Tomix Cant Track Sets Available

The long awaited Tomix cant track sets are now available through Japanese dealers. Two versions are available, the Tomix 91013 Canted Bridge Approach track set and the Tomix 91011 Canted Track Basic set. Both sets feature curves with a 4 degree super elevation.

Tomix 3079 and other new products

Tomix is apparently planning a second “kit for the road” which will imitate asphalt pavement. The expected sale date is March 2010. The Japanese price will be 1575 Yen (1500 Yen without VAT). Detailed product specification has not yet been released.

Apparently Tomix is also planning a wide rail tram product to complement its new PC Wide Rail line recently released. Its labeled “Tomikkusuwaidotoramure-ru”, but on this item a sale date and price has not been decided and specifications have not been released.

I’m expecting both of these products will have the wide track centers characteristic of 3ft6in gauge tram and train lines in Japan, that were found in the Tomix 3076 tram rail pavement double track configuration.

Information on new products planned by Tomix can be found on this Japanese language web page.

Modemo Tosa Electric Railway 600 series

Modemo has just released its model of the Tosa Electric Railway 600 series streetcar. These cars were built between 1957 and 1962 in the company shops and during 1963 and 1964 by Naniwa Koki. Air-conditioning was added during the 1980s bringing these cars up to current Japanese streetcar standards.

By my calculations, this is the largest single class of streetcars currently on a Japanese streetcar system with 31 cars originally built and 30 cars currently active. This is almost half of the 63 car Tosa regular fleet. Another 9 heritage (most of foreign origin) and special service cars complete the 72 car fleet. The 600 series are the work horses of the Tosaden lines.

These cars (and the Modemo models) are equipped with couplers. Multiple unit operation was confined to three morning services to Ino until withdrawn in 1987. Later the schedules were revised and five morning and one afternoon to Ino were worked by two car trains. (Source: Electric Railways of Japan, Volume 3, 1997).

The Modemo Tosaden 600 is available in two versions. NT101 is the powered car. NT102 is the trailer version. Plaza Japan has the NT101 motor car available and Hobby Search has both the NT101 and NT102

Although there are optional detail parts to be added like rear view mirrors, the Tosaden 600 is essentially a complete car out of the box. There are no external fleet markings on these cars other than fleet numbers on the red bumpers.

This is an affordable model of a key current day Japanese streetcar.

Tomix Fine Track Features

I recently translated a new Tomix web page which gives a summary of the Fine Track features.

Joiner and Guide

The joiner improves energizing performance and the guide (the plastic piece under the joiner) makes the connection of the rail more secure.

Three color ballast

The roadbed ballast is made up of three colors (a bright gray, a gray and thick gray).

Low, thin track bed

Track bed height is low.

DC feeder installation mouth

There is high degree of freedom with Fine Track in selecting where the feeder can be placed.

Tomix also cites its abundant product lineups.

-Wide PC Rail
-Stock rail
-Rail with elevated bridge (single track)
-Double track line rail
-Slab rail
-N points
-Super Mini Rail
-Turntable
-Rail sets

Reduced Posting

Due to a heavy workload until the end of the year and other commitments, I anticipate my posting will be reduced over previous periods. But there are several new items on the way from Japan and I will photograph them and post short articles as time allows.

Small Track Plans from Tomytec Dioramas

Tomytec has recently introduced three small dioramas into their product line. The size and weight of these items would make them very expensive to ship from Japan, but the track plans are available online.

Here are the three simple track plans. All three are intended to be built in a space 600mm x 450mm. The required track parts are clearly shown.

Station and Shopping Set

Temple Town and the Temple

Landscape with the sea.

This is the Japanese language Tomytec Diorama set page.

Hobby Search has pictures of the layouts on their web site.

Set A Station and Shopping Set

Set B Temple Town and the Temple

Set C Landscape with the sea.

New Tomix Web Site

There is a Japanese language new web site for Tomix which places the Tomytec name more prominently on the franchise. Tomix, Tomytec, Tomica and other product lines are all presented in one place. Of course, the Tomy in Tomytec was the parent company name prior to the Takara-Tomy merger.

Japanese language web sites can be translated with machine translators like Google Translate.

Kodansha Subscription Series and Tomytec

Marketing channels in Japan are often vastly different than North America. An example of this is Tomytec items that are offered on a subscription basis by a Japanese company called Kodansha.

During August 2009 reports circulated on varous N Gauge discussion boards of “off-brand Tomytec” items on eBay. I believe these were actually left over pieces from a previous Kodansha subscription series

Late August is JAM show time in Japan, I imagine Kodansha has an exhibit at the show and it is a good time to launch a railway subscription offer in Japan. This is a subscription series where you pay by lump sum or automatic debit and every week you get a Japanese train case size box with an piece for 50 or 75 weeks.

This is the new Kodansha subscription series for 75 weeks.

This is the previous Kodansha subscrition series for 50 weeks.

It is only 60cm x 45cm or 24″ x 18″. Its probably as much aimed at the
non-railfan as the railfan. Or maybe more people attracted by the diorama itself, with the lights and railway providing a bit of automation.

I first became aware of these through this Shin’s blog which covers his Kodansha subscription.

The photos in the blog show the sets have brown ballast the same as the track bbicn is selling on eBay. This hasn’t been in the Tomix line for a few years.

All the buildings in the back row in this photo are available on the bbicn eBay page. I bought several that are exactly like these from bbicn. They appealed to me because they would good stores for a micro streetcar layout I am building.

The buildings come in plastic bags without the usual Tomytec packaging since they are packaged in Kodansha subscription series packaging. Most of the items bbicn had been selling on eBay could easily be found in one of these sets. Sellers in Hong Kong would probably view these sets as more valuable as individual pieces than as a set.

The more I look at that blog, the more I believe left over Kodansha sets were the source of some of the “gray market” Tomytec items that appeared on eBay during the summer. The KT markings may simply be for Kodansha train or similar.

To me it looks like these are Tomytec/Tomix bulk sets broken up by dealers in Hong Kong. Kodansha may not have sold all units and decided to sell most of the others to jobbers. (I think the previous subscription can still be ordered, but its a Japanese language page so I’m not sure.) Sellers in Hong Kong would probably view these sets as more valuable as individual pieces than as a set. The small differences may be deliberate by Tomytec, Tomix and Kodansha to protect their normal marketing channels.

Here’s the previous Kodansha subscription promotional video. I see many “gray market” items in this video and the music is catchy.

Portram and Toyama District Railway trams

Here are a couple of new videos which show the differences between the two Toyama tram lines.

Portram uses Super Low Floor tram cars. This is a former JR branch line which opened as LRT in 2006.

Toyama District Railway operates one tram line and several interurban lines. The trams are were built in the 1960s and some Nippon Sharyo low floor cars were added in the 1990s.

The Tomytec Portram Low Floor Streetcar

My Tomytec Portram Low Floor Streetcar arrived late last week just as I had to go on several trips. It wasn’t until Tuesday night that I got to really look into this item.

The Low Floor Streetcar comes in two boxes, one for the Tomytec TLR0604 streetcar model and one for the Tomytec TM-LRT01 drive.
Assembly into an N gauge operating model is easy. The articulated body lifts off the static chassis in two sections and then fits onto the power chassis and snaps into place. On inserting the drive you do loose the interior. This could be over come by modeling window shades which many Japanese trams have.

I have created a base for a small tram layout still in the planning stages. The base is a 2 inch thick piece of Woodland Scenics Styrofoam, 12 inches wide by 24 inches long.

On that base I have an oval of Tomix Mini Fine Track and Super Mini Fine Track set up with most curves being C103 (103mm) curves. There is a short siding, just long enough for one streetcar.

Test layout with Tomytec Railway Collection controller.

To run the Portram, I decided to use the Tomytec Railway Collection battery powered controller as there wouldn’t be any wires across the living room. The Tomytec Railway Collection controller uses four AA batteries so the car will be running on 6 volts instead of the typical 12 volts.

Portram Tram Background

This streetcar is based on cars built for the Toyama Light Rail Company in Toyama, Japan. Like most Japanese railways it has a nickname, Portram, which is a contraction of “Port” and “tram”. The Portram line serves the port area of Toyama unlike the existing Toyama District Railway tram line which connects the JR station with South Toyama. Portram which opened in the spring of 2006, runs both on city streets and on a former JR branch line railway right of way. The street portion is licensed under the Tram Act and the railway line under the Railway Business Act. Legally LRT does not exist in Japan.

The seven Portram cars were built in 2005 and 2006 by Niigata Transportation under license from Bombardier. Low floor cars are generally known in Japan as a “super low floor” cars.

Tomytec Model

Tomytec Portram Super Low Floor car.

The Portram car is essentially two single truck cars linked by an articulated section. The trucks are closer to normal double truck car truck length than other single truck trams like Kato’s 14-070 Hiroshima single trucker. Okayama Electric Tramway 12 m 7400s have truck center of 1600 mm and the Portram 18.4 m super low floor car has a truck center of 1850 mm.

Electrical gear found underneath all previous generations of streetcars is now found on the roof of low floor streetcars. This explains why there are so many details on the roof.

The body has all the typical Japanese tram markings including center entrance and front exit, Portram logo and car number (TLR0604).

Portram has typical Japanese tram body markings including front exit.

I tested the Portram model on a small 12 x 24″ layout. The track was built out of the spare track box and most of the curves are C103. There also is a small siding. Power comes from a Tomytec Railway Collection battery powered controller.

At full power (6V) the car runs like a bat out of hell. Imagine what it will do on 12V! It has no trouble navigating the C103 curves. There is a bit of overhang on curves, but that is a characteristic of prototype too.

Overhang on a curve.

At reduced speed it ran quite nicely and eventually I settled on running the car on third notch of five notches on Tomytec controller. It runs around the oval and through the siding without stalling. There is a bit of humming noise, but it is not too noisy.

Overall it is an authentic Japanese super low floor car with good running characteristics on 6V. I purchased through Hobby World Japan and with SAL shipping this a very nice car at an affordable price.

Further Info

For more information on Portram and maps see this web site.