Metro Red Line wrote:I guess in Japan it's not turnout harvesting season yet :)
Hmmmm.... The harvest is late this year. Must be due to global warming.
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
Thanks for all the great info guys! You've given me some great info and good leads.
Shinohara track has been imported into the US since the 60's. Their main business is not the US market. They make a rather extensive line of Japanese, Australian, and lots of meter gauge trackage. The US market is not their main focus(sort of like Kato). I am surprised that there has not been a new line of trackage manufactured in China(maybe Shinohara now builds the stuff in China?)
Back in the 60's Lambert imported the code 100 and code 70 trackage(Code 70 HOn3 also). Walthers later started importing code 83 trackage. I see the code 100 and HOn3 stuff listed in the Walthers catalog, but there is no mention of Lambert, and I suspect that line is just handled by Walthers as well as other jobbers. With all of the competition for code 100 trackage(Atlas & Peco), the Shinohara code 100 may have suffered. The prices of the stuff have increased dramatically over the years(we paid $2.05 for a #4 turnout in 1967!) The then current Atlas plastic frog Customline turnouts were something like $2.50 each at the time.
I was in Japan in 1971 and spoke with some MRR folks there. They indicated that anyone could order a production run of the trackage(as long as you had the money). At that time, only Lambert was ordering/importing the line in the US. I suspect Walthers has some money invested in the research/development of the code 83 line and that is a Walthers exclusive.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Same here. LHS does not seem to be able to keep any kind of supply of the Walthers-Shinohara.
What about this ?
http://www.proto87.com/p87stores/index.htm
Regards,
Tom
Have you considered building your own with FastTracks jigs? They offer HOn3; I don't know if they would work for you or not. If so, you would no longer be hostage to Shinohara supplies.
An idea to consider, perhaps?
Glenn -- PRR in Georgia
Hi James,
No problem. I just wanted to throw that in, so some desperate narrowgauger didn't jump to the conclusion that ordering some of those from Downunder would solve a short-term problem. Although I must say that the few times I've dealt with folks on the other side of the pond have been good ones. In fact, my very first Ebay purchase was a SP #1 diesel from a seller in Australia that I could not find here in the US.
For HOn3 track, Shinohara's production seems to work in batches. If you order between shipments, well, you'll likely wait until the next one hits land to get your back order filled. I suspect being a major Walthers supplier for standard gauge track has aggravated things. With all the new RTR HOn3 locos and rolling stock hitting the market, this problem may get worse before it gets better.
A couple of more sources of HOn3 turnouts are LITco:
www.maine2footquarterly.com/litco
And Steve Hatch:
http://www.railwayeng.com/
LIT Co. is a recent start-up, but has pedged to keep common trackwork items in stock. Steve produces excellent track work, but he also typically has a waiting list.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I got side tracked from the subject... woops..
The first part of my reply i was implying that we don't appear to have a supply problem with that specific shinohara product, perhaps it's only HO and HOn3 affected?
James, Brisbane Australia
Modelling AT&SF in the 90s
Well, OK. But HOn3 uses a 10.5mm track gauge.
There is plenty of 12mm gauge Shinohara stuff available in Oz at the moment.
Peco make code 75 12mm gauge track... they call it HOm.
HOn3 is your modeling scale of choice and more power to you, but it is not the choice of the great majority of modellers. You can't expect a company to have a stockpile of products that are going to be readily available for probably, what would you guesstimate, 2% of the model railroading public. Shinohara and Walthers, their main importer, are buinesses first and foremost and they are going to go where the money is. Where the money is has to do with a lot of different factors that a person might learn about in business school not the least of which is demand.
Ray
George,
Shinohara makes thing in batches. I waited nearly two years when I ordered most of the HOn3 and dual gauge trackwork about a decade and a half ago, but they eventually came through.
You might try B and F Hobby Shop, http://www.bnfhoby.com/. They stock narrow gauge track, unlike many shops. Al has always given me great service and has come up with several pieces of track from off his shelf that I couldn't get elsewhere.
This is what I got once from a walthers employee when I bought a few of the Walthers switches made by Shinohara.
Walthers is the main importer of them. If Walthers is out of stock 2 to 1 your hobbyshop will be out of them unless they have another provider. Now as I understand recently by rumor Shinohara is redesigning their turnouts to look more US style, also they are redesigning them to be better for DCC like they did for Walthers. Now remember this is rumor that I heard and passed onto you. So take it as a grain of salt or a truck load its up to you.
... that was one reason I switched to Peco '' pathfinder
but PECO doesn't have HOn3 or code 70, let alone the combination.
cacole wrote:Shinohara products have always been in short supply, especially in the U.S., but I have no idea why except possibly their limited production capacity.Perhaps someone who lives in Japan or has visited their facilities can shed some light.
Shinohara products have always been in short supply, especially in the U.S., but I have no idea why except possibly their limited production capacity.
Perhaps someone who lives in Japan or has visited their facilities can shed some light.
They were even when I started in the hobby over 25 years ago, that was one reason I switched to Peco.
You may need a 2nd source as HOn3 products are rather special. 'Kits are not difficult to spike. Surprise!
Sanding the ties is worthwhile. I use an inexpensive 'Orbital Sander'.
BK products are made to order. Slow but sure. If you need 'instant gratification', you're SOL. Choice of code 55 or 40.
http://www.troutcreekeng.com/bkho.html
Try Custom Railway Supply (that is here in Colorado Springs). Mike has a few HOn3 turnouts in the case (he has a lot of HOn3 stuff). The number is 719-634-4616. He is real good about shipping. He also has a tendancy to "find" things not otherwise available.
Not sure what the problem is. I had a similar situation a couple years ago so it's been going on for quite a while.
Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!
Go Big Red!
PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"
Does anyone know what's the problem with Shinohara? I use their code 70 HOn3 switches on my layout, and they are darned difficult to come by. I asked my LHS to order some and he said that even the standard gauge HO guys are having trouble getting Shinohara track. I checked Walthers on line for the switches and they were out of stock with nothing expected until July!