Hat tip to the fine folks at JNSForum for this find: A live video feed of the very portion of Akihabara Station I’m working on modeling. Very nice.
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Recent ReviewsProject UpdatesI think I must simply admit that I am not a good blogger, because I’m not. There, I’ve said it.  Akihabara Station, as viewed from a delicious Korean eatery looming above the plaza. All that aside, having begun to settle into our new home city, Denver, I’ve begun work again on my model of Akihabara Station. While in Tokyo last December, I spent a couple of days photographing the station, and making audio recordings of announcements, trains, and crowd noises. I’ve decided that my model should reflect the new look of the northern wing, because it’s a lot more interesting: It’s now home to the Gundam Cafe and the AKB48 Cafe and Shop.  A pale shadow of the real thing New photographs in hand, I’ve prepared a trompe l’œil façade for the existing structure as a dimensional study. Looks like I’ll have to adjust the dimensions a bit to shorten the existing structure. Getting the lighting right is going to be a tough trick, but an exciting adventure. I think I’ll start with the Gundam Cafe. Our apartment in Kyoto isn’t very convenient for getting around by train, but we are situated quite close to a terminus of Keifuku Electric Railroad Company’s Randen tram line. And I am smitten. The Kitano Line is a single-track tram that runs through the quant back alleys of western Kyoto. I’ve spent a lot of time riding this line, and following trams on my bicycle (which has been quite an adventure). I want to do a rather long post about this line, but for now let me simply introduce it.  A bit of street-running on the double-track Arashiyama line. The two Randen lines form a sideways “Y”. The northern terminus is Kitano Hakubaicho, which is our station. This is the eastern end of the Kitano line, and it runs towards the west until it meets the Arashiyama line at Kitabiranotsuji. The Arashiyama line starts further south at Shiju-Omiya, and travels west to its namesake, Arashiyama. So, basically,the Randen system exists as a very scenic way to move people to and from the Arashiyama area of Kyoto. Very scenic. I’ve made one shaky-cam video of a rather un-scenic portion of the Kitano line; I want to have a less shaky video of the entire line up soon. This single-track line passes through Sakura groves, narrow alleys, passes temples, and crosses several streams: It would, in other words, make for a delightful layout. And Modemo makes nearly every piece of rolling stock currently in use. Hrm… Anyway, notice in particular that the passing sides use sprung turnouts, something I was quite surprised to see (and they make quite a racket, too!). Playing catch-up with the blog posts! In addition to the old Communist-era Ganz trams rolling around (which I find to be delightfully charming), Budapest also offers several imported trams.  Tatra T5C5 on Line 14 service, Lehel tér One older type is the Tatra T5C5, imported from Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. These are wider than most Budapest trams, and indeed feel considerably roomier on the inside. The large windows help too. Unlike the Ganz trams running, the T5C5 is not articulated.  TW6000, here spotted at a rare crossing of Szabadság hid. The TW6000, purchased second-hand from Hannover, is a little more comfortable to ride, if you can sit down. Standing, you must watch out for the folding steps that will drop out from underneath you at a stop. I nearly had this happen to myself. (Stupid high-floor trams.)  Combino Supra at Finally, who could miss the mammoth Combino Supras prowling the 4/6 line? These things are shiny and new, and stupidly long. Six articulated carriages long. Yow. They also have replaced the traditional bell with an MP3 recording of a bell—and it sounds quite sad. More information on Budapest’s trams can be had at the excellent Tram-hiker’s guide to Budapest. Not been very good with the posts, have I. At least I’ve been good with the taking photographs. Here’s an assortment of trains that I’ve run across at various places in Budapest, with a little commentary. One pleasant surprise for me is that my daughter Acadia enjoys railfanning, too. We’ve been to a few stations together to look at the trains. She refuses to leave until she has the chance to wave at least one train off, which is utterly adorable.  A pair of MÁV-liveried FLIRTs at Déli pályaudvar.  Electric shunters VF 10 and VF 11, repurposed as coach warmers at Déli pályaudvar.  Run!  An M62 diesel locomotive delivering beach-goers from Budapest at Balatonfüred vasútállomás.  A MÁV-liveried Desiro at Nyugati pályaudvar.  Romanian coaches (I think?) awaiting passengers at Déli pályaudvar.  A whole bunch of V43 electric locomotives at Nyugati pályaudvar.  The ÖBB "RailJet" high-speed train at Keleti pályaudvar. One of the few loco-hauled, push-pull HSTs in the world.  "Bye bye! Have a good trip! See you when you get back!" she says. Our daily routine brings us past Nyugati pályaudvar (Western Station) on a near daily basis. Most days, the station is full of V43s and standard MÁV coaches. Today, while walking past, I caught a glimpse of something different, something that, to my surprise, I recognized.  Gold leaf and…I believe that is my knee? Entering the station, I was greeted by this lovely beauty, the Orient Express. Not the official Orient Express, a rather boring train with a famous name, but a commercial excursion train comprising 1920′s era carriages from the original. Which is even better.  An entire carriage dedicated to the consumption of alcohol. And it immediately follow the three carriages dedicated to the consumption of snails. I ran to catch a glimpse of the lucky locomotive hauling the 15-car consist. To my surprise, at the head was not some fancy-pants locomotive (somehow I expected to see an OBB Taurus…more on that one in a future post), but a simple M62 diesel loco.
Anyway, it was a nice thing to find at the end of a tiring day of work, and a lucky thing that I recognized it from afar! Even more lucky that it appeared to be on its once-annual Paris—Istanbul run (normally, it only runs among London, Paris, Vienna, and Venice, with occasional excursions to Budapest, and Prague).  Off to Istanbul…and pots of gold for the operators. Budapest has something like 30 tram lines. Today, I rode one for the first time, one of the nearly overwhelming Combina Supra types. And yet, despite living mere blocks from this impressive tram, I cannot manage to take a decent photo of it. Instead, I share with you today a delightfully ironic tram, a communist-era tram plastered with capitalist advertising. Judging by the road number, I believe this to be a Ganz CSMG-1 class, which was manufactured some time between 1965 and 1970 (reference).  The Red Bull ad only enhances the irony. (I can’t find any data on the gauge used for the tram lines here, but to my eye, it looks wide. Can anyone confirm that?) I’m back! The dissertation is done, the apartment is packed up, and now I’m in Budapest. Right next to a major train station. Nice. I’m quite new to Hungarian railroading, so I don’t really know what anything I’m seeing is. Here’s an electric locomotive I found today at Budapest’s Western Station (indeed, this seems to be the only class of locomotive operating out of the station near here).  A Soviet-era electric boxcab at Western Station, Budapest Most of the passenger trains appear set up for push-pull service, with the locomotive set for pulling out of the station, and a cab-equipped passenger car at the other end. This particular specimen had a locomotive at each end, however. Next time, trams—including a model that makes my little girl giggle like crazy every time she sees one. I’ve been hiding. I’m pretty good at the hiding. But I haven’t been idle, no: I’ve been working on a prototype DCC system. This first prototype is very rough, very rough, but I aim to spend the next year or so making a usable user interface, reworking the hardware for manufacture, and commercializing it. As it stands, my family is about to spend the remainder of the year traveling, and so updates on my models will be on hold until next year. But I will be spending a lot of time with various prototypes. Perhaps too much time. So watch this space.  Ah, the classic lines of the original Bullet Train. The DCC installs are back. I’ve got a ton of photos, and I doubt I’ll post all of the work I’ve done in the past several months, but with Kato’s recent re-release of this model, it seemed appropriate for the latest update. |
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