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Lots of interesting stuff. To the left is the front cover of the new ZJ Gauge Perfect Manual (Japanese Z-scale) issued 30 Aug 2006 by Neko Publishing of Japan. Akia have announced a new battery power pack with 3 battery cells so 4.5V. This is in addition to their solid state controller seen on this page 1. My Experience with this battery controller was it will run a train all day at a train show but has only on/off control. Speed is mid range at 4.5 vdc so it won't rocket off of the track. Source http://okada.naturum.ne.jp/ this is a blog site in Japanese and contains other information in addition to items on Japanese Z scale |
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This looks wike a book and is from Neko Publishing, the 3 car
non-powered Red Express is included with
the ZJ Gauge
Perfect Manual. The train is an unpowered set with plastic track The Red
Express is a very popular train on the Kyushu Railway Company in Japan.
The Akia track has been upgraded and the new stuff is in concrete grey coloured base. It is better than their earlier offering but does not measure up to Micro Trains track. The rail is still brass bar stock set into the plastic base. The base profile remains the same so rail height on the table top is the same as Micro Trains Micro Track or very close to it. The 3 car set included with the book is unpowered. Cost was about 1800 JPY or US$ 18.00 in Japan and 18.00 Euros in Europe and appears to be sold out already (Dec 2006). There is a page in the book which announces the availability of an add on 2 car set with a powered car with single pantograph (484) and an unpowered 485 coach car without pantographs for about 2800 JPY or 28.00 US Dollars and was available in Europe for 28 Euros. The release date for the add on set was in November 2006. As of Dec 2006 they appear to be sold out also. There were some problems reported with the add on set. wheels not properly in gauge causing derailing and a drive shaft coupling on one end of the motor was not pushed on far enough causing binding in the drive shaft and derailing one end of the power car as it exited a curve. This was an easy fix for me but I am not sure most modellers would figure this problem out and know how to fix it. I found that some wheels were wide on a back to back gauge check but were easily pushed into the correct back to back distance. The out of gauge wheels stand out on a roll test on a piece of track. Those out of gauge wheels cause binding in the truck and the car does not roll freely. The couplers are the same ones used on the series 2 cars from Akia. It has a hook instead of the pin and a loop instead of a round hole used in series 1. I prefer the series 1 couplings over this new variety. I found that the hook is too wide where it rests when fully inserted into the loop and so does not sit down in the loop keeping the wheels on the hook end of the car up in the air above the track. This leads to derailments. I modified the hook by removing .4mm from the front side of the hook. Look at the diagram to the left. The seems to have solved the problem and my sets are now operating 100% on Micro Trains Micro Track and Switches. |
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This is the new station being offered by Akia in ZJ gauge and retail price is 1625 JPY or about 16 dollars US. |
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Addition platform sections are available 630 JPY each or about 6 dollars US. | |
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This bridge is offered for 1050 JPY or just over 10 dollars US. It appears to just sit under the section track that Akia supplies as a separate item. |
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Akia's new web site is www.realzj.com It is in Japanese.
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This is the Akia series 2 box being released October 23, 2006 for about 4800 JPY per box retail
plus shipping from Japan. There is one powered car per box
and a complete 5 or 6 car train including 2 head end cars in the same livery as the power car. There is
an additional 4 or 5 cars that could be anything from the other two colour schemes in
series 2. In addition there is a battery pack for 3 x AAA with a
connector to the track. (batteries not included) and 10 sections of
track 36 degree 195mm radius track forming a complete circle of track. At a recent train show
this battery pack ran the train for over 6.5 hours none stop and was
still running at the end of the show on cheapy batteries too. This power
pack does not have a reostat so there is no speed control just on forward and
backward control or off. It amazed
everyone who saw it run. The new coupler system like the original still
needs the attention of a file to get it to work properly and not keep
one end of the car in the air.
The couplers in the series 2 from Akia use a hook instead of the pin and a loop instead of a round hole used in series 1. I prefer the series 1 couplings over this new variety. I found that the hook is too wide where it rests in the loop and so does allow the hook to sit down in the loop. This causes the wheels on the hook end of the car to be elevated and off of the track. This leads to derailments. I modified the hook by removing .4mm from the front side of the hook. Look at the diagram to the left. I also used a file to lower the profile of the loop across the front side to make it easier to settle the hook in the loop and the so the wheels of the car stay on the track. |
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The RealZj upgraded Series 1 485 Express sets
in book case sleeves.
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These are the upgraded sets from
RealZJ for the 485 express sets of series 1 cars with improved trucks,
pantographs, and better decorating. The 485 express 6 car basic set and 4 car add-on set
are shown in their bookcase sleeves (these are actually video cases
in size with carved foam inserts to hold the cars). There is no power car in
the add on set only in the basic 6 car set. They were released in late
October 2007. The coupling system is the same but appears to
slightly modified such that the pin is slightly higher than on the
original cars so they do not have a tendency to hold up one end of
the car. The power unit does not have a traction tire which I think
is a mistake as it can not adequately pull the six car train with
the added cars of the add on set. With two power cars 10 to 14 car
trains are not a problem but with more than 8 of the revised cars
the power unit struggles and with just 6 of the original cars the
power unit can struggle on a layout that is not table top dead flat
and level. There are two colour schemes in the revamped series 1
cars. The original JNR orange with red window stripe and the Hitachi
white body with mauve window stripe. Once again these units are no
lit even thought the cars all have power pick ups. I think if I were
to light these cars using fibre optic I would use a Richmond models
battery module to do the job. 
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RealZJ EF81 Still to be released in 2008 no specific date given yet. 12/07
Still to be released in 2008 specified date given was late 04/08
As of 24th April these passenger cars have not appeared for distribution yet.
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This engine was released December 20th 2007
I received the first of my two engines that I ordered in early summer of 2007 in Mid January 2008 and it was well worth the wait. The dummy knuckle couplers on the front will mate with the Micro Trains Z-scale coupler. The basic difference between this engine and the power cars for the 485 sets is the addition of traction tires and die cast metal split frame body. It runs very fast so you only need 3 to 4 vdc to operate this engine even pulling 24 cars of a Micro Trains freight train. Pulling 12 passenger cars converted from M- Gauge to Z-gauge and made by TakaharaTomy was easy for this engine. There have been pictures shown on the blogs.yahoo.co.jp/uo3jp site showing the first test shots from new moulds for two types of passenger cars. The 43 series which dates back to the steam to diesel transition era and the 24/25 series cars of the last sleeper trains running on JNR during the period of the change to JRE and JRW operations. |
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