Konichiwa

Im in Japan! While Im here, I will be taking lots of detail photos of various infrastructure, such as buildings, signs, bridges, traffic lights etc, so I can model them in the future (way in the future). These signs are at Fukuoka airport.

If I dont get deported for being a suspected terrorist (photographing stuff with little artistc value), I should be home in about two weeks time.

My wife's home town is on the southern island of Kyushu. We caught the Relay Tsubame (Info | Photos) from Hakata station in Fukuoka, and I got a lot of good pictures of the interior, as well as a few close up shots of the pantograph etc. The photos linked here are not mine, but will fill in a lot of gaps

Ive mentioned before that I'd like to do a Japanese route one day. I was considering the Shinkansen line from Tokyo to Osaka, but the truth is, its too long, and in Trainz it would be over 1000 base boards - I want something a bit smaller if Im going to be modelling the content, as well as laying the track.

While I was on the Tsubame it hit me - why not model the JR Kyushu main line? JR Kyushu has some unique trains that are only found on Kyushu, such as the Relay Tsubame, and to the south, they also have a new 800 series Shinkansen which runs to Kagoshima, and eventually to Hakata. I have wanted to model the 800 series for a while.

If you have Microsoft Trainz, you will remember the Kyushu Railway Company (aka JR Kyushu), since MSTS includes a scenario which begins at Yatsushiro (just down the road from where Im typing this in Kumamoto). In the scenario, you drive a small KiHa (diesel railcar) over the mountains. They give some good reasons why they chose to model the Kyushu Railway (and that particular branch line) and it makes a lot of sense for me too.

So, the Japanese route idea has evolved a little further, and it now looks like when I start it, I will be modelling the line from Hakata to Kagoshima, with perhaps the Yatsushiro branch line thrown in for good measure.

In a couple of days, I will be catching the 800 series to Kagoshima, and back, and then it will be back on the Tsubame to Hakata, and from there, a 700 series Shinkansen (most probably) to Tokyo, with stops at Osaka, Kyoto, and hopefully Hiroshima as well. I will be taking as many photos as I can of anything and everything (but especially the trains and buildings etc) along the way.

Oh, did I mention that I bought a new camera especially for the trip? (and lots of memory cards).

Follow the links to photos and info about the trains that Im talking about.