New Header Photo

Now that layout is almost finished I thought it about time to add a new updated header photo.
Do you like it?
I sure as heck do. When I look at it I feel pretty proud of what I have achieved in T scale I don't mind telling you.

Time to be amazed (again)

Once again, it's time to be amazed. This morning a package arrived from Hobby search. It was my three building kits. Excellent delivery service. I even had to sign for the package. 

I ordered these to help me gauge the style and architecture of Japanese buildings for when I build my own structures for the layout. Here's a picture of just what was in the package.

You can see each kit contains several buildings, houses or tower blocks. The mouldings are clean and tidy. What sets these kits apart is the details. They have interiors! You can barely see them. But there they are. Detailed interiors. Beds, sofas, cupboards and tables. All painted. One of the tower block kits even has a metal fire escape for an exterior wall. Amazing. I could never hope to do that on my structures. But they've chosen to do it. It's like looking at the trains for the first time. You know these things are small but you just can't be prepared for how small they really are. Perhaps it might be possible to illuminate the interiors with fibre optics so you could show them off.

As you would expect the kits are simple. They go together perfectly with a minimum of cleaning up edges with a needle file. The interiors line up on a plastic rod supplied and with a couple of dabs of Testors plastic cement they are done. I did 5 structures during the second half of Stoke City v Chelsea on telly just after I took delivery of the kits. They are certainly more than adequate to be installed on the layout and I will be using them as guidelines for making my own later on. 

So lets finish this entry with a gratuitous shot illustrating the small size of the structures. 

A random thought for the day

Through the Yahoo! Japanese Z-scale list I got wind of some T gauge track for sale. Now I won't be buying any track just yet. But it is interesting to note that the track sections are sold in packs of three. Which, when you think about it is a little unusual. If you're building a set-track layout then more often than not you need an even number of track pieces to balance up the layout. It makes sense in my mind to sell packs of four.
Is this a ploy from Eishindo to make sure you buy more track packs? Or is it just the Japanese way of doing things. I don't know. It just seemed strange to me.

A plan of action

Right then.
I've ordered the train and track and received a nice email from the supplier in Japan telling me that the items are on their way. So now I suppose I should give some thought to what I should do with it.
I know the models are small, but at the moment I have no idea just how small. There are incredible things that could be done in this small scale. A scale model of a Lake Superior Taconite loading facility springs to mind.
BUT.
We have to bear in mind that at the moment there is only one type of Japanese prototype EMU available, with others promised. So any project like the taconite dock would depend on some serious scratchbuilding all around.
Eishindo are producing a full range of scenic details - buildings, trees, people, animals etc; So a prospective T gauge modeller wouldn't have to worry about building things. So in theory I could buy all those bits and bobs and have some sort of microscopic Japanese outline novelty layout.
But more than anything I love making buildings and working on the scenery of model railways. So some kind of scratchbuilding will definitely be going on with me.
I've found some multi-strand electrical wire that I'm going to use as a basis for trees and I intend to reduce one of the downloadable scalescenes kits (www.scalescenes.com) to 1:450 scale and make one to see how that works. Once I've got a handle on those projects. I should be able to have an idea of just what I can do with the scale.

First steps.

OK I did it.
I went out an placed an order for a T gauge train set and track set.
T gauge, (for those of you that don't know) is the worlds smallest commercially produced model railway system. Manufactured by Eishindo of Japan, the "T" signifies the three millimeter track gauge. This makes for a scale of 1:450 or .637 mm to the foot!
This is tiny and I've always been fascinated by the smaller scales in railway modelling. I clearly remember the first time I saw "Z" gauge in a toy shop on Steep Hill in Lincoln. (England not Nebraska)
"Look at that!" I shouted. More than likely embarassing those people with me. I was fascinated by the tiny little 0-6-0 and wagons circulating the little oval and I just had to have one. It was not long before my bank account was lighter to the figure of the cost of the little set.
I kept that set for a long time. But now I can't remember what became of it. I did build a little layout with it that I showed at a school open day in Lincoln. But after a while interest waned. I think it was to do with the cost of the stock more than anything. Marklin was, and is, rather expensive and in the days when I bought the set that was all there was. So the track got dismantled and the stock was put in a box and forgotten about. I think I passed it on to a friend when I emigrated.
Now it's a quarter of a century later and the smallest thing is now T gauge and I had to have some. This time some things are different. This stuff is cheaper (or seems so now I earn a proper wage). My model railway skills have certainly changed for the better.
So will this mean that I'll be able to build a proper model railway layout with this equipment or not?We'll have to find out...