JR-Chiisai: Storage yard modules

[Martijn Meerts]

Nah, ordered from DM-Toys in Germany (Viersen, close to where I live ;))

[Densha]

Ah, right. It seems all modeltrain shops are going to visit Nürnburg. I still like seeing some of the newly announced Dutch trains on the internet, even though I don't buy them myself.
Also, those Flirt EMU's from eurobahn from Venlo go through Viersen too right?

[Martijn Meerts]

The Eurobahn/RRX runs through Viersen yes.

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, the module boxes are all done, managed to sand down the cork a bit as well to flatten it out. Next step is to draw a general outline of where the track will be, and paint the cork black in those areas.

Might take a while though, looks like there's some long days at work this week, need to get some project finished soon :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Some quick pictures showing the 4 module boxes back to back. This is also approximately the position they'll be in in the actual layout.

The modules from left to right are 125x70, 160x70, 125x70 and 40x70. The little dark dot/line in the center is an EF58 :)

[Densha]

The little dark dot/line in the center is an EF58 :)

What? Where?

But these modules are seriously very large.

[Martijn Meerts]

I was determined to be able to have full length shinkansen in the yard :)

It's really a LOT more difficult designing for long trains than it is for shorter trains though. There are a ton of things to consider, especially since I'm also going to full computer control. I'm fairly certain that my shinkansen and express models won't be visible much on the layout, really only when they pull into or out of the station. I'm fine with that though, since that way they'll run at low speeds so you can actually enjoy them rather than have them shoot by at top speed ;)

Luckily I still have a lot of time to work on a track plan, because it'll be a while before the yard is done. I'm not looking forward to wiring the whole thing actually =)

[Densha]

Indeed, a 4-car shinkansen at full speed is almost invisible, especially the tomix ones I've seen on youtube.
I like express trains to go a little faster than commuter trains since I like going past a commuter train while riding an intercity. (in other words, it's more prototypically)
What kind of digital and computer system are you planning on using?

Luckily I still have a lot of time to work on a track plan, because it'll be a while before the yard is done. I'm not looking forward to wiring the whole thing actually =)

Then you shouldn't make such complicated layouts, though they have a charm and when you build one you should do it right.

[Martijn Meerts]

Probably going to use the ECoS, although I'm not sure yet. I also have a Lenz system I could use, or maybe something new/more interesting will pop up :)

Software wise, I may start with Rocrail, but I've been slowly working a little on ideas and designs for my own, native Mac OS X application for a while now. Something that's easy to use for everyone and doesn't use weird programmer's lingo like Rocrail (and many others) likes to do ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

PICTURES! =)

Image 022:
The first of the turnouts is wired. I've added blue and red wire to both outer tracks and the tracks leading to the frog. The frog will be isolated and polarity will be switched automatically by the servo decoder (the green wire connects to the frog). Another blue and red wire are soldered to the switch rails (the moving part). It's not necessary to solder this many wires to the turnouts, but I want them to be as reliable as possible for as long as possible :)


Image 023:
Very crude drill template to make it easier to drill the holes for all the wires, as well as cut out the hole for the steel wire from servo to the turnout.


Image 024:
First 2 turnouts in place, with a little spacer in between. Even without ballasting, the wires are almost invisible already.


Image 025:
The first 5 tracks are in place, which makes the whole thing take shape. So far, all the tracks have a stop section installed for the block system I'll be using. Stop sections are 25cm long, but I might shorten it for the rest of the tracks because I want to subdivide them into multiple blocks. That way I can park several shorter trains on 1 track rather than use up 2.5 meter worth of track for a single-car Kiha40 or something :)

[Densha]

Whoa, that's really gonna be huge if you consider that that's just a fragment of the amount of tracks.
You were using Peco code 55 right? That's one hell of a job to cut all that track.

[Martijn Meerts]

It's all Peco code 55 yes. A good rail cutter or 2 really helps. I have one for rough cutting (the one with the orange handles on on the left in the bottom picture) and another one for more precise cuts (the one in the center hidden beneath the lens cap)

The only problem is that I used the more precise one to try and cut some other wires, and it got a bunch of notches in it :)

[Densha]

It still doesn't appeal to me, to me it feels as if I would just destroy all track.

That DB and Japanese car look very weird together by the way.

[Martijn Meerts]

It's definitely easier to use something like Tomix or Kato, or even Fleischmann or Minitrix track for that matter, but you're a lot less flexible. I used to hate flex track as well, and I still think it's a lot of work getting it right. But seeing sweeping curves like http://www.ta-kky.com/lrm/landscape/jam-3.html, or a train station in a slight curve like http://www.ta-kky.com/lrm/minakamistation/8.html (bottom picture) makes it worth it for me.

It definitely took a while before I figured out a good way of doing things, and investing in the track cutters was well worth it.


As for the yard, I've added all the sleepers missing in the pictures above, and added stop sections. Before I continue laying track though, I'm going to cut the frogs of the turnouts to isolate them from the powered tracks (the frog needs the polarity changed, so it needs to be isolated completely).

After that I'll hook up some servo's (just ordered an ESU servo because it has a nice mounting cage included, as well as an easy way to mount the wire that controls the turnout), and power the track, and see if everything works out. Next step will then be to add an occupancy detector and test all that stuff with the ECoS.

Still lots of work ahead :)

[Densha]

Yeah, I have to agree on that, curves like that are lots better and prototypical.
I have that website before, but now that I see it again it's actually a really great idea; using flextrack with kato/tomix switches. Then you don't have to bother about the switches, but only on the flextrack. The only downside is that it's more difficult to make kato or tomix switches DDC, so I've read.

I hope that everything will go well.

[Martijn Meerts]

It's not more difficult to make Kato/Tomix switches DCC, you just need the correct decoders. Most decoders expect turnout motors with 3 wires, whereas Kato/Tomix turnout motors only have 2. There are several brands that make turnout decoders specifically for Kato turnouts, and those work with Tomix as well. Also, decoders for LGB should work as well.

Another option is a custom board with 2 resistors, 2 diodes and 2 transistors to go from 3 outputs to 2 output, so you can hook up Kato/Tomix turnouts to regular turnout decoders.

[Martijn Meerts]

The first locomotive ran on the yard yesterday! :)

Installed, connected and setup 2 servo's as well as wired up 2 turnouts and 2 blocks. I figured I'd need to test things before laying the rest of the track.

Initially the occupancy detectors wouldn't give any feedback, and it took a long time of googling and testing things before discovering the S88 cable form detector to ECoS was faulty...... And it was a cable I bought pre-assembled even.. Anyway, fixed the cable and now the emperor is all happy again, because the EF58-61 ran like a dream on the code 55 track and turnouts. Even at speed step 1 it'll go through the turnouts without stalling.

Now I just need to do the rest of the tracks ... And then the other 3 sections... :)

[keitaro]

The first locomotive ran on the yard yesterday! :)

Installed, connected and setup 2 servo's as well as wired up 2 turnouts and 2 blocks. I figured I'd need to test things before laying the rest of the track.

Initially the occupancy detectors wouldn't give any feedback, and it took a long time of googling and testing things before discovering the S88 cable form detector to ECoS was faulty...... And it was a cable I bought pre-assembled even.. Anyway, fixed the cable and now the emperor is all happy again, because the EF58-61 ran like a dream on the code 55 track and turnouts. Even at speed step 1 it'll go through the turnouts without stalling.

Now I just need to do the rest of the tracks ... And then the other 3 sections... :)

could we have some pics of the servos please?

i'm really interested in this as i have a dislike for tomix track offering and am thinking of using the same. curious as to how the install was done and what tools you used etc.

Thanks in Advance really liking this thread as i can use the info from here for my own layout.

[Martijn Meerts]

I'll see if I can grab some closeups of the servos and how I installed them. I'm using Peco track though, which makes it easier to install the servos, but it would work much the same for any other track.

I'm really liking the Peco code 55 actually. The way it's manufactured makes it extremely sturdy, yet still looking very prototypical. Even the rail joiners are nearly invisible, and probably will be completely invisible after 'rusting' and ballasting the track. It takes a lot longer to lay the track, especially the curved sections, but to me it's worth it considering the end result.

[Martijn Meerts]

Keitaro, here's a couple of images of the turnout adjustments I make (visual ones, a picture of the way I wire them is already posted in the thread), and how I install the servos


Image 026:
Left is an unaltered turnout, right is one I adjusted. I cut off the plastic where you usually mount the Peco turnout motor. Since I don't use them, I don't need the additional (and non-prototypical :)) plastic. I also remove a metal plate from the bottom as well as a little spring that normally holds the point blades in place.


Image 027:
Closeup of the altered area. On the left you can see the little spring (the blue arrow points to it), on the right the spring is removed, which leaves a little hole. I use a 0.25mm drill to make the hole slightly bigger, so that the steel wire from the servo fits in there.


Image 028:
Here the blue arrows are pointing to the steel wires coming from the servos. These are cut off fairly roughly , still need to adjust them a little, so they're a little more flush to the top of the turnout. Eventually, when they're painted you really won't see them at all anymore :)


Image 029:
Servo mounted underneath the turnout. I used a bit of felt to dampen the sound a little, because the servos are somewhat noisy. You won't notice the noise with trains running, but it's no problem adding the felt.


Image 030:
Closeup of the steel wire that actually throws the switch. You can actually see it's slightly bent, which isn't a problem, and makes sure the point blades are snug against the main rails. The hole the wire goes through is 3.2mm wide and about 1cm long. I used a 3.2mm drill for the initial hole, and a Dremel router add-on to make it 1cm long. It's quite possible to just drill a 1cm hole really, but I had the router add-on anyway, so I figured what the heck ;)  Oh, and this one doesn't have the felt added, which is how I found out the servos are a bit noisy  



If you need any more pictures, let me know :)

[keitaro]

Thanks for the pics Marti!

I was thinking of using peco like your self for the storage yard too. Btw how do these go with tomix/kato track?

I would imagine you would need to put something beneath to level it out and the track might have height differences?

I want to use tomix above ground don't suppose that would be an easy job to use servo's on.

[Martijn Meerts]

They can be made to work with Tomix track, but I'm not sure how easy that'd be. It'd be easier if you used Peco code 80 track, since that's about the same profile as the Tomix track. I'm not sure what's available in code 80 with regards to turnouts though.

Tomix turnouts can be controller by servos as well, the main issue being connecting the steel wire that throws the switch. I guess if you carefully drill a hole, either with a hand drill or very carefully with a drill press it should work without damaging anything. You might also need to add some feeder wires and possibly look at switching frog polarity.

[Darklighter]

It'd be easier if you used Peco code 80 track, since that's about the same profile as the Tomix track.

Peco Code 55 is actually Code 80 with the rails embedded into the ties.
You can easily join Peco Code 55 to Unitrack using the Peco rail joiners and an approx. 3.5 mm high roadbed for the Peco track. I guess this will work with Tomix track, too (using a higher roadbed).

[Martijn Meerts]

Darklighter, wasn't sure the Peco rail joiners would fit on the Tomix track, or the Tomix joiners on the Peco track. I haven't really tried, and well, I don't really need to :) I do love the Tomix track, but I'm planning on going all out on the detailing of the layout, which means ballasting as well. Of course, it'd be even better to build the track from scratch, but in N-scale you don't notice it :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Did some re-cataloging of my models the past day, and measured the lengths of pretty much all of them. I needed the lengths to determine the blocks for the yard. Ended up with:

- 11 terminal tracks of 1 block each for 16 car trains
- 5 through tracks of 1 block each for up to 16 car trains
- 3 through tracks with 2 blocks each for up to 8 car trains
- 1 through track with 3 blocks for up to 5 car trains
- 1 through track with 4 blocks for up to 4 car trains
- 1 through track with 5 blocks for up to 3 car trains
- 1 through track with 8 blocks for up to 2 car trains

That means the yard can hold a total of 42 trains of varying sizes :)



While cataloging I noticed I have just over 32 meters worth of shinkansen .....

[Densha]

For some reason I expected you to make every track with ~8 blocks, but this way you can spend less on those block detectors. Is there room for expansion of the collection too?

[Martijn Meerts]

8 blocks per track would be overly expensive, and kinda useless really, as I only have 9 or 10 trains that are 1 or 2 cars.

Expansion of the collection isn't much of an issue, mainly because I already have more trains than would fit on the yard :)  The layout will get some more hidden tracks here and there. A small yard for the trams for example, and probably a small one for local/urban trains. Depends a bit on where the layout itself is going.

[Densha]

It won't even fit on all those tracks?

I'm really looking forward to seeing that in the future.

[Martijn Meerts]

I've been collecting them for about 10 years now, and only recently got the space to build a layout, so never really had any reason to spend the money on tracks and such rather than trains. Purchasing trains has slowed down quite a bit now that I'm buying all the tracks, decoders, servo decoders, occupancy detectors etc.

[Densha]

Personally I think a layout is eventually needed, especially with so many models. A question: do you actually have some way to show them off? (a showcase or something like that, if that's the right word for 'vitrine') I assume so because having them only in boxes is too boring and a 'waste' of the models.

[cteno4]

we have had a lot of discussions here and there about ways to display trains, but display cases start to get expensive (significant fraction of the trains cost!) and actually take up a lot of wall space compared to the book cases (which hold things very densely for storage).

ive been trying to come up with a simple display system that would allow the trains to be easily lifted off on their track and base and run onto the layout, but it does take up quite a chunk of wall space and of course 8.5' long 16 car shinkansen is kinda out of the display option for something like this or even for a more permanent display as getting plexiglas longer than 8' or welded seamlessly gets expensive!

i still want to do some display of the trains but realize ill never have anything close to all the collection out at once so it would be like most museums where you rotate the collection continuously. nice as it keeps things fresh.

jeff

[KenS]

ive been trying to come up with a simple display system that would allow the trains to be easily lifted off on their track and base and run onto the layout, but it does take up quite a chunk of wall space and of course 8.5' long 16 car shinkansen is kinda out of the display option for something like this or even for a more permanent display as getting plexiglas longer than 8' or welded seamlessly gets expensive!

Does it have to be seamless?

I'd think a cartridge system using low-profile cartridges that could be lifted out and connected to the layout, coupled with a wall-mount shelving unit with small shelves to hold cartridges (shelves so you can have a mix of cartridge lengths) and a pair of ~5' doors or sliding half-size or smaller windows would work.  You'd need some kind of angle-iron reinforcement on a long cartridge, but that seems workable.

Now manuvering a 2.6m (8.5') cartridge around from shelf to layout would be a project. And you might want some temporary removable walls on it to keep the train from hitting the floor if it fell off the tracks during handling. But I think (with sufficient wall space) you could display quite a number of trains that way.  It's not something I could do in the current house, but I've been thinking along those lines for the future, as I know I'll never have storage tracks for everything I collect.

[Martijn Meerts]

Densha, it's not that I didn't want a layout, I just didn't have any room for it until I bought a new house. Of course, one of the criteria for buying a house was that it had to have a good sized room that could be used for trains. The one I ended up buying was my 2nd choice actually, my first choice had an even bigger area, but it was just too expensive.

My trains are all in their storage boxes, no space to display them all :) Also, having them in display cases will eventually cause discoloration, which I'm trying to prevent as much as possible. Also, like Jeff says, a good display solution is really expensive, and I'd really want to display the full sets rather than just a few parts.

Once the layout is done, in about a billion years, they'll have a nice display :)

[Densha]

I knew about that, I meant to say that most people eventually end up with building a layout because it can be 'boring' without one.

I also have the fear of discolouration, also when hanging up posters and placing other things. If you have a place in the house which doesn't have intense sunlight on it, the discolouration would be less, but there's still the possibility of course because they will be exposed to the sunlight for weeks or even longer.

[brill27mcb]

Did some re-cataloging of my models the past day, and measured the lengths of pretty much all of them. I needed the lengths to determine the blocks for the yard. Ended up with:

- 11 terminal tracks of 1 block each for 16 car trains
- 5 through tracks of 1 block each for up to 16 car trains
- 3 through tracks with 2 blocks each for up to 8 car trains
- 1 through track with 3 blocks for up to 5 car trains
- 1 through track with 4 blocks for up to 4 car trains
- 1 through track with 5 blocks for up to 3 car trains
- 1 through track with 8 blocks for up to 2 car trains

That means the yard can hold a total of 42 trains of varying sizes :)



While cataloging I noticed I have just over 32 meters worth of shinkansen .....

There's a whole new concept! Measuring your collection by linear meters or feet...

Rich K.

[cteno4]

ok since the train display stuff has come up a few times in this and other threads, rather than snake martijn's thread i started a new one on displaying trains to continue the discussion here:

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,6432.0.html

cheers

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Rich, it's also quite scary finding out how many meters of trains you have. Everything put together I'm at about 75 meters now, which in 1:1 would be about 12km, or almost 7.5 mile ;)

Although, it increased a little recently with the arrival of the D51-498 Orient Express and Hayato No Kaze, and I haven't counted my World Kougei kits yet, since they haven't been built ;)


Jeff, at least discussing display storage made the thread look active, and made it look like I'm actually making decent progress =)



Actually, I'm about halfway with the first section track wise. I just ran out of rail screws (well, not really, I still have 400 of them, but can't find them :)) and also spare sleepers for the Peco track. Also starting to get low on insulating rail connectors. All of that stuff has been ordered though, so should arrive later this week.

In the meantime, I'll probably start modifying the turnouts for the 2nd set of tracks of the first section. By the time that's done, the track screws should have arrive so I can continue. It's starting to look like a lot of tracks by now, and I'm not entirely looking forward to the total price of my shopping cart once I start ordering the rest of the servos, servo decoders and occupancy detectors. On the other hand, it'll probably all be worth it once I can start putting trains on the track, and make a temporary loop to test everything.


As for the rest of the layout, I might just skip most of the track plan and go with the flow. Some bits like the stations I need to plan ahead a bit so they are big enough for the trains I want to run, but anything in between will just be improvising.


Edit: added some pictures, showing half the yard done :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Progress! =)

Lots and lots of work building this thing. For one, you need to be pretty precise to get the turnouts in the correct position, and the Code 55 flex and turnouts sure are a lot of work. However, it does look real good, and the track is VERY sturdy as well. The first section is done track wise, I still need to isolate the turnout frogs, but after that it's on to wiring.

I've also put together the reverse loop module as well as another occupancy detector, which I've had lying around as kits for a year or something =)


Image 033:
All tracks are down, just need to add the sleepers to fill the gaps. The leftmost track has a lot more spacing, this is partially because that track was actually supposed the first/front track. But also because it gives me a little more room for the 180 degree turn at the far end of the yard :)


Image 034:
Started on the 2nd section, which is a LOT easier than the first. It's really just 24 straight tracks, and only some of them need multiple blocks. It really does start giving you an idea of the size though...


Image 035:
Connection between the 2 sections. Currently it's held in place by some clamps. I still need to come up with some kind of leg structure. I have some ideas for it, just need to figure out the details. The left tracks are section 1, and are glued to the wood using epoxy. Once ballasted it should be pretty solid. The tracks on the right are section 2, and haven't been glued at all yet. The grey bits are thin cardboard, because there was some  height difference that was causing some small issues.

[cteno4]

Wow martijn! Great yard. Going to be something to store and display trains!

Jeff

[Densha]

*drools*
Awesome yard!

Is it very difficult to get the tracks from two modules aligned perfectly? It seems so, and is the main reason why I'm reluctant about making them.

[Martijn Meerts]

Jeff, it'll be good for storing trains, but not really for displaying. There's so little spacing between the tracks that the only thing you'll see is the roofs =)


Densha, it's not that difficult really. I've got them hooked up with some clamps right now, but eventually I'll need to build some legs, and those need to be pretty accurate. We'll see how that works out :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Progress has been a bit slow recently, considering I've been working on some World Kougei kits, and helping my father with his layout.

However, I've added a bunch more track to the 2nd section of the yard. It requires a bit of planning to get the block lengths correct, as well as the stop sections. I have about 6 tracks out of a total of 24 to go before moving to the next section.

I've also started adding some trains to the yard to get a feel of things. There are only 1 or 2 tracks now that can fit a 16 car shinkansen, but even with some of the shorter ones (E5, E2 amongst others) it's starting to look like something.

I'm going to be adding some more trains to that yard over the coming days so I can snap some cool pictures of various shinkansen lined up :)

[JR500 のぞみ]

Holy cow!

What a yard! And what a large amount of switch tracks!

It's just so nice to have family members sharing the same interest ~~ Wish i had too..

Yes, waiting for the picture with the trains parked inside! Should be something like a Shinkansen Garage sale!   

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, I found out that if I ever manage to take the yard to a show, I'll need to be there either a day early to fill the thing with trains, or get several people to help with the filling =)

The trains, from left to right:
- Tomix 0 series 20th century anniversary
- Tomix 0-2000 series
- Tomix 100 series 25th anniversay
- MicroAce 100-9000 series X1
- Tomix 100 series Fresh Green
- MicroAce 200-1500 series Tohoku Shinkansen 25th anniversary
- Tomix 300 series (not complete yet ... )
- Tomix 400 series
- Kato 500 series
- Tomix 700 series Hikari Rail Star
- Tomix n700-3000 series
- Tomix n700-7000 series
- Tomix n700-8000 series (R2)
- Tomix n700-8000 series (R10)
- Tomix 800 series
- Kato 800 series (my very first Japanese train =))
- Tomix E1 MAX
- Kato E4 MAX
- Kato E5 Hayabusa
- MicroAce 922-10 Dr. Yellow
- Tomix 923 Dr. Yellow
- MicroAce Kiha 40-2118 4th Kitaro Train
- MicroAce Kiha 40-2115 New Nezumi Otoko Train


Some pictures ...


Image 036 to image 040:
Various shots of the yard


Image 041:
A couple of guests ;)

[keitaro]

niiiiiiiiiice 

I hope to have a yard like that one day. Except i will have 3 one for my kihas, 1 for EMUS / Shinkansens and another for my subways.

Also a dept for a few freight trains

Thats the dream anyway... Now back to reality!

[Martijn Meerts]

This is just the main yard, I'll probably end up having to build a couple smaller ones. It depends a bit on how the layout is going to look, which I just don't know yet =)

[JR500 のぞみ]

Ouch...

There are so many trains... It's simply  

Now i was right about one thing... It does look like a Shinkansen Garage sale! Holy cow!

I see you have almost very variation of each model of shinkansen! Just look at all those 0's !

I like the last two painted cartoon trains! Very cute!

Yes, if i'll definately help you with great anticipation & pleasure to display your trains IF i ever got a chance to do so! Envy!  

For me, having a yard or even a space to display trains is impossible... Since here in Sillypore poor man like me live in flats of areas <81 square metres....  

[Densha]

Wow! That's a lot! Is it the first time you've seen it like this too?
But four N700 is a bit much, isn't it? I don't see big differences in the subtypes at first sight. The only Shinkansen missing are the the 700, E2, E3, even though you have 4 N700's (in different colorschemes). And I really have something for the 300 Shinkansen, if I ever buy a Shinkansen, I think it'll be that one as the first. Anyway, it's a very nice collection and I don't think I will ever have such a big collection, especially since this are just all the Shinkansen, and two tiny KiHa's.
What are those uncoupled (Shinkansen) cars doing in the background btw?

P.S. Do you perhaps know what ワンマン stands for? I've seen it a few times on front on trains (mainly KiHa's, as the one in your yard) and heard it at announcements on Youtube with them saying something about opening doors. After some thinking I thought: doors opening (guard) + wanman (one man) = possibly one man operation. Is that right?

[Martijn Meerts]

N500, like I said, I've been collecting for a while. If you want a real impressive shinkansen/high speed train collection, I think Massimo (jappomania) is the one to talk to ;)

What I've found out though, is that the more room you have, the bigger the layout you want to build, and the more complicated things get. Designing a track plan for the space I have is proving really difficult, especially considering I have the space to run full length shinkansen, but not enough space to have long runs. In the end, the shinkansen will only really be seen entering and leaving the main station :)


Densha, it's the first time I've got them all out and on display yes :) I'm still missing a few, but I'm not too worried about that, they'll arrive eventually. I do have several similar trains (like the N700s), but they're not 100% similar. They're different types or have different running numbers. I also have 4 or 5 C62s, but they all have a different running number (and some differences in detailing etc. :))

As far as I know, ワンマン means the train is operated by a single person. So the driver will also be selling(?)/checking the tickets etc.

[Densha]

Having multiple trains of the same series is not too bad, because of course in 1:1 there are often many trains of the same series on the same line. Sometimes it's even nice. Personally I prefer collecting first different series and then other numbers and variations, not that it really matters.

That's about what I thought too, at least I know now that another person thinks it's something like that too.

Did you miss this perhaps?

What are those uncoupled (Shinkansen) cars doing in the background btw?