Kato announces CB&Q Pioneer Zephyr in N scale

[NorsemanJack]

Sweet!!!!

[CBQ Fan]

I am hoping they will do a set that would support E5 B units. Include them with an A unit in a 2 pack. They only made 5 B units total but I would be willing to bet they could sell all 5 road numbers if packaged right!  Then there is the FWD & CS renumbering for addition runs.

[NorsemanJack]

I am hoping they will do a set that would support E5 B units. Include them with an A unit in a 2 pack. They only made 5 B units total but I would be willing to bet they could sell all 5 road numbers if packaged right!  Then there is the FWD & CS renumbering for addition runs.

My only disappointment with the Pioneer Zephyr announcement is that it will delay and possibly eliminate possibilities for a Twin Cities Zephyr.  That would be the one that would beg for an E5B.  IIRC, they already have the correct cars for five of the seven car set, lacking only the baggage/cafe (I think) and parlor/obs.  The domes in the original corrugated sets are correct.  The diner from the CZ is 99% correct.

[CBQ Fan]

But if this sells well it may make it more likely for consideration!  One can hope!

[delamaize]

I like how they always picked the lesser wanted models in each poll..

There is times that I wonder if Kato just doesn't like Money or something.
I mean, even with painting stuff they already have in their inventory, they could be making some very popular, and asked for things. NP NCL comes to mind right off the bat.

[NorsemanJack]

There is times that I wonder if Kato just doesn't like Money or something.
I mean, even with painting stuff they already have in their inventory, they could be making some very popular, and asked for things. NP NCL comes to mind right off the bat.

Would you really want a totally non-prototypical NCL?  A properly done Kato NCL has been at the top of my wish list for many years, but that will require a lot of new tooling.

[delamaize]

Would you really want a totally non-prototypical NCL?  A properly done Kato NCL has been at the top of my wish list for many years, but that will require a lot of new tooling.

I don't need one now, I've completed my "Close enough" 1957 NCL a year or so ago, and been slowly replacing non-prototype cars with Lowell Smith Prototypical cars, as he produces them.
That being said, Even being a Foobie, I guarantee that it would sell, and probably sell well. I mean, Kato has done it in the past, and even those foobies sell well, and hold their values. 

[NorsemanJack]

I don't need one now, I've completed my "Close enough" 1957 NCL a year or so ago, and been slowly replacing non-prototype cars with Lowell Smith Prototypical cars, as he produces them.
That being said, Even being a Foobie, I guarantee that it would sell, and probably sell well. I mean, Kato has done it in the past, and even those foobies sell well, and hold their values.

Yeah.  I get that.  Those generic Smooth Side sets.  I was VERY temped to buy the IC release.  But I didn't.  I am amazed how well those generic sets hold their values even though in cases like the NYC 20th a fantastic prototypical release has been made.  The COLA is another example.

[basementcalling]

IIRC the survey winner was the NYC Dreyfuss Hudson, which received more votes than the UP Big Boy.

The only vote that really mattered on the steamers was Mr. Kato's himself.

[u18b]

This is great.

But I'm still wishing they would do the Little Joe- especially since the Kato rep told us they already have the drawings for it finished a long time ago.

[robertjohndavis]

The only vote that really mattered on the steamers was Mr. Kato's himself.

To his credit they made the best running Big Boy in N scale.

[delamaize]

This is great.

But I'm still wishing they would do the Little Joe- especially since the Kato rep told us they already have the drawings for it finished a long time ago.

A long time ago, Like 10+ Years, A Kato Rep, I wish I could remember who, Told me that they were planning on doing a Little Joe powered Olympian Hiawatha. We have the OH, But still waiting for the little Joe.
Of course, I have my Little Joe-ish thing I built a few years ago. 2 axles, and several scale feet too short, But has the right look and feel, so It'll work for now.
(Not a great picture, if their is an interest, I'll get a better one. )

[NorsemanJack]

A long time ago, Like 10+ Years, A Kato Rep, I wish I could remember who, Told me that they were planning on doing a Little Joe powered Olympian Hiawatha. We have the OH, But still waiting for the little Joe.
Of course, I have my Little Joe-ish thing I built a few years ago. 2 axles, and several scale feet too short, But has the right look and feel, so It'll work for now.
(Not a great picture, if their is an interest, I'll get a better one. )

Not bad!  I just finished reading the Morning Sun Milwaukee Road Trackside West and also have the Volume 5 Pacific Extension and Milwaukee Road Under Wires releases to read.  I would be a buyer.  Just like I bought the Kato GG1 to go with the Broadway Limited set.

Q: What happens when a railfan ages and no longer has the space or energy for building and maintaining a model railroad?
A: They downsize, run Kato Unitrack on the biggest dining room table they can acquire, and buy a LOT of fantastic Morning Sun and Four Ways West books.

ETA: they also own as many fantastic Emery Gulash Green Frog videos as they can, but unfortunately that number maxes out quickly.

[peteski]

To his credit they made the best running Big Boy in N scale.

True, but some N scale Big Boy fans still prefer all the extra glued-on details included on the other brand models. Plus the DCC unfriendliness of it (and most Kato models) is also going against it.  Still, the engineering of Kato Big Boy is nothing short of brilliant.

And yes, Kato makes what Mr. Kato wants, not what the market research or polls show.

[NorsemanJack]

True, but some N scale Big Boy fans still prefer all the extra glued-on details included on the other brand models. Plus the DCC unfriendliness of it (and most Kato models) is also going against it.  Still, the engineering of Kato Big Boy is nothing short of brilliant.

And yes, Kato makes what Mr. Kato wants, not what the market research or polls show.

Polls are a joke. Not sure who does this market research you're talking about.  Nobody has ever blind called me and asked what new N scale item I wanted.  If you have a sample of this market research, I would like to see it.  Kato knows what sells and that is the only "real" market research.  As the other players fall, Kato and Atlas seem to be the major players left standing.  They must know what they are doing.