Kato D51 SL 4-car set

[Ekiben]

Kato 10-830 is a four-car starter set that features a D51 and three passenger cars. I notice the price of this model is considerably lower than other D51s sold by Kato. Since I'm just starting out and have a relatively limited budget, I'm tempted to feature this in my late-Showa period Hokkaido DC-operated layout. The loco will be tasked to lead passenger and coal trains through the snowy hills of northern Japan. Does anyone have any experience with this set? What are some of its most noticeable limitations when compared to more expensive D51 models?

 

[katoftw]

It is the old version of their D51.  The motor is very visible from looking outside in.  And the front leading wheel do not like #4 points.

Edited April 5, 2016 by katoftw

[nartak]

As katoftw-san mentions, it is previous verson of D51 locomotive and it doesn't have working head light, either.

[1954G]

I own one of the new-style Kato D51s, the 2016-4 D51 Hokkaido type.  It runs very smoothly and has good pulling power (pulls 11 coaches up steep grades without issues).  More importantly, the tooling used to produce it is much newer, allowing for a finer level of detail.  2016-4 also has Hokkaido-specific features like a snowplow and Giesl ejector.

 

 Definitely worth the added money compared with the old-style design in 10-830. 

[Ekiben]

Thanks for the insight. Glad I asked. Given the D51 will be the centrepiece of my proposed Hokkaido layout, it's probably wise to go for the additional detail and quality provided by the  2016-4. It's a nice looking SL and not too much more expensive. The visibility of the motor on the older version, as noted by katoftw, is the ultimate deal breaker for me; it's already bothering me, and I don't even own the unit. The next task is trying to figure out the difference between the SUHAFU, OHA and OHANI passengers cars.

[Irish Padre]

The new D51s are great - I've got two. Here's one posing with an old C11. The motion is so smooth and the loco just creeps along when required - beautiful!