How has Kato never done The City of New Orleans?

[wcfn100]

How many of the of the other name trains (excepting the SP Daylight and the UP business train with steam engines, and the Silver Streak Zephyr) have had any sort of unique locos?

As I said in my response, these were more recent conversations.  Probably soon after Olympian Hiawatha was announced because I remember talking about the Little Joe.  Was the Silver Streak the train just before the OH?  Maybe it started then.

Right now, with the Big-Boy being tooled, I wouldn't expect too much new from Kato, at least nothing very big.  I'm hoping for a re-run of the CNW and IC smoothside sets, which I was told was a possibility.

Jason

[cjm413]

Ed, Start to build one, That will guarentee that Kato will do the train, and release it right about the time you finish it.

I'd be willing to bet the NCL will happen sometime soon, Considering I am 2 cars short of having my consist done. I'm missing the dorm/baggage, and I have a stand in for the water baggage at the moment.....

https://intermountain-railway.com/distrib/ccs/html/ccs7661.htm

[cjm413]

I've heard the same thing from Kato reps. One rep also mentioned that in general, models of "north to south lines" like the Illinois Central don't sell very well.

IC Land O'Corn ran east to west and had Flexi-Vans...it's your move, Kato...

🎤 drop

[Roger Holmes]

I've been waiting for the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha to be re-run in the 1957 UP-style livery.  It seems like a slam dunk since all of the expensive tooling is already done. 

I also have a soft spot for the IC City of New Orleans since it passed through Champaign, IL when I was a student there. I rode other IC non-name trains between Chicago and Champaign before I owned a car.

[thomasjmdavis]

https://intermountain-railway.com/distrib/ccs/html/ccs7661.htm

I learn something new every day on Railwire. I had read elsewhere that the IM/Centralia car was just a stretched version of the same car Walthers (now Railsmith) did.  BUT....it sure does look like the NP car.  It would be enormously helpful if manufacturers would identify the actual prototype of their models on their website- would save us a lot of time and probably increase their sales.

[cjm413]

As I said in my response, these were more recent conversations.  Probably soon after Olympian Hiawatha was announced because I remember talking about the Little Joe.  Was the Silver Streak the train just before the OH?  Maybe it started then.

Right now, with the Big-Boy being tooled, I wouldn't expect too much new from Kato, at least nothing very big.  I'm hoping for a re-run of the CNW and IC smoothside sets, which I was told was a possibility.

Jason

Aside from the Silver Streak Zephyr, it's been awhile since Kato has re-released any of the Budd cars...

[Philip H]

I just want this bad boy:

[Dave V]

Well, the ideal train then is the Wabash Blue Bird in the mid 50s-

Ah, but name recognition.  For example, I've been in this hobby my entire life and have just now heard of the Wabash Blue Bird.  Everyone knows the song Wabash Cannonball...but the train came after the song and was simply a day train.

[cjm413]

I learn something new every day on Railwire. I had read elsewhere that the IM/Centralia car was just a stretched version of the same car Walthers (now Railsmith) did.  BUT....it sure does look like the NP car.  It would be enormously helpful if manufacturers would identify the actual prototype of their models on their website- would save us a lot of time and probably increase their sales.

NP also had some 72' baggage cars that were converted into water-baggage cars in addition to the 85' cars

400-404* on this link match the IMRC/CCS cars (but with skirt removed), pics of 407-411 will give you a better idea of how close the Kato or Walthers/Lowell Smith match up to the 72' cars.

http://passcarphotos.rypn.org/Indices/NP1.htm

*Note that one of the links for 400 opens a picture of 409

[cjm413]

I just want this bad boy:

If you are OK with "Panama Limited" rather than "Illinois Central"

https://intermountain-railway.com/distrib/ccs/html/ccs7510.htm

[Dave V]

My recent conversations with Kato reps have said  - unique locomotive, some sort of name recognition and how much overall new tooling.

Jason

Frankly this really doesn't sound unreasonable. 

We do often assume subconsciously that everyone approaches the hobby as a TRW a$$hat would, but that simply isn't the case...hence the origin of the banner "more fringe than core."  Even mainstream modelers who profess to model a single prototype very often run foreign trains and foreign power on their layouts, even departing wildly from modeled era.  Hell, I do it too!  Right now on my carefully reconstructed 1938-1947 era Rio Grande Southern is a 1905-era Silverton RR consist with several Florence & Cripple Creek cars, none of which made to the RGS after about 1910 or so.  My Pennsy was scenically stuck in 1956 but I still ran 1980-ish Conrail stuff all over it.  My side love for the AT&SF might have invited a Super Chief to the party if I'd kept that layout.

Fundamentally, we do need to count ourselves lucky that on occasion our individual needs intersect what a company thinks might be profitable.  I've been known in a previous life to be loudly and angrily vocal from a position of ignorance over what should be made in N scale...  I'm not sure I have all that much more insight into how the model industry works, but I have embraced the fact that I don't know much.  Hanging out with Pennsy guys makes you think everyone models Pennsy and so why shouldn't making Pennsy steam in N scale be like printing money?  Confirmation bias, that's why!

[davefoxx]

I've heard the same thing from Kato reps. One rep also mentioned that in general, models of "north to south lines" like the Illinois Central don't sell very well.

Well, that explains why the popular Florida trains with attractive motive power, which ran on PRR/PC/CR, RF&P, and ACL/SAL/SCL rails, have been ignored.

DFF

[davefoxx]

How many of the of the other name trains (excepting the SP Daylight and the UP business train with steam engines, and the Silver Streak Zephyr) have had any sort of unique locos?

How about the Rock Island Rockets and those TA locomotives built by EMC?

DFF

[wcfn100]

IC Land O'Corn ran east to west and had Flexi-Vans...it's your move, Kato...

🎤 drop

Not sure the Chicago to Waterloo corridor is on Kato's radar. 

Right now all you would need is a proper 56 seat coach.  Atlas makes a TT GP9 (but not yet in IC paint), WoT makes the head end baggage cars (with incorrect bottom stripe  ) and TWX should have the Flexi-Vans out this year.

Jason

[wcfn100]

How about the Rock Island Rockets and those TA locomotives built by EMC?

DFF

I sounded like there weren't enough common mechanism parts to get that pushed through, but I believe it's still a possibility.

I pleaded with the Kato rep to not focus in on the Texas Rocket with the special lettering on the locomotive but instead look at the bigger picture where they could tool 4 trains with the same few cars.


Jason