after adding all the stuff that kato coming out with comes to over 600.00 if your rich great if your poor start saving your money
Well that rules out the EM13 then, a change for Kato seeing they are partners of sorts with Digitrax. I had a look around dealers taking orders and found the full set, (844, tenders, and 7 car excursion train) for $449.
I'm getting the loco, the tenders and the unlighted excursion train for just under $500. It's going to go so well with my Challenger and my WP/UP Heritage unit. I'm a happy camper!
Just preordered the unlighted, non-DCC set from wig-wag-trains.com. They state the prices are estimates because the price isn't set in stone from Kato. $393....pretty good!
I haven't seen anyone pose this question yet but at the risk of being labeled a Kato basher what shade of yellow will the cars be, the same as the COLA set?
I heard they had a lot of "yellow" that was left over from the "Kodachrome" locomotives that they want to use up. (ducking and running for cover)
Well... it could be sunflower yellow... or marigold yellow... or saffron yellow... but... probably not Armour Yellow.
I just ordered my two non-DCC 844's from wig-wag-trains.com ....$178.75 each, plus shipping when they arrive. A very good deal. My son reserved his two from another dealer for around 25 bucks each more. Prices are estimates, and I may actually have to pay a bit more when they ship. I am highly pleased with the street prices on what I want out of this Kato set (just the engines). I'll be DCC-izing them with Tsunamis and my own custom, air-tight speaker enclosures. The Challenger whistle in the Tsunami "Heavy Steam" decoder is perfect, as Big Boys, Challengers and FEF-3's all had the same whistle. As to the tone of "Armour Yellow" Kato uses. Who knows... In reality, Kato isn't the only manufacturer who gets it messed up. If you want to add to the excursion train with COLA cars, then let's hope for your sakes that they paint them to match. However, for accuracy, Scalecoat II and Tru-Color Armour Yellow come very close to the brand-new prototype color. If you want to match your Armour Yellow to the Kato COLA tint, you can do that by mixing 15 parts Tru-Color Armour Yellow with 1 part Milwaukee Road Orange. For other Armour Yellow U.P. applications, when you drive by a U.P. yard, you can see all sorts of variations in the prototype paint in various degrees of fading, wear and dirtiness. Where you DON'T see variations is on their heritage fleet. Remember, both paints dry to a glossy finish, which is different than the stock Kato paint finish. I hope Kato decides to finish this whole train with glossy paint, as that feature is so evident on both the 3985 and 844 consists when seen in person. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
With the Broadway Limited set, Kato demonstrated that they have no trouble doing glossy - if they so choose.
I like the ESU decoders a lot, especially for diesels. However, their whistle isn't anywhere near close to the correct sounding whistle for Big Boys, Challengers, or FEF-3's like the 844...which all had the same whistle. Several modelers who I really respect have reported bad motor control with the Tsunamis, but, I have a lot of 'em, and I don't experience any of the problems that they've reported. Mine run smoothly, creeping along as the engines start up, slowly accelerating to mainline speed, great rod clank sound, excellent back-EMF chuff variations, and perfectly timed brake squeal. Nope, the Tsunamis are not perfect, with manual control needed for some sounds when the engine starts and stops. I also don't like the idea that the sound files are not programmable, so you're stuck with what you got, as opposed to both Digitrax and ESU's sound files. They also run hot, but unlike some stories I've heard, they never shut down or get erratic with me. I run a Digitrax Super Chief Simplex Radio system, with low-ox, high purity, large diameter power buses, sub buses and 22 AWG solid core feeders no more than 3' apart, and on every piece of track. Maybe that's got something to do with how my engines run...I don't know. I really really like the sound equalization on the Tsunamis, which IMO adds greatly to the quality of sound out of a good speaker in an airtight speaker enclosure. If ESU had the correct whistle available, I wouldn't hesitate to use them...but, they don't. Maybe with the introduction of the Kato FEF-3, they'll do a live recording of the 844's sounds and include them in their decoders. However, UP FEF's have been available for years in HO, so why they haven't already done that is puzzling. Yup, ESU says they're using an actual digitized recording of one of the preserved Big Boy's whistles, but...and this is a big "but"...the air blowing that whistle was at much much less than the normal 300 psi that Big Boys and FEF-3's operated with, which drastically changes the tone of the chime. I'm sure that when the 4014 gets rolling in a few years, there will be many crews recording her sounds for inclusion into their sound decoders. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
Thanks, Bob Gilmore for explaining your choice of decoders with sound and the rationale. I watched a YouTube post from John Colombo in which he used the ESU Loksound decoder to replace a Tsunami in a steam locomotive. It sounded good to me, but I have Bose speakers on my computer so that may be a part of the reason for great sound.
Well, I've reserved mine through BLW... Thanks, Bob, for the information about the era-specific details...it appears that the loco would need very minor 'treatment' to allow it to appear as a 1957 version...good for me; I have it in mind to build a small circa-1957 layout depicting Dale Junction, and/or Hermosa tunnel, I'll need a few representative UP trains to operate on it...at some point, I'll tie it together with the current Kingman canyon layout with proper viewblocks and have trains from both 'appear' at the LA river, Mission tower, and LAUPT. I'll need to do more research, but I'm thinking that, by 1957, the FEF's would have only been used to power some fast freights over Sherman Hill, or, maybe they weren't even in Cheyenne, Laramie by then...had 844 been relegated to excursion service already? Bruce
FEF's stopped running regular service in 1959. The 844 was relegated to a special "snow removal" role, so was kept in good shape for doing that, which saved her from the torch. Her first excursion run was in November of 1960, after a minor shopping and test run of pulling a reefer block in the middle of that year. It appears that this model will be ideal for us who are modeling the last days of steam on the U.P....from 1954 to 1959. What relegates this model to the post 1954 years is the Worthington SA Feedwater Heater, which is directly in front of the double stack on top of the smokebox. Also the pump for that system is very evident on the left side of the engine under the running board. Also, this model, with renumbering to 835 through 843 for the rest of the ten FEF-3's is completely appropriate, so if you find a photo of an FEF-3 pulling a train that you think is interesting and it's not the 844, you could easily change the number. FEF's were famously reliable, easy to handle, powerful and fast...an almost "perfect" combination...and they looked really good too. In the waning days of steam, they were called upon for many tasks because of their versatility, including helper service to both freight and passenger, normal freight service, and fast company trains for delivering material to the various stations and yards along the mainlines. I always think that it's very interesting when I see an FEF on the front of a streamliner heading east out of Ogden, or west out of Cheyenne...a big, black steam locomotive leading sleek yellow E's to the top of the hill and beyond. The only information I don't have as to the suitability of this Kato model for the 1954-1959 era is a lack of views of the top of the tender and how the oil bunker is going to be detailed. That shouldn't be a difficult modification no matter what, and I've got a prototype FEF-2 sitting under the awning at the Utah State Railroad Museum about 30 minutes away for reference. Here's a photo I took on my friend Kelly Newton's module depicting Weber Canyon on the U.P. with an FEF-3 helping a freight up to Wasatch. The engines and rolling stock are mine, but this pose for engines and cabooses isn't accurate because the red and yellow cabooses tells us that this is 1949 to 1950 and any FEF-3 would still be in two-tone gray livery...but, it's still an interesting shot and made the cover of RMJ back in the '90's. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
Roger, John is a real guru when it comes to sound installations. He doesn't like the running qualities of the Tsunami's, but I don't have the problems with them he does for some reason. His one complaint about his ESU install in the Athearn Challenger was the whistle, but his Challenger is a Clinchfield/ex-D&RGW engine, and who knows if the whistle was different than the U.P. Challengers. Since the stack got changed to a single stack, maybe they changed other things too...like the whistle. I've got Klipsch speakers on all my computers, which I really think sound GREAT, so the sound you were hearing through your Bose speakers was probably pretty close to the actual sound. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
Hi folks. I second Bob Gilmore's opinion that the "steamboat" UP whistle on the ESU LokSound sounds terrible - or at least, doesn't sound anything like recordings of 844 I've heard. I picked a whistle that sounded OK for my Challenger conversion, but ESU really needs to up their game on the steam side of things (their diesel decoders sound terrific, IMHO, including the horns). The Tsunami Heavy Steam whistles are much, much, much better. ESU should do new live recordings of the UP Challenger, the FEF, NKP 765, the SP GS-4, Pere Marquette 1225, etc. There are a LOT of active steamers that could be recorded; I hope Matt at ESU's US operation gets to these while the gettin' is good. John C.
Man I'm just anxious for these to come out! Anyone else? I keep looking at pics nearly every day! I've got several consists I want to use these on, 48 cars to choose from!
