Kato Spanner?

[drt7uk]

Hi everyone,

 

Bit of a stupid question - what's the little spanner for that comes with Kato and Tomix models - to help you safely take the body of a carriage (e.g. to install lights) without scratching it?

 

Thanks in advance

 

[railsquid]

I suppose you could use it for that, but the main purpose is for adjusting directional lighting switches found on the underside of the body, and in the case of Kato special express trains, revolving the train designation on the front, which are implemented like this:

 

Kato 183-0 series "Azusa" by Rail Squid, on Flickr

[roadstar_na6]

I wouldn‘t use it to remove screws of bogies, they‘re usually quite tight and just bend the screwdriver. For opening locos and cars they‘re quite handy, that‘s right.

 

Other than that, as squid said, they‘re mainly used for turning on and off lights or rotate head-/tailmarks.

[drt7uk]

17 hours ago, railsquid said:

I suppose you could use it for that, but the main purpose is for adjusting directional lighting switches found on the underside of the body, and in the case of Kato special express trains, revolving the train designation on the front, which are implemented like this:

 

Kato 183-0 series "Azusa" by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Ah yes of course, makes sense re the lights switches.

 

Had no idea the special express trains had that feature, how ingenious!

Edited January 10, 2021 by drt7uk
Poor grammar

[Takahama Trainwatcher]

They're perfect for prising off (Kato) bogies when installing EM13 decoders.