A slow day in my Japanese railroad universe

Well there isn't much going on in my Japanese model railroad universe. My package from JAC has finally shipped out to me. It left Osaka International Branch on the 17th, I guess that means the Osaka branch of EMS. Ive tracked it from its last known location Osaka and that's it nothing else. Hmmmmmmmmm, I think its time to start looking at some commuter trains what do you think.

Japan Auction Center Proxy Fees

I thought Id post the fees that I was charged after winning my auction. Id rather a new user not be shocked by unknown fees. I didn't know there was a fee after you won an auction and local delivery fee what is that about lol.

Here are my proxy fees so far, I expect that to go up another $30 USD for shipping to me once the package shows up. So far so good and not bad for a rare item like the Kato Hikari + 2 car add on set that I won.


Bank charges for auction(s) - 300 ¥ 2009-11-10 10:14:24
Local delivery charges for auction(s) - 800 ¥ 2009-11-10 10:14:24
Fee for won auction[ The fee on won auction ] 1840 ¥ 2009-11-08 21:42:5
Actual ending auction - 13,000 ¥ = 144.00 USD 2009-11-08 21:42:5
Current Balance -2940 ¥ = $32.5416 USD

Kato Series 100 Grand Hikari part 2

Well I placed a reservation for a Series 100 at Hobby Search with the expectation that It would ship in November, but it got pushed back to January. So I decided that I really wanted a Series 100 and didnt want to wait until January. Ive been searching Yahoo Japan Auctions and found a Grand Hikari with a 2 car add on set for 13,000 yen. I used a proxy bidding company to place a bid for me and won the auction. So I have to wait for the seller to ship it to the company then wait for the company to ship it to me. This is a great service if youre impatient like I am but it does come with a fee of course.

Kato Series 100 Grand Hikari

Isn't this train just simply gorgeous, yes it is that's why Ive reserved it. This is the first train reservation Ive ever made. Hopefully sometime in November this baby will be heading my way from Japan. What I like about the Grand Hikari are the sharp angles mixed with the smooth curves. This is one of few Shinkansen's I think earn the name Bullet train, I mean it looks fast sitting in its box doesn't it.




Heres a nicely edited video of several Series 100, Of course this isnt my video.

Ambitious Japan Video

While surfing Youtube I found this pretty cool video. This is the song that JR uses in its commercials. Im assuming the guys in the video are the singers. Anyway its a cool video.

The Mailman cometh with goodies

Today the mail carrier showed up with some goodies for me, first was a Kato Double Crossover and a Tomix Dr. Yellow 4 car add on set. I have to say Im pretty impressed by the Tomix casket, its made out of tough plastic. The Tomix inserts are really tight to put the cars in however, I guess that'll change over time though. Below are some pics of my new goodies. Sorry for the flash, Im a amateur photog lol.

Casco N-Gauge Storage Cases

Cascco is a Japanese company that makes aftermarket storage cases for N-Gauge model trains.From what I can tell by the item description over at Hobby Search they make window storage cases & inserts for Tomix & Kato storage cases as well as their own brand of storage cases.. They look really cool and Im looking to score one for my Dr. Yellow 7 car set.I think its really cool that you can remove the sleeve and see your trains without having to take your trains out of the box. Cases come in several different colors like Orange, Blue, Red etc, as well as 8 &,10 car cases, one fun fact is the word case translated from Japanese to English is casket lol.