I suppose it is all in the interpetation one site states(BLW) "Locomotive has driver and tender electric pickup" The Kato site states " "Electrical pickup from both driver and tender for constant electrical connection" The word "all wheel" seems to be missing in my readings so time will tell weather it will need TT or not anyhow it will be a nice set
Articulated on the Shasta Daylight I finally found something I can share here. Attached is a picture of a three unit diner that was used on the Shasta Daylight. The picture is not mine so please regard this as for illustration only. Two websites that should be helpful to anyone building a SP Daylight with articulated cars. http://espee.railfan.net/passenger-car-index.html http://www.geocities.com/jim_lancaster.geo/hofeinz.html Let's see your pictures of SP Daylights, Sunsets, Shasta's, Larks and more plying the rails of your railroad world. Enjoy
N Scale SP Passenger Cars Grandpa Joe and all tuned in, If you haven't finished that brewskie yet, you can continue to sit back and check out these images. Great story about your collection of SP cars. See if any of these are familiar. 1. The first picture posted is a Coach by ConCor. Leading the coach and barely in the picture is a Kato, Lark RPO. 2. The next two are sleepers by Rivarossi. 3. Followed by a club car and Coach by ConCor 4. Out of order (oh well) A GS4 making the pull, by ConCor. The first car behind it is a RPO by Rivarossi. Not seen is a Kato, Lark RPO and in the consist are two Diners one by ConCor and the other by Rivarossi, also a Kato Lark, Coach. 5. The last car is a Kato, Lark Observation. Actually instead of calling this a Daylight and with sleepers on board you could almost get away with calling this train the "Lark". There are two other threads out there going like gang busters about the alleged Kato Announcement. Me thinks I've sounded off enough. It's been fun for me hope it was the same for you. And yes I even had time to run a Santa Fe Fruit Express combined with the Grand Canyon. You ought to see the mixing and matching going on in that consist. Pictures at eleven. Enjoy and have fun. Later!
From another perspective, I'm a passenger fan but not an SP fan. I would never consider buying the Centralia cars or ConCor steam engine. I probably will buy the Kato releases of both cars and engines; not because I want a Daylight train but because I want complete, high quality, reasonable priced passenger trains. The SP fan market may split between the options, but the rest of the model train market (90+%) will likely gravitate towards the Kato offerings for the reasons stated above. I think that will make Kato the easy winner. Just one man's opinion...
I have to agree with your conclusions. On price... often the one BIG determinant of success... Kato has the other (Centralia, Walthers etc) beat by an N scale mile. The quality issue is generally percieved to be another strong point of Kato merchandise; and again, they are 'a hands down" favorite to get buyers. The detail/correctness issues are a toss-up at this time because CCS does seem to have the correct car type & details matched with roadnames <color correctness not withstanding>:rainbow:, and Kato has more recently become aware that it is important to make the correct cars for a consist. Intangibles are also a toss-up... some people like individual car releases (like CCS and Walthers) so that they can spend according to their ability/means... whereas some prefer to get the 'whole' enchiladalate: at one time (ala Kato) and will save-up the schekels :money: from announcement date to release date.
Everything I purchased from Kato in the past five years has run like a fine swiss watch; I can't imagine them releasing an entire consist, with the extra cars as well, and not having the locomotive being able to pull them adequately. Also, if that did occur, it would surely affect orders on the coming Broadway Limited train (which will of course also come in a set). The Daylight steam had 8 driven wheels; two traction tires still leaves six to pick up electricity, and considering how well the hudsons I own run, that will be more than adequate. Also assuming it will be slightly heavier than said hudsons, it should pull like a champ. It's peculiar; Bachmann's had a decent 4-8-4 for a while now; I've always wondered why they haven't put out a daylight version. With Kato plans for a northern now made public, it would probably still be a good idea, to sell to the entry level folks. Also considering Kato's recent 'KOBO' items, I wonder if factory installed DCC will be an option? I'd sure go for it.
I think the concern that comes up is for those with layouts with grades. Kato passenger cars are very smooth rolling and also fairly light in weight. My Kato Mikado (without traction tire) is right now pulling 18 Micro-trains cars around the layout (including an Aztec track cleaning car, which adds considerable drag). That leaves me with little doubt that the new steamer will be able to pull the 18 cars. If not, just buy 12 or 14. She'll still make a FINE train.:thumbs_up:
