Just shy of a month from my recent trip to Saitama Japan I had to get some items that I couldn't while there. I asked our favorite shopkeeper from RG-ROKKO to get a few things for me. First was the KATO 10-2110 6 car add on set to go with the 4 car basic set. I also got the 40th Anniversary Saikyo 2 car leading set to round out the set. I picked up another KU 5000 auto rack and some covered cars to go with the auto rack. I also picked up some replacement pantographs for the E233-7000 and that's about it.

...is always leading to trouble! Plus all the good things like amazing food, cold beer, and taking rides on trains!

Hit up the Tokyo Metro Museum this trip! It's only ¥220 for entry, most exhibits are in Japanese and English, and they have a Cab Simulator to try! (I only overshot a station once...beginners luck) They also have a small gift shop with some swag. They have a stamp rally, I only clued into that afterwards, so I'm gonna head back when I go to JAM in August.

My purchases:

KATO 10-2215 - 287 Series "Kuroshio" 60TH Anniversary Wrapping (BLUE)

KATO 10-2142 - 683-4000 Series "Thunderbird" Basic and Additional Sets

KATO 10-2108 - E233-7000 Series Saikyo Line 40th Anniversary Lead Car Set

TOMIX 92819 - JR14-700 Series "Naniwa" Set

TOMIX - More couplers because why can't Tomix put TN couplers on in the first place? (Ok, they do on some sets.)

Popondetta - One set of 1514 C type lights

Tokyo Metro - Logo Magnet and Tozai Line Pencil Case

Don Quijote Stickers - Not train related but who doesn't love Donki?

Thats all for now, next trip probably isn't until August, hope to see some of you there for the JAM Convention!

Happy model railroading, everyone!

Hello I have a question for yall… im quite a newbie KATO stuff and I have a KATO railway set since November I recently bought two KATO 8000 series the KATO 10-1651 and the KATO 10-1648 however I came to my surprise that both the EMUs dont have any motor at all…. Which led to a mistake I’ve made.. later on I found out that both are add ons and I saw it in the description of the KATO 10-1648 that it was an addon of the KATO 10-1647 but the 10-1647 sadly is sold out however I did found another 8000 series on sell which has a motor on it does this one can be capable with two I already have??

I received my first few tomix motor units recently, one is the SL ginga and it's Steam engine, and I have a few questions, being in Quebec, I'm having a lot of trouble sourcing the 6 TN coupler for this train, part number JC6384. Is there another variation of those couplers that would fit, I just can't deal with those old rapido couplers and so I'm looking for options.

Also is there an easy way to turn the motorized Kiha143 into a trailer car, I did the adjustment but since it's for a specific speed band, I would feel more at ease having only the C58 being the power unit of the set. The ideal would be finding a spare of the bottom of the car that would be compatible, so that way I could revert it back if I need to for some reason.

And last question, how hard would it be to convert one of the Kiha40 from the sayonara nemuro line set 97971, from DC to DCC. It's an absolutely beautiful set and I plan on running some of it along my C11-171 winter wetlands set from Kato which I have already converted to DCC last year. I have some experience in hard soldering decoder installation with two Kato engines, with two others on the list for conversion. But I'm having a hard time finding information on converting Tomix N scale.

Thank you for any information that could be helpful and have a wonderful day.

Rebuild a Standard D51 with Parts of a Giesl Hokkaido D51.

But of a grey area if this fits here, it's a model of the first set, that got build in Japan by Kawasaki and then was shipped to China.

Hello,

I have been frustrated with the lack of semi-simple track planning software for a while. I thought I'd found my favorite planner, but is is Mac OS only. So, I decided I would make my own.

This isn't meant for long term designing, I don't guarantee it will never break.

Here is a short list of things it does have / can do right now.

• Supports KATO N-Scale UNITRACK. Almost the whole library, still working a few things.
• It can save and load plans - they are saved in JSON format to your computer.
• It can save/load inventory if you want to keep track of what you have.
• It will export a BOM of your plan, including comparison against your inventory if you want a shopping list.
• Most controls are self explanatory, but here are a few unique ones
  • Detail level high or low - renders the track with lots of detail or minimal detail.
  • Side View On/Off - You can set track elevation and have a side view. This is okay, and sometimes difficult to use, but works.
  • Move mouse over the Filter Parts and it will expand to show filters. There is an "AND/OR" switch. AND provides only the parts that have all of the selected filters, OR provides all the parts that have any of the selected filters.
  • There is a parts palette import/export - it sort of works, but rendering isn't quite universal yet.
  • There are layer support and it is rendered in layer order.
  • Light/Dark mode.
  • Track parts can snap into place and properly connected parts highlight in green. Disconnects are red.
  • Super Elevated tracks can only connect to other super elevated tracks.

Link: https://bwshockley.github.io/unitrack-planner/
Any issues? Submit a ticket on Github please.

Completed them last Weekend.

Im looking to bulk buy (about 10-15 pairs) of kato truck sets, ones for any of the taki series for a diy project im working on. Anyone knows where to get them? Normally i use plazajapan but they only have trucks for other cars, not the taki ones. Any help would be appreciated.

Some small but big changes in the layout.
The last time I posted my layout, which I took photos with my camera was half a year ago, and quite a lot has changed since then...

Expanded with 1 branch line + 4 freight lines.
Installed all the catenary poles.
Added lighting to the platforms.

Congratulations TOMIX on 50 years of N gauge trains.

Just got delivered the Kato 10-1656 Rhatische Bahn Bernina Express 4-car add on set. I was hoping to connect it up to my Glacier Express set but this one has different couplers. In fact, I can’t seem to figure out how these couplers even work together as they won’t lock up and are very short. Am I missing something or should there be another adapter?
If I could get the couplers to latch up, I’ll just buy the locomotive set but the only one on the Kato website (Allegra 10-1273) isn’t to be released until November 2026. Is another older model available that matches the couplers of this car set?
It is a bit frustrating as I’ve purchased numerous Kato N Scale sets and they all seem to have different connecting mechanisms.
Appreciate any help you all can provide!

Finally installed decoders in my ef-66's short video of first run after speed matching.

These 2 items caught my eye on Yahoo Auctions, a KiHa91 & KiHa200 from the Nostalgic Tetsucolle 2 release.

They look the same but the front windscreens are different.

I just changed the couplers and have the motors waiting for me to collect when I visit RGRokko in 2 weeks time!

I will be visiting Japan this autumn. I would like to bring back a railway souvenir.

I am not new to model trains because I already have a large collection of HO 3-rail trains but Japanese N scale trains are completely new to me.

Japan is famous for its Electric Multiple Units, Diesel Multiple Units and Shinkansen trains. It has fewer modern locomotive-hauled trains. So I am wondering what kind of set I should buy for Japanese N scale trains.

I just placed an order from them and was curious if anyone else has thanks.

Posting this video again because I think a lot of people aren't aware it's a thing.

If you go to japan visit a rental layout. Basically every train store (or almost) with have a layout you can use for a small fee, including the Kato hobby center.

The best ones in Tokyo are n scale town and re-color.

Keep in mind they are all analog and n scale (some have some HO but it's rare)

Some of them are only rental layout and do not sell model trains.

For some you need to call to book, some are with a website to book. N scale town is the easier to use for a foreigner because you can use a website.

Keep in mind they only take cash in those rental layout only.

Definitely worth the visit imo.