I have seen several Japanes steam from Kato that look very simmilar to American. would it be possible to modify them?
espee2: Yes, they are very well adapted to modification. Of course, they are very smooth as are all Kato types. The engines are easily modified, but the tenders present a problem because of their truck configuration. Claus Schlund (California) is the best at this that I know of. He is on the Yahoo n_scale list. I am sure there are others; probably a lot of people here. The Nkitbashing list is pretty slow and mostly diesels, I think. Maybe this helps a little? Editorially speaking, I finally put steam aside and went to early diesels because I think that it takes three times as much work to operate N scale steam as it does to operate N scale diesels.
Espee 2, I started to dieslize a gfew years back but went back to steam after all the New American style steam came out and the great Japanese prototypes available. Don't forget Micro-Ace. They also make Japanese locos and many more than Kato. I find both the Kato and Micro-Ace to be very good running and reliable. A Kato 4-6-4 A Micro-Ace 4-6-2
