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Hey guys, (Note: All the research outlined below is relatively crude, as i don´t know japanese and had to utilize google translate for most of this. It is likely that i just missed something because of that) I´ve recently been pondering on buying a Kato C57 1 to add to my fleet. This is why I´ve trying to figure out, if there are alternatives to couple 2 steam locomotives together, without using the kinda ugly and un-prototypical Kato tandem coupler, which attaches to the front bogie. And thus I´ve lost my mind and free-time to trying to figure this out... In a nutshell: I did find a way to couple 2 locomotives together in an elegant and prototypical looking fashion (link to this video by shigemon). And while I found, that using the Kato Z05-0746 coupler (originally Kato USA part 28-270) seems to be the most popular way of doing this mod, that exact part doesn´t seem to be available anywhere (quite a trend as we´ll see later). Admittedly, I couldn´t check Kato USA, as their parts-website is under maintenance and is thus not available. Doing more research, I found that this mod is possible with other couplers (yay!). As seen here (video by ゆかり) and here (video by でんきちくらぶ) the mod is possible with Greenmax, other Kato (Z01-0239) and even Micro-Train couplers (though MT couplers seem to require heavy modification to the body, which I don´t want to do). However, once again, both Kato and Greenmax couplers are once again seemingly sold out everywhere. This is where my questions come in: As an "alternative" I did manage to find Kato 28-235. While it does mostly contain stuff irrelevant to the topic at hand, it does seem to contain the Z01-0239 couplers I was looking for. Could anyone perhaps confirm this? I haven´t been able to find any information on the exact contents of this parts bag. I also noticed how similar the greenmax couplers and the Kato 28-187 / 28-188 couplers, so could you perhaps use these as replacements? Shigemon also mentioned, that you could modify z-scale couplers, does anyone know which one he meant? I personally couldn´t find any info on that front... I was also wondering, if there was a way to utilize any other type of coupler (preferably Kato), so any info on that would be appreciated Generally, any info on this topic would be appreciated. I haven´t been able to find a single piece information in english, which is why i am making this post Thanks in advance

Its finally here and apart from the drap green Box everything looks amazing :) But right after the unboxing people from Europe will be dissapointed that Kato gives you a switching power supply which is capable handling 240V and has an exchangeable Plug but doesnt include the european Plug :icon_scratch: So you will either end up finding that thing somewhere online or end up doing what i did Which is solder the Plug from the stock power suplly that connects to the Crossing Gate to a USB Cable which gives you the advantage to use any USB Port or modern Cell Phone Charger to power up the Crossing Gate :angel5: The next thing i personaly didnt liked was the fact that the sensor tracks dont match the look of Katos modern douple track But you can easily fit the sensors into any 62mm Track (drill and hand file required) Looks way better now :) Running Trains is much more fun now :) But the fun can stop at the first disassembly! The sensor cables are connected with small Plugs that can be hard to unplug but you should NEVER even think about pulling on the Cables!!! Trust me You dont have to solder or to strip a Wire but its really tricky to fix it because of the size (cramp alert) But still i think this sweety is worth every YEN