I'm sticking to a UP Northern as my prediction. As to what train it pulls, I don't really care, because I'm a Kato fanboy, and will buy anything they make as long as it ran west of the Mississippi!
I am certain that the next Kato complete train set will be: Answer has been redacted to protect the inocent... Okay... I had a vision of a young guy at the Ponderosa ranch... saying that this epic release would be a real bonanza for N scalers. The guy then went off to live in some little house on the prairie but he didn't have to fight any indians as far as I know. Though as shocking as this vision sounds... NO... I haven't been drinking or smoking anything strange... (just the usual stuff... ROTFLMAO!). laugh:
I can take it anymore!!!! The Next Kato Passenger set is going to be: (CONTENT REMOVED BY THE NMRA NINJAS AND BLACK HELICOPTERS) ROFL
I have it from a very reliable source...that the secret has been kept in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnall's porch since noon today and that whatever it is gonna be...it's gonna say KATO underneath...shhhhhhhhhhhh !! :tb-ooh:
If it gets let out here what the next train will be Kato Japan will have to scrap all the tooling and start something else and the guys at Kato USA will be forced to commit seppuku to save face.
I think he's got you on that one Delamaize. My name is Jack and I don't think we've ever met...... That said, I've successfully deciphered your cryptic messages. It has to be a Nebraska Zephyr pulled by the most beautiful diesels of all time, the E5's. The key is the mention of "some new tooling" for the cars. Many forget the original Kato corrugated releases, with prototypically correct cars covering much of the Nebraska Zephyr. That tooling has been sitting for over a decade waiting just for this moment. This is the direct parallel of what they did with the last big name train release, the COLA. So, moderators, feel free to lock the thread, since the mystery has been solved and there is no room for further discussion.... :tb-biggrin:
If I remember correctly that is the Zerphyr that the Illinois Railway Museum has on it's grounds, so the Boys in Schaumburg would not have to travel far for research.
Well that guarantees it. The manufacturers almost never come out with a train set that someone has not already meticulously kit bashed or built from scratch.
Wow, Mr. Straws E-5 looks great , one of my biggest pet peeves in high pilots, Mr. Straws has the rail hugging look I like. Remember, on the prototype pilot height is no more than 6 inches, no less than 2. R Stahl
Your memory is 100%; mine, not so much..... What I meant to say is the Denver Zephyr would be the next Kato offering. Your message dislodged my stuck brain cells. IIRC, the Nebraska Zephyr was comprised of the two articulated train sets (the "gods" and "goddesses), of which the IRM does in fact have the goddesses train set mated to that beautiful, sole remaining in existance, E5 unit (Silver Pilot). I believe that the original Kato corrugated sets covered many car types that appeared on the Denver Zephyr. If Charlie V. is tuned into this thread, he may fill in some blanks. To your point, that drive from Schaumburg to Union can be made in about 60 minutes, so no excuses for not moving forward with an E5! Kato guys in Schaumburg; Here are the roof shots you were asking for so that you can complete the project:
Kaballalistic... in a year of the Thirtieth Olympiad. What is the new locomotive... and... will it too be EPic and 'blow your mind' shocking???!!!
I love the work you did Russ... I don't think your model will be challenged by Kato any time soon. If Kato would have released it with the corrugated sets... it would have been an instant sell-out. For Kato the time has past on this beautiful diesel. My guess is that when Kato is down to some 'eastern roads' with E3, E4 consists... we may then see an E5... that is if another enterprising company doesn't beat them to it in the near future (Intermountain... are you listening???).
The original Kato corrugated release could make a couple short passenger trains like the General Pershing Zephyr or an interim Twin Cities Zephyr while CB&Q was waiting for cars from Budd. You can read more here: http://www.model160.com/2012/01/17/kato-budd-passengers-cars-revisited/ While the slumbercoach could be used in the Denver Zephyr, and the 10-6 represented an order of sleepers for the passenger pool, that's about it for the DZ.
Thanks everyone for their comments on my E-5 that I use to pull my Sam Houston Zephyr. I have never been happy with the paint color as it is not very close to the finish that Kato used on their cars from the first corrugated release. The baggage, coaches and observation cars are pretty much correct for the prototype of this train. One of the three coaches had to have the interior reversed to put the vestibule on the other end. This had to do with the Jim Crow laws at the time. I also had to rename all the cars but otherwise they are "out of the box", even the observation car. I think there were three of that style Diner/Parlor/Obs built for the CB&Q and one of them, the Silver Hours, pretty much spent its life on the "Sam" running between Houston and Dallas. It now resides at the Galveston Railroad Museum.
Thanks for the link Mike, that's a great summary of some Q history. I guess beyond the original corrugated, the next question might be which, if any, of the CZ cars could be used in a Denver Zephyr. Since Kato has hinted that they may be at or near the end of the CZ releases, if the tooling is applicable maybe that would also cut the time/cost of another Zephyr. Also, many don't realize, but the mechanism for the current E units could be reutilized for an E5 with only minor changes to the frame casting. The wheelbase, etc. of the earlier slant nose E's is the same as the later bulldog units. I think Kato is missing an opportunity by not adding E7s and some earlier uints to their passenger motive power offerings.
The loco should never match the cars. The passenger cars were stainless steel. The locos body is painted steel. Even the Prototype never matched exactly. Have you tried the method of painting Kato Stainless that was in N SCALE magazine? The author used the stainless paint over gloss black and coated with Tamiya Gunmetal diluted with clear, essentially creating a metallic gray clearcoat.
