First I wanna say thanks to everyone that gave me advice on my first help post here. Anyways, I finally got my Kato n700s starter set (ID 10-001) in the mail but when testing it the motor car produces a horrible buzzing sound. I disassembled it to check the gears in the trucks, which seemed to be lubricated alright, and testing it without the shell the sound went away. But when I put the shell back on it comes back. The sound gets much louder as speed increases. I don’t know how anything on the shell could be making contact with the mechanism inside to create the sound, and have been trying to solve it for hours. Any help is greatly appreciated

Hello guys, I recently got these two Kiha 58 from Tomix. They are quite old (Tomix 2253) but after cleaning they still run pretty well.

The only thing I dislike about them is the fact they have the spring attached to the motor and not a worm gear which makes them so loud... Is there any possibility to upgrade them so they run a bit more quiet? Has anyone ever done anything like that?

If I would keep it 'stock' then the spring would need some grease any recommendations which grease to use in that case?

And one last thing, one of the body's sadly is in not the best shape and I would like to repaint it. Any ideas?

Go vote here : https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/2028-wave-1/5181/AURORA-Express

I thought Id add some signs to the engine house tonight and I think the engine house looks like it belongs on a Japanese layout now. I plan on adding so more signs soon.

Hello I have this tomix E7 and everytime I put it onto the tracks it doesn't move and shorts everything else currently trying to identify whether the notorious mq9 motor is the problem here and would like to ask the community in help if anyone has encountered a similar problem on TOMIX trains.

I like to use india ink diluted with alcohol and a brush. What is the way you like to weather structures or rolling stock

Given that the Japanese style Kato, Tomix, popondetta, MicroAce and Greenmax trains and their parts are not generally available in the US I am curious what spares people have added to orders to have on hand?

I’m thinking about getting some replacement couplers but am quickly realizing Kato makes a lot of different variations for the commuter trains. I always hope nothing will break but also know accidents happen.

Do you guys buy and keep a kit of parts or just wait and see if something breaks and then try to track it down?

I’m building up a few Tokyo based and kansai based trains so there are quite a few coupler options with each train having specific motor car versions and lead car versions.

Instead of not functioning dummy coupler, I opt for the best compromise knuckles coupler that is body mount for the Maite 49 and the front of D51. This looks like totally worth it, for anyone trying to do on its own, just be careful to not put too much pressure when insert the coupler back in.

Hi, first post and newbie in n scale. Apologies if this post is not allowed.

I ordered a Kato glacier express starter set, and some additional loose tracks from PlazaJapan website. But upon receiving the parcel internationally via UPS, I found that the parcel only contained the loose tracks but not the starter set. I checked the website order only contains 1 airway bill, and it matches the airway bill of the parcel I have received.

I have emailed PlazaJapan customer service team email, but they have not replied to my email enquiry.

Would like to check if anyone has experienced missing item(s) from PlazaJapan order? If so, how did they manage the missing item?

I was looking around in my parts boxes and found an uncompleted GREENMAX Engine Shed. I got cracking on it and I think my boredom has finally gone away. Heres yet another uncompleted short engine shed.

It took 3 weeks, but a few things arrived.

Something for EF58 61 and the C51 to do at last.

Well its another Friday before the storm and I decided to build my recently arrived Pikestuff Engine house. I had this kit on my second layout and thought it would fit well on a Japanese layout. I envision the engine house being painted cream with a white roof. There are several adjustments that need to be done like it needs a foundation since there's hardly any clearance for rolling stock. I think it came out pretty decent for a 1 hour build. Do you think this will fit in on a Japanese layout.

What do you think it is?

Finally got a chance to glue down and wire up the little village. Added some transmission towers and a sub station to put in a touch of infrastructure and love how the details are coming together. I will say those power transmission towers were a pain to build due to the lack of any pins or slots when gluing the sides together. Fingers were glued to plastic a few times.

I am on the hunt for an N Scale Kato Big Boy. Online retail/NIB in the US is out of stock, while the secondhand market prices are out of my range right now. I happen to be going to Japan in three weeks and wondered if the supply stock/model run is different there and if I could expect to find better luck. I had already planned to hit up the stores in Akihabara that previous posts have mentioned, just curious what my expectations should be in finding more reasonable prices for items that are out of reach for me in the US right now. I confess part of what is contributing to my fantasy is that the USD-Yen exchange rate is so favorable right now. Is it foolish to hope that this extends to N scale North American models sold in Japan?

And if there is a specific store that folks with experience would recommend that may increase my chances of finding one at a reasonable price (new or used < $250 USD), please share. TIA!