|
10th April, 2005 |
|
|||
|
CONTENTS
Other Pages
Index page of previous Product & DVD
RELEASE INFORMATION
NEWS |
EDITORIAL
Welcome to the first edition of the 'new-look' Newsletter !!! The changes have been made in response to the answers members sent back to the recent survey. Some of these ideas I already had in the back of my mind, and you just confirmed that they would be a good idea - so a big "Thank You" to all those that participated - and congratulations goes to Brian Woolven who received the randomly drawn mystery prize !!! Please note that prices will now be given in A$. If you have any comments about this service, and would like to make suggestions as to what you do or do not want to see included, please free free to let us know. If you are paying for something, we would like to know that you are 100% happy with what you are getting, and that it is fulfilling your needs. Please write to the Japanese Model Train News Yahoo! discussion group with any comments you may have. This newsletter is available by subscription, unless you are a customer of 'Japanese Model Supplies'. Normal rate is US$1.00 per month, payable 12 months at a time in advance. The 12 month subscription period will be from June to May inclusive. We hope to supply at least one issue per week, more if there is more news. We believe this amount is good value, and very modest for the amount of information you will receive - it represents (per month) a lot less than just 1 coffee at a 'trendy' cafe (eg Starbucks), or a burger & fries at a family restaurant (eg McDonalds). Please do not reveal the page addresses to non- members. If they want to see it, they are free to take out a subscription like every one else. Also please note that the contents of this publication are
copyright, and may not be reproduced without permission. |
|||
|
Model of the Month
April 2005
Kato 10-237 787 series EC 7 car set 'Relay Tsubame' This is the latest version of the 'Tsubame', that has been around since the early 1990's. It goes from Hakata to Shin-Yatsushiro to connect to the new 800 series JR Kyushu Shinkansen service. It is different to the previous Kato release, with a modified buffet car, and the body colour is a darker gray. There is also a lot more different lettering on the car sides. Special price for this month for this 3 car set will be A$220.00. The normal retail would be A$265.00 and the MSRP is A$305.00. Stocks of these monthly specials will be limited, and will be sold on a 'first paid - first allocated' basis.
May 2005 - Tomix 92292 Kiha58 series DC 4 car set 'Sakyuu' 10th April 2005 The price of the new Tomix Odakyu 50000VSE EC 10 car set has been announced and will be around A$320. 8th April 2005 Kato have officially announced the release of the 'warm' & 'cold' versions of the newly tooled DD51 DL. These will be around A$100. They will also be re-releasing the 6018 to 6022 Kiha40/47/48 DC items. They also listed the first 6 in the new old type wooden shop series, due out in May ... 23-450A Old style wooden Japanese shop - type 1 - A$ 35 Modemo have announced a new 6 car old type passenger car set - NS107 containing brown Suha32 type cars. It will be around A$215. They also officially announced the release of the new version of the Enoshima 1550 series articulated tram, in the 'Meiji' Xylish advertising scheme. It will sell for around A$170.
Modemo have also unofficially announced the release of the 2000 series tram, in the standard colour scheme, as powered and unpowered versions ... NT48 Enoshima 2000 type 2 car articulated powered set (Green/cream) - A$ 170
7th April 2005 Greenmax have officially announced their Meitetsu 'Centrair' sets ... 4026 Meitetsu 2000 series EC 3 car powered set (Silver/blue) - A$320 6th April 2005 On the 12th April, MicroAce will release the following ... A0802 161/157 series EC 9 car set 'Toki' On the 13th, will be ... A8602 Sotetsu New 6000 series EC 8 car set There are some nice shots of their new Kiha48 DC sets, on this page. 4th April 2005 Tomix announced that Kilopost #74 would be out on the 23rd April. On the 12th April, Kato will release the following items in the Diotown accessory range ... 23-417 Dio-town - Accessories for station front area In mid-April, the 189 series EC 'Gradeup Asama' sets will be out, and late in April will hopefully see the EF58 EL and 'Hato' passenger sets. Also due in April still are the 4 new Diotown figure sets ... 24-230 People shopping #1 Put back to May are the E231 EC Tokaido line sets, and the Kiha82 DC sets and cars. Changed to June are the E217 EC sets, EF66 'Blue Train' EL & EF64-37 EL, and the Senseki line 205-3100 EC set. 31st March 2005 Kato announced the details of their re-tooled Kiha82 set and cars, to be release in May ... 10-229 Kiha82 series DC 6 car powered set (Cream/Red) - A$260 8th April 2005 Re-released from Kato was the 183-0 series EC 2 car addon set, the 221 series EC 2 car addon set, the 185-0 series EC 8 car 'Odoriko' set, the 185-200 series 7 car 'Express 185' set and the 5 car Imperial PC set. 7th April 2005 Kato released the new 787 series EC 'Relay Tsubame' 7 car set. 31st March 2005 Tomix released the Kiha10 range of Diesel cars, and the new rural type platform sets.
Also released was the Thomas the Tank Engine series 'Percy' sets.
Kato re-released the 11-099 Bogies for 11-105 Bandai 'B Train' power chassis (Suburban) x2. They also released the 'Sayonara Asakaze' passenger set with EF66 EL.
29th March 2005 Kato re-released the 11-105 Bandai 'B Train' power chassis (Suburban)
& 28th March 2005 Released by Bandai was the 3rd in their series of 'Working Vehicles' - the small moving van.
26th March 2005 Tomix released the Kiha187 DC set with inbuilt video camera. Tomy released the Tokyo city bus special 5 pack set. 25th March 2005 Tomy released 'The Car Collection' #2, the three 'High Grade' special edition car sets and 'Machinami' #3. 24th March 2005 MicroAce released the following .... A8610 Kiha40-2000 series DC 3 car set 'Ninja Hattori-kun'
A8625 Kiha40-2000 series DC 5 car set 'Gegege no Kintaro'
A8190 DF40-1 DL
A8196 DF90-1 DL
23rd March 2005 Re-released from MicroAce were the 789 series EC 'Super Hakucho' 5 car set, and the 717 series EC 6 car set.
|
Latest Publications
Railroad Journal #463 (05/2005)
The feature this month is 'A look into the structure of freight transportation system of JR Freight and its related topics such as modal shift' (sic). There is a lot of information about the activities of JR Freight, including statistics, maps and graphs of their operation. Lots of photos of JR Freight locos and trains are included. There is also an article on the newly combined Fuji / Hayabusa blue train. Railroad Fan #529 (05/2005)
The feature article this month is on 'long' trains (including a huge liftout poster), defined as those with fixed configurations of 11 cars or more. These are covered extensively, from the Shinkansen sets to JR and private suburban sets, as well as passenger trains and also the Super Rail Cargo. Also featured is the transport systems around Nagoya, that are being used for Expo 2005. New trains highlighted are the N700 Shinkansen and the Odakyu 50000VSE. Tomy Tokyo metropolitan bus x5
This is a set of 5 Hino HU/HT buses, the same model as released in 'The Bus Collection' #2. However there are 5 different versions of the 'Tokyo' City' bus in this pack, each with different lettering or destination boards (Tokyo Teleport Station, Hakonegasaki Station, Kiba Station, Hamamatsucho Station, Shinjuku Station), and some have different door or window arrangements as well. So if you have a bus depot or terminal scene, using this set means you don't have to have all your buses looking the same. Tomy 'The Car Collection' #2
This is a collection of more modern cars than set #1, and includes the 1979 Nissan Cedric, 1980 Toyota Mark II, 1981 Nissan Skyline & 1981 Toyota Celica. The last two are 2 door cars. Most of these models could be seen in many countries around the world around that time. Each box of three cars has two standard colors and one alternate. There is also a box of 'secret' items. The Cedric comes in white and black, with the alternate one being dark blue, gold or black with a red light on the roof. The Mark II comes in gold and dark blue, with the alternate one being two-tone brown & white, red with black stripes or white. The Celica comes in silver with black stripe and red with black stripe, with the alternate one being red, silver or white. The Skyline comes in silver and red, with the alternate one being black, dark blue or white. Each of these has very fine details with the chrome logos on the side visible (although not readable), and other lettering (like the large lettering on the Celica boot lid). The trademark large round rear lights on the Skyline are also very apparent. The only thing missing are the wing mounted rear view mirrors that were standard on Japanese cars of that era. Tomy 'Machinami Collection' #3 Once again, this collection has 6 different buildings, all shops, each in 2 colour schemes, for a total of 12 different buildings. There are no secret items. All of the items, except for one, have detailed interiors, and include a street section with light, telegraphs poles etc. Some of the buildings are slightly different colours to the picture from the Tomy web page.
This is a corner style coffee shop with a 'fake' English treatment of white walls with dark green wooden trim. The roof is light brown. and the buildings has a red brick base. The shop name is 'Soreiyu' and has a counter with stools, and tables inside. The alternate version has brown trim on white walls, with a red-brown rood and light brown brick base and it's name is 'Pearl'. Both of these come with a street entrance 'gate', labeled 'Suzuran' Street.
This is a corner style fish shop in the old style wooden Japanese tradition. The walls are light brown and the roof dark brown. The shop name is 'Uomasa' and inside are refrigerators, display cabinets and open boxes, tubs etc of fish as well as a shop person. The alternate version has dark brown walls with pale green roof and is called ' Uoshin'. The same street gate as above is also included.
This is a confectionary shop with light brown walls, a blue roof and dark brown awning, The shop is called 'Miki' and has a large curved glass display case and counter inside. The alternate version is a butcher shop called 'Ishii' and is a pale beige with light green roof. This is a vegetable shop and is brown with a gray-green front, blue-gray roof and a light green awning. The shop is called 'Yaokichi' and has many display tables full of brightly coloured wares. The alternate version is dark brown with a lighter broen front, dark gray roof and a red & white striped awning. The shop is both fruit & vegetable and is called 'Kamioka'. Also included with both are tables and display cases to place outside on the street.
This is a bakery and has light brown walls, red brick trim and a dark green roof. The shop sign is bright yellow and there is a blue& white awning. The shop name is 'Pelican' and there is a large curved glass display case inside. The alternate version has light beige walls, brown brick trim and a red brown roof. The shop sign is white and there is a black awning. The shop name is 'Fresh'.
This small building contains both a bar - 'Brown' & a sushi restaurant - 'Kamenoko'. It has light beige walls and a blue roof. The bar awning is gold. The alternate version has olive green walls with a dark gray roof. The awning is orange and the sushi sign is blue. The bar is called 'Kurenai' & the restaurant 'Ayabe'. Also included with both is a potplant and a delivery man with his bicycle. Another fine release from Tomy, particularly if you are modeling an older era (however shops like this can still be seen in the cities), and with the interior details of these buildings, they certainly deserve a place near the front of your layout. Company : Sony 'Hi-vision' series
This just-released item is a long-awaited one for many people !!! With the Yamanote line being one of the most well-known lines in Tokyo, traveling the loop gives you a good slice of what the railway systems there are all about. Shot in December 2004, there are very few of the 205 sets seen to be running still. After a short intro, showing trains running on various parts of the line, the main menu appear, with 3 options available ...
I have video of the full circle going anti-clockwise, thanks to a computer simulator game, so I was glad to see this one went the other way around. I have also taken video myself, but not as good as the quality here of course. The only bad thing I can say is that with DVD's easily able to hold over 2 hours of video, it is disappointing that Sony did not include video of the trip in both directions. |
|
(ADVERTISING) This information service is sponsored by ... Japanese Model Supplies o New and second-hand Japanese trains As mentioned above, this service is sponsored by 'Japanese Model Supplies', the only Japanese-only model train and other hobby item supplier in the world, outside of Japan. Other suppliers have recently been broadening their ranges, and supply other things like computer games, and Chinese & European trains - 'Japanese Model Supplies' will always stay with Japanese-only products. It is often difficult to source these type of items and get accurate and timely information in English, when you do not live in Japan, cannot read Japanese web pages or do not have any contacts there. We have the facilities to access this information and these products, and whilst based in Australia, currently supply customers all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, South Africa, Canada and the USA. Therefore you will find that the items you see presented are not just 'fantasy' items that get released in Japan and you have no way of acquiring them - 'Japanese Model Supplies' CAN get these items, and CAN ship them to anywhere in the world (unlike some other retailers of Japanese model trains, who refuse to ship to the USA etc) !!! See their web page at the address listed above for all the information on what has been
produced and how to get it. If you are in Japan, and visit the Osaka area, I recommend you take the time to visit "Railcraft Awaza". They have a large range of products available, together with friendly advice and service (but only in Japanese). Some photos on this site are taken by them and appear with their permission. For details of their shop location, see their web page at ... |
|
Abbreviation |
Explanation |
|
TEC |
Shinkansen (Bullet train) |
|
EC |
Electric car (EMU) |
|
DC |
Diesel car (DMU) |
|
PC |
Passenger car |
|
FC |
Freight car |
|
SL |
Steam loco |
|
EL |
Electric loco |
|
DL |
Diesel loco |
E & O E - best viewed 1024x768
or higher
Page contents copyright 2005 - Doug Coster
Photos copyright of the respective manufacturers & Railcraft Awaza Osaka.