New Year, new module.

As part of my plan to automate a point-to-point operation on part of the AsiaNrail layout, I am building a new module to be at one end.  As it is meant to be used at an end, I did not stick to the AsiaNrail metric standard and am making this module 4 feet long and 14 inches wide.

This is going to be a free lanced scene incorporating several elements that I have been wanting to model.  I'll include a few of those here.

• A viaduct with businesses underneath
• A low bridge over a street
• A taxi plaza in front of a train station  

As this module is free lanced and I have quite a stash of built-up structures and unbuilt kits I will try to use as much of that as I can and may not be purchasing many new kits for this project, but we'll see how it goes.

First step is the bench work and here it is.  Still needs to be sealed with paint and of course will need to have some legs built.  This module will hence forth be known as the Higashibata module. The reasoning behind this name is that the Azatrax circuit has sensors marked east and west and this module will have the east sensors.  Higashi being east and bata meaning toward or end.

Point to Point automation, round 2

Back in 2023 I discussed my experiments with the Azatrax automatic point to point circuit in THIS POST.  At that time I was using the Hot Springs module as one end with it's pair of station tracks being a fork at one end.  The IR sensors were mounted in the track.  The other end was a single track with the IR sensors being mounted on a portable bracket made of brass that could be mounted on whatever module was at the other end.  While I had this working OK in the shop, I could not get it working at a show and put the idea aside.

Recently, I got interested in trying this again.  I believe that the main problem with the failed setup was the instability of the portable sensor. This time I used a narrow 8-foot-long piece of 3/4 inch plywood with the sensors mounted on blocks of wood.  I was able to get it working with 3 trains rotating around a double fork configuration.  This setup ran reliably for hours at a time.

So with this new success, I plan to build another module that will be the end opposite the Hot Springs module with any number of modules in between up to 30 feet.  That modules sensors will be securely mounted in the module.  I have made up a new 30 foot long cable and tested it with this temporary setup.  I've also added a control that will allow adjustment of the station stop time.

When this new module is ready, the next step will be to install the track, turnout, and electrical so this can be tested again in an actual layout.

The Shimbashi area of Tokyo

On our trips to Tokyo we have stayed in many different neighborhoods.  On this most recent trip we spent the last few days in Shimbashi near Shimbashi station.  The station is only 2 stops south of Tokyo and several JR lines stop here.  While the Tokaido Shinkansen does not stop here, it does pass through.  The photo below shows the view from our hotel room window.

The tracks are all elevated on a wide viaduct.  I've always found these interesting and would like to model a 1 or 2 track version of something like this on a future module.

These viaducts often house businesses underneath the track.  This particular one was wide enough to have a walkway running lengthwise with businesses on both sides.  This continued for quite a distance.

Just outside the Hibiya exit of Shimbashi station is a large open area called SL Square.  It's named this because there is a class C11 steam locomotive that is on display there.  At noon each day, a simulated steam whistle blows.  It was while visiting this square that I learned of the significance of the Shimbashi area in Japan's railroad history.  More on that in a future post.

2025 Hiller Trains and Planes exhibit

Last week the AsiaNrail layout was set up and running for the annual Trains and Planes exhibit at the Hiller Aviation Museum.  Peninsula Ntrak also had a layout and we had the connection to my Hot Springs Junction set up connecting the AsiaNrail layout.  In this scene is my Yufu 185 Series is on the left and Shinano 169 Series on the right.  This photo was taken on Paul's Shifin module set.

We had a few problems this time.  This was a triangular layout which has been done at least 2 times before but this time maybe some different modules were used in different places and the geometry did not quite work out.  We ended up having the staging yard with only 3 through tracks and 6 stub end tracks.  Also, we were not able to get the 4 way junction module to work correctly so the two branch lines connected to it had to be run independently and not interchange with the main loop. 

Paul's 3-way wye module was working correctly and that is what made the connection to the short branch that ran to my Hot Springs Junction Ntrak module.  Here is Paul's Ibusuki no Tamatebako train passing through the wye.  

With all the recent work I've done on the Musashi-Koyama modules in the past few months, they have a much more finished appearance.  We often don't have enough space to put up rope barriers around the layout but we did at this show.  I elected to remove the rope barriers in front of these module and instead relied my the plexiglass barriers and that worked out well.  Many a small finger print and nose print left on these barriers at the end of the exhibit.

Besides keeping busy with the AsiaNrail layout I was also able to run my E5/E6 combination for the first time on the Ntrak layout, shown here in the staging yard.  I also ran a full 11 car Yamanote line 205 series train.

This was the first show in a year that I have been able to attend with modules.  In spite of any problems we had with the layout, it was an enjoyable time.  More of the Ntrak members attended this event than had in the past and we had plenty of help with setup and tear down.  And it was great visiting with all the guys again. 

Visiting the Tomix layout in Kanda

While in Tokyo this past January I visited the Tomix World layout in Kanda.  This is a showroom of products and dioramas and a large operating layout.  There is not anything for sale here and the admission is free.  It's on the 7th floor of this building near the Kanda station.  The enterance door to the elevator is to the right of the Family Mart under the round window.

Of course I took a bunch of photos.  Here's some of the best ones of the large layout which had many different trains running. 

This is definitely worth a visit if you are in Tokyo.  Here's a link to their English web site to check for their hours.  https://www.tomixworld.jp/

The Tomix Pachinko Building - Part 2

After finishing how the lighting was going to work I moved on to finishing the interior detail.  The kit included 4 rows of pachinko machines and 8 rows of seats.  These were removable from the base but were made of a type of plastic that did not take paint very well so I had to spray them with an adhersion promoter before painting.  I had a bag of background quality figures and about half the seats got  occupants after their legs were cut off. 

The kit included stickers for pachinko machines and other interior surfaces that were part of the base.  A few more standing figures were also added.

The roof normally sits loosely over the original battery compartment.  To hold this roof on but have it still be removable, I glued a small magnet to a scrap of .030 styrene sheet and then taped that over the walls of the battery compartment.

Then a scrap of steel starping was glued to the inside of the roof with E-6000 adhesive.

The entire inside and outside of the building got painted.  The building itself was already glued together so I just had to paint it carefully by hand.  The outside of the building also got a bit of light weathering using detail wash with the roof section getting a little heavier treatment.

The railings that came with the kit were painted and installed on the sidewalk section and a few more figures were placed outside the building.  

The Tomix Pachinko building- Part 1

Years ago I found this Tomix building at a local train show for 10 dollars and when I built these modules I found it easy to fill in an empty space with it.  It already had some unpainted interior details so I thought some day I would like to finish this structure and light the inside.  That day has finally come.

Tomix buildings like these often come with a nice sidewalk section that interlocks with the structure base.  This set had this front sidewalk plus another section for a parking lot in the back.  When I first installed this on the module there was no room for the sidewalk so I left it off.  Now that the modules are developed further, I decided to use the sidewalk so I cut the parking lot section to fit and moved the structure back just a bit.

This building has a sign in the front that lights with 3 LED's connected to a circuit that makes them flash in sequence.  The light was barely visible through the sign and I had considered replacing it with something else.  What I discovered was that the LED's were positioned too far behind the sign for the light to be effective.  I found that if I fitted styrene tubing over the LED's the light was more focused so decided to keep the sign. 

I built a small 3 volt regulator circuit to replace the pair of AA batteries that had been powering the sign.  The load is very small but I still added a heat sink and did a 24 hour test to be sure this circuit would stay cool.

To light up the interior of the first floor I made a ceiling out of .030 styrene sheet and glued it to the existing plastic piece that holds the lighted sign and front doors and windows in place.  5 surface mount LED's were inserted through holes in the ceiling and scraps of decoder wires were used to connect them to a PC board from a Kato GP50.  This was also something left over from a decoder installation.  These will run on the 12 volt DC power circuit with a current limiting resistor.  The photo below shows the top side of this ceiling.

To be continued .......