Tramway - New Releases

[westfalen]

It will be interesting to see the response from Kato. 

 

Malcolm

The current Kato catalog does show a C11 in the 'coming in 2016' pages.  If it is a new loco based on the C50 mechanism I would probably prefer it over the Tramway version, the Kato C12 is a little jewel of a loco.

[Fenway Park]

I don't have the Kato catalogue so thanks for the reply: interesting news. The C11 class has many variants so I will await the Kato announcement later this year.

[Martijn Meerts]

Oh wow.. Wasn't expecting these to come out anymore to be honest :)

[westfalen]

For those who don't have the 2016 Kato catalog.  The C11 is not shown in the steam locomotive pages but is in 'coming in 2016'.

 

My phone translates the last sentence as "Kato is the C11, which has been popular as a long run product, it will be renewed sale."  I'm not sure if that means the loco will be renewed tooling or if they are just going to renew sales of the old one, if it was only the latter you'd hardly think they'd give it pride of place on the new products pages.

 

 

 

[Kabutoni]

Renewal probably means a general overhaul, as this is a term regularly used as such. Implicated is not what, but I'm speculating a similar mechanism as the C12. Talking about the C12, I really should get one... Seeing them so often at the inlaws just almost makes it an obligation.

[westfalen]

Kato followed the C56 with the C12 using a similar mechanism, so logically a C11 could follow the C50.

 

Back to the Tramway C11, I wonder if reservations made when they were first announced still stand or if we have to re-order?  I reserved one of each through Loco 1 almost two years ago.

[Martijn Meerts]

I pre-ordered 2 versions at loco1, they're still in my orders list, so I guess no need to pre-order them again. Although, since their price has increased some stores will likely want a confirmation if you still want them or not.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Martijn Meerts

[westfalen]

HS shows the same retail price of Y14,800 for both old and new.

[Nick_Burman]

Kato followed the C56 with the C12 using a similar mechanism, so logically a C11 could follow the C50.

 

Back to the Tramway C11, I wonder if reservations made when they were first announced still stand or if we have to re-order?  I reserved one of each through Loco 1 almost two years ago.

 

 

Hobby Search concelled mine and I had to reorder it.

 

 

Cheers NB

[Fenway Park]

The first of the Tramway C11s has been released. There is a review of sorts on www.5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~toyoyasu/index.htm. 

 

It would appear there are problems with the loco design and its running qualities are mixed. I maybe mistaken as the translation is not perfect. 

 

Please could someone fluent in Japanese confirm whether the loco is poor or not. 

 

Thanks 

 

Malcolm

[Densha]

Well, for starters, the link doesn't work for me.

[Fenway Park]

Sorry the link is www.5a.ne.jp~toyoyasu

[westfalen]

He does not appear to have many positive things to say about it except that the paint is 'smooth and beautiful'.  Looks like a lot of the mechanism is old school stuff compared to what Kato are doing, eg; brass pickup wipers and a birds nest of wires everywhere.  Unfortunately what looked like a six pin NEM DCC socket in the initial drawings now doesn't appear to be.

[Martijn Meerts]

Just paid for the 2 I've had on pre-order for what feels like forever. We'll see what they're like.

[westfalen]

Yes, I have three ordered, usually when things take so long to come to fruition they have most of the bugs worked out.  Will see how they compare to the Micro-Ace versions.  Maybe the rest of us are not as picky as the above reviewer.

[westfalen]

After studying the photo of the mechanism in Toyoyasu's review a bit more I'm thinking that maybe it is DCC plug n play after all.

 

 

I was looking at it back to front and now think that the red arrow points to a fixed circuit board and what appears to be a dummy plug indicated by the yellow arrow (pity he didn't photograph the other side) can be removed and replaced by a six pin NEM decoder.  It would make sense as all the wiring from the track pickup, motor and lights seems to be routed to the fixed circuit board and all Tramway's HO locos have DCC sockets showing the company is DCC savvy.

 

But if so why hasn't it been mentioned anywhere by Tramway or the above reviewer who usually mentions any provision for DCC in locos?

Edited May 23, 2016 by westfalen

[Martijn Meerts]

Definitely looks like a 6-pin NEM socket yes. Those wires certainly don't look very professional though :)

[Fenway Park]

The review has shown a number of areas of concern. The location of the motor is poor, especially in this era of small coreless motors. The add on numbers are poor, while the flanges appear deeper than Kato. In addition the fit of the cab and its shape is poor.

 

The reviewer points to testing the loco in the shop and implies it took several to find one that was acceptable. Shades of the Micro Ace 2-4-0T

Overall disappointed especially as the project has been ongoing for some years. 

 

Will wait patiently for the Kato version later this year or early 2017. Sadly cancelling the second version from Tramway.

[westfalen]

My three arrived from Loco1 today, I ordered one of each version so had to wait for them all to arrive.

 

All three run well and look pretty good.

 

I can confirm that they do indeed have a six pin DCC socket after installing a Digitrax DZ125IN in one.  Why Tramway has never mentioned this is a mystery to me.

Edited June 27, 2016 by westfalen

[Nick_Burman]

Mine arrived a couple of weeks ago (I was away travelling so couldn't get at it earlier) and I went to collect it this afternoon - just in time as it was due to be sent back to Japan tomorrow lunchtime...

 

My sample runs very smoothly, no binds or extraneous oscillations. Starts and stops well, but not as well as my Kato C56 (my benchmark Japanese steam loco).

 

Finish is very good, a very thoroughly sprayed satin black, actually better than the bright black offered by Kato.

 

Fit is average - the joins around the cab area are a bit on the thick side when compared with the C56.

 

Detailing is good, but the Kato C56 is another order of grandeur in this area, what with the brass lube lines on the cab side.

 

Overall a good loco, but I want to see what Kato will bring out in 2017...

 

Cheers NB

[westfalen]

One problem that a couple of mine have is too much tension in the spring holding the trailing truck on the track which lifts the rear driver off the rails but that should be easily fixed.

 

To me the minor niggles are out weighed by the standard DCC socket which made them the easiest N scale Japanese steam DCC installation I've ever done.  When Kato think of that I might give them 10 out of 10.

[Nick_Burman]

Further to my post, I solved (to a certain extent) the fit issue yesterday...I carefully clipped the top of the motor  mount, then rerouted the wires over the cut area. Now bunker, cab and cab floor fit well without any excess gap.

 

Now a q...what glue do I use to hang the plates? Needs to be something relatively slow-setting and which leaves little "gunk" behind...

 

Cheers NB

Edited July 7, 2016 by Nick_Burman

[westfalen]

Now a q...what glue do I use to hang the plates? Needs to be something relatively slow-setting and which leaves little "gunk" behind...

 

Cheers NB

I used Micro Scale Kristal Klear.

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MI-9

[Fenway Park]

The revised versions from Tramway have been delayed. This version has geared drive on two of the three axles when compared to the first release. I presume this is to improve the running following some criticism on the first version.

 

No release date as yet. 

[katoftw]

Dunno why they would both since both Tomix's and Kato's recent C11s were great and cheaper options.