Run your own train in our layout!

Our HO scale layout is open to our overnight staying customers.
Details are here.

Now it looks like above, but it did like below at the first time back in March last year (2006)

I am not a good carpenter, never good at making anything but anyway I have reached a certain point to drive trains in the layout! I appreciate all the help and support I have gotten from everyone. Please keep yelling!!

Hayaokidori website

Layout name

is not decided yet :(

#1 Hayaokidori tetsudo(railway)
#2 Hakuba kogen(highland) tetsudo
#3 Hayaokidori international railways
#4 Hakuba kokusai(international) tetsudo

Hum..... Japanese or English, have to decide which language I use for it first!!!

Hayaokidori website

JNR583 series limited express "Hatsukari"

A pic of "Hatsukari" when I travelled around Tohoku region with some friends in 1977.

I was on an express train "Inawashiro" which connected Aidu-Wakamatsu and Sendai. "Inawashiro" was exactly an express train but it stopped all stations throughout Fukushima from Aidu-Wakamatsu. Another express train "Matsushima" overtook the "Inawashiro" somewhere around Motomiya or Nihonmatsu. Then this "Hatsukari" overtook the "Inawashiro" maybe at Shiraishi if I remember correctly.

Hayaokidori website

Rosemary buds

Found some buds at our rosemarry plants. Rosemarries are usually in bloom in winter throughout spring. Very small flowers which you can find if you were careful enough.
We put rosemarry pots below some plastic roof in summer to avoid rainfalls. Rosemarries don't like humid weather, so that they can grow enough in sunmer. We cut some in winter for cooking, so our rosemarries usually get smaller in winter and they look like baby rosemarries in spring as we cut them too much! lol...
Probably we had better not cut them so much in winter because I guess winter is the time for them to rest. They don't grow much in winter - they always grow so slow through the year. But while we run an accommodation in a ski resort, anyway we get more guests in winter rather than in summer.

Hayaokidori website

A small picture frame

Bought this one at a flea market maybe in Roma or Milano or Vemezia ( don't remember where I bought it!! ) when I travelled around Europe by myself in 1982 or 1984, not sure which. Usually I buy a picture of scenery when I buy some but this is not a scenery one, wonder why I bought it. Now it sits at a shelf of our bar, I think it becomes there. Exactly the description there is French though I bought it somewhere in Italy.

Hayaokidori website

Containers to stock something

We use various stuff to stock something.

The left one had many nori ( black paper ; sea weeds )inside but now I stock some lasagna in it. The right one has a rubber cover, is used to stock some ribbon pasta.


This type of stuff has a pair of strong wires to hold the cap, so it won't be broken so easily.

Hayaokidori website

MP (Multi Perpose ) gear textbook 2

A regular poster to our Japanese blog adviced me to get a MP gear textbook so I did. Endo MP gear manual vol.2


I found some advertisement of their products, all HO scale.

JR Hokkaido 261 series 4 diesel cars set -- 299,250 yen!
Former JNR 167 series Shugaku rhoko train 4 passenger cars set -- 189,000 yen!

I don't have enough budget for them now lol...

Hayaokidori website

Whipped cream

It needed much time to make some whipped cream by a hand creamer. Muscles around my hand and arm were stiff and sore.


Nowadays some useful tools are available, no need to do that hard work any more. No sore muscles :-)



A big glass of parfait. This glass is taller than 20cms,quite big one.

Hayaokidori website

165 series express train running the layout.

Sahashi165 at its kitchen room side. Click this pic below to see a clip.


This below is the opposite side of the buffet car Sahashi165.

I really like the joint sound when this train going around the small castle which is lighten up just after the train pass through the station.

Hayaokidori website

Mimizuku no yu

Went to an onsen ( hot spring ) after a rush in a 3 days holiday.

One of hot springs I sometimes go is Mimizuku no yu. They have an indoor bath, an outdoor bath in each gender bath rooms. (Not mixed ones!) There's a roof above the outside bath, so it's not a completely outdoor if I can explain, but anyway it's open to circunstances there.


View of Happo one. Wish I could have taken some pictures of it from inside, but there were some other people as well there. So no pics from there this time.

Hayaokidori website

Plural motor cars

When you drive a train pulled by a locomotive in a flat layout, usually the locomotive is only motor car. But when you drive a long train with some plural motor cars in a layout which has some steep uphills, usually the combination of the motor cars are not enough good.

Moha164-0 with 2 inside gear motors.


One of Moha164-800 which has lower ceiling around its pantagraph to get in some lines which have small tunnels.
If I drive each motor car ( Moha 164-0, Moha 164-800)separately, there's no problem but when I drive longer train putting both of them together, their combo is not good. Maybe they compete?


A motoer mountained at the Moha164-0.


A motor mountained at the Moha164-800. Looks they are same ones. Wondered if they were different ones though. I tried to see the small letters close to KTM (KaTsuMi : the maker of this model ) wearling another additional glass but it says

JAPAN

LOL....It was not worth wearing another additional glass though :o

Hayaokidori website

Sun-Alpine 2007

Went to Sun-Alpine ski slopes for the first time this season with my guests.
Details are here.........

Hayaokidori website

Mizett

Mizett. Something I can not miss in my layout.


Silvia (left) is a 1/87 scale, Mizett (right) is 1/72. So a little bit different from the real ones. Had better put them apart in the layout.

Hayaokidori website

NHK TV program "King of hobby"

NHK would broadcast a TV program for model train from 10 p.m. for 25 minutes on Wednesday from tonight until tha last March.

Details (Only in Japanese )

Stay tuned!

Hayaokidori website

Snowharp

Went to the Hakuba Snowharp olympic cross country skiing trails to take my guests there.

Mountains just in front of the Japan north alps main moutains.


Many Japanese self-defence army cars were there. Maybe they had a training there today.


View of the 3 symbolic Hakuba moutains from snowharp.

Hayaokidori website

Making a layout #29 Figure vol.2

3 couples of people sitting on chairs.

What are those tiny parts at the left?


What are they all about? I have no idea at all. And the figures are so unsteady, easily fall down.....


Like this....

Hayaokidori website

Ski jump stadium

Went to the Hakuba olympic ski jump stadium.

Left : for normal hill (K=90), right : for large hill (K=120). As this place is higher than around, so need to park your car at the bottom and go up stairs.



Not a problem to go up, but problem to go down on some stairs covered with snow. I was careful to start going down as if I were a puppy which went up stairs but can not come down coz of scariness lol.... I know I am not that cute like a puppy any more hahaha :o


Hakuba tourist office is located at the opposite side of the road there.




Mt.Goryu


Caution, Santa Claus!


Happo one Nakiyama garande.


Symbolic Hakuba 3 mountains.
Hum.... I should have skiied instead!

Hayaokidori website

Digicam skill 2

Someone who is a regular poster to our Japanese blog recommends me to put some strong lights around the layout to get better picuters so I tried.




Getting better to take pictures with some more lights. Maybe if I could put some more, it would be better.


Castle tower front side in the dark with lights.


From the opposite side. The lights around the castle tower reflect the lake in the dark.

Hayaokidori website

Larch tree pinecorns

It was very windy and snowy last night, guess probably it was almost like a blizzard. I found a lot of tree branches on the ground in the snow. Have to get them out before removing snow by my snowblower. But it means a chance for me to collect some larch tree pinecorns.


They are much tinier than other pinecorns. Some small wildbirds like Enaga, Kogara and Higara sometimes check inbetween the seeds to find something to eat. Enaga is good at grabbing two different tree branches with its legs but Kogara and Higara never do that.

Hayaokidori website

Digicam skill

Wonder how I can take good pictures of model trains which are running by my digital camera. Always they look bad. I think digital cameras have much more time lag when we take pictures with them compared with by normal cameras with films.
DB 103 Electric locomotive and T.E.E pasenger cars.


JNR Diesel car Kiha17+ Kihayuni18.


JNR Diesel car Kiha17 + Kihayuni 18 (left ) and DB 103 + T.E.E passenger cars (right).


Can't take even a pic of B-tender good. :(

I guess probably I can fix the shutter speed somehow, checked if I can do it or not by the guidebook but it's a bit hard with my far sighted eyes :(


Hayaokidori website

Fine weekends

Cold air left some gifts - a bunch of snowfalls and when it's gone, it's getting fine day today. People visit ski slopes over this weekends are lucky.

Good visibility. We even can see the top of Hakuba Goryu ski slope from our place.


From the same point I took another pic a couple of days back. It looks this different when it's fine.


When you walk deeper in Hakubanomori, you'll see the moutain ridge covered with snow in the sky.

Hayaokidori website