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21st November, 2005 |
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CONTENTS
Other Pages
Index page of previous Product & DVD
RELEASE INFORMATION
NEWS |
EDITORIAL
The 16th of November 2005 will go down in history for a long long time
- for the first time in 32 years, Australia qualified for the World
Cup by beating Uruguay 4-2 on penalties, after each team played a
1-0 home game. 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. |
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21st November 2005 Tomix have announced the the Odakyu VSE50000
set, that was due out this week, has been delayed until mid-December
:-( Modemo announced another version of the Hakone Tozan Moha2 2 car set, this time in the original colour scheme. 17th November 2005 Kato announced the release of the RENFE AVE set on the 23rd November. 17th November 2005 Kato released the warm type DD51 DL and re-released the HO scale DE10 DL.
16th November 2005 Tomix released the E4 MAX Shinkansen sets (see review section). Greenmax released the Keihan 9300 sets
15th November 2005 MicroAce released their new items for November ... A4950 701-100/1000 series EC 4+2 car set (Sendai area)
A4980 E127-100 series EC 2+2 car set (Oito Line)
A0372 783 series 'Nichirin' EC 5 car set (JR Kyushu)
A0379 DE10-1756 DL + Yo28002 generator car + 783 series 'Hyper Ariake' EC 4 car set (JR Kyushu)
A1081 485 series 'Nichirin' EC 5 car set (JR Kyushu)
A1083 E10-1755 DL + Yo28001 generator car + 485 series 'Ariake' EC 5 car set (JR Kyushu)
A1804 EF59-24 series EL
A1103 EF53-10 series EL
A7004 C53-30 SL (early type)
A7005 C53-65 SL (later type)
'Tsubasa' Yamagata Shinkansen
Company : Sony Direct Music It seems hard to believe that the Yamagata Shinkansen is already a 'classic' train, but it did open in 1992, so is already 13 years old !!! This DVD covers a trips on the 11th June 1993 from Yamagata to Fukushima, and the line is one of the most scenic that you can ride on without being able to get a cab view. Unlike most of the volumes in this series, you don't get an information chapter about the train itself. A brief introduction shows the train arriving at Fukushima with a 200 set, and uncoupling. Just as it leaves, we are lucky to see a 16 car 200-2000 set pass through. We then get to see the train (this is the first version, with only 6 cars and on the silver with dark gray window band/green stripe colour scheme) in a variety of run-by situations. The menu only has two options, you can choose the opening sequence, or the trip for Yamagata to Fukushima itself, which has 3 stops - Kaminoyama Onsen, Akayu and Yonezawa. When the train arrives at Fukushima, we also get to see it coupling up to the waiting 200 set, and then some footage of them leaving together. Having been on this line dozens of time, it is certainly interesting to see the line from the drivers viewpoint, as well as the other trains passing that use the line (as a suburban line also, standard gauge EMU sets are also seen). I don't know if there have been upgrades since the line opened, but it is surprising to see how much of it is single track
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Railfan Magazine (12-2005)
This issue's feature article is about electric and
diesel express trains from the days of JNR that are still active today.
It covers the 183, 185, 189, 381, 485, 489, 583, 781, Kiha181, 183, 185
series sets. A beautiful 3 page fold out has N scale drawing of all
these, as well as another 3 page fold out of the current JR express
trains. Also included is a feature on suburban set (113, 211, E217,
E231) green cars, the Imperial loco, EF58-61 (which is very rarely
seen), and the Tokyo Monorail. As well as all that, each year with this
issue you get for free a very nice pocket diary for the next year,
which as well as having nice Japanese train pictures in it, includes
rail maps of all of Japan, as well as the major city suburban and
subway networks. Tomix E4 MAX Shinkansen sets
92764 E4 6 car set A
92765 E4 3 car set B
92766 E4 3 car add-on A
92767 E4 2 car add-on B As I said in the introduction, we have only had to wait 7 years for this model to come out, and there seems to be no reason for this, as most models are released quite quickly when there is a new prototype. But here it is, and luckily the wait has been worth it. With 4 different sets available (2 powered sets and 2 add-on sets), it may be confusing what they all are, so here is the explanation ... The prototype train is ... So what do you buy ??? This would have top be the most impressive and important release this year, and if you are into the modern Japanese railway era, you owe it to yourself to get yourself one (or two) for Xmas or ask someone nice to get it for you :-)
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(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 ... http://www.rc-awaza.com |
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Abbreviation |
Explanation |
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TEC |
Shinkansen (Bullet train) |
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EC |
Electric car (EMU) |
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DC |
Diesel car (DMU) |
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PC |
Passenger car |
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FC |
Freight car |
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SL |
Steam loco |
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EL |
Electric loco |
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DL |
Diesel loco |
E & O E - best viewed 1024x768
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Page contents copyright 2005 - Doug Coster
Photos copyright of the respective manufacturers & Railcraft Awaza Osaka.