Does anybody happen to know the wheelbase of the Hiroshima Dentetsu? I'm wondering if the mech might be suitable for something like a Birney car. Cheers David
I checked the wheelbase of the powered coach from my 10-500 "Pocket Line" set and it is 1.125". That mechanism appears to be an 11-104. Further checking from a Kato catalog shows that the overall length of the tram to be 66mm. The catalog has a nice picture that clearly shows the car has no interior and the mechanism visible through the windows. Before we start breaking these trams down, I think I should point out that Kato does sell the 4 wheel mechanisms seperately. They are numbers 11-103 and 11-104 (with handrails front and rear). I've seen them listed at various online HS.
For anyone wanting to convert the Kato Portram to DCC these pictures from a Taiwanese train board will be of interest. The Kato Portram has two motors which may both be 6v. Text is Chinese and can be translated with a machine translator. TTS :: è§€çœ‹æ–‡ç« - KATO 富山路é¢é›»è»Šçš„機構一覽
A friend of mine has one of those, was waiting for one of my Japanese comprade's to translate the inclosed instructions. At least now I understand what is inside!! Mike at Kato said the drive was watch like, an understatement. Thanks Gordon. Bob.
I have one I picked up here in germany in 1999, not the exacct same, diffrent paint and it has a "trailer" I'll see if I can dig it out and take some pictures, if anyone is intrested......
On the Kato 11-103/4 chassis - it is possible to take those 'big' wheels out and replace them with Kato 11-105/6/7 wheels. The original chassis has like 42" wheels and is FAST - replacing it with the 5/6/7 27" wheels lowers it a lot and also slows it down. That requires removing the metal frame retainer underneath (it won't clear with the smaller wheels) but that's also not a problem. This is from my trackmobile project: You could also draft a Tomytec TM0_ truck, but it's fairly fast. Advantage in that offset gear tower and a universal mount. I'm not into streetcars but if I was doing a Birney I'd seriously look at what I could do what Bachmann 44-tonner trucks. Nice gear reduction there and 33" wheels. A double-truck car would also be powered very effectively and slowly with that drive.
I have the Kato streetcar. It runs okay at highspeed, but always stalls on anything else. Last night I added 1/2 ounce of lead and took a stone to the rails. It is better.
Wow... that is a small trolley. I really like the 'low to the ground' look.. unlike other N scale trolley's I've seen. I have some of the Green Max trolley kits which I never built. I had thoughts of putting some type of motor mechanism in them... but... they have very narrow bodies. Has anyone ever tried to motorize the Green Max kits?
I have one of these, and as someone mentioned, pickup is poor. I was gonna put a trolley om my desk. I even bought an auto reverse unit, thinking "Kato, it's gotta be rock solid". Nope, but I havent played with it either.
I set up a reversing unit with the Bachmann Brill trolley and it didn't run reliably and was loud so I got the Kato thinking it would be rock solid. It is not. There is plenty of room for weights so I will probably add another 1/2 ounce (total 1 ounce). Also, I was dissapointed that it does not have any light.
Hi all, Just want to clarify that there are 3 Kato trolley, streetcar or LRV models. (Left) The earliest version which has no light and are troublesome to some. (Middle) A toy like version which has limited release in North America. (Right) The latest version which is low-floor, lighted throughout and has a technological break through motor in terms of its size.
I have the Hiroden which is the one in the original post. It looks similar to left pic above but is only one car.
With a little fussing, phosphor-bronze shoes may be an answer to reliable pick up with the Kato rigid wheelbase drives. Somebody above asked about two-unit diesel cars. I rode one four or five years ago from Iwakuni. It was a nice single-track ride in the mountainous countryside. I don't remember the name of that line, but I have a picture I'll find and post. As most here already know, Kato and the other Japanese manufacturers offer an unbelievable array of rolling stock for the myriad lines. Modemo offers (offered?) a couple variations on the articulated electric cars used on the Enoden line, a very cool single-track ride from Kamakura to Fujisawa with a tunnel, seaside and street running, and a spring-switch passing/meeting siding midway along the route. I have two sets of the Modemo cars; they run similarly to the Kato Eiden cars for comparison.
Nishikigawa Railway from Iwakuni to Nishikichō, a third sector line taken over from JR in 1987. A couple of shot from my visit in 1990.
