Japanese Train Page
Japan is a wonderful place to visit, especially for anyone who enjoys trains. When in Tokyo it seems as if you are on a living model railroad layout. When riding a train, It is not unusal to see 3 for 4 trains all moving at the same time on their own tracks.

Watch for Trains !

Although the busiest rail lines are separated from street traffic, there are many grade crossings in Tokyo such as this one on the Tokyu Meguro line near the Musashi-Koyama station.

It is interesting to note that while this is a street, there are no automobiles waiting for the train to pass, only pedestrians.

Since this photo was taken in June of 2005, a new subway line has opened directly under this railroad right-of-way and this grade crossing is no longer in use.

Model Railroading in Japan

As you might imagine, in a nation where most of the the population rides trains for daily transportation, railroad models are quite popular. N scale is by far the most popular modeling scale in Japan. As I was already an active N scale modeler when I first visited Japan in 1999, it was no surprise that I would start collecting and running Japanese N scale passenger trains. My collection includes some of the trains that my wife and I have ridden on during our visits to Japan.
This is a Toyko bound Chuo line train leaving the station. This scene takes place on a set of modules that I am building that follow the T-Trak standard. The station building is a modified Kato overhead station and covered platform is also from Kato. In the future I hope to make a complete layout that can be set up at train shows.
Links for learning about the interesting Japanese railroads
Hisakyu's Railway Guide The Seikan Tunnel
Japan Railways Group Live webcam views of trains in Nagoya, Japan