Re: A visit to the Japan Railway Museum

Facinating! Thanks for the pics.  So Is that a full power car of the Shinkansen 100 series they preserved or a mockup?

And in the photo below, what is that "blue" one at the far right? is that a diesel? It appears "English style".

Hello,

I believe all the early Shinkansens on display are real & original equipment.

Not sure on the "Blue" engine - sorry.

Ron W.

WOW Ron what GREAT pictures you have posted. That must be a wonderful experience to visit a place like that. I also liked the picture looking out across the train yard at the mountains and some of the structures thay have built. Thank you for posting these great shots.

Thanks - here are a few more pics of the layout (which changes from day-night with affective lighting, etc. in their show, inside a train simulator, etc.

Just GREAT place if ever get to Japan. I am spoiled because my wife is Japanese and we try to visit at least once a year or so.

Ron W.

Ron, thanks for posting. Great and very interesting photos indeed. Spiked my curiosity. Heading to the web site you listed. Keep the pictures coming...very nice family also. 

That place looks like fun!

I think the "blue diesel" is actually a Blue Train sleeping coach.  I'd guess 20 series, judging from the window arrangement.

Aaron

I've heard that with the exception of the bullet trains, most trains in Japan are narrow gauge.  Is this true?  If so, what gauges do they model in, since regular O or HO would not work.

While I lived in Japan, I only saw model trains in N or HO gauges, nothing bigger. Everything is smaller in Japan: the people, the food, places to live, etc. It would be really difficult to have a large say O gauge layout in a typical home there.

Ron W.

The most common gauge is 1067mm or 3ft6in.  Shinkansens and some major private ralways (Keisei Electric Railway, Keikyu Corporation, Hankyu Corporation, Keihan Electric Railway, Hanshin Electric Railway) are 1435mm or standard gauge. There is also some scattered 1372mm or 4ft6in and 972 gauge or 762mm 3ft gauge. 

Most railways are predominately passenger and most trains are EMUs.  JR Frieght does run freight trains on the JR network, but they are short and must fit into passenger train slots.

There is very little O scale available in Japan due to limited space in Japanese households.

N gauge track is 9mm, the Shinkansen trains are 1:160 and other trains are 1:150. N gauge is by far the most popular "scale" with about an 80% share.  The largest lines are Kato, Tomix, Micro Ace, and Greenmax. Both Kato and Tomix are full train lines (i.e. track, locomotives, rolling stock, power supplies, structures and scenery). Generally 1/160 Shinkansen trains run on viaduct track and are not along side other trains.

HO is 1/80 or 1/87.

While we are speaking about blue trains and Japanese trains, by end the of fiscal 2014 (March 31, 2015) the last of the blue trains will be retired ending over night sleeper train passenger service. The so-called cruise trains (Cassiopeia and Twilight Express) will be retired by the end of fiscal 2015.

All that will be left will the Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo using double deck EMU sleeper trains--for now.

Passengers have been lured away from sleeper trains by Shinkansen trains and airlines since about the 1980s.

 There is another link here with photos of sleeper trains.