Takadanobaba Station in Alameda

Tokyo. That's the scenic subject of my T-trak module supplied by https://www.precisionmodelrailroad.com/ . It will be a representation, not a prototypical recreation. The scene needs to cover a 12-inch by 12-inch space. Actually, the street scene needs to fit into a smaller space. The tracks consume a three-inches by 12-inches. That leaves 108 square inches. Is this enough space for a plausible street scene? Of course. People are doing far more in less space.  My idea wa s to build a city street and buildings parallel the tracks. A cross street would dead end into the main road. At the intersection, we’d see an entrance to the Tokyo Metro. The intersection would have a traffic light. Initially I thought the cross street could meet at a 90-degree angle to the main street. The concern is giving the viewer a straight view to the backdrop. That could decrease the scene's plausibility. An alternative is that the cross street connects at a diagonal. Another possibility, the cross str...

Laying track on my new T-Trak module was not a complicated job. Still, the process hit a minor snag, providing a learning experience. My friend, Steven Cox is the owner of precisionmodelrailroad.com/ . His new firm builds laser-cut model railroad benchwork parts. The company offers helix parts, straight benchwork sections and T-Trak modules. The T-Trak modules are an early product used to test the concept. T-Trak is a modular system that uses Kato N-scale Unitrack. The idea is that if you have limited space its possible to get modeling and participate in the hobby. The T-Trak concept is young, born in 2000. It has international interest. In part, that’s due to the partnership between the T-Trak standards group and Kato. Steven sent me a pre-production T-Trak kit. It assembled into a 12-inch by 12-inch box. I’m not going to post a blog about building that kit because the current kit design is different. It took me a couple of hours to build the module. Most of the time was waiting for...

I'll catch you up, since my last post. I've been buried with a variety of issues.  I'm back from Japan. Most of those posts (and there are more to come) were published on an after-the-fact basis.  In December 2023 (just before Christmas), I developed a left inguinal hernia. Surgery fixed that on March 22, 2024. Just when it seemed that my health life should calm down, last week, I caught Covid. I'm still recovering from both. This spring, I sent myself back to college. I'm taking an architectural rendering class (using computers) and a Japanese tools and woodworking class. The architecture class is teaching me how to use Sketchup.  I'll use the skills from the rendering class to start designing custom structures for the B&OCT layout and Takadanobaba in Alameda.   I have historical pictures of four interlocking towers I want to represent on the B&OCT layout (Western Ave., Ash St. Jct., 49th St. and 75th St.)  Pictures of 75th St and Ash St....

  Our trip to Yamagata required two train rides. The first was from Kyoto to Tokyo. At Tokyo, we took another train north to our final destination. We arrived in Tokyo at 11 am, hungry. Japan’s train stations are good places to eat. They often have food courts as well as stores selling ekiben — the bento boxes for consuming on the train.  We found an organic food shop in Tokyo and bought some sandwiches, drinks and fruit.  Having fed ourselves, we passed through the next set of fare gates and headed up the escalator to the platform for the train to take us to Yamagata. It was 10 minutes before the 12 noon scheduled departure.  Our train was at the platform, also being cleaned. Yellow caution tape prevented us from boarding. The cleaning crew worked in a frenzy. They polished the windows, vacuumed the floors and wiped down the seats and arms.  Then, they took down the yellow tape. To give you an idea of what a precision operation they have in Japan, the crew...

Today, September 2, we said goodbye to Kyoto. We saw a lot, but there’s still more left unexplored. Good reason to return. 😉 Our agenda: traveling by train north and east to a ryokan near Mt. Zao. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn. We took two trains to Yamagata, the closest station to Mt. Zao. This was the third and fourth ride on the Shinkansen. The adventure started when we grabbed the Nozomi Shinkansen in Kyoto, destined for Tokyo. This train ran on the Tokaido line, the first bullet train line in Japan. Our train. Nozomi 306, departing Kyoto at 8:36 AM  We got seats in the green car. That’s first class. Very nice. The Shinkansen provides free Wi-Fi. It’s good quality. Screenshot from connecting to the train wi-fi. The service was good, not great. As luck would have it, our seats were on the left side of the car, as we headed toward Tokyo.  That meant we would get a view of Japan’s famous Mt. Fujiyama. According to Wikipedia , Mt. Fuji is one of Japan’s three sacred ...

AMAZING!! That isn't an adequate adjective to describe the Kyoto Railway Museum. It is the best that I have visited. Nothing in the U.S. compares.  Kyoto has an enormous collection of locomotives and rolling stock — all in immaculate condition. The breadth of the museum's displays is outstanding. It goes way beyond a bunch of pretty trains in a building.  We visited for an afternoon. I could easily spend a day and a half here. One reason I would not stay longer is that the display placards are in Japanese. Its a lot of work to try to translate each one using Google translate. Taking pictures of signs and translating isn't a strong point of that app. Next time, I’ll try Photo Translate. Of course, we took the train to the museum. As we did yesterday, we took the Kyoto subway Tozai line west from our hotel to Nijo. Instead of taking the JR West train toward Saga Arashiyama, we took it the other way. Two stops to the station right outside the museum gates Umekōji-Kyōtonishi....