Kato ACS-64 Pre-Production Photos

[basementcalling]

Are you being argumentative or contradictory lately? 

Trying to be peski, but I keep getting too much German in it.

[peteski]

Trying to be peski, but I keep getting too much German in it.

Maybe you need some english?   
But I can tell you that it takes special talent and lifetime of experience. 

[Puddington]

No worries Peteski.... ya know, I have two Kato Mike's, fresh out of the box that never ran two minutes without committing n scale hari Kari.... garbage...  I had an AB pair of F3's that burned themselves up after a few hours or running too....so I always giggle when Kato's quality is waved like a flag.... my experience with Kato products isn't like many other people's....

That said, I still buy their products.... with a wry smile......

[peteski]

No worries Peteski.... ya know, I have two Kato Mike's, fresh out of the box that never ran two minutes without committing n scale hari Kari.... garbage...  I had an AB pair of F3's that burned themselves up after a few hours or running too....so I always giggle when Kato's quality is waved like a flag.... my experience with Kato products isn't like many other people's....

That said, I still buy their products.... with a wry smile......

Sounds like your case is an exception rather than a rule. Not just in my opinion but taking the general consensus of the N scale modelers in general.   I would be really curious as to what specifically wend bad on those modes.   You have to admit that you don't often hear of KAH-to's models crapping out so soon.  Especially the old-reliable stalwarts like tee Mikado and the F-unts. Both of those are usually solid and reliable performers.  Now you you had problems with some of the newer Kato models which use the new 3-axle truck design (sprung middle axle) or the GS-4s, that woudl be different story.  But not Mikes or F-units.  Weird...

If you still have any of those models, I could do a postmortem on them. 

[R L Smith]

....so I always giggle when Kato's quality is waved like a flag.... my experience with Kato products isn't like many other people's....

That said, I still buy their products.... with a wry smile......

+1.  I bought a pair of SD70ACe locos, and the rear trucks fell out of the chassis when I removed them from their boxes.  Yep, outstanding design...

[w neal]

No it 'tisn't... 

(See skit above)

[victor miranda]

Hi Peteski,

as a big Kato (ahem KAH-toe) fan
I can state that the Mikes do occasionally have problems.
just darned few compared to .... ummm bachmann. 

I know that there is a lot to go wrong and I have net a few such.

I should mention that I have never owned a Kato f-unit... I keep thinking one will show up.
not yet...

like a lot of manufactured items things go wrong....
I find it a little hard to let Kato off the hook entirely for some.

I have been asked to fix gp-50's and they almost always have cracked universals

the part is pressed onto a shaft and the fix is a collar on the universal
or a NWSL joint.

the locos are old ...  so how responsible should Kato be about the universals?

So Kato is not perfect, they had similar problems with the NW2 as I recall.

So when Puddington says he has problems with Kato products, It can be so. 
I think his luck is impressive when compared to my luck.

here is the reason I like Kato products.
when they break... it is usually easy to fix and the fix is reliable.

the gs-4 axles are ... kinda an exception to this.  And Kato has made upgraded parts.

victor

[peteski]

+1.  I bought a pair of SD70ACe locos, and the rear trucks fell out of the chassis when I removed them from their boxes.  Yep, outstanding design...

Oh yeah, that was terrible! 

Kato is not perfect but still well better than other manufacturers.  IIRC, the truck design in your model is the new sprung-center-axle truck which I did mention was not their better moments. But it is not because it is flawed. I would expect that the truck should have snap right back in (as it simply got unhooked during shipment.

The "flaw" of that design is that the model is actually too well made (too delicate) to withstand rough handling or shipping.  It is one of their best running models but the exposed very fine-toothed gears can easily be jammed by stray ballast.  So it is the best and the not-so-good, all at the same time.  If your handle it with care and have impeccably clean layout, that loco will run like a fine Swiss watch for very long time. 

Yes, I'm drinking the Kato Kool-Aid, but not because I was forced to do it - I chose to do it because of what I see with my own eyes (when comparing Kato to other manufacturers).   

[Scottl]

Kato rules 

[victor miranda]

I do like what Kato does.

innovation and mechanism design work.
they are a little past deaf when it come to what they choose to make.

If I could get Atlas to make steam engines....

nothing innovative, just properly done (which may well be an innovation...)

I am sure we would like what we get and they would fill out the steam rosters for many modelers.

Kato makes good models because they know all the details count.

victor

[Doug G.]

Hehe, he's a bit conciliatory.



Doug

[R L Smith]

Kato is not perfect but still well better than other manufacturers.  IIRC, the truck design in your model is the new sprung-center-axle truck which I did mention was not their better moments. But it is not because it is flawed. I would expect that the truck should have snap right back in (as it simply got unhooked during shipment.

The "flaw" of that design is that the model is actually too well made (too delicate) to withstand rough handling or shipping.  It is one of their best running models but the exposed very fine-toothed gears can easily be jammed by stray ballast.  So it is the best and the not-so-good, all at the same time.  If your handle it with care and have impeccably clean layout, that loco will run like a fine Swiss watch for very long time. 

Now to be fair, the trucks did snap back in and the locos do run well.  My heartburn is more along the lines of, had a non-model railroader parent bought one of these for a younger person, they would not have been as impressed with Kato products as some of us are...