Akihabara Station » rolling stock

KUMORONEHAFUwhat? Japanese Rail Car Nomenclature

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:34:55 +0000

クモハE230? ホキ800? オロネフ24? Japanese rail cars are classified using a katakana coding system. The following two links will help you crack that code: Wikipedia’s guide to the katakana and Plaza Japan’s excellent guide to rail car nomenclature.

Kato EF66 for Sale

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:35:19 +0000

For the curious, I’ve decided that my EF66 doesn’t really fit the theme of the rest of my collection. Having a theme—nothing that doesn’t pass through Ueno or Omiya Stations, in my case—really helps limit the desire to just buy anything and everything. And, well, an EF66 in JNR Sleeper Express livery doesn’t fit [...]

Rejoice, O Ye Longsuffering Tomix DE10 Owners!

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:41:24 +0000

I have often bemoaned Tomix’s model of the DE10. It’s a poor runner. DCC conversion is difficult. “Ole’ Growly”, as one friend has nicknamed the model, needs to be put down once and for all.

But, rejoice! would-be DE10 owners. Kato has announced two new DE10 models, one for warm weather, one for cold. [...]

Review: Tomix 92950 "Yumekukan" (夢空間)

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:12:03 +0000

Happy birthday to me! This set was a gift from my wonderful wife. Actually, we kinda picked it out together, for reasons I won’t yet reveal.

The box reads “J.R. Limited Express Sleeping Cars Series 24 Type 25 ‘Yumekukan’ with Electric Locomotive Type EF81″ (which is far more terse in the original Japanese: [...]

DE10

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:52:37 +0000

Just in, after a long wait for it to make it back into production: A Tomix DE10 (seen here pulling HOKI 800 empties down the Ikea Line). This is easily my favorite diesel locomotive, perhaps ever. Although new, this model has a reputation for being a noisy, uneven runner—and sadly mine lives up [...]

E4 series Shinkansen

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:35:47 +0000

Well, it’s my first bullet train, the double-decker high speed commuter E4 Multi Amenity Express. I don’t know why increasing the number of levels increases the number of amenities, but that’s how it’s marketed. So be it. I can’t tell if it looks more like an airplane or a fish.

The Prototype

While [...]

EF66

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:22:50 +0000

Here is the most recent addition to my freight stable: A Kato EF66 in JNR colors (seen here pulling HOKI 800 ballast cars down the Ikea Line). It cuts quite a striking silhouette, doesn’t it? I bought this one used on eBay, and it’s a good runner, although the lighting board burned out [...]

EF65-1000

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:37:52 +0000

I just recently purchased Kato’s EF65-1000 in JR Freight (early) colors. Isn’t it cute? It’s a great runner, and an interesting prototype. Finding information on the prototype on the Internet, especially if you can only read about a dozen kanji, is surprisingly hard, however, and I welcome suggestions for addenda in the comments.

[...]

キハ110-100

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:09:36 +0000

Just before the winter holiday, I ordered and received a new bit of rolling stock, Kato’s キハ (KiHa—the designation for standard class diesel passenger cars) 110 diesel multiple unit (DMU—and yes, it’s hard to call a single car a multiple unit, but that’s what it is). Say hello!

I need a little warm-up [...]