Shinkansen Osaka to Tokyo

I managed to get the viaducts set up into a herring bone layout. Here's the video of the train running at full speed. You can compare this with the other video I posted a long time ago running my ICE1. It is a little slower than I had observed at Hobbytech because I'm hauling four extra passenger cars.

I mentioned that Minitrix locomotives run silent compared to the Kato. However, Kato has better quality tracks. The turnouts work flawlessly and the setup is fast and easy. Their main market is Japan. As a consequence, space is a luxury most customers do not possess. A lot of people live in apartments so they set up their tracks to run their trains for a few hours and then take apart for storage. Kato Unitrack is virtually maintenance free. Yeah, its a little bit more expensive, but it's worth it. Like I said before, you get what you pay for. And most of their products are made in Japan, not China. That's a huge plus for me.

Oh I just placed an order for two more Shinkansens. A N500 Nozomi and a Series 700. The only other high speed train I need to complete my collection is the TGV. Unfortunately Kato produces that for Lemke and according to Johnny, they aren't responding to his queries. I guess they don't care about North American customers. If only Minitrix would release a TGV version, I would get it.

Off the wagon

It's a sickness. It's been awhile since I had visited Hobbytech. I've been busy working on a game for the iPod hence the lack of updates to the blog. Since I was doing errands in the area, I thought I'd drop by and say hello to Johnny and the guys in the club. And maybe pick up a viaduct track piece. I was expecting to spend no more than $10. Instead I walked out of the store with a Shinkansen train set. Talk about impulse shopping. Johnny had one running on his short oval track. I couldn't believe how fast it ran. It's twice as fast as my Minitrix ICE1. He hooked, lined and sunk me. I couldn't resist and bought it along with the expansion set. I couldn't have a Japanese bullet train with only four cars now could I? Of course not. The problem is that I haven't had the time to play with my other trains or find time to work on my railway station layout. So what possessed me to add to my dusty collection? Not sure, but I know this won't be my last Shinkansen.

I'll have try to find some time to set up the tracks and run it at full speed. Video to follow. This is my first Kato train set and I am quite pleased with the quality. Their atttention to detail is very good. I'd say it's almost at the same level as Minitrix. The one thing that Minitrix does better is their motors. Minitrix motors run silent whereas the Kato motor has a slight hum, but it actually gives it some realism to the Shinkansen. I rode the Series 700 when I visited Japan in 2000 taking me from Osaka to Tokyo. It has a similar appearance as the E4, but it was not a double decker.