Trying out the Toyama Light Rail more

Good Evening, Kapinozuka here.

While I was building a certain structure set during lunch break, there was a slight gap, so I thought I would fill it with putty. The putty I had on me was one I had bought several years back. I thought its about time I replace it with a new one, so I searched on our website for it... and I was shocked to find that the putty I had been using was terminated from the stock list.

Anyway.



This week will be continuing from last week's Rail Collection Toyama Light Rail introduction. Last week, we motorized a TLR0605 (Green), but it looked lonely on its own, and since Christmas is soon, I motorized a TLR0601 (Red) too.



Placing them on the rail, I let them run straight away.



Usually on an N-scale rail model, a positive current runs on one rail, and a negative current runs on the other, causing the motorized train struck with both currents to move. The current used is normally between 0~12V. So if an adult touches the rail while the electricity is still running, they will be unlikely to feel anything abnormal. However, people extra sensitive to electricity or small children, such as babies touches it, they may get a slight electric shock, so please be careful.

Now, when placing multiple motorized trains on the rail and start them, they will of course run in the same direction. Many may think that because it uses the same current, they will travel at the same speed too... however the gear ratio may differ for each product, so the speed will differ too. This difference is seen between different companies too. On top of that, there are other factors such as the amount of oil on the gears and the amount of dirt on the wheels, which may reduce the amount of electricity received etc, so the speed could vary even for the same products.

For example, the image above uses the same motor unit, but the green one is slightly faster than the red, it seems, and it caught up with the red after a number of laps. With these reasons, its difficult to run multiple trains on a single track.
And in cases like these...


- 1262 Fine Track Electric 3-Way Points N-PLR541/280-15(F)
- 1123 Fine Track Curved Track C541-15 (F) (2 PCS.)
- 1021 S140 Straight Track (F) (2 PCS.) *not in image
- 1421 Fine Track Buffer Track (F) x2



I've added parts marked with a red circle. We have changed photography location, as the width of the circuit is now too wide for our photography booth.



The important thing is that I've added a 3-way point. Regardless of whether it is the real railway or the model, the 2-way point is used most commonly, splitting one rail into two. You could add more points and make 1 rail into 2, 2 rail into 3 etc, and create garages, but in this case, I tried to save space by placing a 3-way point, creating two parking.

This 3-way point has the function of 2 points, and has 2 control cables accordingly. Fortunately, this Power Unit N-400 (controller) can handle up to 2 point control switches, so we will plug them accordingly.



Making the center track the main line, attaching a curve rail and a parking on each side. Now, lets get back to running the trains.



Leaving the red parked, and running the green alone, looping on the main line.



And when you get bored (?), you can park the green and let the red run on the main track. When parking or putting it back on the main rail, you will need to make it run in reverse for a bit, but its not too much of a bother, the Toyama Light Rail is a tram with good turning.



There is re-railer rail with crossing, so you can line cars by it to recreate a scene of cars waiting to cross. The cars I've used in the pic is from The Car Collection Basic set F1 and Basic set F2, and for some random reason, the Isuzu Bonnet Bus.

For your information, the Bonnet bus was sold as un-colored kit, there is also a pre-colored version too, with 3 color variation of red, blue and the one shown in the image, green. I think it looks pretty good.



After playing with it, you might as well pack it up. Tomytec has released a storage case for LRT, and can fit up to 8 LRT. There are only 7 color variations of the LRT, so there is one slot left, but the case comes with an uncolored bonus car which will fill up the 8th slot.


So today we have introduced the additional single rails to attach onto your railway model, which allows you to create your own circuit. TOMIX has some rails which have been made in patterns (such as Mini Rail Set Points Set), which lets you easily make your own circuit. Why not add some and enjoy your own variations!


By Kapinozuka, who used up 38 coins of 100yen, trying to obtain a figure of Hiiragi Kagami at the arcades.