In conversation with the N Scale Manager of my LHS, I was told that Kato intends to release two premiere passenger trains per year (ex. Cal Zephyr, Daylight, Broadway etc.). They will also backfill with "generic" sets twice a year as well (ex. GN, UP 4 car sets). If we take a look at N Scale production history, ConCor did the same premiere trains with their limited run sets. In the begining it was very succesful however where are they now? Just playing devils advocate . Going with the above it's a possibility that you will see something from other big roadnames, such as B&O, and NYC. They hit a huge east coast target going with the Broadway Limited interesting what they might do next.... Hopefully from this point on it would be 1 east coast and 1 west coast premier passenger train per year. Just my .02, and it's Canadien, eh!
That is good news being relatively new to N scale and having missed out on some passenger sets I want.
That Fine N Scale shell would also work for the 1946 Mercury train. When E-7 diesels bumped the two streamlined Hudsons off the Empire State Express, they got a simplified (mostly black or gunmetal gray) paint scheme and replaced the Streamlined K-5b Pacifics that were struggling to pull the increasingly heavy Mercury trains due to their popularity. And, Yes, for this Hudson (ESE and Mercury) the red NYC oval logo on the pilot is correct. On the other Dreyfuss Hudsons it had a blue background.
The reps at the Kato booth last week at the OKC show told me that if I was patient, I shouldn't bother building an el-Cap train myself. I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but I guess it's on their radar...
Well, it seems that there might be a lot of actual interest in a 20th Century Limited. I hope a manufacturer steps up and does one. I still would like to see an unshrouded locomotive, nicely detailed, but I will settle for whatever comes my way in NYC Steam. I still think that Bachmann should do their Niagara since they make one in HO, and that someone should make a gazillion Mohawks, since the scarce brass from Key is soo dang hard to find.
Yes... manufacturers need to realize that you can't model a steam-era railroad with only their one or two most famous engines.
Well, so far we have Key making the big boy, challenger, walthers challenger and arent they making a big boy as well? RRossi made the big boy, and didnt they make a challenger? lol Why is it everyone wants to make the big boy and challenger? Even though I am sick of seeing another UP, SP, SF locomotive, I have to admit that there were many more types of locomotives other than that. I would think that manufacturers would want to do something different to capture that special crowd. The modlers who do UP, while they may love the bb, I am sure they would love to see some of the other special steam that the UP had. Their whole railroad cant be made up of just bb's and challengers. There is the dillema. No manufacturer wants to step up and do a different locomotive, because steam is so different from Railroad to Railroad, they dont know what to make that will sell. Too many to choose from. So they just repeat what everyone else has done that sold well. Oh well, I can at least hope for NYC power in steam. I will probably be buying old old brass stuff that doesnt run as great as the new stuff. At least it is only a hobby. Maybe I should just go back to O gauge.
The only way the popular UP engines are good enough is if you're modelling 1957-59. There was hardly any steam left other than FEFs, Challengers and Big Boys.
I could have sworn the real Century was coming out this year, but instead was surprised Kato just released the same old standard passenger car sets in 4 new paint schemes. VIA, CNW, IC, and Alaska. ARRRRRRR
I've stated often that if Kato does a great quality Hudson class NYC Twentieth Century Limited... I would buy it even though it isn't a west coast road. Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
Yes! Yes! Yes! Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm primarily a west coast modeler. But enjoy my PRR GG1s, E8s, & Broadway Limited immensely. I've got a splendid set of Kato PA/PB ABAs in Lightning strip just waiting to pull the TCL. Have emailed KatoUSA several times over the last few years begging them to do it. My goal is to one day model a Chicago hub where East meets West with the SF SC, El Cap, CZ, SP Daylight, PRR Broadway Limited, & NYC TCL all terminating side-by-side (I know, prototypically they were different stations). Still, an intriguing fantasy nonetheless. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have besieged Kato, as I am sure have many others, to produce a steam powered New York Central passenger train. The obvious choice would be the 1938 or 1940 version of the Twentieth Century (Opex blue stripes edging the window band on the '38, white stripes on the '40. The Central found out that the blue paint didn't hold up well to the vicissitudes of weather and switched to white.) If Kato produced a Dreyfuss Hudson with disc drivers (o, most sublime in all of steam!), they could use the same mechanism and relatively minor tweaks to also produce the black and silver magnificence of the Empire State Express Hudson and its short but elegant consist of stainless steel corrugated cars. The mere thought of a stainless steel Babbling Brook corrugated observation makes me bubble over in anticipation. I'm not just blowing smoke out the proverbial stack here. Did not Kato utterly amaze and delight with their unexpected Silver Streak Zephyr replete with the exquisite EMD E5 Diesels in matching corrugated gleaming silver?
