Combining two passions -- Japanese Trains and Ramen

Honest and for true -- Oakland, California may see a new Japanese rail-themed ramen restaurant. The exact opening date is not yet known. I spotted "JR Ramen Station" (pboto above) while driving home the other night. The lit green "JR" grabbed my eye. That's the logo used by JR East - the operator of many of the commuter trains in Tokyo as well as regional trains and Shinkansens in Eastern Japan.

As some readers may recall, this blog is about building a model railroad representing a vignette of Japanese trains. I have not updated in a while. Part of the reason is that I was distracted preparing for the PCR SIG meet held at the beginning of February.

In preparation for that I put aside the Takadanobaba in Alameda, the B&OCT and dragged out an old logging layout. It was dusted off and got a basic coat of scenery and was running. See my recent post in the BOCT in N Scale.

Currently, the Japanese layout remains idle as I need to figure out how to wade through JMRI and set up warrants to automatically run the trains. As stated before, this exercise will teach me how to make a similar set up on the B&OCT layout. To date, I have used warrants to start the train. Stopping it has been accomplished by holding my hand at the end of the track. JMRI was not doing its magic. The hand brake is effective, but not practical.

I'll have a consultation in the future with David Parks to get me oriented. We have spoken on the phone about setting up warrants, I think scheduling a Zoom call will be more effective. It's a little difficult to explain what I'm facing in the abstract. And . . . it's been a while since I noodled around with JMRI.

This restaurant hits on another passion of mine -- finding a good bowl of Asian noodle soup. For at least the past year, I have been going out for noodle soup lunch weekly with my son, David. We have mostly stayed in the East Bay. We have ventured as far north as El Cerrito and as far south as Union City.

So far, our favorites include in Alameda: Wild Ginger (on Park St.); East Ocean Seafood (on Webster); SpiceIAm, Ramen Hiroshi and May Thai (on Park St.) and Streetside Pho (on Encinal).

When JR Ramen opens, I hope to have a review. And I can't wait to see the decor.

Lest this entry pass without a photo of a model and/or prototype Japanese train -- here's a shot of a recent addition to the Takadanobaba fleet.

Narita Express

This is a short version of the Narita Express. This was a periodic runner on the Saikyo Line. It will add some operating variety as well as color.

Thanks for reading, hope to update soon with a photo of JR Ramen ramen.

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