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!

Kato EF66 Sound Card (22-231-5) Deep Dive & Review

In previous blog posts I've looked at steam and diesel sound cards; this time, I'm looking at an electric locomotive sound card. This is another Sound Priority card, like the DD51 card, but also like that card, has the Controller Priority mode available as well. It's a very noisy card, and a lot of fun to use.

Background

Introduced during the late 1960s to be the face of a modern, fast railway network running alongside the Shinkansen, the EF66 was primarily intended to move containerised freight trains at high speed between major cities. Over the years its role expanded to include passenger trains as well, most famously the Blue Train sleeper trains. The class enjoyed a long life, the final example (EF66-27) retiring in 2022. Across its many decades of service the type was well liked by drivers who appreciated its speed, power, and good hill-climbing abilities even with very heavy trains.

Given how popular the EF66 is among Japanese railfans, it's no surprise that both Tomix and Kato have cranked out many different models of the class in all its various forms. My example is the Tomix one, representing one of the early 0-series machines in its condition post-1974. While the model looks good, how well does it play with the Kato sound card?

EF66 Sound Card (22-231-5)

What's in the box?

• EF66 sound card with removable protector for the exposed electrical contacts
• English and Japanese instructions on the backing card
• Removable (bilingual) card that sits on the Sound Box control panel

As with most of the cards produced for the Japanese market, the package is a blister pack that slides open and clicks when closed, ensuring the sound card is kept safe when stored inside the pack. Besides the packaging itself, there's a plastic cap that goes over the electrical contacts — these keep this delicate part of the card safe, so be sure to put it back on after use!

Using the EF66 card

When you turn the card on using the Eject button, you hear the compressor start up and some background hums. Pressing Button #6 will start up the 'blower', the big fans that keeps the machinery inside the locomotive cool. Then you press #3 to release the air brakes and you're ready to go — after giving the customary short toot followed by a long toot from the whistle (#1).

But before you turn the throttle, there are a couple of dials on the Sound Box to review. By default, the card works in Sound Priority mode, meaning that it reacts according to where you have set the Start and Sync dials on the Sound Box.

In Sound Priority mode, the Start dial adjusts when the train moves relative to the start-up sound effects. For me and my Tomix model, just above 0 seemed to work best, giving a good response from the model while also keeping the headlights on when it was stationary.

Changing the Sync setting in Sound Priority mode adjusts the pitch of the motor noises to match the speed of the locomotive. Negative numbers slow down the progression from lower-pitch growls of motors starting up to high-pitch whines of motors running fast, while positive numbers speed it up. Where to turn this will depend on your model. By default, leaving the dial at 0 is fine for modern Kato models. A slightly positive number (+1) seemed cosmetically better for my Tomix EF66 (model# 7142) which has, I think, a heavier motor with brass flywheels.

As the locomotive speeds up you can hear the motor sounds getting louder and louder, and full blast, even from the modest speaker in the Sound Box there's enough sound to fill a room! Slowing down engages the brakes, including the classic high-pitched squeal you expect from modern traction. In fact, the EF66 was noted for making a unique repertoire of noises compared to other classes of electric locomotive, including the roar of its cooling fans and the growl of the hollow shaft (quill) drives connecting the motors to the axles.

The card details six main features, one for each button:

1. Whistle (3 tones to choose from)
2. Coupler (alternates between coupling and uncoupling)
3. Air brake (application when moving, release when stationary)
4. ATS (button toggles the sound on or off)
5. Coasting (can also be used for adjustments after stopping — described below)
6. Blower starting up or shutting down

There are some nuances to these buttons worth mentioning. For a start, the three whistles available for Button #1 includes one with a neat Doppler effect, which has obvious utility if you like watching (and hearing) trains racing along the track at full speed! To choose between the tones: press #1 and #2 simultaneously until the Eject button flashed red. Press #1 to listen to the three different whistles, and when you are at the one you like, press #2 to lock it down.

Button #5 can be used for last moment adjustments when stopping at stations or just in front of a wagon. Tapping #5 cuts out the braking sound effect and the train coasts a little, and if you stop short, holding #5 down allows you to use the throttle to inch the train forwards without the motor sounds starting up.

Conclusion

The sound effects were taken from real EF66 locos shortly before they were withdrawn. You can hear previews of the sounds on the Kato website, here. This is one of the more expensive sound cards at ¥4,000 (around £18) but still pretty good value, especially if you collect model EF66s — as many do, given their fame. Of course, that value only stands if you already own the Kato Sound Box.

Overall, a solid addition to the Kato sound card range!

Kato DD51 Sound Card (22-271-1) Deep Dive & Review

This article follows on from my long look at the Kato Sound Box and the C11 steam locomotive sound card. You might want to read that first to get a better understanding of how the Kato Sound Box works and how it compares to the on-board DCC sound features more familiar to European and American railway modellers.

Background

The DD51 is probably the best-known Japanese diesel locomotive. Introduced in 1962, a total of 649 were built and they enjoyed an extremely long and successful career on the Japanese railway both before and after privatisation. JR Freight inherited the majority of them, putting them to good use on heavy freight trains (often coupled together in pairs) and they remained in service until 2021. As it happens, Kato designed the sound card to match the 'A-Updated' DD51s based at the Aichi depot like the one Kato produce as model 7008-H. The other companies owned smaller numbers using them on passenger trains, particularly sleeper trains.

It makes sense then that Kato have produced a sound card for a numerous, long-lived diesel class. Compared to the C11 card, this card is a Sound Priority card, which means that it is designed to provide a more immersive experience right from the start. Where the C11 card was quite easy to use with few subtleties, the DD51 card rewards careful use.

DD51 Sound card (22-271-1)

What's in the box?

• DD51 sound card with removable protector for the exposed electrical contacts
• English and Japanese instructions on the backing card
• Removable (bilingual) card that sits on the Sound Box control panel

Like most Kato sound cards, this one comes with the packaging that will slide open so that the card can be returned after it has been used, the cardboard sliding back over the plastic blister, keeping it safe until next time. That's important because the copper contacts on the sound card are delicate and if scratched or snapped would render the card useless.

Using the DD51 card

When you plug the card into the Sound Box and press the button to switch the sound effects on, you immediately hear a start-up sequence. The engine then ticks over until you adjust the throttle. Before you do that, though, try pressing and holding down button #6 — the engine now shuts down. Quite a nifty effect if you're just starting a running session and want to 'park' the loco while you think about what you want to do. Pressing #6 again starts the engine up once more, and button #1 blows the whistle, which you might want to do before setting off, just to let your N scale people know the engine is about to move!

So far, so simple. When you turn the throttle up slowly the engine doesn't immediately start to move. Instead, what happens is that the engine revs up until the driver notches up the throttle and the locomotive starts to move, and then it slowly accelerates to simulate the momentum of a heavy train. You can adjust the rate at which this happens using the Sync dial: more negative and the process happens more slowly (as if pulling a really heavy freight train) or more positive to speed things up (better suited to when running light engine or toying with one or two wagons in a yard).

Obviously, the point to this is to simulate how trains really work, and the need for careful driving if you want to start or stop the train within the limits of your layout. But there's an extra feature if you stop just short of the wagon or coach you want to couple up to. Hold down #5 while turning the controller throttle and the locomotive will move instantly, just as if you were using a traditional controller. Even better, it will still play the proper sequence of sounds, like the motor revving, it just speeds up the sequence to match the controller.

For whatever reason, this doesn't work when braking a train from speed though. If you are tootling along and need to stop quickly, pressing and holding #5 won't do anything to speed up the stopping process. So, you're left with either waiting until the train slows down slowly or else immediately stopping the train using the Eject button.

In any event, once the train is running the engine revs up when you increase speed, and if you reduce speed, you'll hear the engine idle until you increase the speed again. The voltage to the model isn't changing any, so the motor is working as hard as it was, but the sound effects have changed to make it sound like the diesel engines inside the locomotive are idling. When the model works harder, perhaps by going up a steep slope, the Sound Box detects the change in Back EMF and the sounds now change to the diesels revving up as they tackle the increased workload. It's all very clever.

The card details six main features, one for each button:

1. Whistle (3 tones to choose from: press #1 and #2 together to select: Eject button goes red, press #1 to cycle through them, then #2 to lock down your choice)
2. Coupler (alternates between coupling and uncoupling)
3. Brake (application when moving, release when stationary)
4. ATS (button toggles the sound on or off)
5. Engine straight to idle (also used for stopping adjustment as described above)
6. Engine start-up/shut down sequence (plays coupler slack clanks while moving)

Inside the Sound Box there's a nifty 'comic book' that lays out (in English and Japanese) ways to use sound cards to 'tell a story' as you drive the train. Steam, electric, diesel, and multiple unit examples are given — rather generic examples, but enough to make it clear how you can use the sound card creatively.

So, imagine the DD51 in a yard, waiting to pick up some container flats before hauling them out and onto the mainline. Your driving experience at the Sound Box might be something like this:

• Check controller is in reverse
• Turn throttle all the way down
• Press #6 if you need to start the engine up — not usually necessary
• Check Sync is slightly negative to simulate momentum (-1 to -2 seem fine to me)
• Press #1 quickly to give a quick warning to any N scale people standing too close!
• Slowly dial the controller up to less than 25% full voltage — have faith in the excellent flywheel-equipped, 5-pole motor! It'll take some time before the loco starts to move, but when it does, it'll crawl towards the wagons
• Within 5 cm of the wagons, turn the throttle down to zero
• You can use the Start dial very effectively to tweak the speed of the locomotive: turn it positive to make the engine inch forward faster, turn it negative to slow it down — this gives you on-the-fly fine tuning that'll stop you missing the wagons before you stop or crashing into them because you're going too fast!
• Press #2 to hear the coupling sound
• Change the direction on the controller to forwards
• Optionally, dial the Sync setting to even more negative to simulate the momentum of a heavy load
• Press #1 quickly and then a second time for a longer 'toot' to get the traditional Japanese pattern to indicate the driver is ready to move forwards
• Slowly turn the controller up to around 25% to accelerate the train out of the siding

As you can see, there's a lot going on, which underscores the point that the Kato Sound Box is more than just passive sound effects playing in the background. To really use the system well, you can use other dials (specifically, the Sync and Start dials) alongside the throttle to get the full immersive experience.

But there's more! If Sound Priority mode isn't your cup of tea, and you want the locomotive to act in response to the throttle just like it would without the Sound Box, you can toggle over to Controller Priority mode by pressing #3 and #5 at the same time. When the green light over the Sync dial flashes, the Sound Box no longer simulates momentum. 

You can use the Start and Sync dials in this mode though. Turning the Start dial down, even as far as -4, effectively damps down the response from the throttle, so that the locomotive doesn't start moving until you've turned the throttle up quite a way. Sound effects are moderated accordingly, so you don't have the sight and sound of the model roaring away too quickly. The Sync dial sets how quickly the sound effects cycle up and down the 'notches' as the speed of the diesel engines change. Turn the dial towards the positive numbers (+2, for example) and it cycles through the notches faster, giving a more satisfying range of sounds from the engines even though the model itself is still moving relatively slowly.

Incidentally, the sound card remembers which of the two modes it was used in last. Switching between this done using that #3 and #5 button combination mentioned before, the flashing green LED over the Sync dial indicating that the change has happened. When it flashes, the card is in Controller Priority mode, but when it stays on constantly, you're in Sound Priority mode.

Conclusion

While the C11 card was relatively straightforward, the more I play around with this card, the more I respected the clever engineering that went into it. Of course, if you want to use it for plain vanilla background sounds, the Controller Sync mode gives you that. However, the Sound Priority mode really is something else: immersive, quite fiddly to use at first, but ultimately very rewarding.

Kato have a full listing of their sound cards on their website, here, and if you click through to the page for the DD51 sound card, you can hear a preview of the sound effects described in this post. With a retail price of ¥2,900 (around £12) the value seems hard to fault, assuming you already have a Sound Box to play it on.

Kato Sound Box (22-102) + C11 Sound card (22-204-1) Deep Dive & Review

At first glance it's easy to assume the Kato Sound Box is merely a way of plugging a sound system into your DC controller and listening to the noises change as you turn the controller dial up and down. But in reality, it's far more sophisticated than that. Here we're going to look at the Sound Box in conjunction with one specific sound card (22-204-1) with the modern specification C11 steam locomotive released in 2021.

Background

The Kato Sound Box makes most sense if you understand the context of railway modelling in Japan compared with, say, the situation in the UK. Japanese N-scale models are much less expensive than their British equivalents, which allows Japanese modellers the luxury of being collectors as well as modellers. If you want to have EF66s in all the different liveries and refurbishments they enjoyed across their long lives, go for it! For what you'd pay for a British model of a Class 90 electric locomotive, you could get 3-4 of the modern spec Tomix EF66s.

Why does that matter? Well, a British modeller might not baulk spending another £100 adding DCC sound to a model that already cost £175, but would a Japanese railway modeller be as sanguine about doing the same thing to a fleet of EF66s that cost around ¥9000 (around £40) a piece? That's assuming that Japanese model locomotives were easily upgraded to DCC sound, which on the whole they're not. If you have a fleet of locos rather than just one, moving the sound to an external sound box and running whichever loco you want makes a lot more sense.

Contrary to the impression that the Kato Sound Box is a half-baked alternative to on-board DCC sound, the reality is that it offers a very market-focused solution that makes a lot of sense in Japan. On top of that, the Sound Box avoids the 'tinny' sound effects so typical of N scale models simply by using a much larger loudspeaker. Add external speakers (or for that matter, headphones) via the line-out socket, and you can add deep bass sounds simply impossible when using on-board DCC sound effects.

Kato Sound Box (22-102)

What's in the box?

• Sound box
• Jumper cable
• Detailed 14-page instruction booklet in English and Japanese

It's easiest to use the Sound Box with a standard Kato controller. It clips onto the 12V DC snap-lock accessory ports on the side of the controller and gets all the electricity it needs to work that way. If you don't have a Kato controller, it's best to use the Kato 22-081 (12V Accessory Power Supply) rather than the 12V DC supply from your Gaugemaster or whatever controller.

Sound Card for C11 steam locomotive (22-204-1)

What's in the box?

• C11 sound card with removable protector for the exposed electrical contacts
• English and Japanese instructions on the backing card
• Removable (bilingual) card that sits on the Sound Box control panel

The packaging is quite clever. Besides being able to slide open so you can re-used the packaging to keep the card clean when out of use, the backing card folds open to reveal a more detailed set of instructions than the summary on the back of the card.

How does the Sound Box even work?

On one level, the Sound Box reads the voltage from the controller and adapts the sounds produced accordingly. Voltage goes up, the chuff-chuff sounds become quicker, the voltage drops to zero, the Sound Box transitions to sounds of an engine coming to a standstill. Unlike DCC-sound equipped locos operating on a DC layout, the sounds don't just vanish! At standstill you'll hear whining generators, idling engines, or whatever's appropriate to the train in question.

So far, so simple. The clever bit is that the Sound Box is also monitoring what's happening on the tracks, not just the DC controller. It measures something called Back EMF. Basically, when a motor turns, it acts like a generator, creating its own current. This conducts through the wheels of the loco onto the track. This is the Back EMF, or electromotive force, and opposes the voltage from the controller.

(Incidentally, Back EMF is related to how real world trains do regenerative braking, where the momentum of the train turns its motors into generators, sending current to the overhead wires, while magnetic resistance inside the motors slows the train down.)

Back EMF matters because the Sound Box doesn't sent a continual voltage to the track like a traditional controller would do. It sends 12V pulses of DC current at a steady frequency to the track, but varies the length of those pulses depending on the voltage it reads from the controller. The controller, therefore, isn't controlling the train directly in the same way as when it's used normally. It's simply the way the user interacts what the Sound Box does, the Sound Box working as what modellers call a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controller.

When you turn the handle on your Kato controller, the Sound Box detects the change in voltage and makes the pulses shorter or longer. Shorter pulses mean the motor spins more slowly, longer pulses make the motor spin faster. Remember that back EMF you get when motors spin? In between those pulses it sends out, the Sound Box detects changes in the voltage of the track to determine the magnitude of the back EMF from the motor. If the Back EMF is high, the motors must be spinning nice and fast, but if the back EMF goes down, the motor must be working harder because it's spinning more slowly. That, in a nutshell, is how the Sound Box knows when to adjust the sound effects when the train suddenly starts going up an incline or has to negotiate a tight curve. It's really incredibly clever, approaching, if not quite matching, the abilities of high-end DCC sound cards.

A nice side benefit from the use of PWM is that Kato LED lighting kits (and train headlights) usually stay illuminated even if the train is stationary. The Sound Box is sending out very narrow pulses that aren't sufficient to overcome the motors inertial (so the train doesn't move) but the pulses are sufficiently wide enough that the LEDs light up. Presumably, they're flickering thousands of times per second, but to the human eye that's undetectable, so we see them as 'on'. Sometimes you need to tweak the Start dial to get this function to work exactly right — turn it up or down until you find the sweet spot where the locomotive doesn't move but the lights stay on.

Using the C11 card

Perhaps the thing that's most important to say about the Sound Card is that it was specifically designed with the modern-spec C11 in mind. For example, as the crosshead slides across the sidebar, you'll notice the two 'chuff' sounds happen when the crosshead reaches each end of the sidebar, just as would happen on the real loco. There's no need to change the Sync dial — which you might need to do if tuning the sound card for use on an older spec Kato C11 or one made by another company such as Tomix.

The card details six main features, one for each button:

1. Whistle
2. Drain
3. Brake
4. Injector
5. Drifting
6. Coal shovelling

Some of these have additional features that come into play depending on what the locomotive is doing. The Whistle (#1) is pressure sensitive: a short tap gets a short whistle, hold the button down for a long whistle. The Brake (#3) plays a 'release' sound when stationary, versus an 'application' sound when the train is moving. The Drifting button (#5) plays the sound of the water tanks being filled when stationary, but when the train is moving, cuts out the chuffing sound but leaves all the clanks and whirs you'd hear as a steam train coasts down a hill or towards a stop. Should you dial the controller up, telling the loco to speed up, the drifting stops and chuffing starts up again — an intuitive and elegant feature. The Whistle (#1) has two whistles to choose from, but only one plays at a time. If you hold down buttons #1 and #2 at the same time, the Eject button flashes green and red. Press #1 to toggle through the sounds, and when you're happy with your choice, press #2 to lock it in. The Eject button will stop flashing.

The Eject button is also the emergency stop button. Pressing this stops everything, including the train: very useful if you're about to see the train crash into the end of a siding or something! A red 'emergency' light now flashes over the Sync dial. You won't be able to drive the train again until the controller throttle is dialled back to zero, at which point that light goes from red to green, but the Sound Box will now be silent. You need to press the Eject button once more before the sound effects start up again.

The C11 card is one of the Controller Synchronised types, denoted by having a blue symbol resembling a Kato controller. These cards are designed for simplicity, and leave the user to determine how quickly the train accelerates and decelerates. The basic idea is that the user proceeds through a series of steps to 'tell the story' as the train leaves the station, something like this:

• #6 to shovel coal into the fire
• #1 held down for a long whistle telling people to step away from the train
• #3 to release the brake
• #2 to drain the cylinders
• #4 then #6 as the driver injects steam into the valves then the fireman shovels more coal onto the fire
• #1 briefly pressed for a short whistle as the train passes some waving children...

All the while, the user is dialling up the controller's throttle, the chuff-chuffs becoming more frequent as the locomotive picks up speed. Should the locomotive hit a gradient or tight curve, the Sound Box picks up the drop in Back EMF, changes the sounds to indicate the engine is working harder and slowing down. Hitting #5 as the train coasts adds some variety, but if you increase the throttle the chuff-chuffs return as the engine gets back to work.

Conclusion

How does the Sound Box compare with DCC-sound equipped locomotives? The positives are the relatively cheap Sound Cards (￥2,500 for the C11 card, about £12 or so) and the consistent functioning on DC layouts (DCC-sound locos, even when described as DC-compatible, seem to be inconsistent in how well they work on DC layouts, especially if the track isn't spotlessly clean). On top of that, and unlike the situation with DCC-sound locos on DC layouts, the user has full control of the sound effects, not a random selection that plays depending on how the DCC chip was programmed.

The Sound Box itself is relatively expensive in the UK, over £300, though I bought mine secondhand for about £180, which isn't far off what these devices cost in Japan (￥35,200). Given the seller included an American steam train sound card to boot, I'm pretty pleased with the value at that price point.

But I can see DCC-sound enthusiasts pointing out the shortcomings of the Kato Sound Box, and there are some obvious ones. You only have one sound set playing at a time, and the sounds are coming from the Sound Box, not the engine. The range of sound effects doesn't match the dozens included on many DCC-sound locomotives these days, though many of the sounds can be a bit esoteric if not completely unnecessary — my BLI E8A sound-equipped locomotive has some farmyard and factory sounds, for example!

On the other hand, the depth of sound you get from the Sound Box is massively better. Bass sounds are good as it comes, but plug in an external sound system (with a subwoofer) or decent headphones and it's phenomenal. There's really no comparison with the tinny little speakers built into N scale trains.

Kato E127-100 (10-1812) Review

Models of 'ordinary' commuter trains are not commonly offered to British N scale modellers, but Japanese modellers have lots of them to choose from. While such trains may lack the charisma of express trains or the muscle of big freight locomotives, the fact is, these are the trains most of us spend out time travelling on! While not a very numerous class (13 E127-0s and 12 E127-100s were built) the E127 looks to me every inch the unremarkable sort of train we wouldn't miss until it was gone.

Background

The E127 series of 2-car electric trains were introduced in 1998, intended as replacements for trains like the 165-series dating from the 1960s. Beyond technological advances, they had a number of practical advantages that made them better suited to increases in passenger numbers, including more and bigger doors per car that meant people could get on and off more quickly. Seating was a mix of transverse and longitudinal seating which provided more open space for standing passengers when the train was full.

While passengers appreciated the fact they could board the trains more quickly, they missed the more comfy seats on the older 165-series with its express train-style transverse seating. Even so, the E127 trains turned out to be extremely rugged and reliable trains. One incident in 2022 is notable, when a lightning strikes in the Niigata region crippled the brand new E129 trains on the Echigo Line and Hakushin Line. Some retired E127s were drafted in to serve the Joetsu Line, freeing up other E129s for the commuter lines. Despite being put to work on a steep, mountainous line they were not designed for — the E127s performed flawlessly.

My review concerns Kato's model of the E127-100 version of the train, designed specifically for the Oito Line and Shinonoi Line local services. These are notable for having a a 'de-icing' pantograph on one of the two cars. This second pantograph is only raised in icy conditions where it scrapes off ice and snow from the overhead wire. When it isn't needed, this pantograph is lowered.

Kato E127-100 (10-1812)

What's in the box?

• Powered KuMoHa 127 and KuHa 126 trailer
• Working headlight (can be switched on and off) on both cars
• Tool for accessing the light switch
• Features pantographs on both cars (unlike Kato 10-1811)
• Pre-fitted with standard Kato close couplers
• Optional 'denren' electrical connection boxes for the cab ends
• Optional coupler pocket pieces, A and B, specific to the E127 and E126
• Optional cab-end destination display pieces
• Set of stickers for the destination panels on the sides of the cars and priority seating
• 4-page instruction leaflet, in Japanese

Thankfully, none of the optional extras, even the stickers, are notable by their absence — so if you want to plonk the train straight onto the track and start serving your N-scale commuters, go for it.

This train is DCC-ready in the sense of being ready for Kato's proprietary slide-in cards (rather than sockets or drop-in replacement PCBs). Kato EM13 is needed for the motor car and two Kato FL12 chips are needed for lights at each cab. Optionally, you could fit a Kato FR11 to control the interior lights, if fitted. If you don't add one, the lights stay on all the time the train is on the track — which I think is fine, but might annoy some.

Incidentally, 'denren' is a nickname for the denki renketsu (or electrical coupler). When two units are coupled together, this box allows electrical controls to be shared between the units. If you've ever seen old railwaymen connecting up trains with jumper cables between sockets, you'll know that was quite a laborious task. The 'denren' opens up as the two trains join together, automatically connecting up all the different cables.

Performance and detailing

Performance is excellent, everything you expect from modern Kato, and in fact the new slotless motor used in this model is a smoother and quieter than the motor used in Kato's 2010 release of this train. No traction tyres are fitted, but they aren't necessary, since the motor is more than capable of moving a 2-car train around curves and up reasonable gradients. My train happily goes around quite tight R282 curves without problems. While the motor lacks a flywheel, there's no obvious downside, the slotless motor responding very smoothly to changes in voltage, even at low speed.

Like the 313-1300 reviewed earlier, this train features current collection across both bogies of the power car, but only a single powered bogie. The rationale for this is simple: a single powered bogie is ample for a 2-car train, and if you want to build this up with a second unit, it'd have its own powered bogie. Smaller, lower powered motors draw less current (putting less strain on the transformer) and lack the force to push or pull the other powered car if running at slightly different speeds.

A cosmetic advantage is that smaller motors can be hidden entirely in the bogie and chassis, ensuring the passenger cabin is completely empty. This allows for more realistic interior detailing. Like most Kato passenger trains, this model can be easily upgraded with cool white interior lighting kits (11-211). If you do this, you'll want to add some passengers — I used the cheap-and-cheerful mass produced ones you can buy online easily enough. While they lack the detailing you'd get on premium N-scale people, you'll have to cut off their legs to get them to fit inside the cabin of the car, so buying expensive people makes no sense. They look fine when glimpsed at through the windows!

Although the first E127s were delivered to JR East in 1998, the model represents the train as it looks from 2016 onwards when they were updated to more modern specifications. Most of the changes were internal, but modellers will notice changes to the underfloor equipment, the skirt around the front ends, and changes to the wiring on the roof of the trailer car.

If you look closely, you can also see one set of passenger doors on the trailer car are marked with blue accessibility signs for travellers with prams, pushchairs, and wheelchairs. On the real train, this is the door that station staff will take those users to, laying down a ramp if necessary. Just like on the real trains, Kato have left out one of the benches inside the door and blocked off an area for the accessible lavatory next to it!

Conclusion

Overall, what I like about this train is its thoroughly ordinary appearance. It's not fancy in any way, but looks exactly like train that has to work for a living. The fact it runs very smoothly and quietly, and required very little in terms of additional work before I could run it, just adds to its charm. There isn't (yet) a Sound Card for this train but the generic 'clickity-clack' card works well enough.

For ¥10,450 (about £50) the value is quite good compared to other Japanese trains. Maybe not an absolute steal in the same way as the Local Sen train pack reviewed some time ago, but still a fraction of what you'd pay for a 2-car multiple unit of a British prototype. I think it's worth highlighting the differences between this Kato model and, say, the Graham Farish Class 150 DMU. With an RRP of £250, that model is five times the cost of the Kato one. Is it five times better? Well, it comes with some significant features the Kato model lacks including a built-in speaker (for DCC sound) and 8-pin DCC slots in both cars (one for the motor car, the second for the trailer to control its lights). On the other hand, the Kato model is preconfigured for an easy internal lighting upgrade. Both models have some separately fitted details, but the Farish model is, somewhat, better appointed in this regard, and unlike the Kato model, the Farish one comes with all the necessary decals applied, including tiny ones on the windows.

While I don't think that comparison is unfair, neither do I think it tells the whole story. The UK N-scale market being vastly smaller than the Japanese one, and therefore runs of new models end up smaller and more expensive. Ultimately, the Farish model might be twice as detailed as the Kato one, but not five times so — that's more about the size of the Farish and Kato markets more than anything else. And which is more reliable? Time will tell, but Kato mechanisms are widely regarded as the gold standard in terms of durability and performance — something I'm not sure has been said about the Bachmann mechanisms used in Graham Farish models!

Tomix 2709 Private Owner Tank Wagon (Tamu 6000) Review

Another cheap wagon purchased secondhand before I really knew anything about Japanese railways — or for that matter, where to find information about Japanese railways written in English! This Tomix wagon is attractive and functional, but what is it actually meant to represent? Turns out, nothing specific...

Background

Alongside all its high-end models, Tomix has also produced low-cost wagons (like the Komu wagons reviewed elsewhere on this blog) that are built to satisfy the casual modeller on a budget. While those Komu wagons were models of something real, Tomix 2709 is more freelance in its approach. There were two-axle tank wagons on the Japanese railway, such as the Tamu 5000, the Tomix model isn't one of them. Instead, it seems to use the same chassis and wheelset as the Komu wagons (Tomix 2718 and 2719) but with a small tank plonked on top of it instead of a couple of containers. Apparently, the Tomix 2712 Guard's Van is similar, but I don't own it.

Tomix 2709 Private Owner Tank Wagon (Tamu 6000)

What's in the box?

• Private owner tank wagon
• Wheels (not chemically blackened)
• Arnold couplings
• Sheet of rub-on transfers to add branding (Esso, Kyodo Oil, JOT, and Nippon Oil)

So, as is common with Tomix models, there's a little extra work to do before you can use the wagon. In this case, rather than fitting details, you'll be adding the transfers. Perhaps not 100% essential, but the wagon looks very dull without them. Apart from some white printed letters and numbers on the tank itself, the model lacks any other printing or paintwork.

Performance and detailing

Performance is excellent. The wagon rolls along nicely, even on curves as tight as R150 Unitrack. As such, it's a nice little wagon to put behind a small locomotive (like a C11 or DE10) working a branchline through mountainous scenery. While the Rapido coupler isn't subtle it works entirely as expected, coupling up happily to Kato as well as Tomix wagons, and I dare say any other rolling stock equipped with a Rapido coupler.

Detailing is minimal though. The basics are certainly there: ladders on each side, straps holding the tank in place, and a platform around the filler cap. But they're not made to high standard modellers expect from premium products. The ladders are chunky plastic and not, for example, separately fitted etched brass. Similarly, the platform around the filler cap should probably be some sort of metal grill, and while the grill effect is moulded onto the plastic platform, it doesn't perforate the platform as it should. Again, on a premium wagon you'd expect to see etched brass used to replicate that sort of detail.

Still, if you wanted to improve the wagon a bit, Tomix 0396 TN Coupler set and Tomix 0652 Blackened Wheels (5.6mm) are both available from the usual retailers. As 'vintage' model with pinpoint ends to the axles, the old wheels push out and the new ones pop in. I tarted mine up by weathering the wagon to give it more of an 'in use' feel, including using some gloss varnish to simulate oil leakage.

Conclusion

Sold new, the wagon cost about ¥600 (under £4). You can still find them online at vendors like RG-Rokko. For what they cost, they're absolutely fine if all you want is a wagon to add variety to a short mixed goods train.

However, as models they fall between two stools. On the one hand, if they're meant to replicate the Tamu5000 they fall short by lacking transfers appropriate to the chemical loads they'd normally carry: hydrochloric acid and amino acids — the latter used in food production. On the other hand, the transfers the models do come with, for oil companies, would be better used on much larger bogie tankers like the Taki 3000 ones used to transport gasoline, not little tank wagons like these.

Kato do produce twin-packs of Tamu500 tank wagons, such as #8069-1 in JOT livery. These wagons would be a better bet if you wanted a more realistic train of oil tankers on your layout. The twin-packs ¥2000 (about £9) mean they're slightly more expensive but being much more realistic models, unless your budget is really tight, they're probably the better investment.

Similarly, MicroAce produce models of the Tamu5000 wagons including the famous 'Aji Tam' ones carrying amino acids to the Ajinomoto factory near Kawasaki (MicroAce A3075). So, if you wanted to replicate that particular flow of traffic, that's the set to get. As with other MicroAce models, you pay quite a lot more (at ¥10,000, about £46) for a niche model, but they do look very nice and feature a lot more detailing, such as handrails, absent from the Tomix model.

Tomix 7142 EF66 0-series Review

Here's the big daddy of JNR electric locomotives! There's something quintessentially Japanese about the design of this locomotive. Not in a quaint anime sort of way, but the technologically ambitious Japan shown in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice — all post-war optimism and sophisticated design. I just love the rakish front-end design that, nowadays, has a retro-futurism feel that Japanese designers handle so well. So, did I need this locomotive? No. Did I want one? Damn straight!

Background

The prototype of the EF66 series was introduced in 1966, and after very successful trials, the class was introduced en masse from 1968. They were designed very much as mixed traffic locos, equally at home on express passenger trains as heavy freight trains. With over 5000 hp at their disposal and a top speed of 75 mph, they were, at the time, the elite of the JNR electric fleet. A single EF66 could handle the sorts of trains that earlier locomotive types needed to work in pairs, and they became particularly associated with high speed container trains using Koki 50000 series flatcars. Sleeper trains were another speciality, the EF66s being much better able to handle long (up to 15 coaches!) sleeper trains at speed than the EF65s that had worked them before.

A total of 55 were built across two batches. The most obvious difference between the two batches is that the first batch lacked the visor over the cab windows sported by the second batch. Over the years, some of the first tranche of locos had visors installed, and this particular model represents EF66-0 early series locomotives after 1974. The number plates included in the box correspond to machines that received this upgrade.

All good things come to end, of course. The blue sleeper trains stopped running in 2010, and newer locomotives like the EF210 series starting taking on the heavy freight trains from 2007 onwards. The last example in service, EF66 27 was retired in 2022.

Tomix 7142 EF66 0-series

What's in the box?

• Early series, visor fitted EF66
• Working headlights
• Rapido couplings pre-fitted
• Two replacement dummy couplers
• Two Tomix TN functional knuckle couplers (compatible only with other TN couplers)
• Number plates for EF66 5, 6, 13, and 14
• A4 sheet, in Japanese, outlining how to fit detailing parts, remove the bogies for cleaning, etc.

As supplied, this model fits into the late Showa-era (mid 70s to mid 80s) when these locomotives were primarily working freight trains all across the main island of Honshu.

Performance and detailing

Like other modern Tomix trains, performance is excellent. Very smooth, the newer M13 motor design accelerating steadily and running very quietly. It's every bit as good as the motors in the Kato locomotives, even if their designs are different.

Out of the box, the loco has the Arnold Rapido coupler installed. For whatever reason, the Tomix one seems unusually large but it works well. It's relatively easy to swap out this coupler for a working knuckle coupler (the Tomix TN coupler) or a non-functional, but correctly scaled, dummy coupler. I stuck one of these at the front, and left the Rapido at the back.

When it comes to detailing, it's the usual situation with Tomix models. Out of the box, number plates are missing, as are maker plates, certain roof details, and even handrails. Fitting this is an absolute pain. The number plates aren't too bad — pressing these face-on onto masking tape, and then using the masking tape to position and push them into place. But some of the other detailing parts, especially the whistle on the roof, is really hard. They're small, springy, and easily sent flying onto the carpet. I used forceps, wore my glasses with magnifying lenses, and a certain number of swear words until I was done.

(Edit: Google AI tells me some modellers assemble these extra parts with their hands and the loco inside a clear plastic bag. Sounds like a good idea!)

Is it worth the effort? Well, yes, in the sense my locomotive is highly personalised and has some very fine detailing now. I'm not totally convinced the separately fitted handrails on the Tomix model are any better than the factory fitted ones on the Kato model, but either way, they do look good.

Conclusion

Bought secondhand for ¥5,760 (about £27) it's hard to fault the value. Even allowing for the faff of fitting the additional details you're not going to walk away from this model thinking you've been stiffed. It runs perfectly and captures the iconic look of the machine very well. 

It looks brilliant hauling Koki 10000 and Koki 50000 container trains. While JNR green containers would be appropriate to the 1970s/80s era, such as those in the Kato 10-815 twin pack. But with all of this said, adding the details is time-consuming and difficult even for relatively experienced N scale modellers. Would I recommend this model over a Kato one with the details pre-fitted? I guess that would depend on the patience and skill of the modeller, and of course whether Kato produce the actual EF66 model you want — they don't, for example, currently produce models of the early EF66 locos like this one.