Unlike Kato, and to some extent Tomix, MicroAce don't seem to have much presence outside of Japan. While those two companies produce mass produce the common stuff seen on the Japanese railway, MicroAce seem to specialise in more niche models. One-off locomotives, unusual freight wagons, that sort of thing.
This particular model is a track inspection vehicle. Since it could be hauled by all sorts of different engines or even by a multiple unit, it's effectively a complete train in itself. So, while a little more expensive than Kato or Tomix, it seemed like a fun addition to my collection.
Background
Various Maya 34 track inspection vehicles were built between 1959 and 1981 by Tokyu Corporation and by Hitachi. This model represents one of the second tranche of vehicles which different from the first ones in being slightly longer, lacking headlights, incorporating air conditioning, and having an upgraded diesel generator for the onboard equipment.
Its basic job was to check the track at high speed. It had three bogies, rather than two, and these were equipped with a variety of sensors including lasers that could tell if the track was out of gauge, cracked, out of alignment vertically, and so on. It is presented here in the livery it carried between 1992 and 2004 while it worked on JR East. Although based at the Oku Passenger Car Depot in Tokyo it could be seen anywhere on the JR East network.
The Japanese wikipedia page for this car includes photographs of them be hauled by a variety of different motive power. DE10 and EF58 are shown. Since the Maya 34 car has working tail lights but no headlights, it would normally be pulled (rather than pushed) by the locomotive. MicroAce themselves are promoting MicroAce A3290 Kumoya 143 + 145 electric multiple unit twin-pack as an authentic option. The Maya 34 car would sit in between the two power cars in this case.
MicroAce A0301 Maya 34-2002
- The Maya 34 track inspection car
- Working taillights (can be switched on and off)
- Arnold couplings at each end
- Couple of slips of paper (with Japanese text) but no instructions or diagrams of spare parts
The taillights are quite bright, perhaps unrealistically so, but otherwise work well. Current is collected from the front and back bogies but not the central one. Tiny switches behind the front and back bogies can be used to turn off the taillights at that particular end — presumably this is most useful when the car is sandwiched within a train, like the Kumoya 143 + 145 combination mentioned above. In that situation, the taillights lighting up would not be prototypical.
Performance and detailing
Not much to say about performance beyond the fact the MicroAce Maya 34 runs well, even on R282 Unitrack curves and through Unitrack points. The lights don't flicker, indicating that current collection across the two bogies is perfectly adequate.
Detailing is superb. Starting at the roof, at first this looks rather plain, but the ventilators on the roof have moulded details that are really only visible under a magnifying glass. On each side are separately fitted duckets, protruding windows that allowed crew to safely look forwards and backwards without having to stick their heads out of an open window. The fronts of the car include moulded details such as jumper cable sockets.
Perhaps more remarkably, the chassis and bogies are even more detailed, with all sorts of underframe details present as well as separately fitted equipment bars on the bogies. The equipment bars are painted metallic grey and feature rivet detail barely visible to the naked eye. On the real car, these beams provided a rigid platform for the various lasers and magnetic sensors used to take measurements. While these are very low down on the bogies, they don't seem to foul anything on my layout, but it's worth checking for clearance through level crossings and any paved areas of track.
Conclusion
Brand new, the usual online vendors sell this model at around ¥6,000 (approximately £27) which is about the going rate for a British railway coach in N scale but maybe double what you'd pay for a bog standard Kato or Tomix passenger coach.
But if you compare this model to, for example, the standard Kato passenger coaches, it scores in several regards. The roof mouldings are much more detailed, the livery application is far more complex, and the model also comes with working lights at both ends. Unlike the Kato coaches which sometimes require swapping out the stock wheels for more authentic spoked wheels, the MicroAce model comes with chemically blackened wheels of the correct general type.
On the other hand, it doesn't have an easy option for interior lighting, something the Kato coaches do have. Also, the Rapido couplings it uses are the old fashioned copper spring design rather than a push-fit socket that could be easily upgraded to a more realistic knuckle coupling.
Still, these are minor quibbles. The coach itself is fantastic, with all the extra details installed right out of the box. Plonk it on the track, couple up to a loco, and off you go!
