Japan « modelrail.otenko

25Feb/150

JR West Thunderbird

I just happened across an eBay auction for a "Thunderbird" 7-Car consist in JNR red/beige livery which very much looked like a JR West Raichō or Kitakinki. After digging a little deeper, it turns out that the seller actually directly translated the Kanji of 雷鳥 to "Thunder bird". This, whilst literally correct, is a mistranslation of the train name which is, of course, the Raichō.

Little did I know that the JR West Thunderbird actually steals its name from the Raichō, which means "thunder bird" in Japanese. The bird is actually the Rock Ptarmigan, a native to the Tate[yama] Mountain Range of the Toyama region (which is where the train[s] travel to.)

Interesting to know that JR West first called the Express the 'Raichō', then released a 'Super Raichō' and then created a new service to the same area with the same name, but this time in english: the 'Thunderbird'.

Going through my galleries, turns out I have more shots of the Thunderbird than I care to remember!

The Thunderbird just happens to be one of my favourite EMUs. It's colour-scheme is a little dated, but the design and practicality (opening end-vestibules) is awesome. Not surprisingly, it also reminds me of the Dutch NS Koploper.

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5Feb/1511

Model Railway Shops in Osaka

To make the guesswork easier, here's a list of terms that should help you on your never-ending-search-to-find-model-trains. To translate things, use Google Translate. To convert from Romaji, Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji use J-Talk's Kanji Converter

English	Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji
Train	resshya	れっしゃ	列車
Electric Train	denshya	でんしゃ	電車
Steam Train	kishya	きしゃ	汽車
Diesel Train	kidoushya	きどうしゃ	気動車
Model	mokei	もけい	模型
Model Train	mokei resshya	もけいれっしゃ	模型列車
Railway Model	tetsudou mokei	てつどうもけい	鉄道模型
Gauge	geeji	ゲージ	--
Shop	shoppu/mise	ショップ/みせ	店
?-Shop	?-ya	や	?-屋

Den Den Town, Osaka

Poppondetta (ポポンデッタ)

One of the most well-known Osaka hobby shops. A place you simply must visit. Has everything.
(Note that their Tsurumi shop is closed!)

Super Kids Land (スーパーキッズランド本店)

A large toy department store with a floor dedicated to model railways. A good selection of HO-scale too!

Hobby Land Pochi (ホビーランドぽち)

A cute little shop with a good selection of consists. Also a good bargain-bin for second-hand items. Note that they will be graded from A-D where D is quite broken!

Volks Osaka Showroom(ボークス大阪ショールーム)

Another toy department store; you'll find the trains on level 6.

Shinsekai

Rail Workshop Higeshin (レール工房ひげしん)

A small store on the north-west corner of Shinsekai. I walked in and couldn't communicate, but there's glass cabinets of nice stock, both N and HO. The owner is usually there building models as well. Seems to have a 'club' atmosphere with regulars often hanging around to chat to the owner.
Note that Shinsekai is a relic of Osaka, planned/built as the 'suburb of the future' back from 1903.
Address: 大阪市浪速区恵美須東１－２２－１

Uehommachi (East Osaka)

Ikoma (いこま工房)

There's a good story behind this shop. I visited it in 2010 with a friend from university; her uncle actually works there. Back then the shop was south-east of Kintetsu Osakauehonmachi Station and it was a confusing walk from the station to get to it. The shop was small, full of glass cabinets and cutting boards. It had a great selection of N-scale and HO, specialising in paper kits. I remember that there were a lot of full N-scale sets, some 'custom made' and painted to prototypical awesomeness. I bought a DE10 and a set of passenger cars, beautifully detailed.

The shop has now moved here and, although I haven't been back since it moved, it seems to be a bigger and better presence with full layouts for demonstrations. It also seems a lot easier to get to!

Umeda

Hobby Land Pochi (Umeda)

Haven't been to this one, but can only imagine it's just like its brother in Den Den Town.

Yodobashi Camera

Another department store... trains are on B2. I always end up going here since it's so close to Osaka Station and I can send my friends to other levels if they don't want to check out trains.

Mach mokei (マッハ模型)

This shop actually seems to be pronounced ma-ha mokei; but for some reason they've translated that to 'mach'.

Minamikata

H&Y Model Trains

Someone go and check this place out!

Awaza

Rail Craft Awaza (レールクラフト阿波座)

Review to come....

Hanakawa (North-East)

Hobby Land Pochi (Hanakawa)

Haven't been to this one, but can only imagine it's just like its brothers.

Toyonaka (North)

Ichifuji Model Shop

Review to come....

Takastuki

Recycle Shop (Ryouhin Kaikan) (HobbyDo!)

I accidently stumbled across this shop. I'd bought a bike for my 4-week stay in Shinosaka and had been riding east towards Kyoto. The Tokaido main line and Shinkansen are both out that way and can be seen up quite close. Anyway, this shop is walking distance from JR Takatsuki Station, but closer to Hankyu Takatsuki-shi Station. Head due-east from either and then north-east along 国道171号線 (Japan National Route 171).
The shop has a great selection of new and second hand goods. I especially loved rummaging through the box of B-Train Shorty odds-and-ends. It seems that they had many split up boxes of B-Trains and each component is individually priced. Just remember, when you get to the counter things always add up!

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Matsubara

Mokei-ya (Model Shop) (もけいや松原)

From the website, this place seems to have a lot of stock. Has anyone been!?

Kobe

Tamtam Hobbies

(This used to be in Amagasaki, but that closed)
庫県神戸市東灘区青木1-2-34 サンシャインワーフ神戸１Ｆ

Hobby Land Pochi (Kobe)

Haven't been to this one, but can only imagine it's just like its brothers in Den Den Town and Umeda.
2 Chome Sannomiyacho, Chuo Ward, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

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2Feb/150

EMU Staging Yards, NE Takatsuki

These photos were taken back in January 2008. I'd hired a bicycle and had been dawdling along the Tokaido Main Line from Shin-osaka through to Takatsuki. I'd made it all the way to the staging yards just north-east of Takatsuki (Google Maps seems to indicate the area is known as 'Amanishinocho') before turning around to return to Osaka.

I stopped and took these shots from the pedestrian crossing visible in the map above. I can't quite believe that it isn't an overpass. I don't know if this crossing still exists today.

Towards Kyoto...

And towards Osaka...

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28Jan/150

My Favourite Shinkansen: 300 Series

This photo was taken with a second-hand (and then damaged by me) Fujitsu Finepix back in 2006. It was my first meeting with the 300 Series and it was love at first sight.

I can't believe they've already chopped this model up.

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21Jan/150

Battered EF66s at Suita, Osaka

Continuing the trend of top-rated pictures, here's a couple of EF66s (one of my favourite japanese locomotives) light-engine through Suita Depot in NE Osaka.

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11Dec/140

Oigawa Railway’s Zoom Car 21000 Series

This has been my wallpaper for a few years now... was a complete fluke to get the shot and is prized as one of my favourites.

If you're ever in Japan, then the Oigawa Railway is a must visit. Heritage stock, thriving in an absolutely beautiful setting. Frequent steam services also! Turns out they (recently [I lie, 'recently' is just me excusing myself for not checking their site often enough]) acquired 3 ex-Seibu E31 Class locomotives. Hilariously similar to the locomotive that my Kato Amtrak 'fake' is based on?

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4Apr/140

Ex-Japanese Rolling Stock in Manila

Manila was nothing like I'd expected... I suppose I had no idea what to expect, but after hearing of kidnappings, dangerous weather and chaotic traffic, I hadn't painted the best picture. Turns out it's all crap. I mean, they've had a few blows from Mother Nature in the past, but this hasn't hampered what is a bustling and vibrant city.

Apart from shopping for cheap electronic goods, I had a goal to check out as many of their modes of transport as possible. Google helped me find the Philippine National Railways ... and this then lead me down a rabbit-warren of information. It turns out the railway has been restarted many times. It used to expand all over the country, but squatters came in each time the railway closed/suspended lines. This has now lead to difficulties reclaiming the right-of-way and resuming the services. The result, currently, is that there are a limited number of services to catch and I chose one that worked out nicely when transferring from other modes of transport.

Another reason to check out PNR was that they utilise hand-me-downs from Japan. Quoting the PNR Wikipedia Page:

Surplus sleeper coaches from Japan Railways were recently acquired by PNR, and were delivered on November 2010. More used rolling stock from Japan Railways was recently acquired by PNR, and arrived in 2011 which included some 203-series EMU, Kiha 52 and Kogane Train (Kiha 59).

Judging by Google Maps and Wikipedia's page on Rail Transport in the Philippines, I worked out a path that would allow me to ride a few of the 'light rail' systems and the PNR. This meant catching the LRT from EDSA Station to Carrieda Station and then walking to Tutuban. It turns out the area from Carriedo to Tutuban is Chinatown and therefore full of markets. From Tutuban, the PNR was traversed to end up at PNR EDSA Station. This was a 45min suburban route and allowed viewing of the real Manila. A quick walk to MRT-3 Magallanes Station then allowed a trip north to Santolan Station near Greenhills shopping center for some much needed retail therapy.

LRT-1

The Manila Light Rail Transit System - Line 1 is the first of the LRTs in Manilla and runs from Baclaran to North Avenue.

LRT-2

Walking north along Rizalo Avenue until Recto Avenue allowed the viewing of the end of LRT-2. The weather was a little temperamental and (especially at night) the high overhead railway gave the whole neighbourhood a Blade Runner feel.

I couldn't quite work out if there were plans for expansion or if the track was simply extended to allow for a turn-back.

PNR Tutuban Station

PNR EDSA Station

A quick jog to the bridge let me get a few departing photos of the service I arrived on.

PNR 203-series KIHA Rollingstock

Ex Japanese Railway stock. Towed along by a General Electic 900-Class diesel (build in GE Montreal, Canada.) I love it that they've left the pantographs on the roof.

MRT-3

Do note to be mindful of the station staff. Don't take direct photos of them and if they tell you not to take photos, do respect their wishes!

...must get back there...

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20Mar/140

Table Railway – Continued

It's been green for a while.. but I thought I might as well provide a long-overdue update. The table layout has received a fresh coating of grass and it's in quite a reasonable state after moving house. It coped with being held upright through doorways and thrown around in the back of a car... so it seems my process of painting, gluing and spraying ballast and foliage worked well.

Painting the base scenery

The last thing one needs is white plaster showing through the scenery base. It really does ruin all of your hard work very quickly. To prevent this I coated the entire base with an appropriately-coloured paint. Japan's scenery is ultra-lush, so a dark green here will work well.

Adding the grass

Adding grass to the green paint brings it to life. Texture is the key here and un-even-ness is to be achieved. Don't be scared to glue layer upon layer upon layer. I've used a glue/water ratio of around 3-10 to make sure everything sticks. It's a little thicker than you'll need for a layout that won't be thrown around as much as this one will.

Sinking and Ballasting the track

I'd done this before on my previous railway and the effect is much more realistic. Although the plastic ballast that comes with Unitrack isn't ugly, it easily removes from the realism of a layout. To get around this I've cut a trench for the track and glued ballast down the sides. Be careful not to completely cover the track with glue...

The best part? My 300 Series Shinkansen bolted round the loops at full-tilt... I really wasn't expecting it to cope. It's about time to add a city.

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12Dec/130

Yet another layout…

It was about time to fill the table I'd bought from an op-shop a long time ago. I'd attempted a layout for this prior using the Arduino and CAN Bus to control it... but I somehow lost interest and demolished it. Hence we begin with the 810mm(Squared) Table Layout Version 2.0.

The space was relatively small and, thanks to my previous attempt, I knew there wasn't going to be much more than a loop-the-loop. The whole reason for building this was to run my 300 Series Shinkasen and that meant wide curves and wide clearances. For some reason I then decided that a loop-the-loop was boring and that I could fit a loop-the-loop-the-loop in.

I set to work on Anyrail.Net and found that a triple-loop was going to be tight. Unitrack had enough different radii curves to get the loops in, but I'd have to be using the tightest available... not too good for a 7-car Shinkansen. So... I started breaking the mould and making everything not-quite-fit together in the layout software. This meant slightly wider curves but potentially dangerous track joins where I would be 'stretching' the limits of unitrack to fit. Fortunately it turns out to be pretty forgiving.

I went to a not-so-local hobby store and found they had a HUGE selection of Japanese stock. I had my list printed from Anyrail and went about collecting. I also got some Walthers gradient foam for my crazy layout.

After a little fiddling the track was laid out and temporarily elevated into place. It all worked... but was a squeeze. With nothing stuck down you'd attempt to get track to connect in one spot and it'd fall out of alignment in another... I don't really recommend jamming Unitrack together in odd formations!

The result was a successful session of test running with all of the stock I could find!

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22Aug/121

Eizan Dentetsu (Eiden) Kyoto, Japan

Was just travelling via Google Earth and decided to check out North Kyoto. The Eizan Electric Railway runs one and two-car EMUs from Demachiyanagi Station up to either Mount Kurama or Mount Hiei. I haven't travelled up to Hiei-san yet, but I do love the trains that travel up to Kurama.

Usually google maps satellite photography is taken at random hours and doesn't capture anything interesting, but it seems this time they have captured a Kirara 900 Series about to pass an 800 Series at Ninose Station.

Just thought I'd take a snapshot and record it... it's a beautiful area of Kyoto and everyone must visit at least once!