If you were gonna buy a Kato Mike and found your road, from a reliable source at discount, would you. No great need, just want one. 1) Buy the old style you have to add the details to, or 2) Wait and hope for the newer model in your road? I'm hoping thre are people out there with both, that have an opinion. Thanks
I think you will have a very long wait for a new one in a particular road. If you don't like fighting the details, dig around for a new run undec and decal it. They are hard to find though also. You could get the CBQ and then repaint, all you would be dealing with is the cab and the tender shell, both come off easy. If you are OK with installing the details, then get the one in appropriate paint and save some money.
Seems to me we discussed this very topic a few threads ago. A month or so back. There again when you are with TrainBoard...time flies by and it may have been a year ago. Grin! To answer the question: I like the one I bought...without Traction Tires...YES! Have fun!
I bought my first two orginal CB&Q mikados used and the details were messed up from the first owner. So I bought (940011A USRA 2-8-2 Bodyshell with installed details, 1ea) from Kato and with a little work to replace them,they look awesome. I have three total and I triple head those. I'll get the fourth number one of these days. They Look good/new with new boiler shell/details
The details can be a bear to get on. Especially if you have never done it before. The first one I did was a very frustrating event. However, after doing countless detail installations for customers at a train store I used to work for, I have no problems now. If you need "how to" help and hints, we can guide you through the process.
One thing about this hobby is that is almost demands that you maintain your modeling skills. I am building a couple of Ntrak modules and this is the first time in a long, long time that I am dealing with flex track as far as installing it. I have discovered that whatever flex track expertise I had previously has been greatly diminished. And it is frustrating as all get out. By the way I got four of the Kato Mikes and haven't attempted to add the details on any of them.
kmc By all means get the Mike, as I have the opinion that many still have the opinion that this is still the best steam since they came out 13 or so years ago. The improvements over the years, in my opinion are surface. I added my own couplers, and installed my details, but it was quite easy after Jim Kelly's MR article when it first came out. Plus, the traction tire is cheap and very easy, and you don't have to tinker with the drive gear to install one. As for the handrail which is probably the biggest challenge, I learned to thread the rail through each stanchion before removing it from the sprue, then counting the holes and checking the instructions. Second, take a wood popsicle stick and carve out a small v notch in the end, and that is your installing tool. Gently match each stanchion on one side before gently pushing it in each boiler hole. You will find the first side will take over an hour, and the second side will take 10 minutes. Then it is your loco. I don't know much about CB&Q steamers, but there are a lot of extra details you can buy or make. On my Mikes, I have added feedwater heathers, painted boilers and fireboxes graphite, roofs and tender decks with dark red primer, did some light weathering, added real coal to the tender, and my own MT couplers. You can even lightly weather the lower part of the loco and it will show the detailed valve gear very effectively. Mikes were freight locos, and rode dirty but as I do, I don't weather my Mikes way too much. In my eyes they look too darn good to cover up with too much "dirt". Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
I wouldn't expect to see many more Mikado releases from Kato for the simple reason that the current mechanism isn't DCC friendly. Now, if they update the mechanism, there may be a flood of them....
I would highly recommend that you buy a Kato Mikado. It is by the best steam loco in N Scale. I've done a lot of work with this loco and have over 40 Kato Mikado's on the roster of the JJJ&E. All of them have decoders installed in them. About 10 have sound decoders installed. I have two published articles on the Kato Mikado in N Scale Magazine. The first was a sound decoder installation in the Kato Mikado (N Scale Magazine July-August 2007) and the second; Transforming a Generic Kato Mikado into a Southern Ms-4. This article will be in this months N Scale magazine; July-August 2008. I would suggest buying a new Kato Mikado that is Undecorated and you could decal the road name that you want on it. The detail parts are already installed. If you want to buy an older Kato Mikado, Brooklyn Locomotive Works has them on sale for $99.95. Perhaps they have the road name you're looking for. It isn't too difficult to add the detail parts if you take your time. Place the loco in a shoe box first and add the parts while the loco is in the shoe box. The second time around is much easier. Go for an undecorated new Kato Mikado is my first choice and work from there. Again BLW has them sale at the cheapest price if price is an issue for you. In any event have fun with this steamer; it's a fine loco. Also get the traction tire option. The original loco doesn't come with a traction tire and the traction tire is needed for optimum pulling.
I wish Kato would do a version with the headlight up top and the "CB&Q" tender. It was a weard looking tender. But Burlington did have some like the ones kato made but more of the other version.
Don't forget the older runs of the Kato mike don't pick-up power from the drivers. So if you buy an older one you might want to get a new set of drivers ($20).
Go for the add the details one, then get some positive pressure tweezers to use. ( the type that you squeeze to open rather than squeeze to close.) then just take your time, work in a clean room with a smooth floor, and have fun!
I'd join the line for a new DCC friendly version, installing the details on my two was a piece of cake compared to installing a decoder.
Bob - I recall your excellent thread on accomplishing this, but unfortunately I would probably come up just short on both patience and dexterity. I'm planning to keep one loop of my layout switchable to straight DC, just to run the Mikado and similar DCC-challenged units. As many have indicated, the Mikado is an outstanding unit and is highly recommended. I just happened to have picked the right road to model.
I have absolutely no need for one, they do not fit my theme or timeframe, so of course I have both roadnumbers and love them. In fact I am planning on building an N Scale Polar Express and debating on using the Mikado for power in lieu of the life-like Berksihre because, A. the kato has better performance, b. can be found cheaper then the L/L on Eye Beigh, c. My 5 year old will never know the difference....
Jack: The sound decoder installation in the Kato Mikado was also published in the July-August 2007 N Scale magazine if you want to see that article again.
c. My 5 year old will never know the difference....[/quote] Thanks all! My answer was in there. The performance is the same, so I can go with the older one. And yup, BTW is my reliable source, the online auction place is only for really good rolling stock prices, now that my loco experience has improved. Also I thouight consensus ws reached on TT, but I saw differing opinions, hmmmm. Most importantly, Charger, never underestimate a 5 year old. My 10 year old has been pointing out wrong turns and bizarely obscure anomalies since he was 3 or 4. s/he, may not care about the difference, but don't be suprised, if given a comparison, s/he notices it.
I have been watching and the Kato's still hover around the $100+shipping mark on E-bay...you can get a new Berkshire from Walthers for $89.98. Every once in a while, they blow them out at $79 or less. I have 3 Mikado's and 2 Berkshires and all run great. The Berkshire, hands down, blows away the Kato in looks. Without traction tires the two loco's are comparable in performance. With traction tires, the only loco (excluding the Big Boy and Challengers) that will beat the Mikado in pulling power is the Bachmann Consolidation. The Berkshire just needs a couple hours run time to wear the blackening off the drivers before they really start pulling. The pulling power will double on them after a substancial break in. The current run available from Walthers is the most recent and has been improved with both trucks on the tender picking up power. Your son will know the difference. My 4 year old picks out the difference in a tunnel motor vs. and SD40-2, vs. a SD70, vs. a GP when the trains roll by. He is also starting to notice different styles of car. They pick up detail a lot more than you realize. When he was 2 and just starting to talk, he gave a guy at a train show running O scale stuff a hard time because he had a CSX caboose behind a BigBoy.
