Good evening to all of you who are reading this blog and those who are not.
Continuing from
the last week's article, I'd like to talk about Tomii Dentetsu from the Railway Collection.
Please don't say "Not again!" I believe that if it is worth talking about, it is worth talking about repeatedly. I hope I am right.
The Railway Collection is, as you know, a series of N-scale model trains designed only for display, reasonably priced and yet pretty nicely manufactured.
Pretty nice, yes, but it does have a few tiny wrinkles some of you might want to iron out.
If I may talk a bit specifically about those wrinkles, the pantograph that comes with the series stands steadily, fixedly on the roof, proudly high, as shown in the red circle above.
But the truth is that the pantograph mechanism is folded down thin while the train is resting in a roundhouse or a repairing shed.
This is why TOMIX is releasing a chain of parts for repairs.
See below.
The item with a code 0224 is a pantograph parts called "PS13", a pantograph that was very widely in use all across Japan back in the 50s.
Included in this item are a pantograph and a pair of running boards for inspection staff to walk on.
Now, let me show you how you can replace the pantographs.
First, let's remove the pantograph that is originally attached to the roof.
The trick is to hold the base part with your fingers gently, and pull it upward slowly.
Gently and slowly, gently and slowly...
Yes, very well done!
You can see several holes under where the base was.
These holes are arranged just so that TOMIX parts can comfortably fit into them.
How considerate of the manufacturer!
I am working with
TOMIX PS13, which has four thin legs that are to fit into the holes on the corners.
Gently and gingerly.
Very good.
Let's compare how it looks before and after the pantograph replacement.
The first image shows the train before the pantograph exchange, and the second one shows after the "repair."
Isn't it amazing how just changing pantographs can change the way the model looks?
Incidentally, I did not use the running boards in the set because they simply do not fit on the roof.
Note that Tomii Dentetsu of Railway Collection is what is known as "freestyle" meaning several other pantographs are compatible with it, such as
PG16.
TOMIX releases
a great selection of pantographs, not all of them suitable for Railway Collection series, mind you.
To be continued...