I'm from Europe, people mostly do HO scale here. Even I used to have HO trains as a kid that my father has bought me. But since I started buying my own trains and I'm interested in japanese trains and models, I'm collecting N scale now. HO is good for the bigger models and better detail, but N scale is so much better for small spaces. I can have a layout on my desk and watch trains go around while I'm working, it's just awesome.
I would say the space it takes up and the price. As someone who has a interest in showa era steam, I have invested more money than I care to admit in to my Japanese HO scale collection
Short version: Space. Long version: A 16-car Shinkansen in N is just under 3 meters. In HO it's 6 meters. The 11- and 15-car JR trains are not that far behind on length. Long trains, large yards and stations can take up large amounts of space in N, but are still doable. In HO, you'd need a warehouse. Most HO is oriented around American and European railroads with a locomotive pulling the rolling stock. American HO is typically oriented around freight, either diesel or steam. It's very rare to find an American HO model railroad that is oriented to passenger service, especially the EMU (electric multiple unit) type trains, though every major metropolitan area here has them. Things like catenary (just the masts) are expensive custom items in scales like HO. The wires cost another fortune. Forget third rail (not the Lionel type - I mean the prototypical type) in any scale - that's an expensive custom specialty item that you're building on your own. Finally, American companies just don't make anything for Japanese model railroads. Americans who want to build out a Japanese railroad will to get Tomix and Kato products on secondary markets. You can't just run into a hobby shop and buy this stuff.
@cleasanna05 Жыл бұрын
Even in N scale, a 16 car passenger trains looks out of place and is not necessary to model in its full length. I Model Japanese trains and i run most shinkansen between 7 and 12 cars. Limited express between 5 to 8 cars depending on the model. HO is out of the question because as you said it would take a rediculious amount of space to run and park passenger trains and still keep some realism. Running shorter trains is a definate plus as it saves alot of space and also still looks to scale, as i wont have passenger trains snaking through different parts of the layout and looking unnatural.
@RonDevito Жыл бұрын
@@cleasanna05 - in the year that's gone by since I commented, I couldn't agree more with your assessment. A 10-12 car consist is doable in N in most home layouts. The longer trains need rooms at least 25 - 30 feet on one side, and at that point - unless you're doing a shelf layout - you're going into club size dimensions and tens of thousands of dollars. I grew up on HO "toy" trains - Tyco, Lifelike, Bachmann, Atlas (though Atlas is considered a bit more "serious" than the aforementioned three. HO is easier to handle, more standardized and allows for modeling more detail. N is great for running long trains and for having long mainline runs, long yards, etc.
@cleasanna05 Жыл бұрын
I lived in Japan for some time and fell in love with thier trains, however I did not know anything about modeling them. I bought some rolling stock over time and sent it back home. But as I started to model them I realized they indeed need alot more space than I anticipated. EMU's mostly cant be broken apart unless its a 2 sets meant to connect to each other. So railyards and stations take up so much space I had to shorten some trains. I do in the future wish to continue with Japanese trains but I will need a bigger space that i can build multiple decks in. I plan to do it when I move to a new home with a sizable basement. It's very costly, and part of me wishes I should have just modeled American trains, but I still wish to see my dream layout of Japanese trains to scale and having at least 50 to 60 feet per level of running space. Not to mention DCC which is another problem because only Kato has DCC ready trains and they need at least 2 light decoders and 1 motor decoder. Having DC and DCC dedicated sections is a must for Japanese layout, as it's not realistic(or cost effective) to convert all trains to DCC
@RonDevito Жыл бұрын
@@cleasanna05 - One thing I would consider. You can watch live videos every day of Japanese trains at various locations - including at least three cameras at Shinjuku, Tokyo; and one at Nippori. In 10 minutes at the right times of day, you'll see over 50 trains pass. Shinjuku has 8 tracks main line and Nippori has 14. It would be humanly impossible to model that - even in N. Unless you have money to burn. You can watch these live feeds from anywhere, which means you don't have to find a warehouse sized space. I was considering almost exactly what you were, but the costs are insanely high. At that point, I'd rather travel to Japan and ride the real trains, and have that experience - as you already did. The model is just vicarious. A model railroad is permanent installation that really ties you to where you live. If you want to move, dismantling something of the size and scale we're discussing is a monumental task at best - and something will always be broken in transit or re-assembly. These types of layouts are almost club/museum layouts and very far beyond what most of us would do at home.
@cleasanna05 Жыл бұрын
@RonDevito indeed some aspects of Japanese railways are so dense and there are so many trains that it makes it difficult to model. But with enough space on a wall layout, running a 2 track Shinkansen mainline with 1 railyard followed by another 2 double track conventional mainlines is doable. 6 tracks worth of trains can work in N scale and is not unrealistic for Japanese standards. Also I wanted to have a railyard underneath the main deck of my potential new layout so I can take trains on and off the layout depending on what trains I want to run at the time. So I can model Kansai region and Tokyo area trains at different times so the layout won't get overcrowded. So there are ways to do it when I get the space available, although it will be costly and I won't be able to get much new rolling stock or replacement parts without ordering from overseas. However I can scratch build stations and flex track and turnouts are easilly bought in the states, I can get more here without paying overseas shipping princes. And indeed I have many experiences with Japanese trains, I have ridden them in Tokyo, Kansai, Aichi, Shikoku, Kyushu, Hokkaido, and northern Honshu. Japanese trains are some of the best and most reliable in the world, and riding them is usually a peaceful and relaxing experience. This coupled with the fact that companies like Kato and Tomix make high quality models made me want to model Japanese trains. But yes it's a bit to much at time, so much to choose from that It can be overwhelming and very expensive. But once I get the Space I beleive I can create a bigger layout that will make me happy and get my money's worth out of the experience. I'll have to wait and see how it goes.
@ErichRaeder3 жыл бұрын
Just a question, will Japanese model train makers like Kato venture into the HO-scale AC 3-rail market, I understand a few years ago, they produced some Orient Express coaches that were suitable for the Marklin AC 3-rail system.