-
The N Scale Origin Story: Tomix EF81 Hokutosei
A question that I am often asked (by no one) is why I picked the Japanese trains in N scale as a basis of my vast collection of various railways and scales. The answer which I tell no one is that… I actually don’t really know. But here is how it went down.
2009. I had been an AMRA WA member for two years at this point and was pretty much at the club every Saturday, cheap OO stuff in tow. Usually this would be an old Hornby 47 from the 70s (bad), some rail stock from possibly even further back (worse) and the start of the Bachmann 158s from new (like a Rolls Royce in comparison to my other rubbish). I would happily plod about Haltwhistle, running loops or shunting about, just whatever really.
I happened to go into the local second hand shop to see if there was anything of interest and… there was. A Scotrail Class 47! But… ah, it was an N scale Graham Farish. Not my scale at all. But I also managed to find some coaches to go with it too. Ah, tricky. Very tempting, I have a similar OO Hornby loco, only slightly better than the hopeless older BR blue one I had and not confidence inspiring. I did think it would be worth the go and decided it would probably never come up for sale again. So in the shopping bag it went.
It was great to run and was also good as that meant I could go round and run on a local layout in my suburb called Bradford. It was a big expansive Australian based layout, good for getting a good sized lap or two on a Sunday.
Well folks, it was the third run for the GF 47 on this particular occasion. I dug it out of the VHS box, popped it on the track with the Mk1s and set it on its way. It did half a lap and then the loco decided to add a bit of realism… and smoked itself to a stationary death. The gears had done the Farish split and jammed it all up and burnt itself out. It was over, pretty much. I packed it away and promptly vowed that N wasn’t for me.
3 years later, 2011 or so. I had been watching anime in a big way for a couple of years. Nothing to really note down here, but I want to say what grabbed my attention for the most part was the attention to detail on locations and background. Especially transport. They really liked to get this right in cartoon form.
I went to a now long gone store in the CBD area and had a look through the trains. I noticed that they happened to have N, but not what I had seen before in any real context. An absolute mountain of Japan stock. Okay I thought, I best have a look through now that I had Japan on the brain. I considered very carefully, looking through all sorts of colourful EMUs, DMUs, locos, Shinkansen and many many things I just didn’t really recognise at all. But I had to admit that everything was actually really cool to look at. Details were perfect, liveries applied with care. And the cherry on top… the price! I’m always up for a bargain, everyone knows that.
So I thought okay, I like this idea, but what first? I had a big look around and thought a loco would be best. But I had no idea what was what. I then noticed one that I did recognise from the Trainz game some years prior: an EF81. A tri-Bo type in red, a silver star swooping through, which I later learned it denoted a colour scheme for a Hokutosei sleeper service. All new info to me. Were Tomix a trusted brand, I asked the store person? Assured that they were very much considered to be high quality, I said okay and gave it a chance.
Well, I am happy to report that 14 years later, with only one pull down service so far, the Tomix Hokutosei EF81 continues to pioneer its way along the railways it runs, same as the day I bought it. The quality and price really cemented with me that N scale could be trusted, could be bought and could certainly impress the club members with its performance. The name of Tomix, joined very quickly by Kato, Microace and later on by additions from Greenmax, meant that I can finally enjoy a collection of reliable and colourful trains that continue to be added to.
Every now and again, I hope to post these old pics and join them up with a story to explain how they have worked over the years. I hope others can join me in doing the same?
