Kato 5139 Suni 41 Baggage Car Review

After an inexpensive, quirky piece of rolling stock with working tail-lights? Then look no further: the Suni 41 model replicates an important piece of JNR history that had a long working life and could be seen all across the Japanese railway network.

Background

As discussed earlier on this blog, the Japanese railway was unusual in separating passengers from larger pieces of baggage. A suitcase went with the passenger, but anything bulky like golf clubs or a bicycle was checked in at the point of departure. In return for a receipt, called a chikki, and when you arrived at your final destination, you'd pick up your bulky baggage there.

To carry all this luggage, JNR operated what were called 荷物列車, nimotsu ressha, or baggage trains, often with a big locomotive in front to move them quickly across the mainline. These trains would also carry mail and newspapers, not just luggage. For railway modellers, they provide an aesthetic treat, frequently comprising a mixture of older brown JNR and newer blue baggage cars, mixed in with the corrugated steel Suni pallet cars.

While the system was famously reliable, it wasn't always quick, your golf clubs or whatever not necessarily riding the same trains that you did. So, it might be some time, even a day or two, before you got your stuff. Many people checked such items the day before they travelled, which usually meant their items were waiting for them when they arrived at their destination. But through the 70s and 80s it became much more common to either use a door-to-door delivery service (Yamato started this in 1976) or else expected to carry their luggage with them, airline style, provided it wasn't too big or too heavy (introduced with the Shinkansen trains, but expanded to regular trains as well).

By 1986, the old chikki system was withdrawn, and the baggage cars with it. Since they couldn't really be adapted to anything else, the Suni baggage cars were mostly scrapped, but a single Suni 41 is preserved, privately, in a suburb of Tome City.

Kato 5139 Suni 41 Baggage Car

What's in the box?

• A 2000-series Suni 41 baggage car
• A screwdriver-like tool for sliding the light switch on and off

As with Kato 8005, this model comes equipped with Arnold Rapido couplings and chemically-blackened, free rolling wheels. Kato 11-702 can be used to replace the Rapido couplers for more realistic knuckle couplers.

Compared with the Suni 40 car, which has 4 sliding panels on each side, the Suni 41 has only 3. On the model, these don't move, but on the real cars these sliding panels allowed the car to be quickly loaded and unloaded.

The reason the Suni 41 has fewer panels is that one-fourth of the car has been converted into a guard's compartment. As a result, the real things could only carry 18 pallets rather than 24, but the guard's compartment provided a warm and relatively comfortable place for the guard to sit between stops. On older trains, a brake coach would be used, but these had small doors and had to be unloaded by hand, one sack or bundle at a time. This took a long time, whereas a forklift could unload pallets from a Suni within a few minutes. Suni rolling stock was also designed to operate at high speed, up to 100 km/h, which wasn't true of older coaches, let alone traditional Yo brake vans.

Spare a thought for the guard riding in here! While the chassis was passenger coach quality, so nice and smooth, he was still cooped up in a small box listening to the pallets sliding about and the air brakes being applied from time to time. He'd have his tea and a bento box, and a small table to work at while he updated logs and kept a check on timekeeping. But this must have been a very solitary sort of existence, since these trains often ran at night, with potentially several hours between stops as the train wound its way through the countryside.

Performance and detailing

As far as running goes, the car is flawless. Smooth, with just the right amount of weight to keep it steady on the track without taxing the locomotive in front.

The model comes equipped with working tail lights, which you can (and should) switch off if you aren't placing the model at the end of the train. These look very nice, the level of brightness being enough to be noticeable on the railway but not so bright they look like toy-ish. Both bogies have electrical pick-ups so flickering shouldn't happen unless your track is really dirty. Because of the electrical pick-ups you can also install a coach lighting kit (Kato #11-213) if you want to illuminate the guard's compartment.

The livery is simple but accurate, basically blue for the roof, ends, and guards compartment, while the sliding doors are silvery. The windows of the guard's compartment feature additional silvery details, as well as one whited-out window at the end of the compartment representing the window over the lavatory. Printed details are low-key but nicely done, and can be seen on the sliding panels, the guard's compartment, and the tail-end of the car.

When you look at the tail-end of the car, you'll notice it has a gangway door like an ordinary passenger train. If marshalled into a train of passenger or mail coaches, someone in the guard's compartment could walk across to those coaches, or vice versa, allowing for crew changes. But the door was also useful when the Suni 41 was at the end of the train. Most famously at Ueno Station, baggage trains would sometimes move (albeit very slowly) backwards, and by opening the door and looking out, the guard could help other railway workers move the train more safely.

While details like the end doors and rooftop ventilators are all moulded on, they look good. Even the smaller details on the sliding panels, such as handles, look excellent from normal viewing distances.

Conclusion

This is one of those models where it's difficult to find criticisms once you take into account its price, a mere ¥2,420 RRP (£11.50 at the time of writing). While the model isn't particularly colourful or generously decorated with printed details, nor were the real things. An inky wash over the corrugated panels on the sides to bring out their depth, and some airbrushed grime over the roof and chassis, would turn the model into something that would satisfy even the most fussy modeller.

But on top of that, you've got a model that already comes with working tail lights and has the potential to be upgraded with interior lighting as well. Kato light kits work on both DCC and DC layouts, making this is an inexpensive and versatile upgrade.

It's also a model that could be used in lots of different ways. On its own, it could be used alongside the two Oha coaches from Kato's Old Passenger Car set, reviewed here. Or, you could create a dedicated baggage train by using the Oyu car from that set, alongside one or more Suni 40 cars. Motive power varied for those sorts of trains, but the EF58 is the stone-cold classic. Just make sure that the guard's compartment is pointing outwards, away from the loco, if you're going to use its tail lights!

Kato 8005 Suni 40 Baggage Car Review

The original version of this wagon has been reviewed earlier, but I bought one of the updated versions very recently. How does it compare to the original? Is it really just the same thing in a newer box?

Background

As discussed in the previous article on the type, the Suni 40 cars were introduced in 1968 and built out of lightweight aluminium. Designed for rapidly loading and unloading up to 24 pallets, they allowed JNR to significantly reduce the delays at stations and so speed up timetables. Since Japanese travellers usually 'checked' large luggage and things like bikes and golf clubs, a major source of delay was the time taken to move such items between the train and platform, prior to the passenger collecting said items at their destination.

Instead, the Suni 40 had four sliding doors along each side, any of which could be opened to allow the rolling pallets (somewhat like the Brut trolleys used on British Rail) to be rolled on or off. Besides luggage, Suni wagons could be used to carry other sorts of cargo including newspapers and magazines. During the 1980s, such traffic shifted to road transport, and passengers no longer checked their luggage before travelling, instead carrying their own luggage with them. That being the case, the Suni 40 stopped having a role, and the type was withdrawn from use in 1987.

Kato 8005 Suni 40 Baggage Car

What's in the box?

• Just the wagon!

The wagon comes equipped with Arnold Rapido couplings and free rolling wheels, but other than that, what you see is what you get. If you wanted, you could use Kato 11-702 to replace the Rapido couplers for more realistic knuckle couplers.

Performance and detailing

At first glance, the model looks identical to the 1980s original. For the most part, that's a fair assessment. There are no additional fitted details, for example, and the paint scheme looks exactly the same. The couplings are unchanged, and if you turn the model over, it isn't just similar, it's exactly the same, right down to the same moulded Kato logo and 'No 804' labelling!

But there are some subtle differences. The wheels appear to be chemically blacked rather than plain steel, which looks nicer. There are also more printed details on the information panels, so that some which are blank on the original now have writing on them. The wagon also has different number, #29 instead of #16, so you can run the two of them in the same train without blushing.

Conclusion

With an RRP of ¥770 (less than £4) these wagons are insanely good value. They're quite big, roll freely, and while their paint scheme isn't fussy, it's accurate. A bit of weathering would no doubt bring out the moulded detail, particularly the corrugations along the sides. The fact you could slot them into a passenger train (such as the 10-034-1 pack reviewed here) adds to their versatility if you don't fancy modelling a dedicated baggage or newspaper train.

I bought mine to go behind the EF 58, classic motive power for express baggage and passenger trains throughout the late Showa era, but steam and diesel fans shouldn't feel left out. A C11 tank engine, for example, would look right at home with a Suni 40 behind it, followed by one or two grape or blue passenger coaches, including a brake with a guard's compartment, picking its way along some coastal branchline in Hokkaido.

Kato 3020-1 EF58 Late Stage Large Window Blue Review

Here's a clunky-looking electric locomotive that seems to have wheels along its complete length. Bought primarily to haul postal coaches and baggage vans on my layout, does this complicated-looking model function as reliably as the rest of my Japanese electric fleet?

Background

The EF58 series were built across a very long period of time, from 1947 all the way through to 1958. Inevitably, there were many changes to the design as the years passed, notably from the original box-cab design to a more streamlined design in 1952. Indeed, the older ones were not particularly reliable, being constructed in the immediate postwar period where materials were hard to come by. By contrast, the later series EF58s turned out to be solid workhorses, if somewhat slower and less powerful for their weight than more modern machines like the EF66.

Across their long lives, the class could be seen on a variety of services. Limited expresses and sleeper trains were always an important part of their work, the class starting out with steam generators but some later being modified to provide electric train heating instead. Luggage and mail trains were also important work; at least, for as long as these services ran on JNR, the last mail trains running in 1986. One locomotive, EF58.61, became notable as motive power for the imperial train and sported the old brown livery kept in immaculate condition. With the decline in loco-hauled passenger trains the class became less useful and withdrawals began. Just four engines soldiered on into the post-privatisation era, including EF58.61, but all were retired by 2011.

Kato 3020-1 EF58 Late Stage Large Window Blue

What's in the box?

• EF58 locomotive
• Working headlights
• Rapido couplings pre-fitted
• Two replacement knuckle couplers
• Plastic sprues of detailing parts
• Number plates for EF58 numbers 31, 53, 61, 66 and 69
• Information sheet in Japanese, outlining how to fit detailing parts, remove the bogies for cleaning, etc.

As Kato describe it, this locomotive features JNR 'New Blue' that was used from 1965 onwards, meant to complement the new Series 20 'Blue Train' coaching stock. But the model also has a couple of other quirks that tie it down more specifically including the size and shape of its front windows and the lack of shades above them seen on some locomotives. Most of the EF58 series had their front windows downsized at some point to make them less prone to damage, but a few kept the big windows they were originally built with, and this model represents one of those.

In fact, of all the numbers included in the detailing pack, the model apparently only matches a single one, EF58.53, based at Miyahara Engine District. The rubber surrounds to the windows and the louvred (rather than mesh) air vents on the sides further pin the model down to the late Showa era, from about 1965 to the mid 1980s. Basically, perfect for Blue Train-era passenger services and the last mail and baggage trains.

Performance and detailing

Performance has some nuance to it. On the one hand, throttle response is steady, the model rolling steadily at low speed without any obvious hesitation. At higher speeds the effect of the flywheel becomes more obvious: cut the current to zero and the locomotive rolls forward a good 50-60 cm before coming to a halt. That makes the handling of the locomotive feel much more realistic -- after all, the real things weighed in at 115 tonnes, the twin brass flywheels giving the model the right sort of massive momentum.

On the other hand, the model isn't silent. Not noisy, but present. Part of that might be the ridiculous number of wheels the model has -- it's 2-C+C-2 wheel arrangement gives a total of ten axles -- and the articulation of those wheels across two 3-axle bogies and two 2-axle unpowered pony trucks. Incidentally, the pony trucks are not wired for current collection. It's hard to imagine that'd matter though, as the model is very long and heavy, and with the twin flywheels turning, isn't likely to stall on points with insulated frogs or dirty spots on the track.

When you buy a Japanese model locomotive, there's often a pack of detailing parts to add, and this model is no exception. These include number plates, brass-coloured whistles (and a tool that makes them easier to install) and some grey fixtures: flares and lightning arresters. The flare was used in an emergency, the driver pulling a cord that triggered a brilliant flare that burned red for five minutes, bright enough for approaching trains to see from far away so they could slam on their brakes. The lightning arrester was another safety feature. Should lightning hit the catenary, the surge in voltage would melt resistors inside the arrester, creating a pathway for the charge to flow through the body of the locomotive down to the rails where it would dissipate harmlessly.

Additional detailing parts go on the bogies. Two vertical rods are pushed into the front of each pony truck, presumably hand-holds of some sort for anyone stepping onto the pilot platform. Replacement knuckle couplers are also included; I replaced one at one end, but left a Rapido coupler at the other since most of my stock uses that sort of coupling. Adding both the coupler and the hand-holds is a lot easier if you remove the pony truck. This isn't hard -- it slides forwards and out -- but there's a spring inside you won't want to lose. Its job is to keep the pony truck pressed onto the rail, very important when the model tackles tight curves.

Conclusion

With an RRP of ¥5,900 (about £28 at the time of writing) the value is clearly here. Performance is impressive, if a little noisy, and the detailing parts aren't too painful to fit. While the EF58 class was numerous and widely used, the odd choice of numbers means that only a single set is strictly correct -- but on your own railway, with its own history, using the other numbers is entirely fair.

As for how you'd use the model, the obvious picks are the blue passenger train sets or one of the sleeper train packs. Mail and baggage trains would also look good behind the engine, the inexpensive Suni 40 or Suyu 44 mail cars being perfectly valid, for example. They were not much used on freight trains, though, but could be found hauling track inspection vehicles and out of commission multiple units.

Installing Kato 28-220 into the Kato 10-2000 'Yakumo' Limited Express

While the Kato 10-2000 'Yakumo' Limited Express (reviewed elsewhere) is a fine set, like a lot of Japanese model trains, what you get in the box is slightly unfinished in some of the minor details. It lacks internal lighting, for example. But one minor 'flaw' concerns the headlights at cab ends. When connected up as an eight-car train, the two cabs in the centre of the train should have their headlights on. This is a safety feature, warning passengers not to step off the platform into what looks like an empty space.

Out of the box, when you couple up all eight cars, the trailing cab has its red taillights on while the leading cab has its headlights on. However, to create the more realistic situation of having both cabs with their headlights on you need to replace the on-off switch on the underside of the chassis with a small circuit board, Kato 28-220. 

Step 1

First of all, turn the car upside down and unclip the plastic panel that surrounds the on/off switch. It's the cream plastic piece you can see here. Forceps are useful for sliding this piece out. I removed the body so it wouldn't be damaged, but this isn't strictly necessary. If you do leave the body in place do watch out for the bits of plastic that are easily flung across the table onto the carpet! Pantograph heads, for example. Note also that the plastic panel on each of the cars looks different.

 

Step 2

Now take one of the replacement circuit boards and slide it — firmly! — into the slot. The circuit board needs to make a solid connection to the current-carrying copper strips running alongside the chassis. There are some springy copper clips that push the circuit board into place, and the plastic panel removed in Step 1 has two plastic prongs that apply additional force. Note the arrow showing which end points towards the cab.

Step 3

Once correctly slotted in, the circuit board should look like the image below, the arrow neatly visible between the two plastic flaps. In this position the springy copper pieces will press firmly onto the four contacts on the circuit board, ensuring proper electrical continuity.

Step 4

Finally, put the plastic panel back onto the chassis, and check everything works. If the lights aren't working as you'd expect, chances are the circuit board hasn't been pushed in far enough. Once I was satisfied the headlights (and not the taillights) stayed on with the current flowing in both directions, I put the bodies back onto the chassis.

The result is what you see below, an eight-car train set with its headlights on where the two inner cabs connect. It's a relatively subtle effect, but nice.

Worth the effort?

Well, the replacement circuit boards cost ¥1,045 for the pair, just under £5. As far as value for money goes, it's hard to quibble. Installation is a bit of a faff because the instructions are (a) all in Japanese and (b) don't match the 273-series specifically, but refer to other, albeit similar, Kato trains.

On the other hand, the effect is subtle. It provides a DC (analogue) fix to a problem that doesn't exist on DCC, namely, the ability to turn on and off train lights regardless of the speed or direction of the train. As a DC fix, it's a bit of a fudge. It works flawlessly when the train is in motion, but when the train stops, the lights go out. That is, obviously, contrary to their entire raison d'etre. 

If you're using a pulse-width modulation controller (like the Kato Sound Box) it is possible to have the lights on while the train is stationary. However, in practice this is quite hard to achieve, so compared to using DCC to control the headlights and taillights, a somewhat less satisfactory solution.

Kato 8060 Wa 12000 two-car set Review

This was a pleasant surprise! In a recent order from Rail Gallery Rokko, two little wagons seem to have crept in and made their way to the UK. But will they find themselves put to good use on the layout?

Background

The Wa 12000 was a relatively late addition to JNR's roster of traditional covered goods wagons (what Americans call boxcars) of the sort most railways used to carry almost any bagged or packaged cargo that needed protection from the elements.

Introduced in 1956, cargoes could include all the obvious things like sacks of rice, potatoes and other foodstuffs all the way through to fertiliser, paint, and paper. Their smaller size compared to other vans of the era made them especially useful for fragile goods that needed to be stacked tightly and carefully so they wouldn't get shaken about, such as sake and even pottery. Basically, pretty much anything that could go into a bag or package might be transported in goods wagons like these, albeit not very quickly, since they were loaded and unloaded by hand. Further slowing things down was the fact the wagons might very well be carrying a range of goods, not just one thing.

Inevitably, these wagons soon became superseded by first palleted and then containerised freight that could be moved between train and customer vastly more efficiently. Those that remained in use into the late Showa era were withdrawn en masse in 1984 when piecemeal freight handling ceased.

The most obvious thing to the modeller will be the size of the wagons. Compared to the classic Wamu 80000 and 90000 series, the Wa 12000 series are much smaller. Wheelbase is shorter, 3.5 metres compared with about 5 m for the earlier Wamu 80000 vans and 5.3 m for the later ones. They are also much less tall, just under 3.4 m versus 3.7 m for the Wamu series. Needless to say, they carried less cargo — up to 10 tons compared to the 15-ton Wamu vans — but they were built to modern standards. They had decent suspension to allow running at up to 75 km/h, as well as air brakes so they can be used in fully fitted trains. There's also a lever-operated handbrake that yard personnel can use to secure a wagon in a siding. 

Kato 8060 Wa 12000

What's in the box?

• Two wagons with different running numbers (Wa 12188 and Wa 12360)
• Arnold Rapido couplings at each end
• Chemically blackened wheels

The Rapido couplings can be upgraded to more realistic knuckle couplers (Kato 11-702) or magnetic couplers (Kato 11-711) as preferred.

Performance and detailing

In terms of running, these are everything you'd expect from a good, basic wagon. They're light, free-running, and the installed Rapido couplings do what they're expected to do.

Detailing is all moulded. By the standards of modern British or European wagons, there's an obvious heaviness to some of the details when viewed from underneath. For example, the steps and handbrake are much thicker than they should be. Such details would be separately fitted plastic or even brass details on more cutting edge models. This is most noticeable when looking at the handrails at the end of the wagons and the shunter's handbrake on one side.

On the other hand, at least those details are present, and even underneath the wagon, there's plenty to see. If you look at the photo below, the Wa is at the top and the Wamu underneath. You can see how the Wamu has a single brake cylinder and air reservoir between the two axles, but on the Wa, there wasn't enough space, and the model replicates that by having the cylinder and reservoir moulded separately.

Also as per the prototype, the handbrake lever end is closer to the wheels on the Wa compared to the Wamu. You can also see the various brake pipework and rigging moulded onto the wagon chassis. Some might prefer that these were separately fitted but they are, at least, there. Older Kato models often had a rather plain undercarriage, compared with which these newer models are a significant upgrade.

The livery is plain black and thoroughly unremarkable. To be fair, this is exactly what the real wagons looked like, and the lettering that Kato has included is crisp and clear. White printing on black plastic can look washed out if not done well, but this looks excellent.

Looking at colour photos of the real things, a bit of rusty weathering over the rivets and grime around the chassis would seem to be essential tweaks. Toning down the pitch-black roof with some grey or brown would be another plus, together with a bit of dry brushing to highlight the moulded roof detailing. At least some Wa 12000s appear to have had their handbrakes painted white to make them easier to see at night, so that could be another upgrade if you thought the wagon looked a bit bland as it comes.

Conclusion

Thank you, RG-Rokko for sending these my way! At first, these wagons looked rather small and plain — but the more I looked at them, the more charming they turned out to be.

With an RRP in Japan of ¥1,980 (less than £10) these two wagons come very much under the heading of high value models with decent moulded details. They look and run well, and their small size certainly adds variety to a Showa-era mixed goods train.

A couple of these Wa 12000s sandwiched into a train of the much bigger Wamu 80000 and 90000 vans would look realistic as well as interesting. Since they operated across the transition between steam and modern traction, you've got a variety of options when it comes to haulage. A D51 or C11 would look spot-on for the steam era, while the classic ED75 or DD51 would be just as plausible if you wanted to run them behind an electric or diesel locomotive.

On Hokkaido, for example, they were frequently seen in mixed freight trains alongside Re 12000 refrigerated wagons full of fish and seafood, Seki 3000 coal hoppers, and Tora 45000 gondolas loaded with logs or timber. Some of these wagons (though not the Wa 12000s) might feature the yellow stripe and text indicating that use off the island was forbidden! But what would the Wa 12000 be carrying? Could be all sorts of things, from bagged produce like onions and potatoes for export through to imported household goods and food such as sugar and cooking oil. Adding one or two such wagons to your mixed goods train would nicely pin the scene down to Showa-era Hokkaido.

TINGS 2026

Yours truly (checked shirt and brown apron) at the International N Gauge Show in Leamington Spa yesterday helping out Hiroshi Kato on the Mini Diorama Circus. Exhausting but good fun! My diorama somehow managed to survive storage across the last year and remained popular with Star Wars fans of a certain age.

Kato 10-034-1 Old Passenger Car Set (Blue) Review

For the most part, this set mirrors the Kato 10-034 Old Passenger Car Set (Brown) set reviewed earlier, but it isn't the same four coaches painted a different colour. Instead, it's a sensible selection of three passenger cars and one postal vehicle that could run together behind a range of locomotives.

Background

These four coaches represent long-lived designs that lasted throughout the transition era well into the modern era before being almost entirely replaced by electric or diesel multiple units. The Suhafu 42, Oha 46, and Oyu 10 designs date from the 1950s, while the Oha 47 was an early 60s modification of old Suha 43 coaches running on lightweight bogies.

A bit like the initials used when describing British railway coaches (e.g., a Mk1 RMB would be a restaurant mini buffet car) Japanese coaches have names that indicate their general type and usage. The first character is the weight of the coach, the second its use, and the third, if present, indicates the presence of a conductors compartment. So, an Oha coach uses O for medium weight and Ha to show that it is standard (or third) class carriage.

The four coaches in the Kato 10-034-1 Old Passenger Car Set include two different medium weight third class cars, a heavyweight third class car with a guard's compartment and handbrake, and finally a combination baggage/mail coach that would have been used by Japanese post office workers, not passengers.

On Japanese railways it was actually quite common for mail to be carried in mixed trains alongside passengers. This car, an Oyu 10, was internally divided into two sections: one half (marked with the red post office symbols) was essentially a mobile sorting office, while the other half was for carrying large baggage. Traditionally, Japanese travellers didn't carry big items with them, things like golf clubs or bicycles would be sent separately. Sometimes these might travel in the same train as the passenger, but not often, and when you arrived at your destination you had to present a receipt, called a chikki, to collect your item.

As such, the coaches presented here are classic late-Showa era rolling stock. Mail stopped being carried on JNR in 1986, as did the chikki system for handling packages and large items of luggage. Since the blue livery replaced the earlier brown ('grape') livery from 1964, those two dates bracket the period through which these coaches might be seen running together. You could mix some of the brown and blue coaches together if you wanted to, and in fact there are even a few Suhafu 42 and Oha 47 coaches in blue that are seen on the mainline today, albeit behind (most often) steam locomotives such as D51s and C57s on special trains.

Kato 10-034-1 Old Passenger Car Set (Blue)

What's in the box?

• Oha 46 third class
• Oha 47 third class
• Suhafu 42 heavyweight third class + guard's compartment
• Oyu 10 mail/baggage coach
• Tool for turning off working taillights included

All come with Arnold Rapido couplings included as standard. Like the Kato 10-034 Old Passenger Car Set (Brown) these coaches can be upgraded to knuckle couplers (Kato 11-702) or magnetic couplers (Kato 11-711).

As they come, the Oyu 10 and Suhafu 42 each have working taillights at just one end. While that sounds 'cheap' it actually makes sense. If you want taillights, you make sure that coach is on the track with the lights visible at the tail-end of the train. Turn the coach the other way around and the lights won't come on, at least, not when being pulled forwards. That means you could add additional coaches to the train (for example, behind the Suhafu 42) but not have the taillights 'on' at the back of the coach (in this case, the Suhafu 42) sitting within the consist. So, it effectively gives you two ways to use the Suhafu 42 and Oyu 10 — one way round to have the lights on, and the other way around to have the lights off. 

Performance and detailing

There's not much to say about performance. Despite feeling relatively light, the coaches are very free rolling and handle relatively tight curves without derailing (Unitrack R282, for example). While some might find the Rapido couplings unsightly, they do exactly what they're meant to do, which is to keep the coaches together even in long trains at high speeds. Overall, pretty much what you expect from modern Kato trains.

Paintwork is excellent, featuring slightly different shades of grey on the roof, as per the prototypes. The roof on the Oha 46 is painted JNR Grey#1, the Oyu 10 Mouse Grey#1, and the Oha 47 and the Suhafu 42 both JNR Dark Grey.

The lettering is done neatly and includes white carriage numbers and red Japanese post office markings. Incidentally, the marking is a katana, テ, a legacy from when the post office was called the Teishin-sho. By the time these cars were running, the post office was part of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, or Yusei-sho, but the symbol remained unchanged.

The ends of the coaches with the working taillights are marked '49-4 Saitama Works' which indicates both the location of their last service and the date of that service, i.e., fourth month of Imperial era Showa 49 (= April, 1974).

In terms of detailing, these are good rather than perfect. Kato favour moulded detail for the most part, but the details that are present are done well. There are nicely made ventilators on the roof, frames around the gangways, and a surprisingly amount of detailing underneath the chassis including battery boxes and generators.

The bogies are especially nice, and while you might imagine all four coaches come with the same generic bogies, they are in fact supplied with the correct designs: the Oha 47 with the TR23, the Suhafu 42 and Oha 46 with TR47, and Oyu 10 with TR50 bogies. On the other hand, all four coaches come with standard disc wheels. In reality, the Oha 47 should properly come with spoked wheels, and some Suhafu 42 cars had spoked wheels and some had disc. Replacement spoked wheels are available (Kato 28-193) and simply slip into the bogies once the disc wheels are pushed out.

The coaches come pre-fitted with electrical pick-ups. The warm white LED lighting kits are the ones you want to install interior lighting; either Kato 11-213 for a single kit or 11-214 for the six pack.

Conclusion

As is often the case with Japanese model railway products, the pack is good value as it comes, but if you're prepared to spend some time and money, can be upgraded substantially.

There's a cleverness to this that feels very different to the 'one size fits all' approach seen in the British model railway market. Kato have a recommended price of ¥8,250 (about £39) for the four coaches, compared with an RRP of almost £48 for a single Graham Farish Mk1 coach. By that metric, the Kato coach pack is an absolute steal. Throw in a pack of spoked wheels (Kato 28-193, ¥2,640), four lighting kits (11-213, ¥792 each) and a pack of the basic knuckle couplers (11-702, ¥440) and that's a total of ¥14,498 (just under £70).

So, the price almost doubles if you want the coaches to be 'all singing, all dancing' ones with interior lighting, realistic couplings, and spoked wheels were applicable. Casual hobbyists probably won't care to spend the money since the coaches look absolutely fine as they come. With the extra money, how do they compare with the British ones? Well, the Farish ones have far more fine detailing including separately fitted wire handrails and pipes. British coaches tend to have more complicated liveries, too, especially the ones from the steam and transition eras. You also get authentic wheel sets and NEM coupler pockets right from the start, reducing or eliminating the need for tweaks after purchase. On the other hand, Farish coaches are not built for internal lighting and lack electrical pick-ups — unlike many of the coaches from the other big UK brand, Dapol.

To me, this exemplifies a lot of things about Japanese N scale railway modelling. Obviously, there's a lot of value for money, but also an acceptance that some modellers will be happy to spend additional money (and/or time) to upgrade the base model to a higher specification. There's a focus on producing a starter pack that includes four useful coaches that, by themselves, would make up a classic local or secondary mainline passenger train from the JNR era. Stuck behind a red ED75 or red/white DD51 you have a perfectly valid consist that doesn't need anything added to improve it. Just be sure to put the postal car behind the loco and the Suhafu at the end if you want to operate the train in the most prototypical way!