Kato announces Class 800 in N

[Steadfast]

A cheeky little plug, I've designed some decals to add a bit of colour to the Kato 800s, adding detail to the destination displays and underframe.

 

Let me know if you have any thoughts - is it worth me persuing?

All the best

 

Jo

[Stu from EGDL]

Hi Jo;

 

Definately worth it.

Three sets of decals for me please..2 for GWR and one for LNER sets.

See you in a few weeks..

 

Regards;

Stu from EGVN

[Adam1701D]

Brilliant bit of work, Jo - go for it.

[jamie.dunn]

Here's my Azuma finally having a chance to stretch her legs... at my local club.

 

 

 

[davepallant]

I've spent a few hours this afternoon installing Kato loco and lighting DCC decoders into an LNER 800 Azuma. Found a Youtube video that was very useful and a couple that were not so useful! However, once it was all together running on Address 3 I could only get the rear lights on each end working. Direction worked fine but no white lights. I was actually thinking that maybe there were no headlights to start with but had not run it on DC to check it before conversion.

I finally found the Tramfabriek website where the issue of DCC lights not working correctly is covered. Apparently the contacts on the lighting decoders do not always press hard enough onto the decoders to get lighting working in full. So I stripped the chassis of the driving cars down to stretch the contacts as detailed on the Tramfabriek website https://www.tramfabriek.nl/kato-800.html  and put it all back together. Now the lights work correctly.

A great model for the price but a little annoying that the ultra easy DCC install fails on a small design issue that, from what Tramfabriek say, affects alot of conversions using the Kato light decoders.

[PaulRhB]

14 hours ago, davepallant said:

I've spent a few hours this afternoon installing Kato loco and lighting DCC decoders into an LNER 800 Azuma. Found a Youtube video that was very useful and a couple that were not so useful! However, once it was all together running on Address 3 I could only get the rear lights on each end working. Direction worked fine but no white lights. I was actually thinking that maybe there were no headlights to start with but had not run it on DC to check it before conversion.

I finally found the Tramfabriek website where the issue of DCC lights not working correctly is covered. Apparently the contacts on the lighting decoders do not always press hard enough onto the decoders to get lighting working in full. So I stripped the chassis of the driving cars down to stretch the contacts as detailed on the Tramfabriek website https://www.tramfabriek.nl/kato-800.html  and put it all back together. Now the lights work correctly.

A great model for the price but a little annoying that the ultra easy DCC install fails on a small design issue that, from what Tramfabriek say, affects alot of conversions using the Kato light decoders.

Yes Sven’s guide is good, I also found the position of the decoder made a difference as I initially had the same problem but noticed the decoder could move because of the lack of pressure and had come to the same answer that the contacts were too loose. I’ve had a similar problem with a drop in decoder board and just moving it back and adding some tape to stop it sliding forward again solved that. 

[Adam1701D]

Kato have announced a Soundbox for the Class 800, which is a DC Trackside sound system that uses cartridges for different traction types.

 

 

[JR_P]

Hi all - if anyone (like me!) was waiting for the DCC89 decoder pack, these appear to have arrived today….
 

Been quite a lengthy wait, but try finding all manner of DCC decoders and many are completely out of stock with no ETA….!

 

Anyway, good news these have now arrived 🙂 !

[Kris]

Apparently 9 coach class 800's have been announced at the n gauge show in York today. 

[Nova Scotian]

On 13/05/2023 at 12:29, Kris said:

Apparently 9 coach class 800's have been announced at the n gauge show in York today. 

Any chance they've improved the livery at all? (equipment boxes on coach ends etc). Interior the right way around?

 

Not exactly complaining - the quality for the price is exceptional.

[Kris]

9 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

Any chance they've improved the livery at all? (equipment boxes on coach ends etc). Interior the right way around?

 

Not exactly complaining - the quality for the price is exceptional.

No idea, I'm simply going off a comment seen elsewhere saying that this was happening. 

[Adam1701D]

The interior was fixed, with Gaugemaster sending out replacements for the earlier models. Got to admit a correct 9-car Azuma is going to be very appealing.

[Steven B]

Good to see that Kato have enough confidence to do the longer train.

 

I wonder if they'll turn their attention to the class 802 used by TransPennine, GWR and Hull Trains.

 

Steven B

[TomE]

It's great to see the 9 car sets coming, especially as their large production runs will make the pricing attractive for a full length  unit. 

 

Like Steven I really hope they follow up with the 802 in TransPennine/GWR/Hull Trains and 803 in Lumo and in time the 805 and maybe even the 810, although the later would effectively have to be a new model given the new nose and shorter coach length. 

There is potentially a lot of milage in this for KATO.

 

Tom. 

[Mike Harvey]

Kato have good form in exploiting and developing their tooling. Taking the SNCF TGV as an example, they have followed development of the real trains over the past 40 years, amending buffet car window layouts, bogie suspension changes, the evolution to double deck trains and the myriad changes to power car shapes and end coach window layouts. The Class 800 series offers similar scope but some of the more restricted variants might take 25 years to come to fruition. 😄

[jjb1970]

I look forward to more of these, it's an excellent model at a bargain price for British N gauge. I like the Kato approach to models which strikes me as being what 'design clever' should have been - put the investment and detail where it makes a difference, economise where it doesn't add much when on a layout. Yes, it means less detail, less trick features etc but Kato and Tomix make excellent models which look superb when operated.

[nickb4141]

On 13/05/2023 at 16:29, Kris said:

Apparently 9 coach class 800's have been announced at the n gauge show in York today. 

Has anyone heard any news on when the 9 car sets are likely to appear? It’s all gone very quiet?

 

Thanks in advance, Nick.

[Kris]

24 minutes ago, nickb4141 said:

Has anyone heard any news on when the 9 car sets are likely to appear? It’s all gone very quiet?

 

Thanks in advance, Nick.

I've not heard anything recently. I did try nosing round some of the Japanese sites a couple of weeks ago but found nothing. 

[Mike Harvey]

Hiroshi Kato was at Swindon and the International N Gauge Show a week ago. Hopefully somebody asked him directly.

[Kris]

It looks like there will be new 5 coach sets coming as well. The Paddington bear set is planned for release in Feb 24. https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/class800_gwr

 

The text translates as below 

<Made in Japan> British high-speed train, Class 800 commercialised

 

The actual vehicle is a state-of-the-art bi-mode (hybrid) vehicle for intercity transportation designed to replace HST (diesel high-speed train) by the IEP (intercity high-speed rail plan) promoted in the United Kingdom. The electrified section is powered from the pantograph as before, and in the non-electrified section, it supplies power to the motor from the engine and generator unit, so it can be operated directly in the electrified and non-electrified sections.

 

Class 800 was manufactured at Hitachi's Kasado Office, and developed under the concept of the company's A-Train series, the technology cultivated in Japan was adapted to the British railway system.

 

Commercialised five-car trains of GWR (Great Western Railway) and LNER (London North Eastern Railway), which are the main lines in the UK. Because it is equipped with a head connection mechanism, it is also possible to reproduce the 10-car train of 5 + 5 cars that can be seen in real cars.

 

This product will be commercialised in the 1/148 scale of the British standard.

 

●Class 800 with "Buma no Paddington" wrapped.

 

Class 800 is a bi-mode vehicle for intercity transportation developed by Hitachi, Ltd. in Japan and manufactured in factories in Japan and the United Kingdom. Class 800 belonging to GWR (Great Western Railway) has a car named after a person related to the railway line, and the 800 010 train has "Paddington Bear" and the author "Michael Bond" at both ends. It was named ", and the customer door was wrapped with "Padington Bear".

 

The character "Paddington Bear" of the world-famous children's literature "Paddington Bear" beautifully reproduces the appearance with illustrations with various poses. It is also recommended to combine 5 + 5 that can be seen in actual cars in combination with conventional products.

 

●British Railways Class 800/0 GWR

 

・The prototype is GWR...800021 organisation, LNER...800209 organisation. The scale is commercialised in 1/148.

 

・Reproduce the car body with a style with a streamlined shape but narrowed down the end of the car considering the building limits

 

・Realistically reproduce the form on the roof equipped with mechanical equipment

 

・The GWR organisation beautifully reproduces the corporate colour moss green body. The orange pinstripes of the overhead line warning seen on the British railroad car window are also beautifully reproduced.

 

・The LNER organisation beautifully reproduces the front head reminiscent of Kabuki's Kumatori, the obi around the window with many thin stripes, and the logo of the nickname "AZUMA"

 

・The side display part is printed in black. Door switch, express the emergency door release device in each door by printing

 

・The GWR organisation reproduces the front "GWR" logo that was not present at the time of appearance. Reproduce the identification display around the upper sign light of the first car of the first class

 

・Head and tail light lighting (with off switch) and white LED are adopted. When the head is on, reproduce the state where the upper and lower sign lights are also on.

 

・Equipped with a head connecting mechanism. It is possible to reproduce the 10-car formation of 5 cars + 5 cars seen in the actual car.

 

・With a power unit with a flywheel, stable driving is possible.

 

・The middle connecting part adopts a diaphragm coupler.

 

・Wheels are made of discs that express disc brakes in each car. Non-traction tires for power vehicles, considering the combination of two trains

 

・The package is a 5-car bookcase of the same size as ICE4

 

●British Railways Class 800/0 GWR "Paddington Bear" (specialised item)

 

・Around 2018, 800 010 trains with wrapping specifications with illustrations of "Paddington Bear" on the passenger doors of various parts of the car body were commercialised in 1/148 scale

 

・Reproduce the car body with a style with a streamlined shape but narrowed down the end of the car considering the building limits

 

・Realistically reproduce the form on the roof equipped with mechanical equipment

 

・The names of "Paddington Bear" and "Michael Bond" on the sides of both front vehicles and the illustrations of various parts of the body are beautifully reproduced.

 

・Beautiful reproduction of the corporate colour moss green car body. The orange pinstripes of the overhead line warning seen on the British railroad car window are also beautifully reproduced.

 

・Reproduce the difference between the presence or absence of white lines around the headlights of Car E, which is different from the 800 021 organisation of existing products, and the presence or absence of notations of B, D, and E cars.

 

・The side display part is expressed in black. Door switch, emergency door release device on the side of each door is expressed by printing

 

・With the adoption of a power unit with a flywheel, stable driving is possible. Non-equipped traction tires in consideration of two-編成 combined operation

 

・Wheels are wheels that express disc brakes for each car

 

・Adopts headlight/tail light (with off switch) and white LED. When the headlights are on, the upper and lower parts of the sign lights are also on.

 

・The middle connecting part adopts a diaphragm coupler.

 

・Attached parts ... Drawbar for leading connection (long and short), driver for off switch x 1 each, unitrack track for exhibition (straight line 248mm x 3, straight line 186mm x 1, car stop track C x 1)

 

・Equipped with a head connecting mechanism. It is possible to reproduce the 10-car formation of 5 cars + 5 cars seen in the actual car.

 

・In a 5-car book case. The sleeve is a special specification with a character design.

 

·Accessories ... Drawbar for leading connection (long and short), driver for off switch, exhibition track (straight track 248mm x 3, straight track 186mm x 1, car stop track C x 1)

Edited September 29, 2023 by Kris
Japanese to English text translation added.

[Mike Harvey]

The substantial price increase over the previous batch is probably the impact of licensing costs, smaller production run and inflation. Not sure what the level of worldwide following is for Paddington Bear, but it could appeal to a non-model-rail sector, I suppose. It will be interesting to see if Gaugemaster will feature it in a starter set with an oval of track and controller, as with the first batch. 

[Kris]

On 29/09/2023 at 20:48, Mike Harvey said:

Not sure what the level of worldwide following is for Paddington Bear, but it could appeal to a non-model-rail sector, I suppose.

I believe that the following is large, especially as there have been 2 films and a 3rd is due for release next year. 

[Steven B]

An extra £60 for the Paddington one (based on Google's ￥to £ conversion). I'd imagine a chunk of that will be taken up with licensing costs, and another chunk  with the extra tampo printing needed for the Paddington unit. Kato's batches are in the 10's of thousands - I can't imagine them making fewer Paddington branded units - if anything I'd suggest they're likely to sell more as somone who's already got a GWR class 800 may prefer to get the branded one rather than another plain vanila version..

 

Steven B.

[jjb1970]

35,000JPY is expensive for a five car book set from Kato (or indeed Tomix). Compared to European N is still well priced but if you look at their Shinkansen and other Japanese models it's quite a lot. For example the Kato Series 300 Shinkansen was a newly tooled model released last year, beautifully done and the SRP for the full 16 car set was 46000JPY.

[Nova Scotian]

Difficult news today from Gaugemaster