Seibu New 101 KATO re-run

[ToniBabelony]

Seems like KATO is re-releasing the Seibu New 101 Series trains due October. Not the 10-car set, but the classic 4-car and 2-car sets!

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10033332 (2-car motorised)

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10033331 (4-car add-on)

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10033330 (4-car basic)

 

I'm not a Seibu fan at all, but I do like the New 101 Series as a 2-car set. These now also run on the Sangi, Jyoshin and Ryutetsu (Chichibu and Ohmi rebuilt them) in other liveries, so it's a good example for Japanese rolling stock having a second life on smaller private railways.

 

In that context, I'm seriously considering setting up a collection of 2-car Seibu New 101 Series trains and repaint them. However, what's been bothering me is the question of the motorised chassis being able to negotiate 140/177mm radii (not individually, but coupled). Does anyone have experience with this? I ask, because I have a KATO Hankyu 6300 Series, which is an 18m length car train, and already has trouble with a 177mm radius when coupled. Let alone negotiating a 140mm Tomix point in an S-curve.

[David]

I very much doubt that any Kato passenger car (with the possible exception of the 50' heavies) will pass R140 and certainly not and s-curve. As you've noticed some of the very old screw on truck passenger cars can make as small as R177, but anything else is R216.

[KenS]

I did some very informal experimentation with two-car sets of EMUs and R177 curves recently since I want to use a Greenmax 2-car EMU (this and this) on an R177 layyout.  I used Kato and MicroAce E231s and a Greenmax 10000 series since that's what I own, all recent systems.  All with their standard couplers (meaning MA and Greenmax had Rapido's, while Kato had their close-coupling ones).

 

The Kato couldn't negotiate a R177 even singly, as the trucks bound sufficiently to derail it every time.  The MA could go around the curve alone, although it was clearly in trouble, but coupled in a two-car set it derailed every time.

 

The Greenmax, surprisingly, could negotiate the curve even in a coupled set, but it was clearly binding. While I hadn't tested it at R140 I expect it would have problems even without an S-curve. It works singly fairly well, so I may switch to using single cars for my planned layout.  But that isn't likely to help you with the Kato, unless the trucks use a different design from their E231.

[ToniBabelony]

Thanks for the kind answers! I guess that saves me the bother of ordering these trains. Too bad though, as I really love the KATO quality motors and the free view through the interior of the motor car.