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I’ve been out of commission for a while, haven’t I? My wife had jury duty nearly all of this past week, which made me primary care-taker for our little daughter. I understood in only an abstract sense the amount of work Amy does in caring for our child; I understand now in a much more concrete sense. I also know that I would be a terrible single father. I really rely on her, and I’m incredibly thankful to have someone I can rely on as my partner.
Thank you, Amy.
This weekend, however, I’ve gotten quite a lot of modeling work done; here is a brief overview (with, perhaps, more detailed posts to follow over the coming week). Continue reading…
 Both models are exceptionally detailed Here’s a comparative review: Kato’s E231-500 Yamanote Line (part nos. 10-261, 10-262 / repackaged as 10-578, 10-579, 10-580) vs. Tomix’s 209-0 Keihin-Tohoku Lie (part nos. 92329, 92330, 8917). The Kato has since been repackaged and given a new set of part numbers, but is otherwise unchanged from what I describe here. Tomix has just announced that they are re-tooling their E231-500: The differences between the models would be interesting to compare.
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 Tomix 6208 “Casket for Rolling Stock (6 pieces)” My wife and I both have this strange fascination with organizing our things; we joke that we like to buy things just so we can put other things into them. But it’s true. I just bought this Tomix spare bookshelf case to house an overflowing train. I can’t help it; it’s fun.
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 A Tomix Cleaning Car sitting on a siding along the Ikea Line Well, I promised a review of the Tomix Cleaning Car quite some time ago, didn’t I? I don’t use the cleaning car that often, but it now has got enough hours (er, minutes?) under its belt to warrant a review.
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Not with the website, thank goodness. No, today I fried another decoder. According to Arthur at TCS, the CN-GP is rather sensitive to shorting, and that’s just what I did. So, it’s off for testing and replacement! The good news is, I shorted it out during a test-fitting, and so far it looks like [...]
 Tomix EF81 “Hokutosei”
Here’s today’s subject: A Tomix EF81. This one, no. 98, is a special edition, not easily replaceable—and not DCC-ready, either. In this article, I will cover how to disassemble the locomotive—which is very easy—, and mill the frame to fit a TCS CN-GP decoder—which isn’t terribly hard.
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Quinntopia recently asked about my construction techniques. I never really thought to say anything about that, but perhaps I should. So here are some thoughts, if not actual methods, on how I’m proceeding with the construction of Akihabara Station.
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This one was pretty easy. Four wires, nothing tricky, 20 minutes.
 Exterior of KANI24-500 The KANI24-500 is the baggage car used on Hokutosei sleeper express trains. This model is part of my Tomix Yumekukan set. It has a set of markerlights and a signboard that light up when the car is at the rear of the train—which is 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time, when the car is at the front of the train, these lights are all off. One light, one function, easy-peasy.
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Yes, I’m alive. Indeed, I’m almost half-way finished milling my Tomix EF81 frame. More on that later.
I suppose that I am not supposed to like Harbor Freight, since their business solely involves importing cheaply made Chinese goods. Yet, I do. Today, I walked in with a short list of things to buy, and [...]
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. [...]
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