When will KATO make USA HO steamers, with DCC & sound? They should be SUPERB, indeed.
LOL…When is Kato going to make anything new in H.O. Scale at all???
Kato does INDEED make HO steam and lots of it. But just in the Japanese prototypes.
David
I to wish Kato would produce HO scale American steam power. At the very least a HO version of thier N-scale heavy mike.
Many have been asking when Kato would return to HO with new products for some time now, but Kato has never hinted of making USA steam in HO. It would be nice if they would consider such a project, but the competition, BLI/ PCM, P2K, Trix and Genesis has beat them to it.
As far as I am aware, Kato has never offered diesels with sound, just sound ready.
“It would be nice if they would consider such a project, but the competition, BLI/ PCM, P2K, Trix and Genesis has beat them to it.”
So true, the competion would be fierce.
Kato isn’t exactly the most knowlegeable manufacturer around when it comes to the US market. For example, when it was pointed out to them that they don’t make too many New England railroad models, the Kato rep. replied that they had just done a Pennsy (!) loco.
In New England, the PRR is considered one of those interesting Western prototypes…
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
ROFL- you can say that again.
Kato is not making any new HO models in the USA.
Umm…fake Curt? Kato has NEVER made ANYTHING in the USA. They’ve got a distribution office near Chicago, but EVERYTHING they make is made in Japan. Always has been, always will be.
As for Kato making USA prototype steam in HO, don’t hodl your breath. They’ve only made one in N scale (and they’re mostly an N scale company), and that engine was originally released in the 1990s. With that kind of track record, we MIGHT see an HO steamer from them around 2025…
It seems to me that Kato could be a major player instead of a bench warmer that throws a pitch from time to time…Why they sit on the bench is beyond my comprehension.
It’s pretty simple, Brakie. The United States is a niche market for Kato. I’ve seen stats that say up to 90% of their market is domestic. If that was the case, why should they bother to make more American equipment than they do now? From what I’ve been able to determine, Kato only makes US stuff that the owner likes, and that’s mostly streamliner passenger trains, PA units, and modern, gigantic diesels.
Plus, for obvious space reasons, N scale is far more popular in Japan than here, and probably more popular than HO in Japan. That would explain why most of what Kato does offer in US prototype tends to be N scale.
I haven’t tried Kato HO, but their N stuff is great. I’d have a hankerin’ for some Kato if I were in HO too. I have an N scale Kato Mike I love (converted to a PRR L1s).
I just spoke with Yakamora Fugenskitma. He said with all the great HO steamers out there like BLI, Genesis, Putizorkia (what ever that is), Bachmann, ect. They waited to long to jump into the market. They don’t plan to do anything steam or anything new for that matter. To many engines out there that run as good or better then a Kato.
My name is Curt is yours ‘Orson’?
And I mean USA prototypes!!! Duh, Kato makes their stuff in Japan. So what USA prototypes are they making in HO I dont know of any??
I’ve heard that Kato is going to run some HO models next fall, in the mean time I’m trying to wipe up the drool from the N scale Kato SD40-2s!
Well, no, but it IS my legal nome de guerre…
But it seems to me that you’ve hijacked the online monicker of a regular poster on the Atlas forum. But whatever…
You mean besides the more than a dozen modern American prototype diesels, PA’s, NW-2s, coalporters, 70 ton covered hoppers, and whatever else I can’t think of since I don’t model the modern era? Nah, Kato doesn’t make ANY USA prototypes…
Well, it’s only new numbers, but Kato is finally doing something other than the KOBO stuff in HO. Singal new numbers for DM&IR and EJ&E SD38-2’s. http://www.katousa.com/ho-scale/SD38-2.html
Guess Kato got sucked into that Pennsy PR, “standard railroad of the world”. New England is part of the world. Ergo, Kato’s got New England covered with the rep’s cited PRR loco! LOL
Jon
Kato USA is a great supplier of model trains and has raised the benchmark several times in the past for operation and mechanical functions. They are really hot in the N scale market now and continue to press on in that market rather than face heavy competition in the HO market today.
Their model if the GE Dash Nines came in about fifteen years ago and that was the first Kato name brand I purchased. The new diesels were not even in my era, but they were very nice at that time. Some corrections for the Phase I trucks had to be made for the Union Pacific version but overall they set new standards and operated great.
Today, the Atlas Dash 8 blow them away for detail and fidelity overall and I got my five with sound included, but they are Dash 8’s. It would be great if we could get Atlas to make some dash 9’s also and force competition in that market too. Kato has yet to offer sound in this market, but have made their newer models sound friendly??? Does that mean they like sound, but ignores the market potential for sales in that area.
Kato seems to playing it safe in a market that can leave your warehouse shelfs full if you bring in a model the same time as someone else. They don’t seem to have that problem with the N scale and are probably cleaning up with the N scale sales figures.
As a business person knows, you follow the money and hopfully get lots of it.