Hiroshima

[Pheno]

Hi all,

I'm new at this forum, so I'll properly introduce myself. I'm Ron, got in the modelling by my dad (who didn't?). That was Marklin 's H0, I think 30 years or older material :) Loved it back then.  After my first trip to Japan decided to pick up modelling again, but in N scale, because of space limitations and ofcourse with the great trains riding in Japan.

Now I'm thinking about what exactly to model, because without a plan, it's going to be hard. Thinking of my most impressive moment in Japan on my trips, I thought: Hiroshima. Browsing the web I stumbled on Hiroshima's tram made by Kato, so that's one problem less :D I never found the famous A-Dome, but he, it's called 'modelling', so I have to do that one myself. Pictures enough on the web and on my own camera...

So that's the start of my personal project. I already bought two Kato Shinkansen that stop at Hiroshima. The 500 (personal favorite) at the Kato shop in Tokyo and the N700 at Plaza Japan on ebay. Not in full length though, spacewise that would be a dog chasing it's own tail :D

I have two rooms: an attic donated by my dad, because seeing pictures of modelrail made him want to join, size is 4m by 4m.
I have a spare room in my own house, a lot smaller, think 2.3m meter by 1.5m. If I'll do the dishes the rest of my life, I could convince my wife to sneak an additional 1.5 meter :) I want to use that space for something smaller, but one project at a time please ;)

I'm wondering what you all use for creating a layoutplan, Wintrack is the most found on the web, but has one problem: The "Win"part. I'm using mac, so that's no option.
I'm drawing a few things myself now, with good ol' pen and paper. But I like the details in a program, so I can check if everything will fit.

I like the work you people already posted here, hopefully I can learn a bit from you guys.

Regards,
Ron

[disturbman]

Welcome aboard Ron, quick question, where are you coming from. We are an international forum and it's allways nice to know where someone lives on the globe.

And to answer your question about software, look here. :)

[qwertyaardvark]

Welcome to JNS~!  ^_^

[Pheno]

Welcome aboard Ron, quick question, where are you coming from. We are an international forum and it's allways nice to know where someone lives on the globe.

And to answer your question about software, look here. :)

I'm from Oranda, Holland for the non Japanese here ;)

Thanks for the link. I'm downloading RM -demo now and will check it out tomorrow.

[Bernard]

Hi Ron - Welcome to the forum! I'm about to leave for Vancouver to film the Olympics and really look forward to seeing all the Dutch Speed Skating fans in the stands dressed in Orange. (Basically the whole oval will be a sea of Orange colored fans!)

One question, I always try to get as much real estate (space) as possible. The 4m x 4m space will make a nice room but how accessible is it to you? If it's not in your home will you be working on it on a regular basis?
Since the 2.3m x 1.5m room will make a nice standard layout and it's in your home already (That is if you don't want to dishes the rest of your life, which doesn't seem so bad.....if it was doing the laundry, well that's another story!)
And what program did I use to plan out my layout? Graph paper, a compass, a pencil and a lot of erasers!

[Martijn Meerts]

Welcome aboard Ron, quick question, where are you coming from. We are an international forum and it's allways nice to know where someone lives on the globe.

And to answer your question about software, look here. :)

I'm from Oranda, Holland for the non Japanese here ;)

Thanks for the link. I'm downloading RM -demo now and will check it out tomorrow.

Ooh, where in Holland do you live? I live there as well, and would be great to get in touch with some more Dutch people doing Japanese trains. I believe Toni is moving back to Holland as well at some point, so that'd make 3 people already, that's enough to make a couple of modules and go to train shows =)

As for software, Wintrack is definitely the best, by far. If you happen to have an intel Mac, you could always do the bootcamp thing and install Windows. I found Wintrack to be expensive though, costs quite a lot to buy initially, and you'll be paying for major updates as well. So, while I do have Windows installed on my Mac(s), I use Railmodeller. It's great for the smaller to medium sized layouts, but working with heights isn't the best. However, they only added heights with the latest version, so can't expect too much yet ;)

[Mudkip Orange]

Sell some of your old Marklin, buy a dishwasher (standard equipment in new U.S. homes), and get that extra 1.5m from your better half.

[Pheno]

I think I have space enough. RM is a great program, it has Peco rail, so I'm happy. Not being able to save is not frustrating yet, my mac never shuts down :) I'm from Nijmegen Martijn.

[scott]

It's worth the fee to have the full version of the program. As mentioned before, I'm convinced that it saved me more money than it cost, just in mistakes and wasted purchases avoided.

[Martijn Meerts]

I think I have space enough. RM is a great program, it has Peco rail, so I'm happy. Not being able to save is not frustrating yet, my mac never shuts down :) I'm from Nijmegen Martijn.

Hey, that's not that far away, I'm in Venlo =)