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I'm a Kato-fanboy, and whenever the subject of U.S. prototype model projects comes up, I'm told that Kato is a Japanese company, mainly catering to Japanese modelers (and mostly producing Japanese prototype trains). U.S. market is secondary. Plus, what they make or not is a whim of Mr. Kato himself. Yes, they could make a small fortune by producing lots more of U.S. prototype models, but their factory are already very busy pumping out Japanese models (and Mr. Kato has the final say).I would love to see Kato produce lots more of U.S. prototype N scale models, but does that matter?
Kato steam locos have sold well in the U.S. and have an excellent reputation.So, I would think that an N scale 4-6-2 (that is not a K-4 like Bachmann just delivered) would have a good chance of being a real hit in the U.S. In particular, one with 74" USRA driver size instead of the larger K-4 drivers would be able to be provided with shells for a lot of non-USRA variants, and would not have to compete directly with the larger-drivered Bachmann models. Kato already has a model of the Japanese C55 4-6-2. The prototype had only 69" drivers, but the model has huge flanges, so I don't know how the model's axle spacing would work with the USRA or even the K-4 diameter drivers. I know that there are already conversions of Kato C55s to U.S. prototypes, including K-4s.
KATO had a huge (I think) hit with their 4-8-4 #844. Am I sort of correct here?
But the elephant in the room is not whether a model will sell well, or if another existing model can be easily adopted: it is all about what Mr. Kato wants. Period! While (in our American eyes) seems totally counteractive for a business, it is what it is. You and me can lobby Kato to produce some model, and even present valid business justification, but we can't control what Mr. Kato wants.
I am not so sure. It looks good.Mine has a weird problem. I can't figure out what to do.The front truck (4) ist very lose. It jumps off the track quiet easily, which leads to derailments. I have no idea what to do. The beautiful 4-8-4 now sits on my shelf. Javier