N-SCALE (What are you running today)?

If you do N Scale, what you running today?



Today is track cleaning day, so I have the KATO EF64 1000 and TOMIX Cleaning car cleaning up my tracks.  Always important to do maintenance as dust accumulates on tracks for permanent diorama setups.  You can do it by hand by applying water/vinegar mix or use a cleaning car like I'm doing.

What I like about the Tomix cleaning car is it comes with wet and dry pads and a vacuum attachment that sucks up the dust.  It's quite loud but I like to hear it working, but you need to have a good freight car to tow this cleaning car around your tracks.  The big attachment is the remover to remove pads or the vacuum attachment underneath.









And then I ran the TOMIX - 98487 Jr Series Kiha 261-5000 Limited Express Diesel Car - Lavender 5 Cars Set.

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I knew that there were Track Cleaning cars in the various gauges but I didn't know there was also a vacuum attachment...cool 👍

Nice looking layout, can I ask do you run strictly Tomix only or do you diverge into other brands such as Kato, etc...?  Personally I tend to just go for any brand and instead base my collecting on models I like the look of  

Although with the release of Hornby's TT120 range my original plans to go N gauge has gone on hold for now as I much prefer British outline models (Steam more than later era's) which were not overly supported by N gauge in the UK.  Now with the launch of TT120 I can get the models I want, albeit in a slightly larger scale than N gauge.

Hello, I run both Tomix and KATO lines as both offer positives and negatives.

a) TOMIX sets are much cheaper and offer way more different tracks than KATO.   But are bit more flimsier.
b) KATO are more expensive but they are more robust in quality.

Both TOMIX and KATO trains will run on each other's tracks. 

But KATO has more dedicated fans because they are "made in Japan" and charges a bit more.  KATO fans can be diehard and some can never admit that another train manufacturer can make things better.

TOMIX still has a lot of fans, offers better buildings, more cargo options, cheaper minifigures and gives you more bang for the yen (or dollar or pound, wherever you may live).

While I own a lot of KATO tracks, I prefer to run TOMIX tracks.  My six lines are five TOMIX and one KATO.  The reason being is that I can find certain curves that are much cheaper and easier to get through TOMIX versus KATO.

Before someone says, well you are more of a TOMIX fan than a KATO fan.  No, I own more KATO trains.  But I also own a lot of TOMIX as well.  I go for which one I like and which company offers a better deal.  I am not going to spend Y3000 or Y5000 more just because it's KATO.

If one wants to get into N Gauge, I recommend this set...so cheap Y8336 (about $58 USD) which comes with a DF200 100 Series Red Bear and cargo/kokis, full oval track and a controller.  It's important to note that while it does come with a controller, because this is a basic set, they only allow the speed to go 30% and it's locked.  But don't fret...because if you plan to have a tram/streetcar, this power controller works perfectly for that.



But what if you don't want a basic controller and want a better controller and train, then the Basic "Twilight Express" which is Y11,073 ($77 USD) is recommended:



But if you are weary of TOMIX and want to go KATO, then you can do a similar oval set, the Yamanote Line E235 and a wonderful power controller for Y14,464 ($100 USD):



But do know that on Amazon JP, the TOMIX sets cost less in shipping and handling.  For some reason, the KATO set shipping jump up to Y7252 ($50 USD).

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I also forgot to mention...if it comes to trams, then my favorite is Hasegawa's "MODEMO".

KATO makes small plastic trams but the MODEMO ones...are just much better.  But they haven't released anything in awhile...which is concerning.

The only thing about MODEMO is that once they are sold, they will no longer be released.  So, they do become collector's items that people charge quite a bit for.  But the reason which may turn people off about MODEMO is the fact unlike KATO or TOMIX, the engine can be seen inside the train.







But for me the quality of the train exterior is more important to me than the interior.  So, it doesn't bother me if the engine is big.

Pretty much working on track and diorama maintenance....

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Thanks for the video KNDY. Was the speed deliberate as things were moving pretty fast.

Yes, definitely deliberate, I could tell which parts of the tracks are bad if on full speed, they get stuck and have to work and see why on the track they keep stalling.

But it takes a long time for track maintenance.  I'm always a surprise to see how much dust accumulates.  You can't see but once you start working on it, it's a surprise.

Running the JNR 103's....