Another Kato poll...

Ghengis Kong Apr 30, 2018

  1. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    With the NCL, EB and TCZ; they are splitting the votes of the Hill lines fans. I would wager that if EB were not included, most of those votes would go to NCL, with some to TCZ. Same if NCL were not included. Maybe they already realize this and will take it into account when the final votes are tallied. No surprise that 20th Century Limited is leading the poll, since it is the only real option for Eastern US "big rail" fans.
     
  2. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    IMO, based upon the choices, Kato seems to be asking what new passenger train model should they produce that wouldn't require making a (completely) new locomotive.
     
  3. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    Would the Rock Island Rocket require a completely new locomotive? (i.e. TA or E6?) I am personally hoping that they don't waste scarce resources on the TA, which would have extremely limited application to other trains. They can do a TCZ with an E5A/B with only the investment of tooling for a B unit shell. An E5 A/B is the nicest looking locomotive set ever to grace the rails (see my avatar).
     
  4. Ghengis Kong

    Ghengis Kong TrainBoard Member

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    Someone mentioned that the truck centers or wheelbase(don't remember which) of the TA is the same as the FP7. So only a new shell would be needed. Luckily, the Texas Rocket is a pet project by some of the Kato employees, so they have leverage with the Japanese home office. I'm hoping they don't waste their resources on an NCL, as I predict a flop about the same as the Broadway Limited. That and you CBQ guys already have the cream of the crop with the Cal Zephyr and Silver Streak. No more CBQ, please.
     
  5. wcfn100

    wcfn100 TrainBoard Member

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    If the NCL is a waste of resources, the Texas Rocket shouldn't even be on the poll.

    Jason
     
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  6. Ghengis Kong

    Ghengis Kong TrainBoard Member

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    You guys had plenty of opportunity to use Intermountain's stuff, yet woo woo woo and moan at the colors not being right despite no real world equipment being the exact same color. I'd be happy if IM had produced a TA in the "wrong colors". It wouldn't have been hard to correct. Likewise if I were an NP fan, I'd have corrected the "color mistakes" long ago.

    Anyway, here is to the 20th Century Limited winning the poll. It is going to look real good next to my Golden State.
     
  7. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    Depends upon the time period. A '50s era Rocket could have been pulled by an E8:

    [​IMG]
     
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  8. wcfn100

    wcfn100 TrainBoard Member

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    Based on previous polls, I think it's safe to assume that the "Texas Rocket" is the TA version. I thought, however, that poll showed that a non-Texas Rocket TA sets would be better received. I wouldn't buy a Texas Rocket, but would buy a Des Moines, Peoria, Rocky Mountain or Kansas City Rocket.

    Jason
     
  9. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    As I said earlier the NYC and the Pennsy combined on a car order for their flagship trains so here is the link to that article.
    https://www.american-rails.com/20th-century-limited.html

    Therefore if Kato ends up doing the NYC the Pennsy fans are going to benefit to by having some of the cars if not all for their line. And it is just possible that Kato could do a Pennsy sometime in the future since they would already have the car molds.

    As far as both the NCL and the GN EB the battle over colors has been a decades long discussion and argument and nothing from any of the manufacturers ever matched the others. I have modeled both trains in the past and I simply resorted to painting my own in both cases. At least what ever Kato ends up doing the consists will match finally.
     
  10. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    The article doesn't go this deep, but is it safe to assume that the common cars were already tooled for the Broadway Limited and that a 20th Century release would be the beneficiary of this commonality? What other Pennsy train were you envisioning? I'm not really a PRR or NYC fan, so I know nothing about this (although I did buy the BL and would be in line for the 20th Century if/when that arrives).
     
  11. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    I am not a Pennsy modeler so I don't know what other Pennsy trains used some of the same car designs but if it was anything like the NP or GN then some cars made onto other passenger varnish.
     
  12. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    Hopefully you realize that Kato already did the Broadway Limited, and it is HIGHLY unlikely that they will do any other PRR "name train."
     
  13. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    I faintly remember something about that but by then I had moved on to other modeling finally settling on SP&S.
     
  14. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

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    What happened there? I see them on Ebay all the time, like little oxide brown orphaned children. In person, they looked... was it "toy-like"? Just didn't seem quite right. Too glossy or something.
     
  15. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    I have a full set, and think Kato did a great job. It's a big bonus that they did both the GG1 and E units to match. That said, for some reason they didn't sell out for quite awhile and it is much more likely that Kato would simply offer a re-release of the Broadway Limited than any new Pennsy offering.
     
  16. Charlie Vlk

    Charlie Vlk February 5, 2023 In Memoriam

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    Kato no longer has a 4-6-4 mechanism that works for the NYC Hudson
    Their old C-62 at 1:150 Scale was virtually identical to the Con-Cor J3a. But the latest version JNR C-62 is scaled at 1:160 making the mech the size of a small Pacific.
    I got one to see if it was usable but it is one of those over engineered drives that has so many more unessesary parts over the old Kato standard bulletproof drive. Micro- Ace copied the old drive for all their steam and I wish Kato would get back to it.
    Charlie Vlk
     
  17. Calzephyr

    Calzephyr TrainBoard Supporter

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    Right now there are 5,510 votes cast in the poll:

    http://www.katousa.com/webpoll.html

    The 20th Century Ltd has kept its stranglehold on the 1st position with 41% (2,259 votes).
    The North Coast Ltd continues to be in 2nd position... but has lost some ground 15% (826 votes).
    The CBQ Twin Cities Zephyr holds 3rd place with 12% (661 votes)
    The rest are tightly bunched closely behind the CBQ TCZ.

    I would certainly buy all three of these selections... though I prefer NCL, TCZ and TCL in that order.
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2018
  18. 501

    501 TrainBoard Member

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    Why does the poll have a picture of a Loram rail grinder? I dont think it was there before.

    [​IMG]
     
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  19. gcav17

    gcav17 TrainBoard Member

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    I agree. To bad. I would love to see a 4-6-4 from them. I wonder if they had some sort of agreement with con cor. They have not made one since the break up I believe.
    Too bad.....

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
     
  20. Thomas Davis

    Thomas Davis TrainBoard Member

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    I think the key word in the Kato poll is the word "next." A Dreyfuss Hudson (or other new steamer) is off the table for the "next" new train, quite probably because they want to get a new train on the market before they could reliably produce a new steam loco.

    It doesn't mean a steam loco, Hudson or otherwise, if necessarily off the table for the future, just that they can't produce all the tooling for it in their timeframe for the "next" new train announcement.
     

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