Do you wish that KATO makes more U.S. steam locomotive?

[Dillon]

I don’t want to sound spoiled or ignorant, I’m happy of what I’ve had, but I think that KATO would do well if they do more U.S. steam locomotives instead of UP and SP steam. Like Santa Fe 4-8-4s, Reading T1s, NYC Hudson, and much more, a little bit of variety you know, what do you guys think?

 

(Delete this forum thread if it’s not appropriate)

[cteno4]

I think most of the us steam Kato has put out has been Kato san’s personal favorites. It is a family run company and seems decision making is more internal than externally driven. Also from what I’ve heard over the years KatoUSA is looked at as a smaller subsidiary of Kato Japan and a bit limited on their growth and size and controlled by Kato Japan. They could probably expand more if allowed to.

 

jeff

[Dillon]

6 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

I think most of the us steam Kato has put out has been Kato san’s personal favorites. It is a family run company and seems decision making is more internal than externally driven. Also from what I’ve heard over the years KatoUSA is looked at as a smaller subsidiary of Kato Japan and a bit limited on their growth and size and controlled by Kato Japan. They could probably expand more if allowed to.

 

jeff

Though, I did read somewhere where someone said that KATO did do a poll on Twitter for when they were doing the next lineup, and an NYC Hudson steam locomotive was on the list(note that I saw someone mentioning that so take that with a grain of salt).

[SwallowAngel]

A NYC Hudson would be amazing, but we can only hope for now...

 

I personally think that Kato could expand into the european market more. British or german n-scale really needs a real do over IMO, especially in the Steam Locomotive sector (God damn those prices!!!!!)

[Beaver]

Kato prices are achieved by economies of scale. It is said they produce in batches of ten thousand!

 

Very few European models sell that many. Minitrix and Farish and suchlike must charge more to account for the fact that they are producing batches of only a one or two thousand for much the same R&D and tooling cost. Those that Kato have produced are types that will also sell in Japan thus increasing the number of buyers to the point at which it becomes viable to produce.

 

How many Japanese people would buy a Deutsche Bundesbahn Baureihe 80 or a British Railways Standard 4MT?

[cteno4]

Well KatoUSA has its own market that is decent sized and it produces many US models for at reasonable prices (not quite Japanese prices), but you are right its economy of scale and us market is dwarfed by Japanese market. Steamers also have many more parts, tedious assembly, and I would hazard a guess at higher production failure/fix rate compared to the usual diesel loco, so this also drives up the cost and thus requires models made that would sell as well as possible outside of US sales.

 

jeff

[Dillon]

53 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Well KatoUSA has its own market that is decent sized and it produces many US models for at reasonable prices (not quite Japanese prices), but you are right its economy of scale and us market is dwarfed by Japanese market. Steamers also have many more parts, tedious assembly, and I would hazard a guess at higher production failure/fix rate compared to the usual diesel loco, so this also drives up the cost and thus requires models made that would sell as well as possible outside of US sales.

 

jeff

The life of model railroaders who love steam, but I mostly made this post because KATO(and USA) has rereleased the 844 and the excursion cars in 2023, in conjunction with the 4014 released, which the question pops into my head.

[Kamome]

I feel the same about UK steam. If Kato decided to throw their hat in the ring, they would produce a product that was extremely reliable and reasonably priced. 

 

For UK they’ve only recently produced the modern Hitachi 800 series, which no UK manufacturers have touched in N so far. So they can monopolise on the fact if you want one in N, Kato is your choice. As a Japanese made train, there is also some domestic interest, seen plenty of GWR ones running around rental layouts here in Japan alongside TGV and Taiwanese 700Ts. Despite the running characteristics, presentation, quality and price point, British reviewers commented that one of the seats on one  of the interior sections, which you can’t see easily through the windows anyway, was facing the wrong way. Kato quickly rectified this. They were very eager to pick apart the outsider when actually the offerings from Uk based manufacturers are often plagued with issues.

 

“Who do they think they are coming here and producing N scale trains that run well out of the box? We Brits like our exquisitely detailed N scale trains that have pick up issues of wobble while running!!”

 

I’m not as well versed in the US market of who has produced what but I would say sticking to things like named trains and other excursion type stock, is a much safer bet to sell to both modellers and collectors in the US, Europe and Japan. Kato presentation is generally good and it’s something you feel you want to keep. I don’t have a huge interest in US railways per se, but I have the Kato California Zephyr with ABA Rio Grande F3s. Awaiting another run to get a second B unit and I’d love a Santa Fe Super Chief or El Capitan with some Warbonnet locos.  So even for someone poorly informed about US railways, there are products that pique my interest because they appeal to a broader audience. 

[SwallowAngel]

I think especially UK steam engines in n gauge are lacking. The one manufacturer who makes models at a decent price point is Dapol, however from what I've read they suffer from extensive running and quality control issues (There was a video about someone having to send like 5 of his purchases back, like damn).

Bachmann's Graham Farish seems decent, but aside from Dapol they are the only two manufacturers producing RTR british steam locos in n-gauge. Another manufacturer in the ring would at the very least be interesting.

 

Otherwise I'm still somewhat confused at european manufacturers insistence to hold onto skew-wound motors. I think Kato and Hornby both have proven that coreless motors are just as reliable and quite as conventional skew-wound motors in smaller scales. Especially Tramfabrik's coreless replacements are quite popular and are one of the go to mods for any given steam loco not fitted with one.

 

Anyhow, guess I'll have to keep on dreaming that one day I can get a reliable and reasonably priced steam loco models...

[b.nice2000]

These are ones I would buy in a heartbeat.

 

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/386746686732451575/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/57293605@N07/31171221102/

450px-Chesapeake_&_Ohio_490.jpg (450×300) (wikimedia.org)

 

And, of course, an early NYC Dreyfus Hudson.. like everyone else wants  ! 🙂

Edited February 3 by b.nice2000