This page is dedicated to highlighting some trains and other items in my personal collection. These items were collected over several years. Many are quite rare and even unique. In general, my collection focuses on western Tokyo (Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc.) trains. However, there are also a few items that don't necessarily belong there, but I like anyway. If you're interested in obtaining any of these or like items, first, please first see my eBay auctions.. you may find something there that is similar. Otherwise, please contact me. Please note that such custom items can be quite expensive and hard to find.

Looking for items for purchase or to inspire your own personal collection? Visit the Model Train Gallery pages for items that I more typically have for sale.

 

This is an 11-car set of Odakyu Electric Railway's 7000LSE. It is an articulated trainset, with cars sharing bogies in the style of the TGV, which is fairly unique for Japan. The private Odakyu railways always have a flagship train that runs the length of its route from Shinjuku to weekenders' destinations such as Odawara, Enoshima, and Hakone-Yumoto - this train is given the moniker "Romance Car" and commands a limited express surcharge atop the regular fare. The 7000 series I believe was active through the 1980s. It is an 11-car trainset in the "classic" romance train scheme of off-orange and off-brown that initially may look a bit weird, but is actually quite nice when you warm up to it a bit. The 7000LSE was also later in its career painted red and white.

Alas, more recent incarnations of the Romance train have been far more forgettable, sporting generic liveries that make them no better than generic JR affairs (that link is actually quite clickable as it shows how Odakyu tries to sell the train as a "Romance" train, even though in practice it is generally filled with salarymen off for a picnic). Here is the complete list of "Romance Cars" (note the 7000LSE in this illustration is shown in the red-white scheme)

The Tomix model is a bit old. Hard, but not impossible to find these days on the secondary market. Tomix and Kato both make the OER10000 HiSE, which was the upate train to this in a red and white livery (also nice). I occasionally sell these on eBay (the Kato ones tend to be quite rare indeed and a lot more expensive than the Tomix ones here) as they really are nice sets. My 7000LSE comes in an older-style Tomix folio case. I have the destination stickers set for Hakone.

My OER 7000LSE is Tomix #92009.

UPDATE! I have since gone on a spree of Romance Car train acquisition. I now have in my collection:

• MicroAce 3000 (SE) - both the original 8 car version (MA-2151) and the heavily modified 5-car version
• MicroAce 3100 (NSE) - This was released by MicroAce in three versions. I have the "Sayonara 3100" version
• Tomix 7000 (old colour scheme) as mentioned above
• 10000 - I don't own one, but at any given moment I have one here for sale. Please let me know if you are interested, as I have some really nice ones.
• Modemo 20000 RSE. For a VERY brief period, Modemo (of all manufactureres!) released a 20000 Romance Car version. Who would have guessed that tram-maker Modemo would do such a thing! At any rate, it is a very fine model. Very hard to find now.
• Tomix 50000 VSE. Really really superb bit of kit. One of Tomix's finest. I bought one when they were new, and sold quite a few more. Borderline impossible to find now.

I have no particular interest in the 30000. It is a rather boring train by any standard. My Romance Car collection, I am happy to say, is enviable even by Japan standards. If you are interested in any of these trains, I can try to help.

 

In 2006, Tomy, as part of their TomyTek "collections" series issued a "commuter trains of the past" collection of N gauge items. Not nearly to the standard of Kato, MicroAce, and Tomix "professional" N gauge items, the TomyTek trains were meant to be sold in convenience stores and were made of a thicker, inferior plastic all-over, including bogies, wheels, and pantographs. When one purchases a box from this collection at the convenience store, one does not know which one of 6 different train cars will be found. I bought this 2-car set from a store in Tokyo which opened the boxes, paired up the natural pairs, and sold them at a marked-up price. The most highly marked up (except for a special limited edition "secret" pair), and therefore the most popular was this Odakyu 2200-series set, consisting of trailer cars 2213 (with pantograph) and 2214 (without). Now, I say that the quality of this is not as good as, say, Kato. That is true. However, even this convenience store toy stuff compares favorably to stuff by, say, Graham Farish! Or, at least the body shell itself did. Having no interest in running this as a motorized set, I set about making it look as good as it can for non-moving (static) display opeartions. I modified this by:

• Removing the generic heavy plastic pantograph and replacing it with a quality GreenMax one from my spares collection. Thoughfully, TomyTek had anticipated that some enthusiasts might want to do this and included pre-drilled slots for either GreenMax or Tomix replacement pantos.
• Replacing the plastic bogies with quality GreenMax replacements. I used the OdakyuFS wheelsets - I am not sure if these ar ecorrect for the 2200 series, but it's probably good enough (note the photos here still shows the old wheelset)
• Replacing the coplers between the cars with Kato hose-type couplers. That said, this set may be a candidate for further upgrade to Tomix TN-style couplers
• Adding service and destination stickers from GreenMax's Odakyu sticker set. I put Odawara on one end and Shinjuku on the other. Not exactly realistic (a real train would have the same destination on both ends), but good enough for model purposes.
• I toyed with the idea of upgrading the lights as well, but so far have chickened out. I do have some miscallaneous pieces from a brass kit that could do the trick, but i worry about ruining it. Also, the painted-on lights aren't that bad, I think. The silver headlights in particular look basically correct, though the 'silver taillights' might need an upgrade at some point.

The overall result is good. Fortunately, I had a lot of the required things (including the stickers) in my spare parts bin (though I did buy the bogies especially for this).

A good match to run with the Romance Cars, this is a very typical Odakyu Commuter set. This is a 2005 release by MicroAce, and pretty much the best model from them that I have seen, further evidencing that the quality from them continues to imrpove. This is a 6-car set that I had to pay quite a bit above the odds for to get as it had rapidly sold out in Japan. I am still looking for a similar Odakyu 2600 set.

I saw this train for sale in Tokyo and was amazed at the bargain I thought I was getting... and then I found out why. Still, I'm not at all unhappy with it. Let me tell you why. First, this is a train by Win. Not Kato, not Tomix, but "Win", which ranks about tenth in the list of Japanese model train manufacturers (a list where, if you're already at 5 or 6 you're already pretty obscure). I think this started its life as a kit (at least a pre-painted one), but I am not sure. Anyway, this is a Chiyoda (subway) line / Joban Line 103 series train, with decals making it bound for Yoyogi-Uehara. Now, you might recognize that a 103 series is not a subway train. Rather this was the standard JNR (Japan National Railways, pre-privatization into JR) commuter-train. Why then a Chiyoda line 103? Because these trains ran through the Chiyoda line on one end onto the JNR/JR Joban line and on the other on the (private) westenr-tokyo Odakyu line. So, it's an interesting mix of JR, subway, and western-tokyo private line all in one train. It's also interesting in that they decided to keep the "JNR" logo on this train well into the post-privatization days. Anyway.. about that bargain - the reason I found it cheap probably had to do with the fact that MicroAce had, unbeknownst to me, just put out a manufactuerd (not kit built) version of this set. Pity - manufactured versions tend to be quite good in Japan, no matter how good the kit-builder. Additionally, the manufactured set would feature working headlights and taillights,where this had none. Still, the detail on this Win set was not bad, and I got it quite cheap. The set I got was unmotorized - I found a Kato 103 ("canary yellow") motor car and transferred the motor to this set (the motor fit in with suprising snugness - I don't think I could do it again, but after some work including a bit of filing, the fit is perfect!). If I have time, I may try to add headlights and taillights to this, as, even with my general lack of skill for such things, this looks doable. Update: I hae replaced the couplers on this with proper ones and have ordered the parts necessary to install working headlghts. Let's see how this turns out!

The 103 above was a bit of a stretch for me. Lo and behold a MicroAce Chiyoda / Joban 203 series fell into my lap. The 203 is the successor to the 103. MicroAce made this in two versions - one with the JNR logo on the front and one with the newer JR logo. Alas, I got the JR version.

This is an extremely well built GM kit of a classic Keio train. The 5000 is sadly now retired from all Keio services (though it continues to run elsewhere, repainted). I purchased this set of 8 from an expert builder who clearly spent a lot of time detailing it. It even includes a good number of N-scale passengers inside (note the driver in the cab). I am extremely fortunate to have found this set. The 5000 is a great looking train - given the success they have had with recent not terribly dissimilar Odakyu releases, maybe MA might care to release this one...

My favorite train! The Keio 6000 is my favorite train for some reason (well, I did used to take it to school every day). To most people, this is a pretty run of the mill commuter train, but , you know, everybody is entitled to their favourite. Unfortunately, the train is not available in a mass-produced set (yet.. I have my fingers crossed that MicroAce might someday!). So, for now, this is a GreenMax kit-built 4-car set (with decals attached as a tokkyu / superexpress bound for Shinjuku) Unfortunately, this kit was built by me, meaning that, despite my best efforts, it is not exactly the pinnacle of the model-maker's art. Note that the red stripe you see here is the older Keio livery - I also have this kit (as yet mercifully unbuilt) in the newer, blue-and-pink (ugh) stripe livery. If you are a quality builder of plastic kits (sorry - I should have made it more clear - it is an unbuilt kit, but pre-painted - this is not to say it wont need more paint, but the basic stripe and background colour is done) and would like a go at my 4-car set, I may be very receptive and am willing to pay a fair sum or trade for some trains...

Mostly for sentimental reasons, Keio is my favorite railway operating company in Japan, and I try to collect as much Keio as comes out. Fortunately for my girlfriend, as yet there have been precious few Keio releases by the major manufacturers - none, in fact, by either Kato or Tomix. There are a few reasons for this - one, Keio, while on paper Keio is a largish company, it's a bit smaller than some of the other private railway companies. Two, for the most part no Keio lines really run adjacent to any major JR lines, so it's not a natural fit (compared, to say, Keikyu) to those who are modeling some JR-infested area anyway. Three, while it pains me to admit this, Keio trains probably aren't objectively as sexy as those of some similar companies--evidence #1 to this is the Odakyu Romance train elsewhere on this page.

The closest that Keio has to "sexy" trains are the colorful trains of the Keio Inokashira line. Each Inokashira line train has a different colour front and associated stripe. This is a 1000-series Inokashira train in "salmon pink" - the same train exists in blue, green, purple, cream, and a whole host of other colours. If you're standing on a platform waiting for a train, you can make bets with your friends as to what colour you will get. Inokashira trains always run as a 5-car set.

Anyway, this train is from MicroAce - that's right - an actual (as yet the actual) manufactured trainset of Keio by a major company (well, ok - to be fair, Endou and a few other now obscurish companies put out a few Keio trains in the 80s). Hooray! Hopefully it will be the first of many. As you can see, I have not yet put the decals on. It's a nice set-- the feel of the MicroAce trains is a little different than that of Kato and Tomix, but once you get used to it you will recognize their quality in their own right. Interestingly, the 1000-series are the newest Inokashira trains. They replaced the 3000 series (don't ask me how that worked...)

I was lucky here to find a well-built 3000-series Inokashira line train. This 5-car set came to me built out of a GreenMax kit. Whoever did it did a competent job. It's well built and the decals competently applied, including the Shibuya destination sign (we assume here that it's a local train - an express would have had a red mark on the front). In the absence of manufactured kits, sets, this is about as well as you can do for the Keio 3000, which, after all, was the classic Inokashira train. If you're a betting person, you might bet that this train will be manufacturered (by MicroAce?) before too long. These trains, now retired from Keio services, now serve on a number of secondary lines. The 1000 served in a variety of colours - my one here, as you can see, is in a lovely puke green.

You might notice that this 3000-series train looks something between the above 1000 and 3000 series. Actually, what this is that at some point towards the end of the Classic 1000-series service life, they decided to upgrade the look of a few of them to the more "modern" look shown here. This is a 5-car series put out by Yuzawaya, a relatively obscure manufacturer. The quality is about the same as that of the well-made GM-kit above, and, while I am not sure of this, it is possible that Yuzawaya's offerings are simply "professionally" built GM-kits - there are a few companies doing this sort of thing. As I wrote above, Inokashira trains come in a variety of colours. Alas, I had already purchased the MA 1000 in salmon pink when this one came along. Yuzawaya sets are generally quite dear, and this one came along rather inexpensive, so despite it unfortunately doubling me up on pink sets, I went for it. If anybody has a non-pink MA 1000 that they'd like to trade for mine, please do let me know!

This train, a 5000-series, is known as "Akagaeru", which I believe is the name for some sort of toad or frog. Currently, this 2-unit set runs on the Gakunan Railway, a tiny little thing in Shizuoka prefecture that is interesting enough on its own. However, my interest in this set is less for its present than for its past, where it used to run (as a five car set, I believe) on the various western Tokyo Tokyu lines. This is a two-unit motorized set from MicroAce. Alas, I managed to bang up one of the pantographs on this a bit, so its due for repair. Interestingly, Tomix also released this train (in that case, as a Tokyu 5000-series) as a limited-edition set in 2002. The price for that set was quite high, so I gave that a miss - I am quite happy with this inexpensive yet attractive set as a replacement! On the real Gakunan Railway (part of the Fujikyu group), I think this set now runs in red livery with a white stripe. The Gakunan railway, incidentally, is a superb choice for a small Japanese layout. If you're a fan of the free Japanese Railway simulator BVE, please be aware that there is a free Gakunan Railway available for download.

This is a 4-car GreenMax built-kit, well made of an 8500 series commuter EMU. Markings are of an express bound for Nagatsuda. I used to ride this train often to school back around 1984. They are still in service on the Tokyu Den-en-chofu (ex Shin-Tamagawa) and perhaps some other lines.

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These are probably my favourite Kato sets of all time. Way back when, Kato released their 101 series set. Those quickly sold out and were heavily in demand in the aftermarket for some time. Only after intense searching did I manage to find a 4-car unpowered set of this. Then, several years after that, Kato must have woken up and realized how popular this set is, and they re-releaed it, though with some differences.

Now please excuse me if I get this wrong, because it's quite confusing, to say the least! Basically there are two types of trains: ones like you see at left and another type with a bronze stripe running the length and height of the windows. The old 101 set that was sold had the bronze stripe and was just sold as the "101". Now, there is a "101 new colour" (pictured at left) which does not have the bronze stripe. However, the "301 old colour" does have the bronze stripe. The 301 and 101 are nearly identical in terms of the model, though the new version has been updated with nicer couplers. This begs the question: what is the difference between the "old" 101 and the "301 old colour?" Well, I have both - and except for road numbers and tiny little details that are tiny even by the standards of nitpicky Japanese hobbyists, there are none.

How many of this train do I own? I am a bit embarassed to say. "Too many" might be the answer. I think in total I own about 26 cars of this type, including 10 end cars and 5 motorized cars (the sets were sold in 2, 4, 8, and 10 packs.. I have a bunch of them.. I've never really counted). Due to the way these things were sold, some of the motorized cars are end-cars and some are middle cars.

So why do I like this set? Well, for one, I like western tokyo private lines, and the Seibu company certainly is a nice example of this. Second, I used to ride a Seibu train daily while in Japan, and, for a long time, this was the closest thing to this. Actually, the train I used to ride was a 101-set with a similar paint scheme to the "new" 101 pictured above, but with a different cab configuration. Fortunately, MicroAce is about to release a 701 series which basically looks like the 101 with the old cab configuration. Confused yet? Bored? I understand.

Anyway, it's a nice looking train. A happy yellow colour and a good runner. I occasionally sell these on eBay - why not have a look?

As hinted at above, MicroAce did eventually release the 701 Seibu EMU. A decent set by western standards. Seibu has a whole series of similar trains (old cab style 101, 501, etc) that are virtually indistinguishable from this 701.

This is a really good Locomotive by Kato. I occasionally sell these on eBay. Basically, this is a Seibu E851, which is really a standard EF65 loco that the Seibu company dolled up a bit cosmetically in a very un-JR-like livery and added some round windows on the sides.

You can't live.. forget live.. be in Tokyo very long without knowing about the Yamanote line. It is the train line that literally defines Tokyo - not just geographically, but socially and culturally as well. This 103 series train was the very first N-gauge Japnese train that I bought - in about 1987, I think. It represents the then current, now retired to the Hachioji-line-and-further afield very classic 103-series Yamanote line series. Amazingly, this Kato set still runs absolutely perfectly today.

The 103 was replaced by the 205 on Yamanote services. Though the 205s are now (2005) being mostly phased out, this was the de-facto Tokyo commuter throughout the 1990s. This is a Kato set.

Update: since the photo at left was taken, I have added the extra detail pieces and have painstakingly added the stickers / decals for this train. It looks great now!

The 205s are now being phased out in favor of the E231s. These are arguably the most advanced commuter trains in the world in many respects - super lightweight construction and all manner of technical innovations, including smart video displays over every (or most) doors and much more. This is a set from MicroAce. Kato and Tomix also make this E231, but I happened upon this MA set at a good price, so I went for it.

I had always wanted a Keihin-Tohoku 209. This 4-car set came to me in a parcel of items ordinarily destined for eBay, but when I saw it and its internal lights, I just had to have it. Below is some information on the Keihin-Tohoku line:

Mine is a Tomix 4-car set (one car motorized). The current destination headboard on each side is that of a rapid train ("kaisoku") bound for Omiya, though I may change this out to Sakuragicho at some time in the future. My attachment to this? My familiy used to live briefly near Tamachi station which is served by the Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines.

This is an 8-car set (Kato 10-195) of the Yokosuka line. I bought this some time ago, new. It is an attractive train, I think. These sets are very very very hard to find now, for whatever reason.

Ok, this is a bit of a fib to say that this train really is an Eaat Tokyo train, and probably it more fairly belongs in the "et Cetera" section, but maybe if I hide it here, I am spared some wrath of significant other. This is a 153-series shin-kaisoku train that I added to my collection simply because I found the model to be suprisingly attractive. The prototype (with the Shin-Kaisoku marque at front) travels around Kyoto. There is a Kyuuko (express) version that travels from Tokyo station using a different Marque ("Tohoku"), but i have not had the opportunity to affix this as yet.

This is an Imperial locomotive that I nevertheless use for general use. A nice flywhele model from Kato with very good detail. I did not add the Japanese flags to the front that imperial use usually entails. As opposed to some of the other trains that you see here, this train does already have its full complement of detail and decals attached, and you can see from the photo that it looks better than some here because of it.

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One of my absolute favorite trains, I now own two 6-car sets of these. See the above Chuo line description for an idea.

Often involved in 'Relay-Go' services on the Chuo-line, this is a pretty nifty train. You should know that this is part of Tomx's HG (high grade) series, and the difference shows. These things cost about twice as much as Tomix's normal (and already not cheap) sets. I fortunate to find this unit for sale secondhand in basically new condition, but that's not the whole story. This 165/169 series train is sold by Tomix as a 3-car main set and a 3-car add-on. It was clear from the price that I got this for that the store that sold this to me didn't realize that the add-on was included in this box that I got here - somehow they mis-priced this much to my advantage. Yay! I have added LED bright internal white lights to this.

A true classic. This is the 183-1000 in classic JNR colors. This much beloved train still runs today in the same livery, in a manner of speaking. The "Chuo Liner" still runs the same route in the same classic JNR colours, even though JNR has long been privatized into various JR companies. Kato sells a seperate "Chuo Liner" version of this, but I prefer this - it allows me to selelct the traditional "Azusa" headboard (along with Toki, and a few others). For some odd reason, I have the main set, which I think is 6 or 7 cars or so, and FIVE 2-car add-on sets, which is actually more than necessary to complete a prototype train. So, if you are in need of add-ons for this, please contact me.

Sometimes even a blind pig finds a truffle. I was really marginal about buying this Kato set when it first came out. Yes, it ran on my favorite Chuo service, and yes, I had riden on it a few times in real life. But enough to purchase it? Fortunately, i did. Not only have I come to really like the train for its livery (aesthetically it is quite similar to the 183-1000), but for some reason this has become one of the rarer and most sought-after Kato releases and has MASSIVELY increased in price on the aftermarket. Not that the price increase really matters that much to me - I am not going to sell this, after all, though it makes me feel good, I guess. A really nice train.

With the gradual phasing out of service of trains such as the 183 and 189 above (or, at least reduction in frequency of their use), plans were made for new trains to ride the "long distance" Chuo line route. Enter this Super Azusa pendulum train. It is a model from Kato and actually features "pendulum" action by means of castering bogies. A nice effect and a very modern looking train - always gets some comment from people who have not seen this sort of thing before.

This is the one train that, to many people, is Japanese trains. This is the original 0-series bullet train. A must have in the collection of any Japanese train enthusiast, and, really, almost any N gauge enthusiast. These are available from Kato, Tomix, and MicroAce in many small variation. Mine is a Tomix manufacturered set commemorating the last run of the 0 series on the Tokaido shinkansen (but generally speaking, an ordinary Tomix set).

Kato 100-series "Shark Nosed" Shinkansen. This was modified with (high quality) Kato LED internal lighting and also the decals were very competently attached. All in all, a very nice train. That said, I may use this train for one of my pet projects, which is the installation of small switches to allow the internal lighting to be shut off. It's not that hard of a technical problem on most of the cars, but on the motor car and end-cars (which also have directional lighting), it could be quite a bit trickier.

Pity the poor 300! Not unloved, just ignored. The 300 is a workhorse of the Tokaido line and by most measures a darn good train. However, it's oafish "darth vader" appearance has just never made it a fan favorite. It's the Airbus A330 of the shinkansen world, if you will. A few fellow enthusiasts asked me for this model, and after much searching I procured a few examples. This gave me time to look it over and I decided it was a very good model. I decided to keep one, and I can't say that I'm dissatisfied with my decision.

Perhaps the fastest looking train ever, this is also the fastest driving regular shinkansen. My set is by Kato. I purchased an excellent quality secondhand 7-car set whose previous owner had competently appled a "wash" to the panels on the bottom to make the detail really stand out on this unit.

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I always kind of liked this train after "driving" it in Densha de Go, Nagoya Tetsudou, a computer (or PlayStation) game where you simulate driving trains. Still, in the spirit of "focusing" my collection on my primary like of western-Tokyo trains, I never thought I'd get this. At one point, I received a set of this from Japan for sale on eBay. After quite a number of tries, it eventually sold. This gave me ample time to look at the model and I decided that I liked it. Later, another arrived from Japan. I posted it a few more times - no bites. Finally, I mumbled something to myself about people not recognizing just how difficult it is to obtain this out of production set, and decided to keep it for myself. There. I'm happy.

The miscalculation was probably mine - I thought it would kind of appeal aesthetically to people more. To me, it reminds me of some of the trains I saw in Rome's Termini station. Meitetsu is a private railway company based around Nagoya that probably has more audacity in its train designs than all the JR companies combined. Some of their designs, like this one, work. Others, don't.. but they always try (though truth be told I haven't heard of a new Meitetsu train in quite some time, though maybe I just didn't notice. It wouldn't surprise me if the bean counters have taken over and the era of cool designs where you carry a ton of chrome just because you can is over, but I digress..).

The photo at right is actually of the first set I sold. Mine is essentially similar, but the end marks have been installed. It should be mentioned that this train is also only four cars long (though I think the prototype can be up to six.) This is Tomix #92046. Because of the slow demand the last time I sold this (slow demand that I was frustrated with, because I thought it was a much better train than the public seems to think so, and my price was already very low on it), it seems unlikely that I will bring more in unless we happen to find one for a song (unlikely - there is still relatively strong demand in Japan for this on the aftermarket), so if you want one, please contact me seperately.

I think this is my lone diesel amongst all the electrics. This is a very classic Japanese train. This is the newest version, from Kato, sold as a technology demonstrator of sorts to showcase all of Kato's latest technologies, including: a particularly small sized flywheel motor (note: my flywheel action is, I would say, poor. I have Kato locos with flywheels and they are excellent, but this I have been less than thrilled with), DCC-readiness (for some hypothetical future Kato DCC plug-in decoder), A special suspension, special new close couplers, and more. There have been plenty of KiHa 82 sets over the years, some of which are of poor quality. I wanted the state of the art, and this was it, though the set is not quite as nice as I thought it would be given all of Kato's hype around it. This set doesn't really fit my prototype that well - this DMU theoretically could be seen around Ueno, but even that is a stretch for me.

This set of two locomotives (one powered, one not) does not really match my usual prototype. However, I ran accross this and decided that I had to have it. The EF63 is generally a pretty generic loco, not too different from the more common EF64 and EF65. However, these EF63s come from Tomix's HG (High Grade) series, and so features considerably more detail than regular locos. This twin loco set (recently retired) also has an interesting history - they were used to help passenger trains (including 183-class "Grade Up Asamas") through what is arguably Japan's most well-known section of non-shinkansen track - the Usui-Toge section of the Shin-Etsu line. It's actually a pretty interesting story - you can read more about the Usui-Toge line in a good article in English at JRTR. Additional information and photos at Yokokawa's homepage (English) and Usui-Toge.com (Japanese). Additionally, this route was the subject of an add-on for Microsoft Train Simulator. One of the locos in this set is powered and one is a trailer. The inter-loco coupling mechanism is highly unique. Tomix #92125. This item is out of production in Japan, though it can be found with a good bit of searching.

In the last few years, there has sprung up what some might consider weird, even by the generally quite, umm, accepting standards of model railroading. A whole line of N-scale buses have gone on sale in Japan under the name "The Bus Collection." These (made by Tomy, just like Tomix) are really well detailed buses, but ultimately that's it - no lights or motors as in model trains. They're just little plastic buses about two or three inches long. From this you might guess vaguely how much these things cost - you know.. a little more than the N-gauge cars and trucks that you've seen whever you've seen them since these buses seem to be more detailed, but not too much more so. Well, you'd be suprised. These buses are expensive - they cost even more than some train sets! In some cases, individual buses cost more than 20 pounds! Fortunately, I found this set of five Toei (Tokyo Municipal Government) buses pretty cheap (on deep discount, actually) and so I added them to my collection for some theoretical layout that I might someday build. I think the difference between us, and, well, the Bus Collection enthusiasts is that there are apparnetly people for whom collecting these different buses (and there are a LOT of them!) is the main activity, not just garnish for trains. Oh, and don't get me started on "the Truck Collection.." (Yes, I'm serious..)