Mike Harvey Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Kato will be attending this year’s International N Gauge show, following on from this announcement. http://www.jp-ngauge.info/ngi/2019/07/kato2019-6f3c.html 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hilux5972 Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2019 I would imagine we will see a 9 or 10 car pack as well from Kato. N gauge is much more susceptible to larger trains. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 27, 2019 Excellent news. Have they indicated yet which liveries will be offered? cheers Ben A. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenway Park Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 To be released in 2021. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGR Hooper! Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 That was unexpected. Very exciting and I think I am definitely going to get one. An LNER Azuma please Kato!! What's also interesting is the new brand if I may call it that - "Kato British Railways". Is going to be a new line of British items from Kato? Will we see more British themed models from them? Hope they get into the EMU market. Lots of scope there in OO and N gauge. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium steam-driven boy Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2019 Hi, I note that discussion on the N Gauge Forum has questioned which scale Kato will use, in particular Ben A: Quote From my brief but interesting discussions with Mr Kato at Warley last year I got the sense that he cannot understand why anyone would want a model that is not the correct scale/Gauge combination, and would need some convincing to put out an "incorrect" Kato model. I suspect the Class 800 will be to 1:160, but of course he will be attending TINGS so maybe this is a good chance to lobby him? Cheers Ben A. Surely the majority of UK modellers will want to run these alongside their existing 1/148 trains, the correct scale/gauge combination for the UK market. If Arnold, who primarily produce in 1/160, can issue their Brighton Belle in the standard UK scale then it would seem to me to be very odd indeed for Kato not to do so unless they see this only as an addition to their World Market strategy? Regards, Gerry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenway Park Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Kato uses 1:150 for their Japanese N Gauge 1067mm stock but 1:160 for Shinkansen. I would have thought the model would follow British practise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigP Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 (edited) -- Edited February 1, 2021 by bigP Deleted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ryde-on-time Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 27, 2019 38 minutes ago, steam-driven boy said: Hi, I note that discussion on the N Gauge Forum has questioned which scale Kato will use, in particular Ben A: Surely the majority of UK modellers will want to run these alongside their existing 1/148 trains, the correct scale/gauge combination for the UK market. If Arnold, who primarily produce in 1/160, can issue their Brighton Belle in the standard UK scale then it would seem to me to be very odd indeed for Kato not to do so unless they see this only as an addition to their World Market strategy? Regards, Gerry. That’s a strange quote from Kato considering they make the Swiss RhB models as n gauge standard gauge, whereas they should be narrow gauge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Well maybe they will want to think about an APT as their second British train From a world market perspective a Pendolino, a HST and one of the latest Eurostar trains if they keep with their theme of iconic fast trains from around the world. if they venture into the mundane then it could be interesting, but this is all years away, the 800 is still a couple of years off and whilst we reading into a title it could be the only thing they have planned. Let's face it, it is a model of a Japanese train by a Japanese company, if they were going to pick a train it would be this one. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 (edited) 22 minutes ago, Ryde-on-time said: That’s a strange quote from Kato considering they make the Swiss RhB models as n gauge standard gauge, whereas they should be narrow gauge Not just the Swiss models - all the Kato Japanese 3' 6" gauge prototypes (their pre-Shinkansen 'standard' gauge) in 1:150 scale run on 9mm rather than 7.1mm track, so the statement about wrong gauge really doesn't make sense. Come to think of it, the majority of their model range is probably running on the wrong gauge. Edited July 27, 2019 by BernardTPM 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 6 hours ago, Fenway Park said: Kato uses 1:150 for their Japanese N Gauge 1067mm stock but 1:160 for Shinkansen. I would have thought the model would follow British practise. It all depends on where Kato things the primary market is - if they view it as a "collectable" for Japanese customers who want a model of a Japanese designed/built train then they may well use the Japanese standards. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium njee20 Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2019 But there’s already a Japanese equivalent - the White Sonic. This is definitely a British model. I can’t see wide appeal in Japan, unlike the Eurostar/Glacier Express sets to capture the tourist market. It would seem to be an immense own goal if they insist on releasing it in anything other than 1:148! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 27, 2019 Given the other news about Kato teaming up with Peco for Welsh locos in OO9, maybe they are seeing opportunities in the UK market generally. The degree of any crossover into their domestic market arising from the Japanese origins of the Class 80x should be fairly easy for them to gauge. As ever, if you want to see more releases of UK prototypes from a new entrant to the market, buy the first one. John 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2019 34 minutes ago, njee20 said: But there’s already a Japanese equivalent - the White Sonic. This is definitely a British model. I can’t see wide appeal in Japan, unlike the Eurostar/Glacier Express sets to capture the tourist market. It would seem to be an immense own goal if they insist on releasing it in anything other than 1:148! Agree. They would be more a curiosity in Japan, and unlike the Eurostar which can be seen along TGVs and ICEs (already in the Kato 1/160 range), the 800 is a domestic train. Whilst there will be those who would buy it irrespective of being 1/160 or 1/148 (or it could be 1/150 for that matter), I would suggest that by making it 1/160 to appeal to the wider European market would lose more UK modeller's purchases, than gain European buyers. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpendle Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Apparently there is already a 1:150 scale White Sonic from Kato, and the concern expressed on the N Gauge forum is that Kato will stick with that tooling rather than retool 'as the UK market is so small'. BUT that doesn't gel with Ben A's quote about compromising Scale/Gauge ratio's or Kato partnering with Peco in 009 or, hopefully, the fact that as Revs have sold 1000 Pendos and are now doing a re-run that must indictae that the UK market would support a 1:148 800/801/802 (especially the 802 in TPE livery pretty please). Mr Kato will be at TINGS, there's the opportunity to put the scale thing to bed, or not! Regards, John P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2019 The JR Kyushu type 885 'White Sonic' unit has been in the Kato catalogue for a few years now... https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10072858 They look radically different. I genuinely don't believe Kato would compromise so significantly, better not to enter the market in the first place if that will be the approach. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MrTea Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2019 This announcement is really welcome news. The running quality of Kato models is usually first class so I think this will do well (and I’d be surprised if it’s not 1:148 scale). It’s interesting that neither Graham Farish or Dapol have announced a class 800 to date given that they cover the class 220 and HST respectively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium njee20 Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2019 Hornby have an exclusivity deal on it, in all scales, which is meant to expire next year, hence the Kato offering being 2021. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDMJ Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, jpendle said: 'as the UK market is so small'. Kato's Japanese market seems to account for more than 80% of its sales leaving 20% for the rest of the world. That is the main reason for not producing their catalogues in any other language than Japanese! Kato USA is a different entity from Kato Japan, as is Kato Lemke. Edited July 27, 2019 by JohnDMJ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted July 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2019 This has the potential to be a key model. I wonder just how many will be produced. Whilst it falls massively outside of my chosen modelling period it does fall within the location. Something to think about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium steam-driven boy Posted July 28, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2019 Hi, Reported on ngauge@groups.io by Julian Thornhill: Quote From the Keyboard of Mr Kato himself, it will be 1:148 regards Julian Thornhill and also on the NGF topic: Quote Someone I know who is in direct contact with Mr Kato by email. Mr Kato confirmed last night that the class 800 will be to 1:148 scale. Regards Julian Thornhill So hopefully we'll see an official verification presently. Regards, Gerry. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PMP Posted July 28, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2019 16 hours ago, Dunsignalling said: Given the other news about Kato teaming up with Peco for Welsh locos in OO9, maybe they are seeing opportunities in the UK market generally. I've spoken to Mr Kato at the past two Warley exhibitions, where he and two of his staff were looking around the exhibition to assist in assessing the UK market. He's a very nice guy and I suspect if this and the Peco collaboration does well, it could bode well for the UK N gauge market. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium njee20 Posted July 28, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2019 Given Kato’s sheer size and market presence I agree it can only be a good thing having them in the market. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted July 28, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 28, 2019 Hello all, This is great news IMO, and a huge vote of confidence in the British N gauge market. It's very early days of course, but it does appear from the marketing images seen so far that this is intended to be the launch of a brand, not just a single model. As has been said above, it's now over to us. If we want more Kato we need to buy more Kato! An 800 of some description will certainly be finding its way into my collection. cheers Ben A. 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now