The Award winning ....

This layout commenced in my imagination April 2002, after seeing the new Modemo models of the Tokyu 300 trams.

I was planning to build a private line into my new Shin Yamanote layout, and run a variety of Tokyu trains there, but because the rolling stock on the Setagaya line is a different gauge, not connected to the rest of the network and more like a tram line than a 'normal' rail line, it would not have fitted in very well. 

The Setagaya line (see yellow line on map) is a small (5km) line that runs from Sangenjaya on the Tokyu Den'en-toshi line, to Shimo-takaido on the Keio main line. You can change at Yamashita for the Odakyu Honsen. Stations are Sangenjaya, Nishi-Taishido, Wakabayashi, Shoinjinjamae, Setagaya, Kamimachi (their depot is here), Miyanosaka, Yamashita, Matsubara and Shimo-Takaido. There is no connection at either end, as well that the line being a different gauge (1372mm). Rolling stock has traditionally been 2 car sets, many built in the 1950's, but recently all have been replaced by the new 300 series articulated sets. As well as being very modern looking, the 10 sets currently running are all painted in different colours, and often have advertising stickers applied as well.

When a model of the 300 series was released by Modemo, I could not help buying the two versions (one green and one yellow), and this led to more research of the line and it's rolling stock. I will also run older type rolling stock as well, as it was during the transition period when the new sets were being phased in.

The layout will be 1800mm x 1200mm, which is the right size to fit in my layout trailer, and also the size of a framework that I still have left over from the previous layout. There will be an overhead main line and station running across the back of the layout, running Tokyu suburban trains. The majority of the layout will be dense suburban, with higher office and residential buildings close to the suburban station on the right, changing to more a residential area in the centre, and on the left will be a raised area with older, more tradition Japanese buildings lining a street that will wind it's way to the top of the hill at a temple with a large statue (not quite prototypical). The main line will go into a tunnel in this hill on the left, and disappear behind tall buildings on the right. About 1/3 of the station will be visible and will look like it is going straight ahead, even though once hidden, it will curve around the back. The tram line will appear from under the overhead line at each end, and weave it's way amongst the buildings at the front of the layout. 

Here is a very rough map to give you an idea ...

Progress

07/06/2002 - After temporarily placing buildings and track on the board to see how they would fit, I took them all off to get the baseboard ready. The board was trimmed to the correct size, and checked that it would fit OK in the trailer. Then the mounting supports were fitted underneath for the A-frame legs to mate with. Next I will be constructing the light support frame and the light box. Also the last pieces of track that I need have been ordered. I am using the Tomix original brown track for the tram line, and the new 'Fine Track' range for the suburban line. As the plan above indicates, each line will have a storage loop at the back, so a total of 4 different trams and 4 different suburban trains can be used. I will be using Tomix controllers so that the points can be connected to their switch boxes, and it will all run off a 240v-100v converter transformer.

01/08/2002 - Confirmation has just been received that the layout's invitation to attend the Australian Model Railway Association's annual exhibition in October has been accepted. This is the largest model railway exhibition in Australia, so I will have to get busy and get this layout ready in time !!!
I have built a light box to illuminate the layout (you cannot rely on hall lighting), wired up a fluorescent light, and attached the supports to mount this box above the layout, around the middle over the suburban tracks. Unfortunately the very front will be in a bit of a shadow, but without lighting in front of the layout, this cannot be avoided. I don't want overhanging light supports, and you cannot mount poles etc. at the front of the layout blocking the spectator's view. Here is a view, with the tram tracks roughly in the place they will be. The side to the right of the picture is the front, or viewing side. These pictures are taken with my new Digital camera :-)

12/08/2002 - Backboards have been cut out and positioned in place. The left hand side will be contoured later to match the hill which rises from the front to back. Here is the latest picture. You can see buildings on the shelves behind and to the left of the layout, waiting to be put in position.

In the last week, I have received invitations to go to Adelaide next June for an exhibition, and Melbourne early next year for an N scale convention. If you don't know where these places are, they are both capitals of other Australian states, and a map will show you how far they are away from Sydney !!! I will probably do the Adelaide exhibition, but not the Melbourne one.

09/09/2002 - Just back from 16 days in Japan, with only one month to go to the exhibition !!! My mother was staying to look after the house (and cat) while we were away, and we had to unpack etc etc so I have just had time to start work again. The trip was good, except for the weather (hot and 99% humidity), and I spent a day exploring the Tokyu systems, including this particular line. First I walked the full length of the line from Sangenjaya to Shimo-takaido, using roads as close to the line as I could, then took video footage going in both directions. Certainly good for background information.

The light box has been completely finished and mounted to the layout, and the backboards put into position and painted a sky blue colour (although I don't remember seeing the sky that colour at all in Tokyo !!!). I had to purchase a couple of track items whilst in Japan as well, so putting down the track will be the next task. Here is the rolling stock, getting ready for the first test run.

16/09/2002 - ready to put the base layer down now for the roads etc, but first I have tried positioning some buildings first, to get the right effect and make sure the track is hidden where it will go into the backboards. Here is a shot from the left side, and the right side. Final placing is not guaranteed to be the same !!! The two tall Tomix buildings straddling the line on the right will be a department store, with a covered walkway over the tracks.

19/09/2002 - a bit of a set back, with a couple of days being wasted due to poor quality workmanship and materials leaving an uneven base surface for all the roads and buildings. So the rough second hand sheet of MDF covered with sheets of thick cardboard (that I tried to use to make a smooth flat surface) has come off, and been replaced with a nice new piece of flat smooth MDF. In the mean time, here are some photos of most buildings place in a mock-up position. Due to lack of time, I have decided that the suburban track will start off being a dummy, and be made operation later on ...

27/09/2002 - with 4 days of work because of a minor operation, I had some extra time to work on the layout, which I didn't use as fully as I could !!! Last weekend, a couple of friends came around to watch the football, and do the wiring (thanks Ed & Greg) while I did other things. The next day I wired up the switches that let you have automatic station stops for the tram line. Now all the buildings are painted, and my wife is putting windows in all of them, and adding stickers to some of the buildings like the Kato restaurants, and Tomix convenience stores. I have finalised the layout of the buildings (and it is different to what you see above, as I wanted more residential area), and the track position. Work is commencing on adding ballast to the track area, and cutting out the cardboard sheets that will represent the roads and footpath area. I still haven't worked out how to do the hill on the LHS where the suburban track is supposed to go into a tunnel :-(    

Here are the latest pictures ... 

29/09/2002 - all the cardboard sheets for the pavement area have been cut out and painted, and the areas not covered by these has been painted to look like asphalt roads. The track is now permanently down, and test running for a lengthy period revealed no problems. Ballast was then laid down with a light gray between the two tracks and on the sides, and brown between the rails. Hopefully that combination will be similar to the very dirty appearance that some Japanese tracks get.

01/10/2002 - the new Greenmax buildings have had their storefronts painted and installed, and all that remains is to add lots of signs. Because the fluorescent light was around the middle of the layout, I didn't think there was enough light right at the front edge, so I went out and bought 3 halogen spotlights to mount to the front of the lightbox. Also the warmth of those lights will hopefully cancel out the coolness of the fluorescent. Also a rough framework has been created for the mountain in the LH corner. I have worked out how I wanted it to go, but it is too late to start on that design, so that can be one of the changes made for the next show.

09/10/2002 - By having 2 days off work on the 3rd & 4th, I was able to complete the layout to a degree of satisfaction for the exhibition on the 5th-7th. Adding light and power poles, people, bicycles, vending machines and other bits and pieces were the last things done. I finished the tunnel on the Friday that hides the tracks on the LHS, not the way I wanted to, but there will be many changes before the layout goes to another exhibition. I may even add a subway line/station !!! Speaking of the next exhibition, I received invitations for just about every major show for the whole of next year, several of which are out of Sydney. I certainly won't be going to many of them though, for my own sanity and also so as not to overexpose the layout. When getting ready to load the trailer on Friday afternoon, I discovered I couldn't find the key to the padlock where the trailer is chained up for security reasons, so luckily I was able to cut the chain with an angle grinder !!! The 45min trip to the hall went OK, and setup took just over an hour, which included placing all the buildings on the baseboard (none of them were glued down at all). The 3 days went uneventfully, my wife helped for 2 days, and another friend on the Sunday. The layout really only needs one operator, but you need a break from time to time. All you have to do is change the trains running on the two tracks and release them when they stop at the station. I have bought the circuitry though so that automatic station stopping will be done next time. Comments were all very complimentary, both from the public and other exhibitors. No awards though, but that is not what I go there for. The most irritating thing was that everyone wanted to see the outside elevator on the tall bronze building going up and down !!!! Godzilla made the occasional appearance behind the tall buildings, and everyone spotted the McDonalds & 7/11 buildings. Even though everyone is handed an exhibition guide with a write-up about the layout, many people seemed to think the layout was in Hong Kong, and also there was a debate as to whether it was tram or a train running. The 4 Modemo units (2x Tokyu 300 & 2x Deha80) ran pretty well continuously for the 3 days, without any problems at all, with track cleaning done using the Tomix cars at the beginning of each day.

Well, the show is over, and here are the first photos to show what it looked like ....

Overall view of the hall - LHS RHS

The stand (on LHS) close up

Closer view - LHS RHS

Here are some more closeup shots, going from L -> R  ...

Here are some individual scenes ....

    small shopping street

    Dennys & Mosburger - what more could you want? :-)

    two lots of hard working people !!!

    small shrine in the middle of the busy city

    suburban station - note the bicycles ...

And of course you must be wondering what was running ???

    the old and the new

    shame the lights don't work !!!

... and finally, some shots inside and from behind the layout that you would not see from the front ...

November 2002 - Modemo have just announced that they will do a model of the 309 car, which is orange with advertising on the outside for the line's 'Setamaru' electronic card system. Of course I will have to get one, so either I have to add another storage track, or one of the old Deha80's has to go !!! I am also planning to build a subway line underneath, with the station visible in a slot through the front of the layout.

Here are some photos of the back of the layout, with the controllers and storage tracks (all Tomix).    

And here is what the front looks like for transport - all the buildings and most of the upper track is all removable - as you can see, my philosophy is "if you can't see it, don't waste time and materials painting it" !!! 

Latest progress is that I have purchased the timber for the new framework, and finally brought the layout inside from the trailer - with the heat we have been having here lately (43deg), I was hoping it hadn't melted !!! I now have to work out how to get the top surface off, without damaging all the details.

28/12/2002 - After many requests, I have made a page showing most of the buildings on the layout that are not 'straight out of the box'. There are over 100 pictures - if you want to see them, click HERE.

02/02/2003 - After lots of 'doodling', I have finally worked out how I will extend the layout. There will be a 300mm extension on each end. These will be separate to the main layout, and will bolt on to the ends. The layout could not be made bigger in one piece because of the trailer size, and I did not want to make it in two larger section that would mean gaps in the track. On the LHS, the scenery will extend further, with the old town souvenir shop area and path to a shrine/temple on the hill, and on the RH side, the city will extend to hide the overhead suburban track curving around to the back of the layout. I have decided to relocate some of the taller buildings, particularly the department store in front of the station (the two tall Tomix buildings connected by a walkway), and this will open up and make more visible the plaza area in front of the suburban station. I have pulled off the backboard and corner scenery, and you can see some of the experimentation in the next couple of pictures.

   LH side - you can see how the mountain has 'moved' and other buildings are being planned. I hope there will be room for the railway workshop buildings, with a couple of storage sidings.

   RH side - a temporary framework is being used to allow a flat space to try building placement. Only the green area will be the final extension size.

Today I cut out all the frame timber to size on my amazing Triton saw bench, and built the light box extensions. Again, I did not want to make the light box longer, so built 2x 300mm extensions that attach to the side supports. I also got an extra 3 globe halogen spotlight set, to give more light over the extended length. 

   Here is the light box after assembly, with painting of everything black still to be done.

09/02/2003 - Today I finished the main module frame. First I had to cut out the 'holes' in the sides, to allow the public to see the subway station and shopping arcade at the front, and to access the subway tracks at the back At first, I couldn't figure out how to do this in 19mm pine, but then decided to use the router on one side to mark out the area, and they cut right through from the other side. Of course the two cuts didn't quite line up, so I trimmed the edges smooth with the circular saw. Then I was able to assemble the 4 main sides, gluing and nailing them together, and then attach the cross braces inside. 

   This shows the finished frame, upside-down, with the rear closest to the camera. The 300mm extensions have not been put on the ends yet.

13/02/2003 - Finished putting the frame sections together, and attaching the light boxes. The photos show the frame the right way up, looking at the front edge.

   Lights off.

   Lights on.

16/02/2003 - The frame pieces and light box have now been painted.

23/02/2003 - The track base for the subway line has been assembled, and the layout is now out of the garage and back inside the layout room.

   Here it is set up in the layout room.

    This shot shows the back of the layout, with the space for loading the subway trains.

    This shot shows the subway station, with some Kato platform parts temporarily in place.

On another note, the old Setagaya is now definitely no more, as well as the old modules left over from Nihon Mokei Tetsudo. I had fun ripping them apart, and salvaging any good timber that was left !!!

March 2003 - Mostly spent getting the station area details worked out, and waiting for parts to arrive from Japan !!! I decided on using Tomix platforms, as they are narrow, and have more detail parts available. When putting the track in place, it was time to try out the 'station stopper' (should have done this when I bought them last October), and found I couldn't get them to work. Because I am using the Tomix CL controllers, maybe their 'magic' circuits are not compatible with the module electronics. Anyway, I really could not get them to work satisfactorily and reliable the same every time, so unfortunately I had to ditch the cheaper Australian item, and go for the expensive Fleischmann equivalent. Luckily I was able to get these from the Australian importer within 5 days. Now that the train seems to stop OK, the constant lights still go off, because the track is completely dead, so I had to get another Tomix controller for each track, just to inject the right voltage to keep the lights on. It has been turning into an expensive exercise, just because I wanted to have constant lighting !!! But I can use these extra controllers on the Shin-Yamanote layout later anyway (as well as the subway section of the layout, seeing the name of the underground station is 'Shin-Yamanote).

   Here is a picture of the trains position at the platform, with the roof support pillars in place. Unfortunately, I have not taken many pictures this month.

April 2003 - After finally getting the right electronic items, I have been assembling the subway station/shopping arcade items, including detailing the platform area with signs, and making enough shop items to fill the gap on the top floor. You don't know how complicated it is to get the top and bottom elevator shafts to line up vertically !!!

Here is the way the layout looks currently set up, with the subway and shops in place. 

   A complete front of the underground area with most details in place. The back wall of the station has not been done yet, just the support pillars.

   Station entrance and lifts & escalators to the next levels.

   Station ticket machine area.

   'Back' view that will never be seen again when the 'ground' level is put back on. If you are wondering why the backs of the buildings look jagged, it is because they are two sided, but on a layout like this would be wasted, so I cut them in half to use both sides facing the front. You can also see the wires for the interior lights of the shops and the platform.

May 2003 - further finalising of the new sections of the layout were done, with some sections still not completed until a day before leaving for Adelaide !!!

   The top is back on and the extra track for the tram loop has been added.

   I had to remove a lot of the fences and poles and reposition them so the Tomix Multicleaning car could get around the tight curves.

   First attempt to fill the extra space on the RHS. Compare to the finished version ...

   The hill on the LHS being extended. The original hill was kept and put back again nearly unchanged.

   Finally ready for packup !!! (large file)

Photos taken at Adelaide exhibition - 7th to 9th June 2003

   Showing the addition of some of Kato's new Dio-town components - guard rails, traffic lights, direction signs, and footpath fences.

   The very common convenience store - they are everywhere in Japan.

   309 approaches a small street level crossing.

   View of many rooftops - see next photo for prototype inspiration.

   The red building with the sloping front in the picture above, was copied from this one that can be seen from Tokyu's Shibuya station platform.

   A quiet peaceful street next to a small park with cherry blossoms.

   Note the many carelessly left bicycles near the tram stop - see next picture.

   This is what it looks like around most suburban railway stations.

      Left and right side views - you can see the Perspex I added to the front to protect from inquisitive little fingers :-( 

   Rear of layout.

   An appreciative crowd - many people commented that this layout was 'different' to the many other dry-looking, open-spaced Australian prototype layouts (not that there is anything wrong with them!!!).

   Overall view of part of the hall.

   Setup ready for display as the public see it. (large file)

   Panorama of 'ground' level (large file)  

   Panorama of underground station & shopping arcade.

  Closeup of part of the lower levels. (large file)

July 2003 - I am pleased to announce that at the HMRS exhibition I attended over the previous weekend (26th & 27st July 2003), 'Setagaya' received the award for "Exhibitor's Choice", which is judged by all the other exhibitors present. The count was actually tied with another layout, and that happened only because I voted myself for that layout (of course you cannot vote for yourself!!). But each layout will get a nice plaque. Also I was apparently only a couple of votes away from the "People's Choice" award as well :-) There is nothing wrong with the public liking your work, but it is also good to know that your peers appreciate all your hard work.

Photos taken at Castle Hill exhibition - 26th & 27th July 2003

You can have fun finding the differences between these and the previous versions ....

   Here is an overall picture of most of the hall.

   Appreciative crowds looking at the layouts (I am the #2 at the back)

   A view over the rooftops.

   Everyone's favourite, other than the people lining up at the bus stop !!!!

   Small shopping square, which has had some new vending machines install recently.

  A busy main road.

   The store at the front left is the one destroyed in the recent earthquake.

   The elevated suburban line as seen from the LHS of the layout.

   Two suburban trains pass near the elevated station.

   The elevated suburban line as seen from the RHS of the layout.

   Overhead railway bridge amongst the city buildings. Note the original type McDonalds under the line.

   A view of the tram line from the RHS. Note how the 'P'arking tower dwarfs the surrounding buildings.

   Another view of the city rooftops.

   The junction of the elevated suburban & tram line stations.

   An overall view of the layout from the LH end.

Vending Machines

Everywhere you go in Japan, you see vending machines, both singularly, and more often, in groups (I think they breed during the night!!). So to do any Japanese layout realistically, you need lots of them :-)

Some of the Greenmax kits come with nice printed ones, both on the box, and the sticker sheet. I will admit having bought one or two kits just for the vending machines !!!! However of course nothing beats the realism of a REAL machine, and in less than the period of an hour, I walked a along residential street in Yamagata, and took high resolution pictures of over 50 machines .... some of these can be seen below, as well as samples from Tomix & Greenmax kits.

I hope to be able to market some of these in the near future ....

Modemo have announced that they will release another version of the old style Deha80 2 car sets later this year. This one will be an earlier livery, which was also revived in the months before the retirement of all the old Deha70, Deha80 & Deha150 cars. Of course, I will have to get it and expand the fleet some more !!!

 
thanks to Kazuma Tomita.

Newsflash: Saturday 2nd August 2003 

A minor earthquake hit the Setagaya area at around 4:15pm. 6 people were killed and substantial damage was caused to one shop building near the Kishibojinmae station. Minor damage was cause to several other buildings, and 1 car was destroyed.

There was no damage to the overhead JR line or the nearby subway line & station.

The scene of destruction as crews worked though the night to clean up the damage. The store owners stated that they have not decided whether to rebuild in the same style as the original building or to build a new shop.

All contents copyright Doug Coster 2003. 
Details current at 04/08/2003.

Tokyu fans since 12/05/02