I just brought two KATO (EMD NW2’s) from E-BAY,they are both exeilent runners,and vary quiet,lots of power,details look good.Better than my old blue box sw-7 and sw-1500 ,this is what I call moving up in the world[:p]now looking for a pair of GP-38’s and an F-7A&B.[^]
JIM
I remember when I got my first Kato. It was a CP Rail SD40-2, and I tried to hook it up to my Athearn SD40s, and it started moving, very slowly, and steadily got faster and faster, while the Athearns jerked around a lot. I really did enter a new age. I never bought another Athearn, but within a year, my entire fleet had been replaced with Kato and P1K.
Before, I had 2 SD40s, an AC4400, and a -9 44, and a year later, 1 Kato SD40-2, 2 P1K C-liners, and a P1K RDC3. Best cahnge EVER!!!
I now own several Katos and a mix of first generation P1K and P2K.
Matthew
I got my first Kato N scale locomotive on Saturday, and it is quite the runner. An excellent model of the Japanese National Railway EF-58 electric locomotive. And even though only 8 of the 20 wheels (B-C-C-B configuration, think GG1) are powered, it has excellent pulling and tracking. Kato is definitely one of the greatest hobby powers out there.
~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~
Not to rain on your parade but,my RTR Athearn GP35s run just as smooth as my 4 Kato GP35s… Kato is good but,IMHO no better then the newer RTR Athearns and Atlas locomotives…
I know what you mean, I have one of those engines but in N scale.
I have also a Kato EH-10
This little articulated engine is very impressive, it will take on almost any grade with load.
Kato rules and runs better than any newer Athearn i have.
I own no Katos, but I’ve worked with them a lot and can say they are great. They’re silent and smooth runners, but the pulling power isn’t as great as the newer Atlas and Athearn RTR’s, nor is the detail. Kato needs to get up on their game (and make more locos in their runs!) to stay in the mainstream.
I hate to admit it but I am a Kato ‘bigot’ - I have more locos made by them than any other manufacturer. But I recently bought an AC4400CW of Athearn’s new RTR line, and I was quite impressed - a definite improvement over the BB series![^]
I recently purchased a KATO SD-40-2 and it seems to be an excellent locomotive, but it costs as much as two P2K GP-9s that I got on sale. I also recently bought a BLI 4-8-2 Mountain with sound that is really impressive. KATO should start offering sound to stay up with the times.
I, too, have a lot of Kato locomotives ranging from the NW2 to AC44s, and they all run extremely well. I even managed to squeeze decoders into my NW2s by using a Lenz decoder that is about the size of a dime.
One thing I find disappointing with Kato is their use of a plastic light guide for the ditch lights instead of actual light bulbs. An Athearn Genesis, with the proper decoder, can have flashing ditch lights, but Kato can’t without major rebuilding to install bulbs.
My very first engine was a Kato Conrail NW2. Nothing I own runs better or more smooth (but I don’t have pulling contests).
I’m about to put a decoder in it, as I’ve switched over to DCC (NCE). Its pretty tight in there … others talk about doing some shell surgery …I’ll have to look at Cacole’s Lenz decoder.
goat
yardgoat46 – even with the tiny Lenz decoder, I still had to grind out a cavity for the decoder on top of the weight.
You must also disassemble the two chassis halves so you can get to the motor electrical pickup wipers and isolate them by putting electrical tape between them and the frame halves. The decoder’s wires can solder to these pickup wipers, but you should remove them from the motor first so you don’t melt the plastic around the brushes.
Don’t ask how I know that too much heat can melt the plastic, but I had to buy a new motor after my first decoder installation attempt.