Last week I got my order. I’d like to give a shout-out to Rainbow Ten for providing me with Class-A service. My order arrived in a matter of days: Behold the power of airmail!
My order consisted of: One Kato E231 5-car set in Yamanote line colors, one Tomix station kit, and enough track to make a big loop so I can play with my train even while my intended model is incomplete. The astute reader will note that I chose Tomix Fine Track over competitor Kato UniTrack. Although UniTrack is readily available in the US, just about everything I read suggested that Tomix Fine Track is both technically superior to UniTrack as well as more prototypically accurate. Even imported the price is comparable, so I went with Fine Track.
Here is the E231. So Tiny!
I also bought interior lighting kits and little model passengers for the train
Most people in Japan just have no room for a permanent layout: Neither do I. So Japanese manufacturers design their track for temporary layouts. I bought enough track to make an interesting double-loop on my floor.
But this loop is just for fun. My goal is to model Akihabara station. To this end, I acquired a Tomix station kit, which should come in handy
My hope is to use this kit as the basis for a model of Akihabara station. Wish me luck!