Mister No's Pics & Vids

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Wow...the real Hong Kong East Rail Line train sure has a lot of doors on it.

Well, it's the oldest and the longest line there, I suppose it's crowded, so they really need many doors... Plarail model (three doors per car) is shorter, of course, but it's nice and detailed: car numbers on every car, two shades of grey on the roof (that's rare on Plarail commuter trains nowadays), no stickers (except the destination board), etc. 


As all Hong Kong trains, this one is made by "TOMY ASIA Ltd.", under licence of TOMY Company, Ltd. and MTR Corporation Limited. Is "Tomy Asia Ltd." a separate corporation?

Anyway, Hong Kong Plarail trains are obviously really popular on YouTube. The first video on Hong Kong Plarail trains I made (the Tsuen Wan Line) has over 5,000 views, and is by far the most viewed of all of my videos...

The only problem now is that I believe I have all Hong Kong Plarail  trains, and I just have to wait for Tomy to release a Hong Kong Disneyland Resort train!

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There's a ' Hong Kong Disneyland Resort train!'? I could sure go for that. Do they even have a Disneyland in Hong Kong? What does that train look like?

They sure have a Disneyland. And a beautiful Disneyland Resort Train!
Just turn the previous page in this thread, dear Super! 

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Oh yes...I had forgotten about this one with the Mickey shaped windows. Wish I could remember where I Posted the great custom someone made of this. Come on Plarail...this one wouldn't be too hard to make and I want one.

SL TAIJU (TOBU ELECTRIC RAILWAY)

The steam-locomotive-powered train SL Taiju travels to the Nikko and Kinugawa areas, both of which are major tourist destinations in Japan. This attractive train passes through Kinugawa, one of the nation's top hot springs resort areas, and near the UNESCO World Heritage Site–designated Nikko area.

The name SL Taiju, with SL meaning „steam locomotive“ and „Taiju“ meaning „great tree,“ was chosen in honor of the celebrated shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu whose mausoleum is located in Nikko Toshogu Shrine. Toshogu Shrine (東照宮, Tōshōgū) is a magnificent memorial to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. Ieyasu is enshrined at Toshogu as the deity Tosho Daigongen, "Great Deity of the East Shining Light". Ieyasu was also referred to by the name Taiju.  

Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in the nomination. Five of them are designated as National Treasures of Japan, and three more as Important Cultural Properties.

Music:
Parisian cafe – Aaron Kenny
Quarantine Waltz – Nat Keefe & Hot Buttered Rum
Mourning Dove – Zachariah Hickman
Twilight Train – Dan Lebowitz

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I love watching these little steamers run the rails...

I really can't explain why I didn't get this one sooner!  
It has everything I appreciate most - a little 2-car commuter train, nicely painted (just look at that Kumamon Bear; and everything is painted - no stickers!!), train with colours and a soul! I would love to go to work by that train!

Well, here is Kumaden now. Hope you like it. 



KUMAMOTO ELECTRIC RAILWAY / 熊本電気鉄道

The Kumamoto Electric Railway (熊本電気鉄道, Kumamoto Denki Tetsudō) is a public transport company in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It is abbreviated as Kumamoto Dentetsu (熊本電鉄) or Kumaden (熊電). The company was founded in 1909. The company operates railway and bus lines. The railway is a small and that connects the city of Kumamoto (the capital of Kumamoto prefecture, located on the island of Kyushu) with the suburbs. There are only two lines: Miyoshi → Fujisaki (recreated as Plarail line in this video) and Kami kumamoto → Kita Kumamoto. Kita Kumamoto is the main station where the two lines meet. Small trains run on a narrow-gauge single-track line with passing loops. The main line (Miyoshi - Fujisaki) runs very slowly and the whole line takes 30 minutes. There are a lot of stations (as many as 13 on such a short line), but there are (most of the time) passengers at each station! Nature is beautiful, but everything is urbanized and very narrow: the train literally seems to pass through the backyards of some residential houses! 



The forerunner of the company, Kikuchi Tramway (菊池軌道), was established in on 15 August 1909, and opened the 914 mm (3 ft) gauge steam-hauled line from Ikeda Station (池田駅) (close to the present-day Kami-Kumamoto Station) to Sendanbatamachi Station (千反畑町駅) (present-day Fujisakigū-mae Station) on 1 October 1911. On 27 August 1913, the line between Ikeda and Waifu Station (隈府駅) (later named Kikuchi) was opened. From 31 August 1923, the line was converted to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge and electrified at 600 V DC.



The current section of the (former) Kikuchi Line between Kita-Kumamoto and Kami-Kumamoto opened on 1 October 1950, resulting in two lines between those stations, the original via Fujisakigū-mae and the new line. In June 1953 the original line from Kami-Kumamoto to Fujisakigū-mae closed. The 13.5 km Miyoshi to Kikuchi section closed on 16 February 1986 due to falling patronage. 



Many trains on that line are painted with local mascots - the bear Kumamon, which is very cute. Especially nice is the 2 car train that Kumamoto Railway bought used from the Tokyo Metro (this one), refurbished it and painted it with its teddy bears in various poses outside and inside! The bear runs, greets, dances, sleeps... 



Kumamon (くまモン) is a mascot created by the government of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It was created in 2010 for a campaign created to draw tourists to the region after the Kyushu Shinkansen line opened. Kumamon subsequently became nationally popular, and in late 2011, was voted top in a nationwide survey of mascots, collectively known as yuru-chara, garnering over 280,000 votes. Following his success in the contest, Kumamoto earned ¥11.8 billion (US$120 million, GB£79 million, €93 million) in merchandising revenue for the first half of 2012, after having only earned ¥2.5 billion (US$26 million, GB£17 million, €20 million) throughout all of 2011. Kumamon enjoys tremendous popularity throughout the world. A large part of Kumamon's success can be attributed to its cuteness. The unusual marketing strategy of free licensing is also behind Kumamon's commercial success, since the Kumamoto prefecture grants usage rights for free to anyone as long as their products promote goods and services from the prefecture. Furthermore, in 2018, the Kumamoto prefecture decided to allow foreign businesses to use Kumamon, aiming to expand Kumamon to the world.



Plarail model is very attractive and complete. There were some complaints regarding the blue windows and the fact that it’s an electric train with no pantographs depicted. It seems Takara Tomy took the mould of the previous Tokyo Ginza line model with pantographs on the roof of the middle car, so there are no pantographs on this 2 car train. Yes, the windows are blue, but the bear depicted (also) on the windows is black, so the solution was obvious, and it looks good. Moreover, it’s not a “sticker-wrapping-train”. There are no stickers on this model (except the destination board); everything is nicely printed. It’s a great looking one-speed C-battery model!



FUJISAKIGUMAE — MIYOSHI LINE with 01 Series 2-car EMU (former Tokyo Metro 01 series)

Stops:

01 Fujisakigū-mae 藤崎宮前
02 Kurokamicho 黒髪町
03 Kita-Kumamoto 北熊本 
04 Kamei 亀井
05 Hakenomiya 八景水谷
06 Horikawa 堀川
07 Shin-Suya 新須屋
08 Suya 須屋 
09 Mitsuishi 三ツ石
10 Kuroishi 黒石  
11 Kumamotokōsen-mae 熊本高専前   
12 Saishunsomae 再春医療センター前 
13 Miyoshi 御代志

Miyoshi Station / End of Line

MUSIC

Fun in the Sun / Chris Haugen
Et Voila / Chris Haugen
Sleeping Sheep / The Green Orbs

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Wow, this has got to be one of the best Plarail paint jobs. Just look at the silver metal flake and all the intricate detailing of the characters wow...and even the destinations are painted...double wow. It would really be neat to see the production line of how they painted this one, I am so impressed.

I really like the 'End of the Line' journey outside on your porch in the video. I love your yard but it brought up a question. (hope I haven't asked this before) What is the little village? Almost looks like an 'O' Scale Garden Railway Town.

Yes, what a superb paint job! This model is an obvious proof how much can actually be done regarding the quality in that field. I mean, there are nice wrapping trains made with stickers, but once you have a model like this in your hands, you can ask yourself how incredibly better would those other trains look if only they are painted in a same fashion.

As for my garden railway (currently defunct and overtaken by weeds), and those houses you saw, it's a IIm or G-Scale German LGB System with Pola G and Piko G houses. I don't talk much about it, because I have neglected my garden railroad in the last 10 or so years (life happened and stuff), and certainly am not proud about that... If you wish you could look at the photos HERE, but there are no quality videos, because I didn't have a good camera then...