Will Kato Hammer our wallets again?

[OldEastRR]

I suppose people will be forced to buy Hondas, too, because they are so good ... and damn Honda keeps making new ones every year!
Come on people, are we really complaining because an N manufacturer is turning out excellent versions of the products everybody seems to want to buy? Modelers of the SP and the Southern had no need for a GG-1 -- yet how many non-SPFs bought one anyway? How many "pure" ConRail or CP modelers will buy this FEF?
And as for what's to come or what we see as "success" of a KATO model, let's not forget that their American market accounts for about 5% of their total sales. To us it seems like a huge moneymaker but the FEF may not contribute that much of KATO's final profits. I'd venture to guess that even if every single American model they ever made sold out completely, the company's management would not be that impressed with the ROI compared to their Japanese model sales.
My opinion is KATO makes the best N scale American RR locos. I expect that over the years many more will be coming, and one may be the loco you've been waiting for.

[BeastofTheEast]

I want 3751.

[Kentuckian]

How about a Mike with a Vanderbilt tender?  My wallet would be begging for mercy!

[davefoxx]

Which road is that? ACL? She's a handsome one,to be sure. Kinda reminds me of the Timken "Four Aces"...kinda.

Mark in Oregon

Mark,

You're correct.  That's an Atlantic Coast Line 4-8-4.

DFF

[strummer]

DFF

Thanks.

Right after I posted my comment/question,I did a search of the "Four Aces", and "your" ACL photo was on the same page. Seems there is a similar look to a great many 4-8-4s of that era. Perhaps if Kato did kind of a generic model, then we could detail ours accordingly...

Mark in Oregon

[victor miranda]

a generic 4-8-4....

gotta give that some thought.

the last of the 4-8-4s for most roads seem pretty generic to me...

the odd part is that the details that make them different standout
because they are so different.

the NYCS Niagara looks a lot like the UP FEF...
change the smoke box face...

side rods are spotting features...
as are the tenders...

I am thinking you can do  a good stand in of most 4-8-4 from the s-2 and the gs-4 and the FEF
with a nod to various tenders including the b-mann 4-8-4 tender.

as always the devil is in the details...

greyhound scheme.... why do I want that?

victor

[nkalanaga]

Jason:  Yes, the "Joe" came from Joseph Stalin.  The "Little" is from their size.  My source is "The Milwaukee Electrics" by Noel Holley, who also describes the problems, and attempts to solve them, caused by the light weight.

My comments were inspired by hearing, over the years, how impressive the motors looked, due to their size.  They dwarfed the early diesels, but don't look so big compared with many of today's, and are smaller than many steam locos with their tenders.

[wcfn100]

Jason:  Yes, the "Joe" came from Joseph Stalin.  The "Little" is from their size.  My source is "The Milwaukee Electrics" by Noel Holley, whi also describes the problems, and attempts to solve them, caused by the light weight.

In my version the 'little' comes from Stalin as well since he was said to be about 5'6" tall, but that part I can't say for sure was pre-internet.


Jason

[squirrelhunter]

They could use thee running gear to to the Alco WW II MILW/D&H/RI batch of 4-8-4's. They shared the same basic boiler, with different details and tenders. Yes, yes I know the real cost is in tooling the shells, but they could do it. Actually, they could probably use the FEF boiler drawings/molds as a starting point too, they are pretty close in size if I recall the boiler outside diameter correctly...

[nkalanaga]

Jason:  I didn't know how tall Stalin was, so hadn't thought of it as a literal reference to him.  I always thought that, if it referred to him, it was simply a derogatory comment on his morals, intelligence, politics, or whatever.  Both stories may be true, as nicknames quite often had more than one origin, especially those that became so widely known that they replaced the "official" name. 

On the other hand, how hard would it be to find a better nickname than "EF-4" or "EP-4"?

If the MILW had been looking for electric power, they would have been better off designing the new motors like the GN W-1s.  They look like an oversized Little Joe, and had just a bit more horsepower, due to the individual traction motors being less powerful, but with all 12 axles powered.   Built that way, all of the Joe's weight would have been on the drivers, and using the same motors, it could have produced 7500 HP, with 32% greater starting tractive effort, assuming the same weight and weight distribution.  Of course, it would also have been even more prone to blowing breakers and melting trolley wires.  As is, two Joes starting a heavy train could easily overload a substation or melt the trolley.  That was another reason for running them with diesels.  The MILW's electrification had reached its physical limits by that time.

Surprisingly, even though it was considerably longer, the W-1 had a shorter rigid wheelbase, so would have taken the MILW's curves better.  Not having a rotary converter inside, the MILW wouldn't have needed as large a body as the GN's, so the resulting loco would look like a Joe, but with larger pilot truck wheels, and shorter main trucks. 

[peteski]

I like turtles Big-Boys!

[sirenwerks]

My comments were inspired by hearing, over the years, how impressive the motors looked, due to their size.  They dwarfed the early diesels, but don't look so big compared with many of today's, and are smaller than many steam locos with their tenders.

The GN W1 was a hulking electric; although my fave was Y1 5011 after the accident.  It would be neat to see a Little Joe in the intended USSR paint scheme, with the red star.  The Joes got some nice paint schemes when they headed down south too.

[Cameron_Talley]

Kato won't hurt my wallet unless they make a N&W class A.  I'm just hoping the good sales of the 844 will encourage them to make more steam in general for the US market.

[nkalanaga]

Sirenwerks:  I'm partial to the Ys in their original form, though both could be modeled with the same mechanism.  Those could also be sold in Pennsy paint, which make a bigger market.

If the MILW management hadn't been determined to dieselize the electric divisions they could have bought the GN electrics.  It wouldn't have been hard to replace the AC-DC rotary converters with DC-DC, and they were designed for the type of service the MILW had. 

[Nato]

      Milwaukee management was offered a deal by GE at very low cost to the railroad to rebuild and up grade the electrification including new motors (locomotives). This was never brought up at a board meeting or voted on and of course the electrification was scrapped. The deal would have includede closing the gap between the two zones Rocky Mountain and Coast Zones. Nate Goodman (Nato).