KATO is releasing their current Smooth Side passenger car sets without numbering or car names. This I feel is a mistake their news letter reads in part "allowing modelers to customize their own trains or simply enjoy the historic and elegant paint schemes as is operating on their layouts." As a Semi Rivet Counter and hard core passenger train Fanzee I would like to operate my Illinois Central train looking fully complete with car numbers and names, I have all the data for car types the observation car can easily represent the 1941 Panama Limited cars for example. Do not tell me to check Microscale, been there done that. I was able to get Chicago and Northwestern which has allowed me to do these cars, with help from my vast collection of Rail Buff books, no IC to be had, yes some early E Units and modern IC Split Rail Diesels. Kato should either include decal sheets like Walthers did (still have a bunch of those cars to do) or lettered and numbered them like they did the COLA cars. When the Smooth Side sets first were released they did the same thing, luckily I was able to find, PRR, B&O, Amquack (trak), Via Rail, SP, and Union Pacific decals and dry transfers. Years ago before Con Cor did their nicely lettered and numbered IC Smooth Side sets, I had to use HO Champ IC decals cut apart and re spaced to create IC painted cars,and they looked fairly Klunkey. Nate Goodman (Nato).
