Kato/Micro Ace EF57 owners- truck question N scale

[u18b]

Hi guys.

I know the old chassis of this loco was basically designed split frame almost exactly like an old Con Cor PA-1.  Gear towers look identical to Con Cor PA.

But did they ever revise it?
Is there a low friction version out there with phosphor bronze cup pick ups with needle bearings on the axles?

Any photos?

I'm having a hard time getting info off the net and guessing from photos.

This is the loco.


And I think I hit research paydirt from this Japanese site.
Looks low friction to me.
http://shinshonan.exblog.jp/22774348/

But how can I tell what I'm buying since very few selling photos tell you much.

[u18b]

Maybe a better question is....

What do I need to buy to get these trucks?

[peteski]

Ah, so you've found the answer - they did redesign the mechanism.

This is Kato Japan model - not supported (spare parts wise) by Kato USA. Getting parts will be tough.  It might make sense to just buy the entire model and use it for parts.  But have in the past ordered parts for Japanese models.   It was either through Rainbow Ten or maybe through Hobby Search (1999.co.jp). I'm always amused by the names Japanese choose for their companies.   Like the ones I mentioned above or Elephant Rocket (a company in Japan which services and sells Alps printers).

[u18b]

Yes, I was planning on buying the whole loco.

But what makes it more confusing is that there appear to be two versions of this loco- one with the pantographs in the middle and one near the ends.

And they both appear to be called EF57.

I just don't want to wast money and buy the wrong thing.

[ChristianJDavis1]

Yes, I was planning on buying the whole loco.

But what makes it more confusing is that there appear to be two versions of this loco- one with the pantographs in the middle and one near the ends.

And they both appear to be called EF57.

I just don't want to wast money and buy the wrong thing.

The pantograph positions are just based on prototype units (some units had them on the ends, overhanging the porches by a bit, and the middle positions, which are closer to the EF56 electrics of the JNR). As far as runs are concerned, I believe the ones with center pantographs are newer. The easiest way to tell is by the box, which new runs have green paper sides and grey foam. Older runs have either grey foam or a tan plastic insert (for oldest run), and the oldest run has little tabs hanging off of the Rapido coupler ( where the standard coupler has a post hanging down, these ones have an "L" shaped bracket hanging down. As far as models, I think you want a Kato over micro ace, as you want the lower-friction wheel sets/trucks. Safest bet would probably be to go on a website like Hobbysearch and look for the newest arrival models and take down the part numbers, then shop using that.

[scaro]

Hi, Looks interesting. 

Wondering what the wheelbase of the three axle trucks is, and the wheel diameter ?


Cheers, Ben 

[nscaler711]

Just a tid bit info on Japanese Locomotive Designations
For example the stands for E electric F number of Axles (F is the 6th letter in the Alphabet) and 57 is it's class, the last few numbers are its running number.
D is for Diesel obviously...
Maybe Wikipedia can explain it better. It is a really smart system to be honest...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Railways_locomotive_numbering_and_classification

Sorry I can't be any more help otherwise...

 

[C62-2]

The most recent Kato EF-57s are 3069 and 3069-1. The parts list for 3069-1 is no longer available on the web site, so I can't tell if the trucks are different parts, but EF57-1 and EF57-2 through EF57-15 seem to differ mostly in the placement of stuff on the roof, and the number of vents on the sides. They seem to get rerun periodically, with at least minor updates on each run (e.g., adding things like blackened wheels, real spoked wheels instead of fake spoked wheels, to name some of the things that have been added to some of the recent models)

http://www.katomodels.com/n/ef57/