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It is now January 2008 and many release dates have come and gone. Pro-Z (Tokyo Marui) has finally arrived and worth the wait even if it cost about 10% more than advertised during the summer of 2007. Akia (Plus Up Co Ltd) has just released their EF81 under trade name RealZJ and it is supposed to be upgraded from the 485 Series with metal chassis, more free standing detail, metal pantographs, traction tires and new coupler which we think will be miniature Rapido type as used by Pro-Z. While I have the Pro-Z EF65 set I have not received the RealZJ EF81 as yet. PRMLoco has been very quiet as has Crown Model and no release date has been given recently. Heaven Prize Hall is presenting the RealZJ EF81 but no release date as yet. Akia has shown us early samples of their series 43 and 24/25 coaches but no release date yet. Akia released their third track system and they have it right this time. It is very similar to the Micro Trains Micro Track system with moulded ballast base and connectors and it mates with the Micro Trains system but it very stiff the first time you try and connect one piece to another. Tie spacing is very different from the Micro Trains product. No switches from Japan as yet. Pro-Z has released their diorama but not any of their individual track and buildings as yet. So this should be a banner year if everything continues to appear.

Most of the information I have comes from the Neko Publishing site  Hobidas.com and from the Plus Up (Akia) site realzj.com. and from blogs.yahoo.co.jp/uo3ap.

At the Skizouka Hobby Show May 16,17, and 18 in Tokyo Pro-Z was showing new sets and the last two pieces of there Diorama. The straight section showed a switch as part of the diorama. see below for more information.
 

<http://www.hobidas.com/blog/rail/natori/archives/2007/02/pro_z.html>

<http://www.hobidas.com/blog/rmm/staff/archives/2007/02/proz.html>
 

January 2007
The two link above are the source of the information regarding Pro-Z. It certainly seems as if they will arrive on the scene with a complete system of trains, track, power pack, track, buildings, vehicles, and people. The feature that most impressed the press at the release show in Japan was the interior lighting of the cars which appeared to be flicker free and the trains were very smooth running and not racing around the layout. Many were impressed with the night time display from the show layout shown at the introduction of the line. The first two train sets are to be an EMU (Electric Multi Unit) train for E231 system in a 7 car consist, and an Electric Passenger Trains with EF65p Electric Engine and 6 cars of series 20 coaches and they say the price for these sets will be 20,000 JPY before tax retail which is about 200.00 US Dollars. It was not clear if this price would be like a starter set with power pack and track. At the introduction the company said they had been 5 years in developing this product line.

On March 19th Hobby Search set up for ProZ with menu pages from their model railroad page at the bottom of the left hand column. At present it is showing all sold out but I think this is just the start and pre-orders have not been taken yet for Pro-Z.

For delivery in the fall is announced a DD51 diesel and Shinkansen N700 and E3 types.

More information available here also. http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/uo3jp

October 2007

In late September we received word that Pro-Z has asked the hobby shops that were displaying their poster to take it down. The product is indefinitely delayed on release with no new dates set. However they were showing Pro-Z in October toy fair in Tokyo area.

RELEASE DATE was December 17 2007 to the stores in Japan

PRO Z EF65-500. plus series 25/24 passenger car 7 basic set
(electric diesel B+B+B and passenger car set)
PRO Z completion diorama course basic set includes A & B
PRO Z controller  Note: Pro-Z is 0 to 12vdc not 0 to 10vdc like other Z-scale systems and the motor used in the EF65 is a 3 pole 12vdc motor about 5 x 8 x 20 mm in size.
Current prices have increase since the first proposed release date was announced for the summer of 2007 by about 10% to 12%.

PRO Z E231 500th unit 7 basic set   Electric Multi Unit Train (EMU) was released Dec 21 2007

Talked about but no dates confirmed may be wishful thinking on someone's part

EF65-500 freight renewal machine
EF65-500 color sample
EF65-500 [blue] colour
EF65-500 European liner colour
E231 entire military affairs line
E231 Tokiwa high speed line
Steam Engine Mikado 2-8-2 D51
Steam Engine Pacific 4-6-2 C57
Diesel (B+B+B) DD51
DF200
EF81
EH500
E26 passenger car (Cassiopeia)
Series 20 passenger cars in sets and individually
[koki] 106
N700 Shinkansen
E3 Shinkansen
E531 system
E331 system
485 ?sunlight coming [nu] [wa]? 
885 systems
[kiha] 82 system
Tobu 100 ?[supeshia]? 
Street car
Japanese scenery diorama expansion of basic A + B including buildings with lighting, vehicles, people, and other scenery pieces. Additional track pieces such as switches left and right.

1. Chassis of the Pro-Z EF65-500.
2. Head Light module with surface mount LEDs powering the head lights with diode directional switching
3. Micro Trains Coupler Conversion this works height is correct, but might do better with modified 902 instead.
4. Lighting board in the Pro-Z 20 series passenger cars.
5. Tail Light module in the Pro-Z series passenger cars.
6 & 7 Comparison of Pro-Z tail car 20 series with Takahara Tomy Series 24 conversion, depth of field distorts size of car in background so one photo of each car in foreground and background. Size wise they are very compatible.

January 2008 Pro-Z is here and it has set a new standard for Japanese Z-scale quality.
After running this set from Pro-Z (Tokyo Marui) it is everything the Akia (Plus Up) stuff is not. The quality and finish are comparable to Kato, Tomix and Micro Ace in N-scale. To me the EF65 and coaches were just like miniature Kato units all in a bookcase box and they are just exquisite and run with little effort in a very quiet and smooth manner. I did find that I had to increase the back to back distance on the wheels on the passenger cars to operate smoothly through the Micro Trains Mini Track switches, but aside from that the train oeprate well on the new Akia road bed track as well as the Micro Trains roadbed track. It was interesting to note that the Pro-Z uses a 12vdc 3-pole motor and the power supply is 13vac also. This is a departure from the other Z-scale manufacturers who use 10vdc as the maximum power to the track. The Pro-Z trains run quite fast enough on the 10vdc standard Z-scale power pack with out the constant lighting circuit. The Pro-Z power pack uses a wall transformer designed for 100vac 50/60Hz 13VA so it will work on North American systems however I must caution you that it is not UL or ULC or CSA approved power source. This has implications with your home insurance if this unit causes a fire. The Pro-Z wall transformer can be replaced with a Radio Shack or similar unit that is UL, ULC or CSA approved and rated at 1 amp at output voltage of 10 to 13vac. The Pro-Z power pack includes a Constant Lighting (CL) circuit with adjustable output to power the lights inside the cars while the engine is sitting stationary on the track. I have heard reports that the diorama is a bit spartan and crude in appearance but can be improved by most modellers with some additional scenery The radii on the module are fairly tight compared to other Z-scale systems and so many of the other Z-scale trains will not operate on this layout. The two radii are 145 and 170mm while most other systems use 195 and 220mm as their minimum radii. Purchasing the Pro-Z power pack can be problematic at present as there is no pigtail to connect the power pack to track or accessory lighting plug sockets. There is supposed to be in the future a piece of straight track with a pigtail to connect to the power pack socket but it has not been released as yet and the only source of the pigtail is the Diorama set A+B.

Information from Shizouka Hobby Show in Tokyo May 16 - 18 2008

E231-0 Sobu Line
E231-0 Joban Line

No release Date given

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