Hello from Colorado

[Noskipallwd]

Hello, new guy here! I picked up a Kato N D51 standard steamer recently and was very impressed. Planning on trying to shoehorn an esu micro decoder in it. Should be fun. I am also interested in modern Japanese rail, would like to build an urban layout in n scale with something from Kato or Tomix.

Cheers,

Shawn

[Kiha66]

Hello Shawn, welcome to the forum!  The newer kato D51 (product number 2016-#) is actually designed for a DCC decoder to be wired in, as kato has made space for decoder to fit in the tender.  There are also a few D51 locomotives still hauling excursions on Japanese rails, so it will fit right in even on a modern layout.
-Sam

[Sascha]

Hello, and Welcome to the forum!!

[cteno4]

Hey Shaun welcome to the madhouse! Younhave found the place to get into Japanese trains. 

 

Cheers

 

jefd

[Noskipallwd]

Thanks for all the replies.

22 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

Hello Shawn, welcome to the forum!  The newer kato D51 (product number 2016-#) is actually designed for a DCC decoder to be wired in, as kato has made space for decoder to fit in the tender.  There are also a few D51 locomotives still hauling excursions on Japanese rails, so it will fit right in even on a modern layout.
-Sam

Sam, thanks for the info on the newest D51. I wonder if it would be feasible to add the new tender to my loco. or would buying the new model be the easiest way to go?

 

Cheers,

Shawn

Edited September 28, 2017 by Noskipallwd
misspell

[Kiha66]

Happy to help, I installed DCC in my kato C62 myself last summer.  Kato is actually releasing the newest version on October 3rd , which is a model of locomotive D51 489, the one that is still active today.  The older models can take DCC just fine, but you may have to remove some tender weights to do so.  The kato diesel's, EMU's and DMU's are much easier install, basically drop in if you decide to add it to any future models you may get!

 

-Sam

[Yavianice]

On 9/27/2017 at 11:19 AM, Kiha66 said:

Hello Shawn, welcome to the forum!  The newer kato D51 (product number 2016-#) is actually designed for a DCC decoder to be wired in, as kato has made space for decoder to fit in the tender.  

Is the new D51 also different from the older release in other ways, such as the scale? (like with the new release C11 being the correct scale, while the older C11 was oversized).

[Kiha66]

2 hours ago, Yavianice said:

Is the new D51 also different from the older release in other ways, such as the scale? (like with the new release C11 being the correct scale, while the older C11 was oversized).

 

I believe the original model (#2006) was slightly oversize, as it uses the old molds originally made for the first release (#206) in 1973.  The upcoming release however (2016-7) is an update on the very nice 2010 model (2016-1), so it seems to mostly be small improvements in detail, such as spoked wheels.   As usual, toyoyasu has some great comparison shots.

 

1973 (#206) vs 2010 (#2016-1), the new release (#2016-7) will be mostly the same as  the 2010 model.

http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~toyoyasu/d51498ktn_1.htm

And comparisons of all the D51 models made, and some shots of the vast improvements in the power unit.

 http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~toyoyasu/d51.htm

http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~toyoyasu/d51_4.htm

 

Sorry for the wordy reply!

[miyakoji]

Hi Shawn, welcome to the forum!