspect . We won't be energysing the tram yard as we won't have time, however the section from the tram station to the mini fiddle yard will be working.

Visually, the biggest change last night was the erection of the catenery masts. This has immediately made a huge difference, as witness picture number one - the double-deck 215 EMU being ideal to test heights and things...

Picture two shows the testing of the yard - a pair of Tomix Tarumi Railway TDE10s...

[Bernard]

Great job on the over grown grass on the tracks and track bumper. Where did you get the modern windmill?

[KenS]

The catenary really does change the character of the scene. Comparing picture 1 here to the first photo in the thread makes the difference clear.

I really like how this looks, and I'm looking forward to more photos of your progress.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Thanks...

The windmill is a standard Faller model...it has a motor, although does turn a little quickly; it must be a very windy day!

[EWS60008]

Claude,

Are you planning to fit lights into the Kato and Tomix buildings? It would be great to see some night time operations especially if you are planning to have working colour light signals on the layout as well as an illuminated town .

Cheers
Ash

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Sadly not at present, in fact the signals - if I manage to get them in time - will not be operational. Something to look at as a future development, although it will depend on the volume of any exhibition invites the layout gets. At present we have two - both next month - however it was specifically designed as an exhibition layout, and the trackwork, electrics etc has not changed as part of this upgrade, so hopefully we will get a few more. It will depend on how many shows we attend, and how far into the future, as to whether or not we add enhancements such as this.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

As part of our on-going publicity for the layout, a clearer sense of place has been envisaged. Yet again I'm playing fast and loose with the facts, however by re-routing a number of feeder lines to one junction, as opposed to the prototypically correct three separate locations, the variety and interest really starter to expand. Trial blurb is below:

The Chuo (Central) main line runs for 400 km, linking Tokyo and Nagoya via the mountainous inland route on the main island of Japan - Honshu. Yamanouchi Oshika is a middle-sized town in the Yamanashi Prefecture, situated on the Takao to Shiojiri section of the Chuo line.

The Chuo main line is busy; mainly with local passenger traffic, although a number of limited express services do operate from Tokyo. Freight traffic is mainly bulk, oil and container trains, as is common with most of Japan.

Some modellers licence has been taken to converge three lines at this one location; the Fuji Kyuko; Minobu (with its distinctive Red and white liveried stock) and the diesel-operated Koumi line. These railways all link with the Chuo line along this section, but at separate locations. There is also a light-rail, operated by tram trains, which heads off into the Japanese Alps. The freight yard is mainly concerned with the transfer of traffic between the electrified Chuo main line and the diesel Koumi line, as well as some limited local traffic.

KiHa 110s for the Koumi line; the Minobu line class 115 is currently on its way from Mr Plaza Japan, and this chap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fujisan-Limited-Express.jpg) operates the Fuji Kyuko (on my hit-list).  

Sooo many cool things available for this layout now (and knowing my luck all will be sold out before I can get hold of them!)...

[scott]

the Minobu line class 115 is currently on its way from Mr Plaza Japan

Cool--that's a nice one. Did you get the four-car Kato set? We only have the three-car Tomix set, but it's one of my favorites.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

the Minobu line class 115 is currently on its way from Mr Plaza Japan

Cool--that's a nice one. Did you get the four-car Kato set? We only have the three-car Tomix set, but it's one of my favorites.

It's the Kato set. I've had my eye on it for a while, and thought it was high time to add it to the collection, especially now I have discovered it can be legitimately [sort of] be run on our layout.

[scott]

[sort of] is good enough for me! :-) At least you *have* some sort of internal logic to you layout...

[disturbman]

You to Scot, it's the internal logic driven by chaos and your liking. That's a pretty solid logic. ;)

I too love this 115 Series, it was allmost my first Japanese model train. But I couldn't find at the time so I changed my focus.