Weve got a problem in the tower

Well if youve read my post on my building you know Ive been toying with the idea of adding a tower. Ive gone ahead and fabricated a triangular tower that will be attached to the side of the building. What Ive noticed is that due to the weight of the tower It leans away from the building. To fix this Ive cut slots into the bottom of the triangle addition with the majority of the weight resting on the roof of the building. So far so good, it looks much better now.

Ive also been playing around with different configurations of the triangle and the rectangle shapes. My goal is to create a different looking building than what you normally find. Below are some photos of the problem Ive been dealing with and sketches of the configurations Ive been playing with.




Below are pics of the tower before the slot modifications.

Today I built a skyscraper

Well kind of, I was in the mood to build something & it was a skyscraper for my ever growing n scale Japanese empire. I got inspiration seeing a post on JNS basically the building was covered with mirror mosaics tiles. So I sourced some gold rose color mirror tiles as well as smoke colored mirror tiles. Im not sure what type of pattern I'll do but hopefully it'll be interesting. Now I need to work on details like the entrance to the building, roof details and if I want an addition on the building or not. I added a couple of the internal bracing I used in my building.

Lights, Camera, Action, HD?

I thought it was about time that I gave up trying to take model railroad videos with my trusty Nikon P1 and buy a dedicated video camera. So after hours of searching the Net for camcorder reviews I settled on the Creative Vado HD. The Vado does all kinds of goodies like record video at an HD video resolution of up to 1280x720p. Its pocket sized, hopefully I wont lose it. The Vado has the latest H.264 video compression technology provides unprecedented video quality at ultra-efficient file sizes for the best possible viewing experience. Record up to 4 times more videos, compared to MPEG-4 encoded ones.It has up to 4 hours of HD quality video or up to 8 hours of video at VGA resolution.

The video below is AWESOME for something created on a pocket video camera.










Below is my little video shot on a Creative Vado, yup its in HiDef as well, hope you like it.

My Last Shinkasen

Well hopefully this wont be my last Shinkasen but last night I purchased a Kato 10-222 Yamagata Shinkansen E3 Tsubasa 7 car set from Plaza-Japan an ebay retailer. I wanted the E3 with the red stripe but wouldn't find it online to save my life. So I got the E3 with the Green stripe and the nose mounted coupler. Im not sure what the difference is between the E3 with the Green or Red stripe if there is any difference at all. Im pretty pumped about getting this one in the mail which should take about 4 days or so from Japan.


Update: I lied the E3 will not be the last Shinkasen I get. I plan to get a Dr. Yellow from Microace eventually/


Below is a nice video of the E3 Series pulling in to a station.

100 N scale cars for $16 USD

Yup thats right, 100 N scale cars for $16. I took a stab at that offer and wasn't disappointed. I mean what could you really expect for $16 bucks youre not getting any Kato quality cars or Atlas or Tomytec. What I did get were 100 N scale cars painted in Red, White Silver Metallic Green and Black. There were a variety of styles of cars, from BMW to Mercedes and a Mini Van styled vehicle.

These cars wont win any beauty contests but they will fill the gap when you need lots of cars on the cheap. They would fit any N scale car dealership, parking lot, station entrance and on your N scale roads. Below is a pic I took of my recently arrived 100 N scale cars.

Houston weve got buildings!!!!

In celebration of NASA's 40 anniversary I thought that title up, anyway I think I have enough buildings for a pretty decent city what do you think. Id like to order maybe 2 more residential and 1 more commercial building to round it out.

Dummb trains !!!!!

Not really lol, I finally bite the bullet & pulled the trigger on a Series 251 Super View Odoriko 6 cars set. Aren't we Americans full of metaphors lol, I purchased it on eBay from Plazajapan.I wanted something different, it was the Series 251 or a Narita Express 6 car set. Id like to pick up the 4 car add on set for the Series 251 too.One day I hope to pick up a Narita Express. Below is a picture of the Series 251 Super View Odoriko 6 cars set, aint she pretty.

American buildings on Japanese layouts

What do you think of the photos below, do you think the Blue and Brown DPM buildings would fit in a Japanese themed layout. Keep in mind that the buildings have no details added & would look a 1000% better if they were detailed. Ive switched the buildings up a little to give the viewer a different view of the building arrangement.

Waiting to be delivered

This week I went a little crazy and ordered 5 buildings. I ordered a new 6 floor building in a different style than the other building I have. I ordered two residential buildings to break up the monotony and finally I ordered two of the 23-431 Built-Up 4 Floor Office Building. I got two of the 4 floor buildings because I want to make the current one I have taller.

Some new goodies for the layout

Today I decided to visit my LHS lol and pick up a couple of things. The first thing on my list was a MRC280 Dual Powerpack and a Kato 23-458 Local Bank. Im really starting to like these Dio-Town structures from Kato, I think I may pick up one of each of them.

Holy Puzzle Pieces Batman!!

I got my 3rd Kato building in a lifetime and it was the 23-431 Built-Up 4 Floor Office Building, Green. I thought to myself thats a cool little building to have on my layout so I bought it. I was playing around with it and noticed that the floors separated, chi-ching I can add more floor and make it a high rise or a low rise anyways I thought it was pretty cool and had to share.

Ladies & Gentlemen weve got platforms!!!

After all my bellyaching about platforms I finally ordered some from MB Klein aka www.modeltrainstuff.com and they came through in record time with my order. I purchased 2 20-806 platform kits, 1-Gradual Incline set and 1- Pier set & a Kato built up building. This will not be my last order from them.

What a PITA Kato Overhead Station

Im not sure if it was the place where I purchased the Overhead station from. I did notice that the box was was taped up. On the box it said no adhesives are needed that it just snaps together. Well I needed some Crazy Glue to keep the stairways from falling out of the building. I had an issue with which platofrm fit the 23-200 Overhead Station, some platforms have a pounch out hole that you can fit the middle stairway from the overhead station into. It looks like 20-806 has this hole. 23-101, 23-100, 20-815 also looks like it has this punch out as well. Of course platforms without the canopy shouldnt have any problems with the 23-200 Overhead station.

For Sale or Trade Kato Viaduct Shinkansen Station Kit

Im not to fond of this station maybe because I haven't gotten my track up in the air yet so that may change be warned. Im looking to sell the Viaduct station plus the 2 add on shops & extensions for $75.00 + shipping. There are no piers or platforms included with this deal since I didn't get any. I'm looking to trade this set for a 23-127 Suburban Station Platforms.


2 x Station Shop Sections.
1 x Station Main Entrance & Stairway.
2 x Platform Extension Plates.

First order with MB Klein

I placed my first order with MB Klein an outfit in Maryland if Im not mistaken,
We'll see how it goes. I hear that MB Klein is an authorized dealer of Kato merchandise which is good sine Im such a Kato fanboy.

I placed an order with www.zscalemonster.com it's been a week at least and nada well tomorrow is Saturday so hopefully something will show up.


My order is below from MB Klein

KAT-20806 KATO N 20806 Island Platform Set 2 $15.99 $31.98
(This will go with my 23-200 Overhead Station. Finallay platforms)

KAT-23048 KATO N 23048 Double Track Concrete Ties Incline Pier Set (32pcs)
1 $31.49 $31.49
(I will finally elevate my track from the ground.)

kat-23019 KATO N Unitrack Double Track 2" Pier, Poured Concrete Column (6)
(I have a double track bridge that Id like to incorporate into my layout. plus I this these piers look way cooler.)
1 $10.49 $10.49

KAT-23431B KATO N 23431B Built-Up 4 Floor Office Building, Green
1 $15.99 $15.99
(who could pass up a $15 building from Kato, not me that's who.)

Finally I got trains running

Heres a youtube video of me running some trains on my latest acquirement a Kato V11 Superelevated Double Track set.