Akihabara Station

Keifuku Randen

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:27:02 +0000

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 [...]

Trams in Budapest 2

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:02:00 +0000

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 [...]

Railfanning in Hungary, Pt. 2

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:28:49 +0000

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 [...]

A Chance Encounter with Greatness

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:59:16 +0000

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?

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Trams in Budapest 1

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:07:37 +0000

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 [...]

Railfanning in Hungary

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:32:58 +0000

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 [...]

DIY DCC Command Station and Throttle

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 14:28:02 +0000

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.

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Kato 0系 Bullet Train Pt 1: Cab Car

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:51:56 +0000

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.

Kato’s [...]

Sony PCM-D50 Field Recorder

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:36:51 +0000

Soon, I will be traveling extensively abroad. Since I’ll be in Tokyo at least briefly, I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to make recordings of the ambient sounds at Akihabara Station. Of course, I don’t know the first thing about making field recordings or audio equipment.

Nevertheless, I’ve acquired a [...]

More DCC Installs Coming

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:40:25 +0000

I’ve got a stack of trains I’ve been converting to DCC as a part of my latest money-making scheme, and I’ve been taking photos. Hope to have some of those, and others long overdue, up soon. And photos of the brass work recently completed.