Kato/Peco Announce FR Locos in 009! (confirmed!)

[PaulRhB]

Bit of running on Tim Coulings big bank on Clyre Valley. The freights are weighted to require the bankers and while the Bachmann Fairlie managed 9 wagons and a brake the England romped away with 12 + brake! It also nicely matched the speed of the Bachmann 08 chassis in use under many of Tim’s locos. 
 

 

[Ramrig]

Anyone know if the next batch will have a green version? The original announcement was for one in Red/maroon and the other in green, I don't fancy getting the green paint out to  repaint a red one, to nice to spoil.

[PaulRhB]

6 hours ago, Ramrig said:

Anyone know if the next batch will have a green version? The original announcement was for one in Red/maroon and the other in green, I don't fancy getting the green paint out to  repaint a red one, to nice to spoil.

Nothing official so far but it’s inevitable with them selling well. 

[halsey]

On 18/04/2022 at 16:42, didcot said:

I've had an afternoon running session with the England's and a double Fairlie on DCC. 

It has highlighted the need for the track to be very clean. The Fairlie is bullet proof.

Hi,

Is the Fairlie "bulletproof" because of its multiple pickups? I have a small DCC 009 layout with 8 turnouts and am strugling to get really smooth running although a recent investment in Frog Juicers seems to have helped a lot.

I only run one loco and am wondering whether to swap my loyal Baldwin for the DF

 

Thoughts???

 

Thanks

[didcot]

In my experience yes. Having the two power bogies apart does mean that it's picking up power from another piece of track as it goes through the nose of a turnout. It's also a bit heavier than the England's as well which helps. I bought the dcc ready version, but added the Bachmann Next 18 decoder and it ran perfectly without any tweaking.

[bubbles2]

I have the Bachman DCC fairlie but have only run it on a circular test track so far. Are all Peco 009 points suitable for DCC operation, I’ve seen some Peco points with wiring added on eBay as converted for DCC, what does this mean?

[PaulRhB]

3 hours ago, bubbles2 said:

. Are all Peco 009 points suitable for DCC operation,

Yes

 

3 hours ago, bubbles2 said:

 

I’ve seen some Peco points with wiring added on eBay as converted for DCC, what does this mean?

Generally it means they put auxiliary wires to the switch blades so they no longer rely on physical contact for power. Even without the mod they work fine but need cleaning on the contact face regularly. The only reason is DCC locos are more susceptible to loss of signal, particularly with sound, so it saves some cleaning. I do the mods myself because I find trundling a layout around in humid cars and dusty venues makes the track dirty quicker so it improves reliability, but it’s a nice to have rather than essential. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by PaulRhB

[didcot]

I would second that.

[Butler Henderson]

On 23/07/2022 at 14:29, bubbles2 said:

I’ve seen some Peco points with wiring added on eBay as converted for DCC, what does this mean?

A bit of a misnomer as the "conversion" is to simply to stop relying on the switch and closure rails making good electrical contact and therefore equally appropriate for dc. Does not however resolve an issue I have had whereby there was both poor electrcial connection at tha location and also at the non-authentic pivot on the switch rail meaning the section of the switch rail between the pivot and its end with teh closure rail was dead.

[HonestTom]

Bit of a shot in the dark this, but I’ve somehow managed to lose the safety valves on my Prince - does anyone know if spares are available? Google has turned up nothing and I can’t find anything on Peco’s site.

 

EDIT: Actually, I've changed my mind. Looking at photos of the engine in the era I want to portray (the 1890s), it appears to have had a different safety valve/whistle arrangement from the model. I think I'll see what the various bits suppliers can do for me.

Edited August 2, 2022 by HonestTom

[ohlavache]

Kato and Peco have just announced a second run of Prince and Princess in their green livery.

It is planned for January 2023 in Japan.

[PaulRhB]

49 minutes ago, ohlavache said:

Kato and Peco have just announced a second run of Prince and Princess in their green livery.

It is planned for January 2023 in Japan.

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/kato-model/poster/pdf/20220830163643630dbe0bef853/202301b.pdf

[Mike Harvey]

35 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/kato-model/poster/pdf/20220830163643630dbe0bef853/202301b.pdf

A timely announcement with Mr. Kato in the UK at the moment. Hopefully he will turn up at the International N Gauge Show in just over a week’s time.

 

The link to the poster is dynamic and disappears quickly.

 

This link should be more durable:-

 

https://www.katomodels.com/posters

Edited September 2, 2022 by Mike Harvey
Added better link

[jjb1970]

I just got one of these, and have to say it's a beautiful little model! I was given a S$100 gift card for the local Amazon store and found that they offer a large selection of models from the Japan website so thought I might as well go for Prince. I've been trying to think of a way to do something small for a while. I've never really been that enthusiastic about OO or HO micro-layouts as I like prototypical trains and like big locomotives (as much as I like stuff like the Class 101, 108, 156 etc, I like stuff like a 45 or 47 on a set of Mk.1 or Mk.2 coaches more,). I have a lot of Japanese N, but even in N gauge a realistic Shinkansen train needs quite a bit of space unless you have it chasing its own tail. OO9 or HOe however offers the potential to do something nice in a small space and run prototypical trains. At S$133 including free delivery (£82) I thought 'what's there to lose?' and am properly impressed. I am very familiar with Kato Japanese outline so had high expectations for fit and finish and running, and am not disappointed. I put an oval of Unitrak on the table and it has the lovely smooth and quiet performance that is a trademark of Kato. The finish also has that very fine quality, I find Kato models have an impression more like ink than paint, the paint finish of other models often feels very heavy by comparison. For the price there is nothing I'd criticise, even at UK SRP I wouldn't feel hard done by. Now I am looking at other stuff to add to it and a small (maybe 6x3) loop layout. I've had a slightly bonkers idea to do one half of the loop as something inspired by the WHR, and the other half as something inspired by a Taiwanese forest railway. I bought a Taiwanese Alishan forest railway diesel in HOe from Ane which is also a lovely little model. A continuous loop with Welsh on one side and Taiwanese on the other might be quite a nice little project. For the Welsh side I really want a Fairlie, the Bachmann model looks lovely.

[LittleRedTrain]

Hattons now taking pre-orders for the green versions as well as a new batch of maroon ones.
https://www.hattons.co.uk/directory/versiondetails/article?id=1172

The description states "this new batch features an improved crank pin design and packaging", which is welcome after the problems some people reported with the previous batch. (Mine was thankfully fine).

[Oliver Rails]

 

Peco have today announced a second run of the hugely popular OO-9 "Small England" 0-4-0TT locomotives!

 

https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/small-england-oo9-announcements

NEW LIVERY! PRINCE & PRINCESS in green

 

Plus a re-run in maroon

ORDER BOOK OPEN 

PRE-ORDER HERE

Delivery is expected: Early 2023 

 

Also being produced is a new batch of their OO9 chassis

 

51-251A KATO/PECO OO-9 locomotive “Princess” (Maroon)
51-251B KATO/PECO OO-9 locomotive “Prince” (Maroon)
51-251F KATO/PECO OO-9 locomotive “Princess” (Green)
51-251G KATO/PECO OO-9 locomotive “Prince” (Green)
      Pre-order at Rails for just £135 with FREE UK Postage

57-201 KATO/PECO OO-9 locomotive Motor Unit/Powered Chassis
Pre-order at Rails for just £58.50 with FREE UK Postage
 

TECHNICAL SPECS
Let's run through the technical specs for these models:

Narrow gauge ready-to-run locomotive  - OO-9, 1:76 scale, 9mm gauge track;

Separate locomotive chassis also available - supplied with detachable unpainted body moulding for protection;

DC (analogue) coreless motor fitted within loco body giving smooth and reliable running;

Loco and tender electrically connected - pick ups on front loco axles and two tender axles. Inner axle of loco fitted with traction tyres;

Will comfortably negotiate 9inch/229mm radius curves;

Fully decorated with fine lining and small details;

Separate moulding supplied for handrails, etc.;

Supplied fitted with standard PECO OO-9 coupling, Arnold N gauge couplings supplied separately.

Please note: DCC operation is technically possible but no provision has been made for this in the model due to limited available space. Since the first batch was released improvements have been made with the packaging to ensure protection whilst in transit. The crank pin design has also been upgraded to improve the security of the coupling rods.

[LittleRedTrain]

Question for the Ffestiniog history experts:

A quick look for photos of Princess in green seem to show her having the sides of her frames painted in red. See https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Princess

Did she ever carry the livery with the black painted frames as pictured in the drawing above, either pre or post-preservation?

[PaulRhB]

25 minutes ago, LittleRedTrain said:

Did she ever carry the livery with the black painted frames as pictured in the drawing above, either pre or post-preservation?

Apart from she was green in the pre-war period there doesn’t seem to be any conclusive evidence on the detail of the livery of the Englands apart from the light blue, Welsh Pony, and brown, Prince, mentioned in this thread on the Fairlies.
That red was part of the cosmetic restoration to put her on display but obviously is freshly painted in photos, but I haven’t found anything that concludes if this was based on old red or just to tart it up a bit. 

[mcowgill]

Colour Rail slide NG92 is a somewhat distant shot of Princess at Glan y Pwll in 1946, I'm not aware of any other pre-closure colour photos of an England engine.  Here's the loco part of the image, sadly not very clear.  The edge of the framing from the drops over the cylinders and forward looks too consistently light to be muck and rust, possibly the restoration repaint in green did restore an original red feature?

 

Martin

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by mcowgill

[jjb1970]

If Kato are doing another run already these must have sold well, Kato don't do small production runs and generally only do re-runs once they're pretty confident the demand is there (some of their tooling goes for years and years without being re-used. I'm guessing these have gone down well in Japan as I am not sure UK demand would generate the sort of sales Kato expect for a model. Well done Kato and Peco, these deserve to sell well.

[SteamingWales]

Hello all

 

Considering getting one of these in light of the expected FR versions of the Penrhyn ladies.

 

Is it worth risking it now with one of the original batch, given the packaging issues and crank pin problems, or holding tight for the second run? I only ask as I am thinking there may be a price rise for 2023?

 

Another question. How easy would it be to rename/renumber one of these to model Palmerston?

Edited November 9, 2022 by SteamingWales

[Butler Henderson]

I emailed Peco re the crankipins and they have put a set of the new ones in the post free of charge.

[JaymzHatstand]

14 hours ago, SteamingWales said:

Another question. How easy would it be to rename/renumber one of these to model Palmerston?

 

Number 4 would require a bit of work, he has a different smokebox handrails and the nameplates are in a different position, being at the front of the tanks rather than central, so there'd be some carving and repainting to do. I suspect there are several other differences, but those are the two big visual ones that I can think of at present!

 

I'm sure someone can provide a little more detail on that. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers

 

J

[didcot]

@SteamingWalesI didn't have any packaging issues, but that was probably more to do with Derails first class service. Touch wood no crank pin issues either. I did need to tweak the tender pick ups and covered that in these pages. I managed to fit a decoder as well. I would say go for it. As you can see Peco are aware of the issues and look to be providing good after sales care.

[Butler Henderson]

2 hours ago, JaymzHatstand said:

 

Number 4 would require a bit of work, he has a different smokebox handrails and the nameplates are in a different position, being at the front of the tanks rather than central, so there'd be some carving and repainting to do. I suspect there are several other differences, but those are the two big visual ones that I can think of at present!

 

I'm sure someone can provide a little more detail on that. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers

 

J

Flip - I had the same idea - oh well will just have to pretend Prince was was not bloated when rebuilt in the 1980s to be akin to Little Giant/Welsh Pony, now theirs a thought maybe they ought to rename it Little Giant. Apparently Palmerston is to be released later by Peco/Kato. Re the crankpins the "replacements" turned up from Peco today but only three provided which makes me think they are the original type - fitted one with the use of a bit of blu tak to position the coupling rod whilst fitting it through the connecting rod

Edited November 10, 2022 by Butler Henderson