A question for anyone with experience with the Kato N scale El Capitan car set, specfically car #530, the end car with the illuminated drum head and marker light. On my set, these do not work, although the car lighting does. I have a couple of questions. First, something was rattling in the car, and when opened, the copper strip you see in the pic was loose and fell out. What's it for? Second, note the hatch (trap door?) you see on the bottom of the car in the pic. There is also a slot on the bottom towards the front of the car. None of the other cars have either of these. What is the purpose of the door and slot? Finally, any ideas on how to get the drum head light to work? Thanks in advance for any help!
Hi Bookbear OK, that copper strip is why you have no tail light. You will need to remove the car body. Then the seats. There are two mounting tabs on each side (Near the rear of car. And a couple at the front. Removal is pretty easy. (I just did it). You will see where the little strip in your photo goes. As for the hatch -- I believe that is where one could install a Kato decoder. (I may be wrong on this) Hope this helps, Wolf
OK, with a bit of difficulty I have managed to get the shell off and the seats removed with no loss of bits and pieces. I am not seeing where the little folded copper strip (the one that was loose in the package) goes. Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks!
OK, with a bit of difficulty I have managed to get the shell off and the seats removed with no loss of bits and pieces. I am not seeing where the little folded copper strip (the one that was loose in the package) goes. Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks!
Hi Bookbear, No problem -- see on the left side of the photo were the two strips raise up - ? It goes under that raised portion. Look at them from the side. You should be able to see one installed (Hopefully it still there and not "lost") Thanks, Wolf
Thanks for your help and patience. It turns out that BOTH of the fiddly little copper bits were loose, one out of sight and invisible until the seats were removed. So... I am still not seeing how they are supposed to fit in. What holds them in place? They keep falling out. If I could beg a favor, could you take and post a pic of the installed pieces? Thanks so much! Mark
All hail The Wolf! This is exactly what I needed... I'm a visual learner, and it's true that a picture is worth a thousand words. The end car is working fine now, and I now have 200 teeny tiny people relaxing and enjoying the scenery in the El Cap car set. I'll post a video later this evening. Again, thanks for your generous help, Wolf!
Video of the populated cars, as promised: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZX9Q3VZuGHS9FzyDa8rhhwGrfMYrj2eLteX
I found it easier to just 'limo tint' all the windows on THE WIFE's Excursion train ! No lights needed. But that's just me...
Yeah, I was just showing the two purchases from the NMRA convention Train Show... the El Cap set and an extra Santa Fe F3.
I was very pleased. As a wee cub, I traveled on two named trains between Illinois and California... the California Zephyr and the El Capitan. Guess which two trains I can now regularly run on my layout?
