Kato FEF

[victor miranda]

Hi peteski,

To answer a question, the gear pin looks like a plastic of some sort.

about the motor.... I will measure it next time I open the loco.
then we can better decide if the two share the same dimensions.
where my thinking about 'coreless' motors resolves
has a lot to do with price.

My hands-on with what I am told is coreless
is that they have thin finger type brushes.
I am certain brush blocks can be added for a longer life.
the other notable quality is that coreless motors
can be quite inexpensive.

so if the motor is easy to replace and inexpensive...
along with the performance shown in this loco...
I have no objection.

in this case, the kato motor may well be very long lived
at some point it will fail.
so the only real question to be considered...
what is the price of the replacement motor?

I believe a normal atlas/kato motor brush set is about 3-5 dollars
the b-mann 4-6-0 coreless motor comes with a frame and a few parts
for around 45 dollars... ( this may have changed?)
so we have some room in pricing and ease of replacement.

the Kato unit is easy to swap out.

[peteski]

Hi peteski,

To answer a question, the gear pin looks like a plastic of some sort.

Ah, I see.  Anything is better than the usual die-cast pins which are just part of the frame casting.

[Chris333]

Seems like MBK "found" some more.

[peteski]

Seems like MBK "found" some more.

Unfortunately for my wallet.  I was placing an order yesterday for some unrelated stuff and they showed up on the main page. I had absolutely no need for one but I couldn't help myself...

[reinhardtjh]

Unfortunately for my wallet.  I was placing an order yesterday for some unrelated stuff and they showed up on the main page. I had absolutely no need for one but I couldn't help myself...

BLW is also showing FEF's in stock again...

Must... not... push... "Add to cart"   

[reinhardtjh]

BTW FEF parts are in stock at Kato Parts store.  The motor is $25. Drivers are $15/set. Let the feeding frenzy begin.

[OldEastRR]

let's not  forget that probably lots of Japanese modelers also want this loco. Why KATO lowballed production is beyond me.
Now they have to crank out more 4-8-4s on top of the second run of COLA cars that also will be in huge demand. Hope they are planning for this.

[GaryHinshaw]

I just purchased my first ever steam locomotive and passenger train.

[C855B]

I just purchased my first ever steam locomotive and passenger train.

[toldyouso]

I all but got on my knees begging the Athearn reps at three shows "back then" that they could make tons of money by porting their HO FEF development to N, that their accountants were wrong and their tired old chestnut of "30% of HO for the same investment" didn't apply to what would be a very high-demand model.

[/toldyouso]

I'm thrilled that Kato has such a winner on their hands and am looking forward to the arrival of my own complete train... but... I sorta kinda wish the success was with a company slightly less stuck in a niche at the moment. With anybody else the profits would stand a chance of being reinvested in freight-oriented product.

[BeastofTheEast]

[toldyouso]

I all but got on my knees begging the Athearn reps at three shows "back then" that they could make tons of money by porting their HO FEF development to N, that their accountants were wrong and their tired old chestnut of "30% of HO for the same investment" didn't apply to what would be a very high-demand model.

[/toldyouso]

I'm thrilled that Kato has such a winner on their hands and am looking forward to the arrival of my own complete train... but... I sorta kinda wish the success was with a company slightly less stuck in a niche at the moment. With anybody else the profits would stand a chance of being reinvested in freight-oriented product.

Yep. A big blunder by Athearn. They could of had the UP big trio, but nah just stopped at the challenger and bigboy. Those FEF profits now went to Kato.

[arbomambo]

Received the water tenders today (the 844 arrives Monday)...I've debated whether to purchase the 7 car excursion set.
I had originally wanted to get this loco and backdate it to my 1957 era with paint, details, and so forth; I've decided to keep this one as it it and use it as a show runner on the Ntrak and T Trak setups...which, of course, means I will be getting the excursion sets at some point ( goes completely against my ' no modern railroading' self imposed moratorium).
My impression of these tenders is a good one; fidelity of detail is very crisp as is the paint and lettering...the molded 'silver' trucks will benefit from a spray of Floquil "bright silver" ( all photos of UP's excursion trains show silver truck treatment much shinier than Santa Fe's truck paint), but apart from that and adding working lights, it would be difficult to add too much more than is already present; purists may want to paint the engineering plastic detail parts in harbour mist gray ( although the parts are molded in a very good matching color)...I will probably add air hoses for the little extra even though these will be show runners and won't see the light of day on my layout)
All in all, a good job on these...seems as if this was a close-to-the-heart project for Kato
~Bruce

[chicken45]

JUST IMAGINE IF THEY DID A K4!
 

[eric220]

JUST IMAGINE IF THEY DID A K4!
 

Can open, worms everywhere.

[victor miranda]

clip the rear driver off.
the rest is close enough.

[eric220]

clip the rear driver off.
the rest is close enough.

A Hudson?!?!? Let's keep this above the belt...