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Author Topic: (New to me) Kato Mikado - need advise  (Read 1392 times)

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timwatson

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(New to me) Kato Mikado - need advise
« on: April 20, 2012, 08:37:40 AM »
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Hello all I need some advise on a recent purchase I just made.

I just bought my first Kato Mikado - yay!!! So far I am very pleased with it but it's missing some parts and I am hoping you all can help me.

1. Where can I find a traction tired driver for this locomotive?
2. Does anyone have any extra detail parts they'd like to sell me?
3. I am assuming this is an original run locomotive ... if anyone knows can you shed some light on what to expect from it.

For instance if I tweak a bearing block will it go from pulling 20 cars to pulling 1,000,000 cars (Dr. Evil pinky to face)... and so on.

Thanks all.



« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 08:01:20 PM by timwatson »
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Tim Watson
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Philip H

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Re: (New to me) Kato Mikado - need advise
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2012, 09:00:33 AM »
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Kato hasn't had traction tires on their locos since . . . well I've never seen one on a diesel or a steamer.  If you really think you need them then you could try a product called Bullfrog Snot - it has ads in N Scale Mag and MR among other places.

I'll let the resident steam experts weigh in on tweaking . . . :?
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Philip H.
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SkipGear

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Re: (New to me) Kato Mikado - need advise
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2012, 09:01:52 AM »
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1. Traction tire driver sets are sold out again. There is a rumor that Kato will restock them at some time in the future but nothing solid. There were a few ebay sold at a premium the last time I looked and that may be your best bet unless you want to wait.

2. Again, detail parts have been long gone and are pretty well gaurded by most because of certain parts that come in handy. You can use a GMM Steam detail set to take care of the handrails. The bell and mount is the hardest to replicate but it can be done using Detail Associates parts.

3. The big issue with the first run loco's was the driver design. Some of the loco's were not getting electrical pickup through the drivers. The easy way to test this is to remove the tender and see how the loco performs. If it runs fine, don't worry about drivers. If it doesn't run or is very erratic, the drivers should be replaced with the revised version. Those are available from Kato. Other changes in the revision were the size of the pilot and trailing truck wheel flanges and an updated drawbar which are minor tweeks compared to the driver issue.
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Tony Hines

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Re: (New to me) Kato Mikado - need advise
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2012, 09:04:12 AM »
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Quote from: Philip H on April 20, 2012, 09:00:33 AM
Kato hasn't had traction tires on their locos since . . . well I've never seen one on a diesel or a steamer.  If you really think you need them then you could try a product called Bullfrog Snot - it has ads in N Scale Mag and MR among other places.

I'll let the resident steam experts weigh in on tweaking . . . :?

Phil,
 Kato offers a replacement traction tire driver for the Mikado. The GS-4 came with traction tires out of the box. The GG1 has traction tires out of the box. Bullfrog snot does not work as well as a proper traction tire. If a traction tire is available, it will be the better option.
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Tony Hines
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