# A Japanese themed model railway in N gauge



## Oboy Railroads (Feb 10, 2012)

Hi Folks,

I haven't posted in a long time because well... I'm not much of a computer forum person but I digress. One year ago I shut down my O gauge Pearl Valley Railroad and sold off half of my O gauge items. I then started building an N gauge 1/150th scale Japanese model railroad I dubbed the Shimoono-Sen. The size is only 3' x 6'. Probably about 85% of the items and materials used to build the layout came from Japan... Osaka, Japan to be exact. My local Train shop only carries a spattering of Japanese related model railroad products so Japan was the best place to turrn to obviously. I enjoy building it as I have lived in Japan and traveled by rail over there.

Instead of loading up my page with photos you can check the layout out at: http://www.photobucket.com/shimoono-sen










Major construction is finished. I have only small projects to complete over time with one being to actually populate the place with people. Good looking N scale people are kind of pricey for as small as they are. I will eventually finish the outside woodwork and building it's own leg support system is on the to do list as the layout sits on an old wooden desk.

As for the Pearl Valley Railroad. I just started rebuilding it to be a small and simple (!5" deep x 67" long) One engine / one car switching diorama in my family room. It is being scenicked by the buildings from the old layout.

Best Regards


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

That's spectacular. You do wonderful work. Thanks for sharing!

TJ


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## Fighterpilot (Mar 16, 2011)

Fantastic looking layout. I love the city with the multi story buildings. It reminded me of my stay in Okinawa with the US Army.


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

You have created a master piece. Thank you for sharing.


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## Oboy Railroads (Feb 10, 2012)

Thank you for the kind words. I generally don't show off my model railroads as I don't have any model railroad friends but I enjoy looking at other peoples work and get inspiration from their photos. I hope my approach to the hobby would contribute to that aspect as well.

Yes Fighter Pilot... The benefits of N scale for sure. This was the first time for me to have any model building represented on a layout higher than 4 scale stories. Japan has its own approach to building style. Both the U.S. and Japan obviously have modern skyscrapers and tall office buildings but there is a certain way about city layout and construction that's very Japanese and it's noticeable when your in Japan. That's why I couldn't substitute models of American buildings and just slap Japanese signs on them. It wont look right.

One definate thing about building this layout was that I finally became pretty good at measuring and thinking in metrics, primarily millimeters and centimeters. The Model train shop in Osaka that I bought most things from did a great job of providing good pictures and measurement dimensions of their products. I was able to pretty much figure out where things would go and how they would fit without actually being in person to buy them. Of course there was alway some changes in plan and moving some buildings around to see how they would fit with each other. There were only minor cutting modifications made to the station platforms. I wanted everything to be Japanese in appearance as I remembered my time there so there is nothing "American style" on the layout. I found that aspect to be the most challenging. Being this is America there is Americana galore here in terms of model railroads... very little in the Japanese prototype market.

I took a quick shot as seen below of my downsized Pearl Valley Railroad in O gauge that I mentioned and threw the photo in here. This is my attempt at an old Americana themed railroad. As it appears now it went up in just 2 days only because most everyting was already built. I need to work on some scenery and finsihing the wood cabinet. I call it more of a switching diorama more than a layout as it's very limited in operation This is mounted on the mantle above my fireplace in our family room.


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## cyborgdog (Jan 14, 2013)

Very Impressive! Thanks for sharing.


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