Just added these

I'm a happy little bee, I just managed to find and snag a special version of the E3 shinkansen made by Kato (N Scale of course), this was always one of my favourite special PlaRail Advance models (also nominally N Scale). Although this is of course far more detailed and accurate than the PlaRail Advance version but so it should be when you compare their original RRP's I have to say I love the attention to detail here and the metallic blue on the noses of the driving cars is stunning!

One thing of note are the special couplings on these cars, they have effectively 'floating' connecting corridors attached to them so when its all together and running it will look like the cars are close coupled with the real floating corridor connectors between the cars (I circled one of these in red to highlight it).

Anyway so there you go another superb addition to my growing fleet of N Scale loco's, although wait till next week as by then I should have two more really special ones in my grubby little mitts

[Super]

Are those floating corridors magnetic? How do they connect?

There are small knuckle type connectors at the bottom of the corridor pieces. Both are mounted on spring loaded arms which contract when the cars are straight track then extend out as needed on curves. Many Kato cars have these spring loaded arms, but this is the first one I've seen with the corridor parts added.

[Super]

Those would be interesting to see how they look together.

does it have an opening nose cone? from looking at the pictures it looks like it, but does it connect to different unit?

will need E2 to find out lol

does it have an opening nose cone? from looking at the pictures it looks like it, but does it connect to different unit?

will need E2 to find out lol

Well it has a removable nose cone so you can connect multiple trains together which is apparently prototypical of the real thing, so I guess the answer is yes

It also has working directional lighting on the two driving cars and I have intentions of adding coach lighting to the models as well when I get round to it - got a whole bunch to do...

Well I mentioned in my last main post that there were two other 'special' trains coming next week, well against all odds they turned up this morning!  So I get to show them to you earlier than expected.

The first one is a really special model, a new train (and special release from Kato) the very delightful "10-1644 *JR E261 Series Saphir Odoriko 8 Car EMU Powered Set".  The below description is from Kato  themselves and tells you probably more than I would remember to type as this set has so many features - including the usual Kato attention to detail virtually every car is unique.  One thing I should mention is the special paint applied to this model, it is a special metallic 'pearlescent' paint which means that the colour you see varies depending on the angle you view it from.  This is illustrated by the pictures I've added of the driving car which looks either a teal colour through to a dark blue depending upon the angle.  Another really cool thing is the way the coaches are not only different to each other but some are totally different on each side.  Pictures 8 and 9 illustrate this totally as this is the same carriage (#5 in the consist), the feature worth highlighting is that the dining car also has table lamp lighting as well as some special below window lighting according to the description below - when I get the chance to check this out I'll post some pictures of that, this is in addition to the normal directional lights and destination boards on the driving cars.  Overall something really quite special, anyway as already said below is the Kato description;

DESCRIPTION
A scale model of the latest streamlined tour express train "Saphir Odoriko"  has been released from Kato with this logo printed on the sides of train. Saphir is a French word meaning blue jewel sapphire. E261 "Saphir Odoriko" is a new sightseeing limited express which appeared in March 2020 at the time of train schedule revision under the new promotional concept of "Experience true IZU for adults!" The body is painted in the graduated dark grey belt surrounding the windows as well as in glossy colours of blue and white symbolizing clear sky and calm sea in Izu province. The train consists of cars furnished with more comfortable seats than the usual 1st class (green) cars and a diner dubbed "noodle car" only. The cars are installed with light skylights. The seats are arranged spaciously and the compartments are roomy.

Main features
-Reproduced with coloring that imaged the beautiful sea and sky of Izu
-Reproduce the characteristic head shape, open skylight, and beautiful glossy gradation band.
-Reproduce the appearance that the skylight and body of each vehicle are integrated without steps.
-The headlights, indicator lamps, table lamps that are characteristic of dining cars, and the lighting at the bottom of the wall are lit up.
-The chair is reproduced in car 1 ... gray, car 2-3 ... brown, car 4 ... dark brown, car 5-8 ... beige.
-The coupler is equipped with a close-coupled dummy coupler at the beginning, and a body-mounted KATO hookless close-coupled coupler as standard equipment at the middle.
-Head light / tail light standard equipment. The LED lighting of the headlights and indicator lights, the table lamps that are characteristic of the dining car Sashi E261, and the lighting at the bottom of the wall are lit up. Compatible with DCC decoder installation

This set includes a specially designed  blue 8-car book case specification and a special binding sleeve.





















I should also add that there is additionally a 4 car expansion set to complete this train, I may well get this in the near future as I like to complete sets when I can.  However it is not exactly a cheap addition unless I stumble across a 2nd hand mint example like I did for the main set!  Enjoy!

[Super]

I love those Coaches...are those little details I can see through the windows?

Hi Super,

Yes, the detailing is incredible bearing in mind how small these models are, and to answer your question yes it does have a full set of interior detail including seating etc... In fact they have gone so far as to colour the seats in each car to match the colour of the seats in the cars in the real train. You can see pictures of the internals of these cars on the Kato website here; https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/e261 I also still love the quality of the paintwork/finish on these as it truly is a beautiful thing to look at, I can see why it is a special release.

I also made a small mistake, apparently the 4 car expansion set is only needed if you have bought the 4 car starter set of this particular train. As I've got the 8 car special edition model that is the up market version which features the entire train as it exists in real life which made it even more of a bargain.

Mind you the other one I got (see next posting) was even more of a bargain as I got the entire 'original' Twilight Express train which means the base set of 6 coaches, the expansion set of 4 additional coaches and even the separately sold correct EF locomotive. This means I now have both the original Twilight Express and as already posted the newer "Twilight Express Mizukaze". Both are beautiful, include plenty of unique 'viewing' cars. But I think my favourite of the two is still the latter Mizukaze version due to the incredibly detailed power car and trailing observation car.


Cheers, Nigel

Hi Super,

As I mentioned in my reply above, here's the second of the two trains I just got, the original 'Twilight Express' train as opposed to the Twilight Express Mizukaze which I already have.  I would post the description from the Kato website about features etc, but this time it is only in Japanese so not so useful to those of us who don't speak/read it.  This train is comprised of a dedicated EF loco, a 6 car standard set and a 4 car expansion set.  I got the whole lot together in a single purchase, it also is pristine despite nominally being 2nd hand.  Anyway I'll let the pictures do the talking;