Merry Christmas 2007

I would like to wish all my fellow modellers and blog followers a Merry Christmas for 2007!

Body Building

A nice recent model added to the diesel rosta is this type 125 JR Kyushu single railcar. The model came as a simple build brass bodyshell from Japan to mount onto an ENDO type 110 chassis. The kit is made by the N gauge specialists Tokyodo and so far its their onlyHO offering, I had the model constructed by a guy more familiar with GWR tank engines than anything with a diesel engine, but what a fine job he has done!

Tourist Class

The Japanese manufacturer One Mile (http://www.one-mile.net/) have just released a nice 1/80 modern touring coach. These models are sadly not available outside Japan but can be obtained from some of the specialist online shops willing to export.
When i started to model Japanese 1/80 over six years ago there was very little street furniture or road vehicles available, now thanks to the TOMIX 80's collection and One Mile I can furnish my roads all I am waiting for now is a nice 1/80 modern HINO truck!!

True Blue!

The latest delivery has just arrived, another repainted locomotive,this time we have the Japan wide DD51 in the latest JR freight blue and white colour scheme. It bemuses me that KATO have since the models introduction only made the model available in diesel orange. This leaves the door open for people like Japaness shop Sazan to offer a multitude of later liveries, not just on the DD51 but the DE10 and a plethora of electric locomotives.

A Long hot summer (well mild and very wet!)

I wish I could say the above was true but apart from a few days its been a mild wet summer!!. Its been seven months since I have updated my blog, a long time but with work and family taking all my "warm weather" time I have had very little hobby time to spare.

Now its all hands on deck to commence some building work on the layout a few changes are being made, the first a pretty major on in the case that the layout will be diesel only relegating my electric stock to the display cabinet. This option was chosen due to the cost and non-availaility of Japanese 1/80 overhead wires, also im sure that after a few exhibition showings there would be some damadge to repair.

The first purchase is a nice repainted type 58 Kato DMU set, 4 cars in total, this brings the passenger DMU fleet up to eight sets, quite enough for now.

I will detail some progress on my baseboard soon with some trackwork detail.

Hand built Brass

To complement my Modemo 373 unit, I have taken the plunge and bought a second hand type 253 Narita Airport Express hand built brass three car EMU by ENDO. These trains operate several routes around the Tokyo area to the Narita airport.

These super models by ENDO are expensive by European prices and are only just at a viable price on the second hand market, I dont make purchases very often of this kind, and this might be a one off to go with my only other brass EMU set, a four car type suburban 209 by the KTM company.

The major problem with all these nice "handbuilt" models is the drive systems, OK as other models its totally hidden under the floor and powers the bogies through very small axle diffs, and there is no facility for DCC thus to get the models fitted with decoders will again be an expensive outlay.

A rare item now.

Here in the United Kingdom the Hasegawa company is well know for its models of military prototypes and aircraft, however in Japan they also market a small growing range of model trains under the "Modemo" marketing name.

Originally the Modemo name was known for its models in N, 1/80 HO and even O scale for their range of plastic tram kits that were either static models or motorised. Their range continues to grow in N scale and now includes some DMU and EMU sets.

Besides some plastic kits of older 1950's prototype passenger cars and a private railway two car EMU, the only other item available in 1/80 ready to run was the JR Central type 373 EMU set pictured above, this is one of my personal favorite trains on modern Japanese railways and I was pleased when the item first became available eight years ago. The model is of dubious quality compared with models that are available from Tomix and Kato, underframe detail is very limited and the bogies compensate to a degree that the wheel sets fall out of the bogie truck every time the model is taken from the box. The model otherwise runs well with another well designed underfloor "invisible" mechanism.

The comment that I have made above although personal has also been repeated in the Japanese model railway press, and the model is now no longer part of the Modemo range, it has been their only offering of modern image rolling stock to date in HO 1/80, perhaps the press comments worried them about starting another model.

The models now command high prices on the Japanese used market and are very hard and scarce to find, originally these items were available from the now closed JR models in Taunton for £180, I have seen them sell for over £250 on Japanese auction sites recently, so perhaps it might be worth some effort by Modemo to re-engineer the model and offer it again made to a higher standard.

Intergreated Transport

Outside most Japanese railway stations you will find Taxi's normally painted in a particular colour scheme relevant to the town they serve, you will also find other public transport connections like buses but in some of the larger cities trams too.

Until last year there were no models of road vehicles in 1/80 besides two sports cars made by Kato , you could obtain models of Japanese cars and light vans by the German makers in left hand drive in 1/87 and a brave attempt by the Green Max company at a 1/87 modern Isuzu Erga citybus, and to confuse the situation you could get some super models of Japanese buses and highway buses in the British OO scale!!

Last year the tables changed and Tomix introduced their car collection 80 to the 1/80 scale, this has now been expanded to include eight models including some nice modern Toyota Hiace vans in Japan Post colours and Crown taxis for the station forecourt.

The latest manufacturer to commence a series of 1/80 models in the One Mile company (www.one-mile.net) they offer the type 96MC citybus in some attractive colour schemes, the model must be a success as they have now announced a modern type SDII highway bus. I have obtained two 96MC citybuses for the layout and when available I will add some highway coaches too.

Ever Expanding Ranges

One of the largest HO 1/80 brass manufacturer's in Japan the Tenshodo company (of SPUD bogie fame) have gradually been introducing a range of plastic ready to run models in conjunction with the Bachmann company. The first offering was the JR West type 500 bullet train followed by a couple of steam locomotives and recently the popular type 103 commuter EMU sets in blue,yellow,green and orange, I hope to obtain a blue 4 car set at a later date.

My motley collection of freight stock by Tomix and kato can now be enhanced by a set of eight WaKi 10000 bogie box cars the same as the picture above introduced by Tenshodo this week. This brings my freight collection up to five trains, as there will be no shunting/switching on Futatsu no Kawa they will operate in fixed rake formation.

"Shining Glitter"

The type 485 is a really ubiquitous train and can be seen in most parts of Japan as it is a dual volage AC/DC unit. These multiple units truly were the front line units on the old Japanese National Railways network but with the ever expanding high speed shinkansen network blossoming, these units have had to take the back seat.

Some of the new operating companies have refurbished and totally reworked the body style to give a more modern unit but many like the model above are still operating with the body design as delivered new.Originally they were new in the JNR national express EMU and DMU red and cream colour scheme but with the sectoring of JNR into smaller regional companies most have gradually been repainted into brighter regional colour schemes.

The 485 is presently represented on Futatsu noKawa by the four car unit pictured above made by Tomix three years ago, this particular unit started to operate the "Shining Glitter" service between Tokyo and Toyama Kanazawa in 1988 to offer a high class service aimed at business men.
It really is a beautiful model with superb detail and very fine paint work, it is driven in one of the centre cars with a mechanism that it totally hidden under the floor and with its flywheel drive is ultra smooth.
Tomix have slightly reworked the model recently to offer the type 489 "Asama" units and I guess that many other colourful schemes will follow in due course,I will hopefully add some more of these units to the collection for operating on the layout.

Small and Beautiful

My good friend in Hokkaido Japan has been sending me some wonderful photographs of the small halts that can be found on some of the rural lines on Hokkaido Island.

The photograph here depicts the small single car halt for the hot springs resort of "Teshiogawa-Onsen", the small building contains a few plastic seats, a small heating stove ( you can see the chimney for this at the rear) and a toilet!

The wooden platform gives me memories of some of the similar halts on the Cambrian Coast line also served by single car diesel units.

This small halt would make a beautiful small diorama with the new Hokkaido type 40 single car diesel unit imminently available from Micro Ace in 1/80, operating on a shuttle into a tunnel back and forth, the total space needed, i guess 120cms, who says you need space for HO 1/80!!

Mainline Diesel Power!!

We have had a short introduction on models of Electric motive power in Japan, now its time for the diesel locomotives.

As with the electric services today there is very little diesel passenger haulage apart from the use with the many private hire sets of coaches with a matching liveried locomotive or the seasonal tourist trains that operate with uniquely designed "open sided" coaches operating on some of the mountainous scenic lines.There are also some diesel locomotives painted in passenger "blue" for use on the overnight blue train services but most of the locomotives are allocated to the JR freight sector.

Today the most numerous and general all purpose locomotive is the type DD51 (left) this has the unusual bogie configuration of BO-BO-BO but for traction power this would be classed in the UK as BO-11-BO i.e. the central bogie has no traction motors and acts only to ease the spread of the axle weight of the locomotive on the tracks.They often operate in pairs on heavy freight trains throughout Japan.

The model here is by Kato and is in the typical JR orange livery scheme used for diesel locomotives I have two of these locomotives with another due very soon, I have been asked via my e-mail where these HO models can be obtained, obviously the answer is "Japan" but this can be of great complication because of not just the language barrier but also they dont use the "Roman" alphabet!. I can recommend the Japanese specialist Doug Coster who is the proprietor of internet based Japanese Model supplies http://japanese-model-supplies.com/ he can help you with supply of most of the large manufacturers ranges in N and HO 1/80 as well as some wonderful DVD's.

Everyone has a dream model,,,,,and my dream would be the brass model of the modern BO-BO-BO diesel locomotive class DF200 by the Musashino company, as used on the Northern Island of Hokkaido, at a price of over £800 for this hand made model and second hand examples at over £400 this is a little extreme a purchase and would mean much explanation to my wife why we shouldnt get a divorce!!

AC~DC

I cant think of many countries in the world where there is more than one overhead voltage system used to supply the power to the locomotives of the national railway system. Our neighbour France comes to mind (1500VDC and 25000VAC) and of course until a few years ago here in the United Kingdom there was the Manchester--Sheffield "Woodhead line" energised at 1500VDC, alas now lifted but earmarked for a possible reopening!

Japan uses two voltage systems on the former Japanese National Railways network, the border between the two voltages (20000VAC and 1500VDC) goes East to West along the Fuji River.

The voltage in the North of Japan and also on all
the off shore islands is 20000VAC depicted here by the top photograph of a type ED76 in "AC red"
livery on a sleeper "blue train". The voltage in the south of the island is 1500VDC depicted here by a type
EF65-1000 in DC passenger blue colour scheme.
To complicate these colours further we have a few types of dual voltage locomotives for example the type EF81 and these are painted in AC red livery!
These liveries are only applied to locomotives that were constructed in the pre-private era, more modern locomotives constructed only for the JR freight company yet again have different colour schemes for each type!

With so few ready to run models of Japanese electric locomotives available the problem arrises on what voltage to use on Futatsu no Kawa . Looking at my collection of electric locomotives and electric multiple units I can clearly see that I only posses only two 20000VAC model locomotives, both by Tomix an ED76 in AC red and a very attractice ED75 in a special experimental Freight colour scheme introduced by JR freight when it was in its fledge ling years. On the other hand I have eight DC locomotives, perhaps this is the innfluence that the main industrial and dense population areas in Japan are in the DC area.

Perhaps some modellers license should be used and Futatsu no Kawa will operate both AC and DC locomotives!

A good Talking Point

With the dry unseasonal weather today I decided to take a drive to my nearest good model railway shop, a return trip of 130 miles. The shop, located in the tourist town of Ross on Wye is luckily for me open on a Sunday and has reasonable stocks of products from around the globe.

The object of the trip was to pick up some samples of PECO code 83 flexi track ( the chosen rail profile for Futatsu no Kawa) and to browse along the shelves of scenic products. I returned with two sections of flexi rail and also a single PECO point from the recently introduced code 83 series.
The points that I already have for the layout are handbuilt, on wooden sleepers and are of a very good quality and very realistic in appearance, these USA manufactured point kits are not generally available here in the United Kingdom so I purchase them pre-constructed from the USA via this useful tool the "Internet".

It is was interesting to just make a very quick examination of the mass factory produced PECO product (top of the photograph) with my handbuilt item, the first item of difference to grab your eye is the finish of the PECO product, with very shiny sleepers and bright rail, true this can be toned down by light air brushing when laid but it still lacks the realistic look of wooden trackwork. The other advantage of my handbuilt point is that is has a one piece blade unike the jointed PECO blade. Im sure there are many advantages of the PECO product, especially the price, but I will stay firmly with my Hanbuilt items.

The final major advantage of bespoke handbuilt points for my own personal use is the overall length of the point, some items of my Japanese HO 1/80 motive power, mostly EMU and DMU models with complicated underfloor drive mechanisms, is that they do not like negotiating sharp degrees of cuvrvature and "stall" with the bogies on maximum articulation and the powered wheels spinning on the track, so take a look at www.walthers.com and the various hand laid HO and N tracks that are available.

Architectural Masterpiece (not available from IKEA)

One of the major problems with the construction of a layout to the scale of 1/80 is the lack of availabilty of buildings and street furniture to the correct scale. Even in Japan this is a problem with very few items available, a slight modification of a mass produced product from the USA or Germany can help, but I am very lucky in having a "Profestional master model maker" within my family and having a good English speaking friend in Japan who is willing to assist me with photographic evidence of local buildings.

The chosen station for Futatsu no Kawa is on the far northern cold and snowy Island of Hokkaido and serves the small town of Otoineppu, It looks of Scandinavian wood cabin design and is actually constructed of wood, its looks so out of place in its oriental location and should be on the cover of the IKEA catalogue as one of their Scandinavian shops. The station has just one central platform to serve both directions linked to the station building by an overbride (right of the building in the photographs), this will be modified for Futatsu no Kawa to give two platforms. I will post photographs as the plastic card is gradually cut and the station model progresses.

Modern DMU's. The future of passenger services?

Japan like the United Kindom relies heavily on Diesel and Electric Multiple Unit operation, there are very few services operated today with locomotive haulage with the exception of the vast network of overnight "Blue Train" sleepers that mostly radiate from Tokyo, and the many rakes of special private hire coaches.

Again, like the United Kingdom the design of these post-private modern units is down to operator and climate preference, I was very impressed when the brass manufactuere ENDO introduced a new part Brass and Plastic range with the strange title of "Prus". An average all brass 1/80 HO single car DMU would set you back in the region of £300 so what a relief when the JR East type 100-110 type became available in the Prus series complete with working scale Scharfenberg couplers!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog!

I am,, as far as I am aware, the only modeller of a Japanese HO 1/80 model railway portable exhibition layout outside of Japan.

I intend to use this blog diary to keep you updated on the progress of my proposed exhibition layout "Futatsu no Kawa" or in simple English "Two Rivers".

Today I have taken delivery from a friend in Japan a really nice addition to the freight locomotive roster, a profestionally air brush painted and super detailed Kato EF65 electric loco in the present JR freight colour scheme. I have used this as the header photograph on this, I hope the first of many of blogs!