railsquid

Had my first official [*] encounter with Covid early this year, had been making slow but steady progress on the layout until then, but it knocked me out for 3~4 weeks (including my first ever ambulance ride) and the months afterwards were pretty grim, and I'm still sorting through stuff which was in progress but has lain abandoned since. A couple of months back I had to dismantle the layout for access reasons (A/C unit above the layout needed replacing) and realised I would not have the energy to put it back together again. Fortunately I came up with a way of downsizing it somewhat, and am gradually recycling bits of the previous layout, but progress is slow (the long hot summer in these parts and work-related issues not helping either). [*] I came down with a mysterious respiratory ailment in late February 2020 which at the time did not qualify me for a PCR test, but it was remarkably similar to what I had this year).

Always the same cliche... 156438 DONCASTER 29/4/1994 by Matt Towe, on Flickr

I did actually meet, in a non-railway context, a former employee of JNR (the former nationalised railway of Japan) who went on such a trip and he showed me some photos. I don't recall the conversation but the photos were of them standing around in grimy sheds which probably hadn't changed much from the steam era (visit would have been late 70s/early 80s). One area where Japan sadly lags behind is preservation, both of stock and structures, there aren't any "preserved" lines as such, and apart from a few mainly steam engine excursion routes, there's no real chance of travelling on "classic" trains, and certainly not on main lines. More precisely, it's feasible to live in Tokyo on something around the minimum wage; you won't have a great apartment in a fashionable area, but it will actually be able to rent an actual apartment (rather than say a bunk in an illegally converted garden shed) and still have money left over to live on. You can also trade commuting time for cheaper rents/property prices outside of Tokyo itself. Also, as a rule, your employer will cover your commuting costs tax-free, which levels the playing field a little.

In not-really-Japan-related news, I mildly astounded Mrs. Railsquid by demonstrating it is possible to repair a suitcase, which is vastly better than chucking it out and buying a new one, especially if the new one is cheap and nasty which the old one wasn't, and I am quite fond of this one which I've had over 10 years, and with the aid of the internet it was possible to solve its various ailments, which were: 1. telescopic handle partially stuck 2. one grab handle loose on one side 3. tyres on the caster wheels had at some point largely disintegrated. 1 and 2 were basically loose screw issues; 3 required sawing through the "axles" of the caster wheels to remove them, but once having done that I won't need to do it again, as the replacements come with screw-together axles, which will also make it practical to remove the wheels for cleaning (surprising amount of strands of mystery stuff wrapped around the old ones). Hope to get at least another 10 years out of it. Also kudos for a previous version of myself for acquiring a hacksaw and replacement blades which resided unused and forgotten in the toolbox until now, as I was fully expecting to have to go out and acquire a new one. Though if anyone is missing Japan-related news, here's a 20 minute segment on the apparently famous suitcase repair kiosk at Narita Airport [edit: video possibly not available outside Japan, so not embedding :( ]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEbiTGNPpek

This video shows the some of the remains of the original Tokaido Main line (not the Shinkansen), which was built along said coast, but was abandoned for obvious reasons and successively diverted through tunnels further away from the coast: Actually, technically the original line was much further inland via a much more circuitous but less "tunnely" route, which still exists as the (local) Gotemba line.

Pity the Tokyo Municipal Subway (not to be confused with the Tokyo Metro), which has just 4 lines which are mutually incompatible in terms of gauge/power supply. 2 x standard gauge (one is the 1500v DC overhead Asakusa Line, which has through-running to the Keisei and Keikyu lines, one is the deep-level Oedo line with linear motors); one cape gauge (Mita Line, 1500v DC, as of this year through-running to an insane number of other lines), one 4'6" (Shinjuku Line, 1500v DC, through-running to the Keio Line). Talking of the Keio railway, it has two lines in Tokyo, the main one (with the through-running to the Shinjuku Line) being the aforementioned 1372mm/4'6" gauge, the other one (Inokashira Line) being cape gauge. For added historical fun, the Keisei network was originally 1372mm/4'6" but converted to cape gauge for through-running with the Asakusa/Keikyu lines which has created a mildly insane "network" involving two other companies, and it's one of my favourite set of lines as you never know what sort of train will turn up next.

Shinkansen is definitely all standard gauge. There have been attempts over the years to create a "free-gauge" train which is supposed to, through some magic with the axles, run on both standard and cape gauge, but those came to naught. The Tokaido Shinkansen is the original Shinkansen line, and the section around Atami is the oldest Shinkansen stretch and is relatively "curvy" with, IIRC, the lowest speed limits on the Shinkansen network (270km/h, again IIRC). It also traverses some particularly difficult geography/geology (the main transportation routes running west from Tokyo are all squeezed into a narrow section bordered on one side by the mountains and on the other by what translates as "The Great Collapsing Coast"). The Tokaido Shinkansen is entirely new construction, though parts of the "Shin-Tanna Tunnel" west of Atami date from 1941, when construction started as part of the original "bullet train" plan (but obviously never got far).

Plastic baggie full of Toblerones in the station hotel lobby. Talking of the station, I profess to know Tokyo pretty well, so was absolutely not surprised to discover a whole swathe of underground passages which were not on my mental map of the area, but that's Tokyo for you. Visit some place you haven't been for a while, or approach it from an unusual direction (as was the case today) and it's changed beyond recognition.

8 and counting. Sadly, or fortunately, the late nights in front of the internet cradling the little blighter as he just would not sleep by himself are long gone.

(delurks) Just had the pleasure of meeting iL Dottore on a damp Tokyo evening in the environs of said station.

(delurks) After a good run on layout things recently, was visited by the Covid Fairy earlier this year, and just lost all interest. Due to some work needing to be done in the room, I'm in the process of dismantling the entire layout (N scale), which I'd describe as ca. 60% "finished", and realised I won't have the willpower or energy to reassemble it (even though it was designed with potential disassembly in mind). Part of the problem, I think, is that while I actually liked the layout I came up with (after many iterations), it is a little too big for the room (which I also use as a home office) and the time I have available anyway. After some thought I will cut it back to what will basically be a double-track dogbone around the edges of the room, on which I can watch trains trundle round and round, which is enough for my modest needs. Fortunately I'm using Tomix track and much of the existing scenery can be reused.

Hi Some background - I stopped actively following developments in British Rail (and trains in general) ca. 1988, and only got back into railway modelling a few years ago. I acquired this Dapol Class 58 back when Dapol was selling them off cheaply: Dapol Class 58 (58044) by Rail Squid, on Flickr It was described as "Triple Grey Unbranded" livery, and I always vaguely assumed the "unbranded" part to refer to post-privatisation removal of BR branding. The other day I was wondering what I might be able to do to it to make it appear as it did in BR days (I'm not interested in anything post-privatisation), and was suprised to find it did seem to be running in this condition in 1989; see following photos: - no BR logo, sector branding or nameplate (Oxford; undated but passing a rake of NSE Mk1s) - no BR logo, sector branding or nameplate (Crewe, May 1989) - no BR logo, sector branding or nameplate (Tupton, July 1989) - no BR logo, sector branding or nameplate (Barrow Hill, July 1989; publicly accessible Facebook picture) - no BR logo, sector branding or nameplate (Saltley, November 1989) It has acquired a BR logo by December 1990 here (see towards bottom of page). Some research reveals 37104 in 1989 in this livery also without the BR double arrows logo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/queenfanjohn/6754981609/; this was released by Bachmann in OO in this livery. As I'd always assumed that prior to privatisation, all BR locos carried the double arrow in some form, does anyone know why these locos in triple grey were without one at least for some time around 1989?

Modelling a Netherlands railway scene and have a dyke which needs plugging? Trein 545 (ICM 4097) en de ABDk 322 by Lolke Bijlsma, on Flickr

Made a nicely lined tunnel, then realised it is smaller than the tunnel portal you were planning to use? Simply change your layout to an Italian one. ALe883 002 by maurizio messa, on Flickr

Beat me to it, I just came here to post that

Lovely little diorama: 56031 Class 56 arrives at Leamington Spa with 1Z38 - the Midland Executive railtour by themightyhood, on Flickr The bashers hanging out of the coach windows are a nice touch you don't see modelled often.

(from another thread)

I have no idea about this loco, but it looks like someone went "hmm, let's see what we get if we can combine large logo without the actual large logo, Railfreight red stripe and a dash of Regional Railways light blue for good measure".

It's the "New Shuttle", a dinky little gadgetbahn tacked onto the sides of the Shinkansen viaduct from Omiya Station, to the north of Tokyo, see e.g.: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ファイル:New_Shuttle_Ina_Line.JPG First stop north of Omiya is the JR East railway museum: https://www.railway-museum.jp/e/

Sorry, can't be everywhere at once

Talking of which, here is the Squidlet (centre of the photo in brown, staring at the camera) at the end of his kindergarten's nativity play, demonstrating it is possible for a group of 4 and 5 year olds to not only put face masks on but keep them on.

Belated greetings, thanks for the mention, yes very much OK all things considered, what strange times we live in.

The scratch-built shed provides a convincing background for the Duff. 47711 'COUNTY OF HERTFORDSHIRE' CLAPHAM JUNCTION 21.3.94 by Matt Towe, on Flickr Trackwork is top-notch too.

Well doesn't time fly, and what strange times we live in. Here is an older version of the above Squidlet examining the night sky through his binoculars:

"This doesn't look like Sodor any more" said Annie with a worried tone in her voice. "My axle boxes are getting all hot and bothered", complained Clarabel.