I have been DCC for about 20 years now. I have a bunch locomotives with decoders and another bunch that need decoders. I was reorganizing the boxes a bit and I came across a box with Kato Blue box locomotives. It was mostly SD40's and SD45's but also an occasional C30-7 and a few U boats. I asked the guy who does the installs on locomotives that are beyond my skills or ability, His response was to makes sure they still ran before sending them. Never really thought about that before..... So I setup a DC test track, used a DC throttle and tested about 30 of the locomotives. I was shocked that they all still ran well. There were a few that needed a drop or two of lubrication, but they all ran like they were new out of the box. It was a very pleasant surprise! Now I know why I have such a large volume of Kato locomotives!
This is why Kato locomotives are my favorite. Not to mention the interlocking shell parts that need no glue. Ralph
I’m not on an anti-Kato diatribe, but I have bought two Katos, and both had to be returned for failures that occurred on Day 1 of ownership. Both replacements have fared better.
You're welcome! Granted, any manufacturer can have the odd QC failure. But nearly 30 years of n-scale model railroading, I've never had a Kato engine fail. Can't say that about any other brand I have had experience with.
Total count of Blue Box DC locomotives tested - 105, 3 Life Like Total count of "Rejects" - 6 Meaning the either ran so noisy that I could not bear to test them, or they were Life Like locomotives that were obnoxiously loud. 3 Life like 3 Kato headed off to a friend to tinker with All in all I am pleased with the results
I have resurrected my old LifeLike locomotives. By 'old' I mean the ones with the plastic frame with the big hunky weight over each truck. So far I have an ABBA set of FA/B F2's, all, powered although originally the B units were unpowered. But they were cheap and so I bought two more A units and switched shells. I also have four GP18's and four SD7's. I also have four of the newer GP20's with the split metal chassis. All of these will remain analog DC along with some Atlas GP7's and 9's. I will run them when I declare a "throw back day" to a time before DCC. All of the LifeLike units were real brutes in the traction arena.
(Comedic trolling here...) That's because Kato's don't break down and rarely need repair parts! I wonder if Kato and Toyoda (I'm using the family name here) are cousins.
Yes I am planning on it. I just need to decide what decoder I want to install. I really like the Zimo decoders and I have a bunch on hand, not nearly enough for all but a good start. When the Zimo decoders are used up, I will see what is available between ESU and Zimo and take it from there.
Unfortunately, not really. They do have the 651 6 pin version, I have that in all of my Fox Valley locomotives, about the easiest install ever. All mine are the old fashioned wire decoders that my installer was using in several of my locomotives. They and ESU are about tied when it comes to absolute motion control. Once these are used up, it is will be ESU the rest of the way. They are now releasing LokPilot decoders as drop in board replacement decoders. First up is the Kato Wide body LokPilot. Will be getting them soon!
As an add-on, I just remembered that I also have three LifeLike E7's, two A's and one unpowered B unit. I used the A units' shells on two Kato E8 mechanisms as they were already fitted with DCC and I had two other Kato E8's. The E7 B unit shell may get a former A unit chassis and run in consist with the other analog units or it may get just a sound decoder and run with either the two E7A's or the E8A's. Haven't made up my mind on that one yet.
Kato is not 100% perfect out of the box, but when they are, they tend to stay that way. I only remember one failure. An NW2's tiny motor crapped out and I replaced it with a new one from Kato. I don't routinely add lube, but have had one or two engines that needed a drop on the bearings at the end of the motor. Other than that, I've been in good shape.
One idea I have had was to use a sound car instead of sound in the locomotive. For example on a passenger train, putting sound in the baggage cars will give the sound for any locomotive in front of it. I have multiple E Units for several of the passenger trains so putting an E-Unit sound decoder or two in the baggage cars could possibly work out, I will be experimenting with that soon.
