alpineaustralia Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 On the inlcine to my layout, the Kato E3 struggles to get up a hill that almost all of my trains have no problem with. On closer inspection of the trucks, it appears that there are no tyres on the traucks and that the wheels do not have the groove necessary to hold tyres. Can anyone who has an Kato E3 please look at there one and tell me if their E3 has tyres? Link to comment
Nozomi Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Hello again Alpine! I have the Kato E3 (out of newest batch of production, released in April 2009) and now that you're asking: There are NO tyres on any car, not even the motorised one. This is most unusual!! No wonder our E3's are not the best climbers.... I did not think too much about it because it does runs very smooth over all my track. I have to add that my inclines are very, very 'soft'... nothing steep... Link to comment
bc6 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 On the inlcine to my layout, the Kato E3 struggles to get up a hill that almost all of my trains have no problem with. On closer inspection of the trucks, it appears that there are no tyres on the traucks and that the wheels do not have the groove necessary to hold tyres. Can anyone who has an Kato E3 please look at there one and tell me if their E3 has tyres? Alpine I have the same issue with my E3, there are no traction tires or grooves to put a traction tire. I wonder if you can replace a wheelset to include a traction tire. Link to comment
Bernard Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 On the inlcine to my layout, the Kato E3 struggles to get up a hill that almost all of my trains have no problem with. On closer inspection of the trucks, it appears that there are no tyres on the traucks and that the wheels do not have the groove necessary to hold tyres. Can anyone who has an Kato E3 please look at there one and tell me if their E3 has tyres? Alpine I have the same issue with my E3, there are no traction tires or grooves to put a traction tire. I wonder if you can replace a wheelset to include a traction tire. bc6 - Are you near "The Red Caboose" in NYC? http://www.theredcaboose.com/ The owner is named Alan and has a lot of misc. parts lying around. He might have some traction tires that will fit on your E3, but he's not cheap. Link to comment
alpineaustralia Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 You would need to buy tyres (easy enough to do - I have a whole bunch) but you would also need to buy wheels with the grooves necessary to hod the traction tyres. Hobby Search has on sale spare wheels but I dont think they have the grooves. I have thinking of buying a cheap spare set of trucks for another model and changing the wheels. Even one set of tyres would help a lot. Link to comment
ChrisV Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 My E3 died. I envy your situation. Link to comment
alpineaustralia Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 what happened? was it a kato or tomix? can you resucitate it? Link to comment
to2leo Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Can you add weight to the E3? Mine slows down when going uphill using Kato elevated tracks and accessories but I can accept it. Another option is to apply Bull Frog snot. Yes you hear it right http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/BFS/Bullfrog-Snot_Page.htm Review here: http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/BFS/Pictures/N-Scale_article.pdf Link to comment
CaptOblivious Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Can you add weight to the E3? Mine slows down when going uphill using Kato elevated tracks and accessories but I can accept it. I bet you could. Pour in some lead shot; the view through the windows would look like JRR converted the interior to a giant ball pit, though… Link to comment
ChrisV Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Heh Alpine I just checked my kato E3 and it DOES have tyres. I picked up this model locally in Japan in January of this year. Unfortunately I need to replace the tyres also due to my recent oil issue and now I'm hunting for a replacement. Link to comment
to2leo Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Mine is the Tsubasa E3 from Kato. I don't see any traction tyres but I think the reason is because E4, often coupled with E3, has the traction tyres so when you couple the two together it runs flawlessly with E4 providing the pull and E3 acting as an assistance. Link to comment
CaptOblivious Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Mine is the Tsubasa E3 from Kato. I don't see any traction tyres but I think the reason is because E4, often coupled with E3, has the traction tyres so when you couple the two together it runs flawlessly with E4 providing the pull and E3 acting as an assistance. The Kato E4 has only one poweed truck, and I would rate its pulling power as borderline deficient. If coupled with an E3, I would be counting on the E3 to be providing a signficant boost! Link to comment
to2leo Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Well, I am running a E3 and E4 couple right now on my layout with curving grades. They are a fine couple to operate and to look at! Sort of like beauty and the beast! Or beast and beast or beauty and beauty...well you get the point. Link to comment
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