JRM @ Sakura Matsuri

[Shashinka]

The Japan Rail Modelers of Washington are prod to announce, the club's first official appearance at the National Cherry Blossom Festival's, annual Sakura Matsuri, on Saturday April 4th from 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM along Pennsylvania Ave. between 10th & 14th streets and 12th Street between Pennsylvania & Constitution avenues.

[Bernard]

Aaron - Have fun but is that the right date, March 4th?

[Shashinka]

The Japan Rail Modelers of Washington DC are very proud to announce that we have been invited to display our layout at the 49th annual Sakura Matsuri street festival! This is the culminating event of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. This large, outdoor event is sponsored by the Japan-American Society of Washington DC and is the largest Japanese street festival in the US. The street festival is on April 4, 2009, 11AM - 6PM and the JRM tent will be on Pennsylvania Ave. between 12th and 13th Streets. Come and join the fun and see the JRM layout!

More information on the festival can be found at http://www.sakurama tsuri.org/

The Japan Rail Modelers (JRM) of Washington DC are a loose group that focuses on modeling Japanese rail systems. Our goal is to support and encourage modeling of Japanese rail systems and provide public education about the extensive Japanese railroad systems. To further this goal, we have produced a portable 72 square foot, Japanese themed N Scale layout that can be set up at model railroading shows and other events. The layout is set up on the fly from Kato Unitrak featuring dual Shinkansen (bullet train) lines including passenger station and storage yards that can handle prototypical full length 16 car trains, two local train lines for local passenger and freight trains, as well as Japanese buildings, scenery, and details (even goji!)

More Information on JRM can be found at: http://www.japanrai lmodelers. org

[Bernard]

Guys - How was the Cherry Blossom Festival?

[roomd]

It was just fantastic, here are some pictures:

http://roomd.homeip.net:8057/album/Trains/jrm-dc/Sakura%20Matsuri%20April%202009/index.html

[CaptOblivious]

It was just fantastic, here are some pictures:

http://roomd.homeip.net:8057/album/Trains/jrm-dc/Sakura%20Matsuri%20April%202009/index.html

Very nice! Looks like a fun day! How was the rest of the festival?

[roomd]

Our tent was the best of course :-) But seriously, JR central next to us really sucked. Food lines were horrible. The other "Art and Culture" tents were interesting. I did not get to see the performances on the stages, so I cannot comment on that. All in all, hordes of people had fun, and that's what really counts.

[Bernard]

Great photos and thanks for sharing. You really had some turnout! I didn't realize that you would be outside that must have been a challange. To me it's amazing what the club put together in a short time and the minature Cherry Blossoms look fantastic!

I also noticed that your tent was near the Kirwin Beer truck, was that planned? :D

[roomd]

Yes, being outside was quite unusual for us, but it also gave better than ever lighting conditions, many photos came out much, much better than under the artificial light. The worst thing was the gusty wind causing a few spectacular accidents, the best of which was two 16 car Shinkansens colliding at full speed. Spectacular, but cleanup and putting both trains back on track a real pain!

There were a few Kirin trucks, so no wonder one landed not far from us, but this being alcohol-paranoid US, the drinking area was a rather smallish fenced rectangle packed with people, I've had no desire to drink in this corral and no way to get out of there with a glass in hands (I come from a much more relaxed in that respect Europe, so even after 11 years of living in the US the local alcohol policies strike me as something abnormal :-)

[CaptOblivious]

Yes, being outside was quite unusual for us, but it also gave better than ever lighting conditions, many photos came out much, much better than under the artificial light. The worst thing was the gusty wind causing a few spectacular accidents, the best of which was two 16 car Shinkansens colliding at full speed. Spectacular, but cleanup and putting both trains back on track a real pain!

There were a few Kirin trucks, so no wonder one landed not far from us, but this being alcohol-paranoid US, the drinking area was a rather smallish fenced rectangle packed with people, I've had no desire to drink in this corral and no way to get out of there with a glass in hands (I come from a much more relaxed in that respect Europe, so even after 11 years of living in the US the local alcohol policies strike me as something abnormal :-)

Yum, Kirin. My favorite beer.

You'll be pleased to know that this is a regional predilection. Here in St Louis, home of Anheuser Busch (importers of Kirin!), we are very relaxed about our public drinking. Our street festivals don't have corrals (just no glass, but that's a public safety thing, not a backwards teetotaler thing). New Orleans is even more relaxed—the cops there carry two holsters: One for their gun, and one for NOPD-branded plastic cups in case you're caught in public with a glass bottle. (Public safety again…)

[roomd]

By saying glass, I was meaning that cheapo piece of plastic :-) (Germans, for that matter, manage to make do with real Steins and glasses without endangering the public :-)

I'm glad to hear that some places in the US are better than the prudish Mid-Atlantic :-) But we digress, I would not want to hijack this thread from the awesome achievements of JRM/DC.

[Shashinka]

I sorta thought Jeff would have posted his pix by now. I took about forty, and sent most of them to Jeff.

[cteno4]

Aaron,

you sent along 14 shots, did you mean to send more along?

I have been assembling a nice gallery of shots from the Sakura Matsauri (have shots form 5 members), and an article on the event. Also been finishing up a facelift on the site and trying to clean out the photo galleries there and its taken a fair amount of time with 5 years of accumulated flotsam and jetsam!

Also been recovering from the prep for the show, whew that was a busy couple of weeks and i usually end up exhausted by the end of the show! Well worth it as the event was fantastic, Im not sure we will be able to go back to events that have less than 100,000 people! Felt like being on a stage at a rock concert with the crowd pushing forward many people deep and folks behind them trying to see what all the others were there for!.

Ill post the article later today if i can get the web site polished off and up.

cheers,

jeff

[Bernard]

100,000 people!!  :o
And just think, your Club's policy is to send "Thank you notes" to everyone that attended the event.... :D

[Shashinka]

Aaron,

you sent along 14 shots, did you mean to send more along?

I have been assembling a nice gallery of shots from the Sakura Matsauri (have shots form 5 members), and an article on the event. Also been finishing up a facelift on the site and trying to clean out the photo galleries there and its taken a fair amount of time with 5 years of accumulated flotsam and jetsam!

Also been recovering from the prep for the show, whew that was a busy couple of weeks and i usually end up exhausted by the end of the show! Well worth it as the event was fantastic, Im not sure we will be able to go back to events that have less than 100,000 people! Felt like being on a stage at a rock concert with the crowd pushing forward many people deep and folks behind them trying to see what all the others were there for!.

Ill post the article later today if i can get the web site polished off and up.

IDK, what I had. Since I was working the festival under contract my focus was on keeping those cheap bastards at the Post happy. I'll have to dig back in to archives to see what I shot. Sadly, I was out in PA today shooting historic covered bridges throughout the commonwealth and have a deadline so it may be a while till I get to looking for train stuff.

[cteno4]

Aaron,

no worries, i have plenty between you, dmitry, philip, bob and myself, just wanted to make sure did not miss an email from you!

galleries are done, now just need to spit out all the html for them to integrate, hopefully be up later today.

jeff

[cteno4]

100,000 people!!  :o
And just think, your Club's policy is to send "Thank you notes" to everyone that attended the event.... :D

You are not kidding. was really a totally different experience than any before showing the layout!

They should send us thank you cards! The club did a lot of work to give them a treat! I think it was a real treat for most folks, something they were not expecting to see at all and very different from the other commercial and cultural displays.

cheers,

jeff

[Sushi Train]

Whats the story with this 0 and where can I get one?!!!

[cteno4]

Whats the story with this 0 and where can I get one?!!!

This is a tin type friction toy of a series 0, probably from the early 70s. they come up on ebay now and then. i got this one first for like $20 and it was pretty beat up, i later got one for $10 in much better shape. It takes some lurking they are spotty and sometimes at very high prices.

ill post a pict of the nice one when i get a sec.

When we were trying to figure out what to do for a donations box we were thinking of doing a shinto shrine box, but worried that it might not be taken well. I finally remembered the beat up one i had and donated it for our donation box. I cut a slot in the top and a hole in the bottom (to remove the money) and mounted it on a wooden base. eventually ill make a nice wooden box for the base so when money goes in it makes a nice wooden clunk. sometime may put a little chip-with-lips in it with some station announcement to be triggered when money is put in.

cheers,

jeff

[scott]

"Donations to Sushi Trains train collection are gladly accepted."

[Sushi Train]

Whats the story with this 0 and where can I get one?!!!

This is a tin type friction toy of a series 0, probably from the early 70s. they come up on ebay now and then. i got this one first for like $20 and it was pretty beat up, i later got one for $10 in much better shape. It takes some lurking they are spotty and sometimes at very high prices.

ill post a pict of the nice one when i get a sec.

When we were trying to figure out what to do for a donations box we were thinking of doing a shinto shrine box, but worried that it might not be taken well. I finally remembered the beat up one i had and donated it for our donation box. I cut a slot in the top and a hole in the bottom (to remove the money) and mounted it on a wooden base. eventually ill make a nice wooden box for the base so when money goes in it makes a nice wooden clunk. sometime may put a little chip-with-lips in it with some station announcement to be triggered when money is put in.

cheers,

jeff

AWESOME STUFF, VERY CLEVER, also, what a fantastic backdrop you had for Sakura Matsuri!

"Donations to Sushi Trains train collection are gladly accepted."

LOL! Don't give me ideas!! but donations to my paypal account are gladly accepted  ;)

[CaptOblivious]

This is a tin type friction toy of a series 0, probably from the early 70s. they come up on ebay now and then. i got this one first for like $20 and it was pretty beat up, i later got one for $10 in much better shape. It takes some lurking they are spotty and sometimes at very high prices.

OMG, I am turning into a rivet-counter, but the JR logo on the side suggests it couldn't be older than about '88…

[Sushi Train]

This is a tin type friction toy of a series 0, probably from the early 70s. they come up on ebay now and then. i got this one first for like $20 and it was pretty beat up, i later got one for $10 in much better shape. It takes some lurking they are spotty and sometimes at very high prices.

OMG, I am turning into a rivet-counter, but the JR logo on the side suggests it couldn't be older than about '88…

Well spotted, unless its been put on by someone later. Still want one though!!

[cteno4]

This is a tin type friction toy of a series 0, probably from the early 70s. they come up on ebay now and then. i got this one first for like $20 and it was pretty beat up, i later got one for $10 in much better shape. It takes some lurking they are spotty and sometimes at very high prices.

OMG, I am turning into a rivet-counter, but the JR logo on the side suggests it couldn't be older than about '88…

Well spotted, unless its been put on by someone later. Still want one though!!

Yes very well spotted! and good guess on the addition, it is. the other one does not have it and the JR is on as a sticker, while the rest of the images are printed on the tin directly.

70s was just a guess they could be any time really. perhaps it was a relabeling later with the JR to make an older toy already in production more up to date w/o changing the printing. or someone just wanting to update their own toy!

cheers,

jeff

[Sushi Train]

I found a couple of interesting tin friction toys.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320143417879

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=400039321861

[cteno4]

ive seen a few commuter series friction trains around on ebay. unfortunately most have been expensive or smaller sized like this one. i did get one small generic dmu commuter (like 21cm). would be great to get some more at the larger size!

the other great tin type find i have for JR freight stuff is a double set wtih engine and two cars. one set has two double deck car carriers with 4 little tin cars for each carrier. other set has two cars with 2 blue jr containers each. very fun. these seem like they are pretty new productions.

you can see the container train here.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Daiya-Japan-Tin-Friction-JR-Container-Train-21-MIB_W0QQitemZ180004930280QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item180004930280&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

much more expensive than i paid for the double set!

have also seen romance train friction toys, but they have been expensive!

http://tinyurl.com/ch8n45

also been a 2 car series zero in bulgaria of all places for a while!

http://tinyurl.com/c7cvfo

some others

http://tinyurl.com/dfg9b5

cheers,

jeff

[Sushi Train]

WOW  :o thanks for that!   :)

[Sushi Train]

Whats the story with this 0 and where can I get one?!!!

Forget that! I want this!!

[Bernard]

I like Aaron's idea for a new donations box. He's thinking BIG.

 

[Shashinka]

*scratches head, I did, I'm lost.

[Bernard]

One post from Sushi Train was where can he get a train like the one at your exhibitions that the DC club uses for donations. (It's a shinkansen with a money slot) I figured use the ride you posted as a New donation box. It's bigger and not only do you give a donation but you get a ride too. (I hope that explains my poor original joke ::))

[cteno4]

Problem with this for a ride is if it was a real shinkansen ride there would not be much in the way of moving around!

cheers,

jeff

[scott]

No, it just tears off across the shopping center at 160mph.

[cteno4]

LOL i would love to see the look on the kid's face at the end of the ride!

jeff

[Sushi Train]

HAHAHAHA!  ;D some great replies guys, thanks

[Bernard]

The Kid would probably say ...... AGAIN!!

[cteno4]

The Kid would probably say ...... AGAIN!!

after 5 minutes of stunned silence. i can just see the deer in the headlight look on their faces with white knuckles on the handle bars and hair blown back straight!

jeff

[scott]

Eyes perfectly round and a wide-open mouth the size of a dinner plate.  </stereotype>

[CaptOblivious]

wait, are y'all describing some hypothetical kid, or are you describing us?

[cteno4]

wait, are y'all describing some hypothetical kid, or are you describing us?

both, but we would kick the little kids out of the ride and cram our knees up to our chins to ride it over and over and over and over.... at least until enough parents complained to management or the limits on our credit cards wares out, which ever would come first...

cheers,

jeff

[Sushi Train]

Imagine a photo of a bunch of us all crammed onto it, now that's a pic I would frame!   ;D

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh look at this one!



A 300 Dr yellow 

[Martijn Meerts]

Wonder how fast you can run on those shoes....

[scott]

See, now there's the ultimate proof. I always thought that the newer Shinkansens looked like shoes...

[cteno4]

Unfortunately they probably dont make them in size 14! bummer kids get all the cool stuff!

I want a dr yellow to run around our backyard. i had kind of abandoned the idea of running a garden rr loop around the yard as we have a dog (potential of doing things on the track) and a lot of trees (ie deep leaf cover in the fall), but if i would do a shinkansen line i could run it on a viaduct! Damn now im off thinking about how cool that would be racing around the back yard!

ill have to lobby parks and rec to get one of the bullet train bouncies in the park next door to our house! they probably wont go for it since they would be wise to the fact i would go over and play on it and at 6' 4" 190lbs it would not last long i fear!

cheers,

jeff

[cteno4]

Ok, now why dont we have these in the supermarkets here!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71719923@N00/13785165/

that would hurt the coin purse.

cheers,

jeff

[Bernard]

on my visit to Japan, the other thing the Japanese love besides trains are vending machines. It's where I got hot coffee in a can.

[CaptOblivious]

on my visit to Japan, the other thing the Japanese love besides trains are vending machines. It's where I got hot coffee in a can.

I so f'ing miss that. You have no idea. That stuff was the boss of me… (cue drum roll)

[Sushi Train]

on my visit to Japan, the other thing the Japanese love besides trains are vending machines. It's where I got hot coffee in a can.

I so f'ing miss that. You have no idea. That stuff was the boss of me… (cue drum roll)

oh man! I was there in winter and those cans kept me alive! Mmmm hotto chokore-to too.

[Mudkip Orange]

Just found this thread. Wow. This layout is truly the gold standard of American Japanese-prototype layouts.

[cteno4]

on my visit to Japan, the other thing the Japanese love besides trains are vending machines. It's where I got hot coffee in a can.

I so f'ing miss that. You have no idea. That stuff was the boss of me… (cue drum roll)

oh man! I was there in winter and those cans kept me alive! Mmmm hotte chocoreto too.

two words Pocari Sweat!

I can get it at our local japanese markets here in the DC area, but at $2.50 a bottle! did find powdered mix that was about 1/3rd the cost though! great name always made me thing it was the drippings from a soccer player's game towel!

cheers,

jeff