Somewhere in my attic, there is an old hollow core door tucked away, cut to about 2´ by 6´. For a long time, I have been pondering what to do with it, because it is too small for my layout plans in HO/OO gauge, but too big for a small switching layout in a smaller scale.
Following a web search into model railroading practices in other countries of the world, I came up with the idea of building a Japanese outline layout.
In Japan, space is even more at a premium than here in Europe. The layouts build there are really small and mostly in N scale, which enjoys a much higher share when compared to the rest of the world. Watching trains run through a delicately “sculptured” landscape seems to be more wide-spread than switching operation, thus making “roundy-round” layouts more common. The leading brands, like Kato, Tomix and MicroAce, just to name the bigger ones, offer a full range of materials and equipment at reasonable prices. This includes bridges, elevated track, structures and scenic material.
Putting all the information into a bowl and mixing it thoroughly, I came up with this layout idea:
It is a dogbone-shaped, double-track roundy-rounder, set somewhere in rural Japan. Can you spot the rice fields? On the right, up on a hill, there will be a small temple.
Motive power is intended to be 8-car EMU´s of modern outline.
Although not really thrilling from an operation´s point of view ( I can hear the purists crying "What - no staging? No industries? Np Spurs?), it will certainly quite a different experience to build such a layout.
Actually, to be correct, in Japan, a “layout” in the traditional sense are very, very rare. Space is at an uber-premium, so the Kato Gods created a track system that can be erected and taken down many times: Unitrack.
my visit to Japan dates back to 1987, but I don´t think, that the housing situation has improved since those days. It is not unusual for a family of four to live in a flat of 400 sqft. There is hardly a chance for a permanent layout in our understanding. Yet, when you search the web, you´ll find pages from Japanese model railroaders, showing minute layouts with excellent detail. A “large” layout is a 2´ by 3´ layout in a coffee table. Modular layouts, based on Kato´s Unitrack, are also quite common. A T-Trak module has the size of about 8" by 12" ! Now compare that to the basement filling empires in the US! No wonder they invented T-gauge!
Non-permanent layouts are often set up on a table, covered with some sort of gray-colored “cloth” to simulate concrete or tarmac paving. A double-track, elevated loop is erected in no time. Just add some structures, clip the catenary masts to the track, and your Shinkansen is ready to roll!
I also stayed there 6 months and to be honest, I did not feel comfortable in that time. I am a 6´5" guy with a strong dislike for fish - not really a good starting point for Japan [:D]
I found the Japanese Railway system to be one of the best organized railroads in the world, rivaled only by Switzerland.
I copied your track plan so there won’t be any confusion whatever about my comments:
The prototype Tokaido Hon-sen (‘Sen,’ in this context, means, ‘Line.’) is double (quadruple in places) tracked, but heavily trafficked - think LONG EMU sets and trains (behind BIG 1500VDC motors) on very short headways. (You can operate some fine-looking EMU. My personal favorites are the successors to the KuHa 151 class.) Think NYC along the Hudson, or PRRs Broad Way, for construction standards.
A long spur serving an industry would be most unlikely in an area that supports rice paddies. Even 50 years ago, the rural farmers moved their product by truck to the nearest big town. What WOULD be likely is a station (small building, high platforms) with a short, weed-grown spur behind one end of one platform. That spur would have its own platform. Forty years ago there would have been a semi-derelict freight shed, rather like a big lean-to bus shelter, on that platform, facing the spur. Most of those are now long gone.
Thanks, Chuck, for your valuable comments, which gave me second thoughts to this design (in a positive way). There are a few issues to the plan, which I need to review. The plan is based on Kato´s Untitrack system, which is easy to install, but just does not look right to me. That will have to be replaced by Atlas code 55 track, a major cost saving issue! A Unitrack turnout sells for a little over $ 50 in Germany, an Atlas switch goes for $ 15. I may be able to squeeze out a little more space for a layout, which would then result in a new plan, incorporating some of the scenic features of the presented layout. And, of course, I have to investigate into an appropriate catenary system. I have seen, that it is quite common in Japan to just put up the masts without “stringing” the wire, but to my eyes, that just does not look right. I need to find out, whether I can combine Kato or Tomix masts with Sommerfeldt components, in order to achieve a look similar to what can bee seen in this link.
