Imperial Trains.

[Sascha]

Could someone please tell me what Imperial trains are out for N Scale, and what company makes them? I have the E655 from Kato and would like to get the others too if possible.

[Krackel Hopper]

hey hey,

 

Kato and MicroAce both have an assortment of imperial trains.  If you go to HobbySearch and search for 'imperial' it will show you most everything.  

 

Many of these sets are several years old and long sold out now.  They might be available through places like Yahoo Auctions.

 

Here's some of the selection.

 

Engines:

DD51 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10052470

DD54 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10132174

EF58 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10077142

EF53 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10018266

C59 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10079009

C57 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10053613

C63 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10028513

 

Trains:

Showa Era http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10132175

Old Formation http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10117670

New Formation http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10117669

Series 157 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10117669

Series 157 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10019660

 

There also appears to be an EF81 from Kato.  I am a little fuzzy on how it exactly works.  They have the engine available.  Main difference for "imperial use" being the chromed trim/accents over a regular engine.  However, it does not appear to come with the flags.  There is a seperate Roundhouse kit available which says it contains parts to convert the EF81 into the Imperial Locomotive.  Maybe someone else can clear that up.

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10303963

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10321534

Edited September 7, 2015 by Krackel Hopper

[Sascha]

Thanks a bunch. Now the hunt can begin.

[serotta1972]

Model Train Plus has the DD51 in stock.

[inobu]

 

This is the one to have.

[Sascha]

 

This is the one to have.

The E655. I have the same one. It was such a hassle to add the flags.

[1954G]

 

There also appears to be an EF81 from Kato.  I am a little fuzzy on how it exactly works.  They have the engine available.  Main difference for "imperial use" being the chromed trim/accents over a regular engine.  However, it does not appear to come with the flags.  There is a seperate Roundhouse kit available which says it contains parts to convert the EF81 into the Imperial Locomotive.  Maybe someone else can clear that up.

 

EF81 81 has an interesting history (based on what I've gleaned from Google Translate).  It hauled the Imperial Train on a visit to the 1985 Expo in Tsukuba; here are some photos:  http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/mrkk0_rice/30698843.html

 

In the same livery, it was one of several locos that hauled the Orient Express during its '88 journey to Japan.

 

By 1996, its livery had changed from rose pink to bright red with a Hokutosei star. 

http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/shonan55/keisiki/kei8181.htm

 

In 2014, EF81 81 was repainted to rose pink again (basically how it looked in 1985 but now with different colors for the windscreen moulding, antenna, and insulators on the roof ). 

 

Kato 3066-6 is based on the 2014 version of EF81 81, not the '85.  I assume that's why the flags don't come with 3066-6: to accurately model EF81 81 in imperial locomotive guise, you need to change several parts on 3066-6, not just add flags. 

 

I think a better solution would have been to just model the 1985 version of EF81 81 in the first place, or to include just the flags with 3066-6 (leaving out the windscreen/insulator/antenna stuff that seems like a pain to install anyway).