If you check Kato USA's website, it's currently a poll option. PLEASE for the love of a deity, go vote!?!? Here's an IM unit for inspiration
Even though I don't have a need for this one, I did go vote for it to support you guys. Who knows, may be my turn to ask somewhere down the road.
Not trying to be mean or insensitive, but the definition of foolishness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. For years there have been pleadings with Kato to do the NCL, but nothing ever came of it. They made the ATSF named trains, the Amtrak named trains and the UP named trains and the SP named train. And then there was the one and done Broadway Limited. I believe Kato is looking for a guaranteed home run of a release, and I hope the finally do something other than the normal suspects. I just am not sure that NCL will be that, nor will the NYC Twentieth Century Limited. But there is hope maybe, after all they did produce the Hiawatha! Personally I hope the NCL makes it, and also the 20th Century Limited!
Even though I model HO scale, I did vote. Even in HO the Northern Pacific is sort of a lost child with very few locomotives available compared to other railroads in any scale. Years ago I had picked up an Atheran Genisis F-7 in the Lowey paint scheme and for years have been hoping someone would bring out a complete NCL train. I had been collecting some Walthers cars in the Lowey paint scheme and had seen some offerings in HO scale, but they were quite expensive and came with DCC and I am a DC operator with no need at all for DCC. I finally came across a couple of Stewart inits, an F-3 A and an F-7 B unit. The came without road numbers and when I got them, the color was not at all accurate. I ended up custom painting and detailing the Stewart units and finally have something that resembles a North Coast Limited. Now I do have something that does look like the NCL. I rode the North Coast Limited on a fairly regular basis when I was growing up. Brings back many good memories.
I remember excitedly voting for the Hiawatha... And now I have one!! After that experience I put far more faith in those polls
I voted, but there is a picture of the LORAM rail grinder underneath the vote breakdown statistics. What is that supposed to mean????
That would be wild if they produced that Loram Rail Grinder outfit, complete with simulated sparks flying out the bottom, and all the lights on those rigs!! I've watched one going to town on a rail section at night-5x better than a Fourth of July show!!
Actually, the Hiawatha ONLY came about because Mr. Kato (elder and now passed) became enamored of the train after sitting in the Skytop Lounge as a feature of a convention he was attending. His quote: "We must do this train". It became his pet US project and Kato USA received the funding for R&D, and the obvious approval for factory time. However, despite the vocal enthusiasm from forum and poll-taking types, the Hiawatha has NOT sold as would have been expected, based on forum opinion. In fact, its sales are mirroring the Broadway Limited...definitely not as expected, especially considering the 'hue and cry', by PRR fans, for Kato to do this train. Kato's warehouse is, still, full of Olympian Hiawatha sets, and corresponding FP7s and F7Bs. Quite a few are still available at a well known eastern Retailer/e-tailer. For Kato, and other manufacturers, Western Roads sell! Regardless of whether one is a UP, ATSF, or SP fan, Kato knows that engines and trains, in these roadnames, will always sell out fairly quickly...add the CA Zephyr and anything Amtrak to that mix (although sales of the SDP40F were less than anticipated). The Kato polls are not being used to gauge interest, from model railroaders, to decide 'what' Kato should produce next. Rather, they are being used to gauge 'receptiveness' to ideas that are being kicked around by the R&D developers at KatoUSA (who, I might add, are working AGAINST a host of things preventing ideas from coming to fruition-R&D budgets, company approval-Japan, factory time, etc. KatoUSA has a very limited budget for R&D-the FEF absorbed approximately an entire years' budget) A good example of this is the inclusion of the Rock Island TA in various polls...a pet project of a KatoUSA R&D'er (a granger road fan), who, try as he might, cannot get approval, so far, from Japan, for this train (despite the apparent attractiveness of a small bookcase train, similar to the Silver Streak Zephyr). Do forum readers here, want to hear that the MOST requested North American Locomotive, requested of Kato, by Japanese modelers, by an OVERWHELMING majority, is the Union Pacific Big Boy? Consider the R&D budget allotted for a project like that! No business, with a limited budget, for R&D and Factory time, likes to take chances with a prospective product. Kato learned this with the Broadway Limited, and, now, the Olympian Hiawatha (Model Railroaders, very vocal in forums, don't have a great history of "putting their money where their mouths are", and I sincerely wish I had a nickel for every time I heard a model railroader, approach the Kato booth, and state, "If you produced this train (insert their favorite roadname), it would sell out immediately..." In time, the Hiawatha will sell out ( some people are still unaware of its existence) and I'm almost sure that it will be released in post-1957-58 Armor yellow and Harbor Mist Gray. Likewise, it's entirely possible that another release of the Broadway cars is somewhere in Kato's future (Kato did not expect to release the UP COLA again so soon, yet, another release is imminent...because they KNOW it will sell 'out' once again). The facts are, the polls are not a good indicator of what Kato WILL release, rather, they're a gauge of interest in what they are considering as projects. If one of the mentioned trains is one that you would love to see manufactured, keep your fingers crossed, and pray that all the planets align, and all the hoops are negotiated to the point where KatoUSA gets the approval from Japan. But one can speculate and postulate til the cows come home. It's not fact until it's officially announced from Kato. Respectfully, ~Bruce
Why would Kato (or any other company) not base their new development projects, and ultimate production, upon interest from their customers? I'm just not seeing the distinction here.
Unless this employee has a majority ownership interest, he/she would be on very thin ice trying to influence business decisions based upon personal interests instead of company profitability. If the thing moved forward, and lost a ton of money, I sure wouldn't want it to be known as "NorsemanJack's pet project." Try facing the boss every day with that hanging around your neck. (the current poll results sure wouldn't help in my defense)
Small bookcase train vs. mid-size train vs. long train. This is an area where the current poll option "Twin Cities Zephyr" shines. I have photos from the early sixties with this train running as a seven unit consist (E5A/B in red stripe - identical to Kato's current release E5A - with baggage/café, two dome coaches, diner and dome/parlor/observation). This is one unit (the B unit) longer than the Silver Streak. If Kato offered this as a "small pike" option, it would fit into the current Silver Streak packaging; which already includes two empty pockets for additional E5 locomotives. The standard 1947 Twin Cities Zephyr would be a nine unit consist (E5A/B in black stripe, baggage/café, four dome coaches, diner and dome/parlor/observation. For those desiring a longer train, Volume II of the Morning Sun CB&Q series shows, on page 12, a thirteen unit consist (E5A/B/A, standard seven car consist augmented with three additional flat top coaches (the Budd flat top coaches in the Silver Streak set would work perfect). This would seem to offer maximum flexibility to Kato and meet all three market niches with one release. The fact that they would only need to develop/tool two new cars and a B unit shell provides further justification (the B unit shell is likely already designed as part of the E5A unit development). Finally, as everybody knows, Zephyrs sell, and they sell very well. Five complete unique releases of the CZ with three re-releases still hasn't exhausted the market. That likely exceeds the combined releases of the Super Chief, El Capitan and COLA combined.
I can't speak for Kato's motivation to produce these wonderful sets. I feel that they missed some opportunities to corner the market to keep other manufacturers from creating competing models. Intermountain in conjunction with Centralia Car Shops (CCS) created several models in eastern and western road names which hurt Kato sales. Intermountain' F units compete favorably with Kato units too. The only places Kato has some 'model' advantage is that Intermountain has not done E units nor PA units. Now Broadway Limited Imports is going to jump into the F unit fray... and they already have E units and PA units. The big advantage Kato still has is 'relatively' inexpensive pricing for the sets and locomotives. It somewhat paints Kato into a corner for profitability if they cannot raise prices.
The US market isn't as big as many want to believe it is. So while we may be vocal, we aren't the majority
So as I look to the ever increasing number of votes on the Kato poll... the NCL is losing ground to the 20th Century Ltd. The current votes jumped over 100 overnight (about 8 hours) ... all of these from Japan?
How did these cars 'hurt Kato sales'?...,Kato passenger cars aren't sold individually from retailers, and the centralia car shops cars are only sold indevidually. In addition, there is almost no commonality/ reproduction of prototypes between the two manufacturers' products...rather than hurt sales, the Centralia cars, which do correspond to a Kato produced roadname set, only serve to augment an already sold out product.They certainly don't prevent or hurt Kato passenger car set sales. and it isn't Kato's model to 'corner the market' on a specific locomotive, the benefit thereof not withstanding. Rather, to produce a locomotive, to their standard, that will sell.
