report on Z scale at 14th annual Jam show in Tokyo

new video from Rokuhan on you tube



Z scale report of the 14 the annual Jam train show for 2013 made by Rokuhan.
this video contains the following:-

Introduction to banked track or super elevated track R 195 mm and R220 mm from Rokuhan, This is an absolute first for Z scale
Introduction of 13 degree double slip turnout
Introduction of new EF66 locomotive and it many liveries.
Plus a look at the booths of Rokuhan, Crown, Platz, Tenshodo, showing what is new and what is coming.

regards Garth

Thanks Garth- Looks like Z iz BIG in Japan-- Wish they would hurry up and do North American. At least we have the track-- That banked track looks "very interesting"!!!

I know folks want Rokuhan to put out American stuff, but honestly... I can't see why they would. The Z market is very limited. To enter a market, there needs to be some hope of profit.

I agree with Alex,

even in Germany where I guess the biggest z scale comminity is locatede you find only a few of the products. only some dealers offers the track witch seams quite good. Do anyone have exeriances with this tpye of tracks?

I agree with Alex to a degree-But with Marklin - not much new in Z for years- and MTL offering only a few new items and repaints--AZL is the only company that is offering exciting new NA trains.. We could use some switchers, MOW truck, etc...even a civil war General... There isn't much choice or competition for Z. How do we expect Z to grow and interest new hobbiest??

I have been using these tracks since they first arrived in Japan. For running trains they are the best, in my opinion. I have a 2 x 4 ft board with 5 loops of track 1 N and 4 Z, the N-scale is Kato Unitrack and the other four are Rokuhan and I compare the Rokuhan to the Unitrack, I can set up a train at the start of the show in the morning and it will still be running at the the end of the day, no derailments. On a layout it might not look like real railway track without some work along he edges. I hold the track down with nails on the show board as I change things quite often, but on my home layout it is held down with water based bathroom caulk and then sceniced around the edges. My road bed is cork cut from a sheet of cork to suit the track plan and the cork is put down with contact cement or spray adhesive. The base is 2 inch foam rigid insulation with a door skin glued on top,sides, and bottom, then grades are made using woodland senics with cork on top then track. I have used other track systems in the past but now prefer this system as I get things up and running much sooner.

Rokuhan's owner is very interested in north America and Europe and not just Japan. Their parent company ToyTec is a global maker of tech toys or engineered toys. In 6 years since their start up they have built a impressive track system up from scratch. They are now They now have started on making engines and cars that are initially for the Japanese market which is a tough market dominated by N-acale for many years, and so fare there have been several other companies start up and then disappeared in Japan. The first was Plus UP later used the trade name Real ZJ, and today Crown or PRMlogo has taken over their track, and trains and improved them, Pro-Z arrived second with pressed form dioramas and really nice trains but you could only get their track and buildings on their diorama not individually. They were first to introduce constant lighting in Z scale. While still around there had been little growth from their initial startup and it is hard to find their product at times. Their parent is Tokyo Mauri and air gun maker and they did not show at Jam 2013 in Tokyo, and not in the past 3 years The next player is Tenshodo the first to produce a Z scale steam engine and they have produced 2 engines in various versions plus freight cars and passenger cars. Tenshodo is a Premium builder of brass in larger scales for many years and plastic models also and they have brought their excellence to this scale as well. I think the recent AZL Mikado has its roots in the Tenshodo D51 2-8-2.

North American Market Z is still small market like N - scale was in the 70's and traditionally Japanese companies do not communicate with North American Hobbyist, but then Kato got interested and we began seeing them in North America.

Today at least Tenshodo and Rokuhan are talking to companies in North America, and Rokuhan has been at the train shows in the US and Europe for the last 3 years, So a North American model is not as far a stretch as some may think, and I think we will see European models also, in the future. Roco, is Rokuhan's European distributor and has the biggest share of the overseas market for Rokuhan and they have replaced the Marklin track on their pre-built layouts with Rokuhan this last year.

The Z scale hobbyist seems to be fairly shy in communicating with manufacturers, but we see more and more involvement from the hobbyist and that is the sort of thing that will encourage companies like Rokuhan to build for North America. Tenshodo has in the past, because when I worked in a Hobby Shop as the repair person most of the best brass model in HO came from Tenshodo at the time, so I am not counting them out.

So if you like Rokuhan talk to them encourage them to build, by telling them what things you would like to see.

Rokuhan is quit well connected on the internet now with a web site in Japanese and in English and they have a Facebook page and a You Tube channel so start liking the things you see there as they do notice what is getting the hits.

anyway that my take on things and I have been watching the Japanese Z scene from the very start.

Competition is so good for the bottom guy......the modeler, and this is encouraging news. With the quality of Rokuhan track being what it is, one can only conclude that any NA locos or rolling stock would be top notch. I just hope I am not too old to enjoy it if and when it is produced.

I admire the innovative spirit and the enthusiasm Rokuhan displays - I really hope that their approach to our hobby is contagious enough to secure a sufficient number of sales and maybe even broaden the market.

I also like the quality of their products, both track and controller, and their straightforward concept behind it all. I am putting my money where my mouth is right now, building a new permanent layout using Rokuhan track, and my experience has been nothing but positive. IMHO Rokuhan track is the best option Z scale has to offer, and it's on a par to what N scalers are enjoying with Kato Unitrack. I weather my track lightly and I am very pleased with the result and final appearance.

And just as a sideline - sometime last fall I felt so pleased with their products that I dropped Rokuhan a mail telling them so. And within two days I got the friendliest reply you could imagine. Years and years ago I wrote to Marklin several times, then still in praise, and never heard anything from them. It's a detail, admitted, but it speaks volumes. So I do believe that if we keep buying Rokuhan products (no, I don't get nothing for saying this) and also let them we know we'd like a North American diesel switcher... who knows

I also can't see a problem with availability if you're willing to go with online orders, there are several good sources both in North America and Europe, I have had no problem whatsoever getting all the various track items I needed for my layout.

Currently it seems to me that the Z market is driven by several companies (Rokuhan being one of them) who are intent on injecting new lifeblood into the scale. They clearly have taken over from the guys who were dominating the market twenty or thirty years ago. All in all, that's not a bad sign (although I'd love to see MT find their way back to the spirit they displayed a few years back, but then maybe the market was such that it just didn't pay off).

So, to give a long and winding answer to a short and to the point question: Yes, definitely go with Rokuhan track, you won't regret it

Hi Adrian, sounds good what you say about the Rokuhan tracks.
So I'm looking forward to use that tracks for my next layout,
even if the are more expensive than the märklin stuff and
really not available on E-bay as used ware.
My experiance with Märklin is the same as yours.
Germany is not know for good customer service, so you have to wait for
an answer long time if your really are lucky and recieve an answer at all

garthah wrote: .... Roco, is Rokuhan's European distributor and has the biggest share of the overseas market for Rokuhan and they have replaced the Marklin track on their pre-built layouts with Rokuhan this last year.....

Noch is the European distributor as far as I know and pre-built layouts bt Roco???

Right on Gerd, don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that

Noch is Rokohan distributor and on their mini layouts they have replace Marklin track with ROkuhan track.

cheerz Garth

Noch is known here as distributor of a lot of stuff you need for building the landscape, and also offers
perpared layouts.

Here the link to all of you are interested in

www.noch.de/en/