EP-2 bipolar #E4 is finished

[sd45elect2000]

At the rate I'm moving (  ) it may be a few years....

But I plan to write another extensive thread specifically for the old NJ model.  Much of what I do on these new models is transferable- but some is not.  Further, I've had a few people write me through the years who did not go "on the journey" that many of you did when I developed how to build these (that's part of the lure of those threads- it's the process that was an adventure for me and many of you).

But if you are just coming to this information and you own or will buy an old NJ EP-2, it is incredibly daunting to wade through 75 pages of information!

So one day, I'll write in a much more concise thread detailing exactly what NJ EP-2 owners can do.

I bought one of the old NJ engines because of you. I did follow along mostly. Still painting mine black.

[u18b]

I bought one of the old NJ engines because of you. I did follow along mostly. Still painting mine black.

Wonderful.   I'd love to see what you did.
Any photos?

[sd45elect2000]

Wonderful.   I'd love to see what you did.
Any photos?

I haven’t started doing anything with it yet. It’s got tarnish I gotta deal with. My job seems to interfere with my hobby at times..

[Nato]

     "Wozzers!" Ron, what a great job you did and I love that multi bulb headlight, even if it was a lot of trouble to do.                                Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[0303fxm]

Ron,
I had a response by one of Kumata staff to the introduction of your thread today.
It was very general comments saying Kumata is very pleased to know the EP-2s are still running on layouts somewhere in the world, which is quite less than I expected.（-ω-）
 I did expect much more exciting comments such as Wow !  Fantastic!  Unbelievable …　Give us more info, etc.
Ryoichi

[peteski]

Ron,
I had a response by one of Kumata staff to the introduction of your thread today.
It was very general comments saying Kumata is very pleased to know the EP-2s are still running on layouts somewhere in the world, which is quite less than I expected.（-ω-）
 I did expect much more exciting comments such as Wow !  Fantastic!  Unbelievable …　Give us more info, etc.
Ryoichi

Ryoichi,
While Kumata's response is underwhelming and disappointing, there are plenty of modelers on this forum who are saying "Wow !  Fantastic!  Unbelievable".  Ron is a superb modeler, and we all recognize that - I suspect that we all don't care that Kumata is not very impressed. I know that it doesn't bother me that they expressed lack of interest. 

[Chris333]

Lost in translation.

[ChristianJDavis1]

Lost in translation.

I think this may be part of it. When I contacted them about parts for my Trainmaster, the (obviously machine-translated) response was similar in that they were happy their models were still being put to use and that I wanted parts for their models so long after they were discontinued. They actually offered me one of those EP-2 kits and I wish I had taken the offer.

[peteski]

But as I understand, Ryoichi is a Japanese native, lives in Japan, and is fluent in the language.  I'm sure he contacted them in Japanese, and got an un-translated reply (also in Japanese).  I think their customer service person is just a bit "dry". Maybe someone in their engineering or design department would be more enthusiastic?

[0303fxm]

"But as I understand, Ryoichi is a Japanese native, lives in Japan, and is fluent in the language.  I'm sure he contacted them in Japanese, and got an un-translated reply (also in Japanese).  I think their customer service person is just a bit "dry". Maybe someone in their engineering or design department would be more enthusiastic?"

Pete,

Yes, your guess is completely correct as I e-mailed to Kumata in Japanese attaching the full thread of July 15 by Ron.  In fact the Kumata responder was a fabricator of O scale (Japanese prototype) model, and yes he was rather "dry".  As you may be aware of, Kumata quitted to release foreign models long time ago, and I believe the EP-2 was the last foreign railroad model in 2000.
I do not know who in Kumata contacted Ron when he directly bought EP-2 materials, and if the man was the responder Kumata comment would be much more exciting.  I guess the man was Mr. Higuchi, but he already retired Kumata.

Ryoichi

[ChristianJDavis1]

I went back to see if the letter I had received from them had a name on it, but unfortunately it did not. I still have it, so I'll have to see if it has anything else with it that might give away who I was talking to. Seems photobucket is holding the photo for ransom now, and the original picture I took was pretty bad, anyway! I'll just scan it when time permits.

[0303fxm]

Christian,

Thanks for your post.  It may help me to reveal the person name in Kumata.

Ryoichi

[u18b]

The person at Kumata who sold me all remaining EP-2 inventory was  Seiken Higuchi.
Not sure this person’s position.
That was in 2013.

[0303fxm]

Ron,

Yeah, that's I expected.  Mr. Higuchi was the president of Kuamat at that time, and I talked him several times at Kumata shop/office in Tokyo.

Ryoichi

[u18b]

I went back to see if the letter I had received from them had a name on it, but unfortunately it did not. I still have it, so I'll have to see if it has anything else with it that might give away who I was talking to. Seems photobucket is holding the photo for ransom now, and the original picture I took was pretty bad, anyway! I'll just scan it when time permits.

Is that my name on that letter?