Posts Tagged ‘rail’

Riding a miniature train

A “Nanikore” worthy miniature steam locomotive:

It took the father-son duo 10 years to complete the mini railway, which has about 150 meters of track. The whole thing was built from scratch. It actually contains a steam engine, which they feed with coal using a mini shovel (they buy the coal by the ton).

The owner modeled the train after a locomotive he loved as a kid. He started building miniature trains after his son, Takahiro was born. Takahiro became a model railway nut like his father, and they now work on building and maintaining their mini rail line. They allow fellow hobbyists to bring over model trains and drive them on the track, and also occasionally invite the local kindergarten to come over on field trips.

—

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Railway Museum Opens in Saitama

Thousands of train-obsessed otaku converged on Saitama City today for the grand opening of a new railway museum:

JR East built the museum to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its founding in 1987, when Japanese National Railways (JNR) was split into several regional passenger service companies — including JR East — and a nationwide freight company.

Steam locomotive drivers at the company spent several years developing the steam locomotive simulator, which reproduces the conditions of a D51 model train, down to its vibrations.

Also on display are the British-made Model 1 locomotive that hauled the JNR’s inaugural train from Tokyo’s Shinbashi to Yokohama on Oct. 14, 1872, a C57 steam engine and several Shinkansen bullet trains.

Here’s a look into the museum that aired last week on Japanese TV:

For more details about the new museum, check out its official homepage! [The site was down due too opening day net traffic when I wrote this post, but it should be accessible soon.]