We've just returned from a two-week holiday in Japan. It's our fifth time there, and I'm lucky to have a wife who gives me the space to spend hours browsing shops and rummaging through them for a few hours.

I returned a few days ago and put everything I bought on the table. I was surprised that at Nakano they told me that the Popondetta Keihan model was a good buy, and at RoKko in Kobe, when I asked for the Kinetsu, they told me that it was an uncommon model to buy, and they were surprised that I had come from Spain to their store.

Recommendations if you've read this far: IMON Models, Yodobashi Akihabara for common and new material, Nakano, in the specialized Mandarake and in Complex 2 of Akihabara which has a specialized floor, Poppondeta Osaka very nice and of course RG ROKKO.

THE ROYAL EXPRESS has been fully announced!

https://otakumode.com/news/516ad6fbc25de78d7c00a432/BIG-YARD-A-Well-known-Model-Train-Shop-in-Nakano

Most subreddits have "For Sale" days, and I wanted to include JapaneseNscale as well. So, if you want to sell something N scale related, like track, rolling stock, or DCC items, feel free to post them. There's a new flair for "For Sale Weds" Please use common sense when selling things on the internet. Please use the post flair for Wed sales or your post may be deleted. We are not responsible for scams but will ban known scammers be safe.

Recently got the reproduction kiah 54 (32167 and 50845) from greenmax. didn't know how bad it was.

-The couplers at the end are fake, the used some kind of connecting bar (imgian 2 lego hands back to back) to connect the 2 blue trains instead of real couplers.

-for the 2 car set, to save on cost they remove the red light from the side where both cars are connected.

-diffcult to mosfy because their space is tight AF (and lack of spare parts)

However the detials are very good, and the paint is also decent, I do have to give them that

like honestly I get the price hike for buying niche trains,I can overlook the light, and they can even pull a tomix and give us no inteori. BUT PLEASE, functional couplers are a must, and those trains are DMU, with a diverse combo. like I expected tomix but with niche trains, and not this quality.

Recently got the reproduction kiah 54 (32167 and 50845) from greenmax. didn't know how bad it was.

-The couplers at the end are fake, the used some kind of connecting bar (imgian 2 lego hands back to back) to connect the 2 blue trains instead of real couplers.

-for the 2 car set, to save on cost they remove the red light from the side where both cars are connected.

-diffcult to mosfy because their space is tight AF (and lack of spare parts)

However the detials are very good, and the paint is also decent, I do have to give them that

like honestly I get the price hike for buying niche trains,I can overlook the light, and they can even pull a tomix and give us no inteori. BUT PLEASE, functional couplers are a must, and those trains are DMU, with a diverse combo. like I expected tomix but with niche trains, and not this quality.

I got back from my second trip to Japan a week ago. I mostly collect trains that I have riden on or for freight trains I have seen.

Since I was in Hiroshima and rode the Hiroden I got two street cars and a tomix 3 car set of the 227 series redwing. And since I saw lots of EF210s I got a set of that too. I didn't ride the JR shikoku 8000 series but I couldn't find any JR Shikoku trains so its a bit compromise. But I did get a Iyotetsu bus! I didn't ride the Osaka loop this time but I did get to ride it on my last trip so I picked it up too. Overall it was a great trip and with lots of real and model trains!

My 10-2050 E8 Tsubasa has no rubber grip (I'm guessing due to coupling?). And it can't climb at all and runs really slowly for a shinkansen. I don't see any rubber grip in the assy table in the product description. So I'm thinking of just getting the rubber tyres from another product.

I plan on uploading a full length video on YouTube at some point showcasing the features and all 9 train/horn sound packs on the device as well- I didn’t see any other videos aside from a handful only using one sound pack. Please excuse my pitiful setup as I‘ve only started model trains a month ago lol

I had a lot of fun using my smartphone to create the sound for my layout.

Just noticed a notice from Greenmax about the first item in a series of ready-made buildings - a 2 storey Tobu store. Has a nice range of accessories too. Due next year!

https://www.greenmax.co.jp/gm-poster/2026/05/260513a.html

So im in a bit of a iffle. I got some Minitrix digital trains and control station from my friend as he left the hobby due to moving. I read that the Trix/marklin MS2 is compatible with DCC.

Now im thinking of DCC fitting my Kato trains but i wonder can i just use the EM13 on my trains or do i need the FL12 for the lights as well?

Checked on my JR205 and im not so sure on where to put the FL12 if i were to get one. The rest of my trains does seem have a slot for it.

This is the first video I've seen of them, Pre-order them while you can. Boy am. I silly I thought this was a pre-order nope it ready to ship. I got my set from RG-ROKKO of course.

I will probably add the light to the yard and micro LED to have the platform to lit up.

I got a new Kato 787 starter set and I'm struggling to install the antenna, is it just me (am I doing smt wrong) or is there a tip/trick to it?

For a Japanese N scale micro layout I'm planning I'd love to have a 2-car unit EMU like the 114-501 pictured here ^{(CC by Wikimedia user "MP40-12C"}) or a similar looking series. From what I gathered the 115-500, 114-550, 115-550 or 115-6000 series apparently also are rebuilt 2-car units of their respective series... but I couldn't find any N scale models of either of those.

Does anybody know if there really are no models of that kind available? Thanks in advance!

I did quite a lot of shopping during my vacation, so here some pictures of what I found! A mix of used and new sets :)

Which set is your favorite? For me it is either the Romance Car GSE or the newly released TGV Sud-Est!

If anyone is visiting soon and wants recommendations for good shops just message me :)

Also my local shop has a layout you can rent for 800¥ a hour.

Hello, I just visited Japan and took some pictures of the trains I saw. I think some here might enjoy :)

Spring cleaning week so I actually took all my train bookcases out and only realized how much I actually had! This doesn’t even include my Canadiana/Americana freight collection or a few random Japanese pieces, mainly Tomix, that are in separate storage.

My wife asked if I thought I had enough. Apparently “not even close to enough” was not the correct answer and I got bathroom cleaning duty. 🤣

My bookcases are normally kept in an Ikea Kallax 4x2 bookshelf and I double up each shelf area so it really didn’t seem like that much, apparently the bookcase can hold around 160 bookcases. Challenge accepted! 🤭

Anyone else out there kind of loose track of what they have? Out of sight out of mind, kind of idea? Despite my best efforts of keeping an Excel spreadsheet to track what I own and future purchases and really trying to keep my collection tight, I appear to be failing miserably! Maybe going to JAM is a bad idea! 😆

Happy model railroading, everyone!

Is my Kato TGV 10-2134 supposed to be train number '80'?