Review: Kato 10-1932 313-1300 (Chuo Line - Kansai Line)

I bought this multiple unit secondhand while looking for something short but modern-looking, and ideally, with a Kato Sound Card available. Ticking both those boxes, the 313 series

Background

First built in 1999, the 313-series of EMUs were intended to replace older JNR designs that were, by then some 40 years old. Designed for the 1500V DC JR Central network, the trains feature stainless steel bodies and snowploughs making them well suited to the arduous and sometimes rather snowy conditions.

They are famously reliable trains. Stainless steel is strong and corrosion resistant, keeping the outsides in good shape. But they are also well designed on the inside. For a start, they use robust IGBT-VVVF inverters that handle changes in current and voltage very smoothly, keeping the AC motors in good shape and providing passengers with an almost silent ride. Electrical systems are distributed across the cars, so if something fails in one car, the other takes over. Note also the two pantographs on one car. Why not one pantograph on each of the two cars? During winter, the leading pantograph acts as an ice scraper, leaving the trailing pantograph to pick up the current. During the summer, the train usually runs with one of the pantographs locked down. In fact, the second car is merely a trailer: only the car with the pantographs has electric motors.

Overall, the train was designed to be a reliable, adaptable workhorse and has fully lived up to that expectation.

The 313-1300 series are based at the Jinryo Depot (near Nagoya) on JR Central where they run predominantly on two major routes: the Chuo Main Line (between Nagoya and Shiojiri) and the Kansai Main Line (between Nagoya and Kameyama).

On the Chuo Main Line they are usually operated in 4- and 6-car trains, and in peak periods these are coupled up into commuter expresses with up to 10 cars. However, 2-car trains like the one in the pack are used on the branchlines, often in the picturesque mountainous areas up north. When the trains are also used on the Kansai Main Line where they are sometimes used for 'one man operation' trains where passengers use a machine on the train to buy their ticket. Such trains serve small stations without ticket offices that might only see a hundred passengers a day, if that.

Kato 10-1932 313-1300

What's in the box?

• Two-car 313 1300-series electric multiple unit
• DCC-ready using Kato EM13 motor decoder (and FL12 function decoder for the trailer)
• Light kit ready for illuminated carriages
• Working head and taillights (can be switched on and off)
• Realistic click-together couplings rather than Arnold Rapidos
• Quite a large sheet of stickers for the destination blinds on the carriages
• Small selection of optional details including jumper cables and alternate destination blinds for the cab ends (Nagoya installed, Kameyama replacement)
• 4-page booklet (in Japanese) including a potted history of the class, instructions on how to fit the extra details, and suggestions of which Kato models to add to create longer trains

The train is basically ready to go as supplied, but adding the stickers to the destination blinds on the carriage sides would be more realistic. They are very small though, and fiddly to apply, so if you don't add them, I doubt anyone will notice!

Performance and detailing

As you'd expect for a modern Kato train with a slotless motor and flywheel, performance is excellent. The train pulls away slowly, almost silently, and very steadily. Perhaps more of an issue for some is the single powered bogie. You can see the compromise made here by the Kato engineers. On the one hand, a single powered bogie, with a single traction tyre, is bound to limit haulage somewhat. But on the other hand, but having a small motor in the one bogie, the passenger cabin is left completely clear, ready for illuminating with the optional coach lighting kit 11-211 and populating with little plastic people.

Having a single relatively small motor also ensures that the train works well if coupled with other multiple units. The real trains would couple up to other 313-series units, but also 211- and 315-series trains as well. If each unit had a very strong motor, a mismatch between them could cause them to push or pull at each other at high speed, derailing the train or pulling couplers apart. High current draws could also overwhelm the transformer.

In practice, the train runs perfectly well, and if you were adding another unit to make a 4-car train, the add-on train would have a motor of its own. So, unless you have ridiculously steep gradients, the single powered bogie shouldn't cause any problems. As far as going around curves is concerned, my train manages tight curves (R282 Unitrack) just fine.

Because the small motor used includes strong magnets, the model features a demagnetisation plate to prevent unexpected magnetic track triggers. This effectively blocks the magnetic field from the motor accidentally tripping anything that uses reed switches or magnets to work.

The leading bogies on each car feature a small snowplough. Potentially, this could foul anything on the track higher than the ballast, but mine seems to run smoothly. Still, you might want to run the train slowly at first, to see if it catches on things like level crossings or paved track sections. Unlike the snowploughs on some Kato stock, these ones are not removable.

Speaking of bogies, the outermost couplers sit in a sort of 'pocket' as part of Kato's body-mount telescopic coupler system. This means they only stick out a realistic amount when not in use. If you want to couple the unit up to another train, the coupler needs to be slid forwards. To do that, you turn the car upside down and slide the coupling forwards from behind. Now, when the train's couple up to another, the coupler can extend enough to allow it to go around tight curves, while settling back to a more realistic distance on straights. All very clever, and explained in the instructions — but of course in Japanese!

The model features JR Central's standard corporate livery, which the real trains have carried since their introduction in 2010. While the livery isn't complicated, it is well applied and looks very smart. The interior of the coaches are not painted and may benefit from a little work if you're going to add people and light up the coaches with the lighting kits.

Conclusion

This little train has quickly become one of my favourites. The colour scheme is low key but attractive, and the illuminated headcode and headlights make it a fun train to watch. 

It's interesting to compare this EMU to equivalent models sold in the UK of British prototypes. If we look at the (admittedly excellent) Revolution Trains model of the BR Class 313, a three-car train goes for around £300. The specification for these is extremely high: electrical connections between all three cars, more and finer details, and nothing for the user to add to complete the model. The Kato model is listed at ¥10,780 (about £50) and only has two cars and a single powered bogie, but the result is a much more affordable model.

I'm on the fence about which is the 'best' approach but the different approaches taken by British and Japanese model train manufacturers is certainly striking.

Review: MicroAce A0301 Maya 34-2002 Modernised Refurbished Track Inspection Car

Unlike Kato, and to some extent Tomix, MicroAce don't seem to have much presence outside of Japan. While those two companies produce mass produce the common stuff seen on the Japanese railway, MicroAce seem to specialise in more niche models. One-off locomotives, unusual freight wagons, that sort of thing.

This particular model is a track inspection vehicle. Since it could be hauled by all sorts of different engines or even by a multiple unit, it's effectively a complete train in itself. So, while a little more expensive than Kato or Tomix, it seemed like a fun addition to my collection.

Background

Various Maya 34 track inspection vehicles were built between 1959 and 1981 by Tokyu Corporation and by Hitachi. This model represents one of the second tranche of vehicles which different from the first ones in being slightly longer, lacking headlights, incorporating air conditioning, and having an upgraded diesel generator for the onboard equipment.

Its basic job was to check the track at high speed. It had three bogies, rather than two, and these were equipped with a variety of sensors including lasers that could tell if the track was out of gauge, cracked, out of alignment vertically, and so on. It is presented here in the livery it carried between 1992 and 2004 while it worked on JR East. Although based at the Oku Passenger Car Depot in Tokyo it could be seen anywhere on the JR East network.

The Japanese wikipedia page for this car includes photographs of them be hauled by a variety of different motive power. DE10 and EF58 are shown. Since the Maya 34 car has working tail lights but no headlights, it would normally be pulled (rather than pushed) by the locomotive. MicroAce themselves are promoting MicroAce A3290 Kumoya 143 + 145 electric multiple unit twin-pack as an authentic option. The Maya 34 car would sit in between the two power cars in this case.

MicroAce A0301 Maya 34-2002

What's in the box?

• The Maya 34 track inspection car
• Working taillights (can be switched on and off)
• Arnold couplings at each end
• Couple of slips of paper (with Japanese text) but no instructions or diagrams of spare parts

The taillights are quite bright, perhaps unrealistically so, but otherwise work well. Current is collected from the front and back bogies but not the central one. Tiny switches behind the front and back bogies can be used to turn off the taillights at that particular end — presumably this is most useful when the car is sandwiched within a train, like the Kumoya 143 + 145 combination mentioned above. In that situation, the taillights lighting up would not be prototypical.

Performance and detailing

Not much to say about performance beyond the fact the MicroAce Maya 34 runs well, even on R282 Unitrack curves and through Unitrack points. The lights don't flicker, indicating that current collection across the two bogies is perfectly adequate.

Detailing is superb. Starting at the roof, at first this looks rather plain, but the ventilators on the roof have moulded details that are really only visible under a magnifying glass. On each side are separately fitted duckets, protruding windows that allowed crew to safely look forwards and backwards without having to stick their heads out of an open window. The fronts of the car include moulded details such as jumper cable sockets.

Perhaps more remarkably, the chassis and bogies are even more detailed, with all sorts of underframe details present as well as separately fitted equipment bars on the bogies. The equipment bars are painted metallic grey and feature rivet detail barely visible to the naked eye. On the real car, these beams provided a rigid platform for the various lasers and magnetic sensors used to take measurements. While these are very low down on the bogies, they don't seem to foul anything on my layout, but it's worth checking for clearance through level crossings and any paved areas of track.

Conclusion

Brand new, the usual online vendors sell this model at around ¥6,000 (approximately £27) which is about the going rate for a British railway coach in N scale but maybe double what you'd pay for a bog standard Kato or Tomix passenger coach.

But if you compare this model to, for example, the standard Kato passenger coaches, it scores in several regards. The roof mouldings are much more detailed, the livery application is far more complex, and the model also comes with working lights at both ends. Unlike the Kato coaches which sometimes require swapping out the stock wheels for more authentic spoked wheels, the MicroAce model comes with chemically blackened wheels of the correct general type.

On the other hand, it doesn't have an easy option for interior lighting, something the Kato coaches do have. Also, the Rapido couplings it uses are the old fashioned copper spring design rather than a push-fit socket that could be easily upgraded to a more realistic knuckle coupling.

Still, these are minor quibbles. The coach itself is fantastic, with all the extra details installed right out of the box. Plonk it on the track, couple up to a loco, and off you go!

Review: EF81-300 Kato 3067-3

You might not normally think of railway locomotives as built for operation under the sea, but in the case of the JNR EF81-300 series that's not too far off the mark! As it happens though, my introduction to this class was primarily its low cost during a sale at Plaza Japan. It was only once I started reading up on the history of the EF81-300 series that I properly appreciated what cool models these really were.

Background

The EF81 locomotives were initially designed as heavy-duty mixed traffic locomotives capable of hauling long freight trains and express passenger trains. Introduced in 1968 they remained in front line service well into the 21st century, JNR West for example only retiring their fleet in 2023. Most have been scrapped now, but a few linger on in niche roles such as charter trains.

In any event, like a lot of other Japanese locomotives they use a relatively unusual Bo-Bo-Bo wheelbase compared to the more conventional Co-Co arrangement seen on most six-axle diesel and electric locomotives seen elsewhere. This is because these locomotives are very big, over 100 tons in weight, and having three bogies lets them spread their weight and handle tight corners better than a typical Co-Co locomotive ever could.

They were also designed to operate under the patchwork of 1,500V DC and 20,000 V (50 and 60 Hz) AC wires that made up the Japanese electrified railway, making them even more versatile. As such, they could be seen almost anywhere, from busy mainlines to the relatively lightly built coastal routes serving smaller cities and harbours.

No fewer than six different series of EF81s were built, but the 300-series is perhaps the most remarkable. Only four were every built, but they were intended to operate in some of harshest conditions any railway engine would have the misfortune to endure -- the Kanmon Tunnel connecting the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. It wasn't just that the Honshu end (and the tunnel itself) were electrified at 1500V DC while the Kyushu end was at 20,000V AC. The tunnel itself was wet, the air basically saturated with water, and saltwater constantly dripped through the tunnel onto the railway line below. All of this made corrosion a ferocious problem, standard steel locomotives quickly become rusted.

So, Hitachi were commissioned to build 4 EF81s built to resist these conditions. The most obvious difference compared with the basic model EF81 was the use of unpainted stainless steel panels. To provide rigidity, these panels had unique horizontal corrugations not seen on the standard EF81s. Similarly, the roof was unpainted stainless steel. While the pantograph was the standard cross-arm PS22 design, the materials used were different, including stainless steel fasteners and special anti-corrosion coatings. Grease was applied liberally too, to keep the water out!

Kato 3067-3 EF81-300 

What's in the box?

• EF81-300 electric locomotive
• Working headlights
• Chemically blackened wheels
• Plastic sprues with number plates, maker plates, and multiple unit jumper cable
• Optional snowploughs (only some locos carried these in real life)
• Replacement knuckle couplers (Arnold-type pre-fitted)
• Two-page instruction leaflet (in Japanese)

As is typical with Japanese model trains, the model is 99% ready to go out of the box. What I mean by that is the model looks and runs fine, but doesn't have its number and maker plates installed. These need to be pushed into place, a slightly fiddly process. While I don't mind that Japanese locos come like this — it means you could buy four of the models and number them all differently — collectors who prefer their models to stay in mint condition are stuck with running their EF81 'numberless'.

Strictly speaking, only 303 and 304 ran in the colour scheme modelled here: so while the model is supplied with number plates for 301 and 302, they never ran in this specific condition. They had been, in fact, painted into a rose pink livery as early as 1978!

On the other hand, and in contrast with Tomix models, I didn't have to spend time faffing about with handrails, hooters, and other standard issue detailing parts that any and all locomotives would need to have fitted to them. While there's an argument the Kato approach means details are either moulded (like the cables at the bufferbeam) or oversized (like the handrails on the cab front) the relative ease with which the model can be 'finished' and put to work on my layout is very welcome.

Performance and detailing

Performance is typical for Kato thanks to the modern coreless motor and flywheels. Acceleration is smooth and the engine runs around the track very quietly. It handles somewhat tight (R282) Unitrack curves without complaint. Working headlights operate in the direction of travel; Japanese modellers don't seem to expect working taillights at the back of the engine because these would not be used when the engine is hauling something — which is most of the time!

Japanese railfans have nicknamed these models 'silver kettles' on account of their shiny appearance, and Kato have captured that rather well. However, it's worth noting that the detailing and livery presented here is from quite late in their lives, from 2010 until withdrawal. For example, the roof features a particular radio antenna, and there are black (rather than grey) seals around the cab windows. Blue JR logos are fitted on either side of the locomotive, indicating post-privatisation branding. If you look at the driver cab windows in front of the cab doors, you'll see additional an inspection hatch that was absent from the locos as delivered. Even the pantograph is slightly modified to be more accurate — so if you need to replace them, be sure to get the correct sort!

Snowploughs were only carried by 303 and 304, and even then, only for a short period when they were loaned to Toyama Depot in 2011 in response to a shortage of motive power after an earthquake and tsunami that year. Number 302 also carried snowploughs, but it was, of course, in rose pink livery, not silver.

Even though the locomotive is mostly silver, there are splashes of colour that stand out. The insulators on the roof are nice, and between the neat printing and the press-fit plates, there's a whole host of tiny details on the front and sides that make the engine look very smart. You can also see the black rubber around the cab windows: a small detail, but distinctive.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, the main reason this locomotive was purchased was the insanely low price, just ¥6,985 (around £32). For such a big model with so many attractive features that seemed an absolute steal.

But as it turned out, the more I learned about this engine the more interesting it turned out to be. Famous in Japan among rail fans as the 'silver kettles' these stylish looking locomotives enjoyed long lives even if they operated within a relatively restricted area. It looks terrific hauling a long train of Koki container flats.

There is also a Sound Card for this engine which brings another dimension to the fun, including start-up sounds, hooters, brakes, and ATS bells. The card can be used two ways: the traditional way where the model responds immediately to changes from the controller, or with the Sound Box in charge, where the model accelerates or decelerates more slowly and realistically for a more immersive experience.

 

Review: Kato 7008-5 DD51 (#DD51-842 Imperial Use Locomotive)

I've looked at the Kato DD51 locomotive elsewhere on this blog so what follows isn't a super detailed review of this particular model. But this model was a bit of a 'white whale' for me, being attractive and unusual -- but not widely sold in the UK. So when I did come across a secondhand one at a model railway show for £45, I couldn't resist it!

Background

Built in 1971, DD51-842 was designated for use on the Japanese Imperial train in 1973. This train ran only very occasionally, no more than few times per year. This was because only the Emperor and Empress (or their Emeritus and Dowager equivalents) were allowed to use the Imperial train; other members of the royal family used less prestigious -- though presumably quite nice! -- trains.

It was primarily used when electric locomotives could not, for example on non-electrified routes. When it hauled the Imperial train, DD51-842 had the Imperial emblems placed on its front running board: two Japanese flags (Hinomaru) and the gold chrysanthemum seal (Kikumon) between them. These were removed if the Emperor was not on the train, even if the locomotive was hauling the Imperial coaches as empty stock. In addition, the locomotive differed from other DD51s in a number of cosmetic differences. These included stainless steel handrails, silver-painted exhaust stacks, polished silver rather than white running boards, and immaculately painted and polished accents (such as window frames).

The locomotive was tweaked internally in various ways to dampen down vibrations and improve reliability. The DD51s were already very reliable locomotives, but redundancy systems were added to minimise any risk of breakdown in service.

While the locomotive is famous for its Imperial service, it still did regular day-to-day work including freight and passenger turns. Latterly, it was popular motive power for special trains. Obviously, the flags were not in use then! It remained in service until 2024 until being retired. Currently at Nagano General Rolling Stock Centre there is some hope that this special locomotive will be preserved.

Kato 7008-5 DD51-842

What's in the box?

• DD51 locomotive featuring unique Imperial train livery
• Working headlights
• Chemically blackened wheels
• Plastic sprues with hooters, jumper cables
• Imperial flags and chrysanthemum detailing parts for the loco front
• Silver (rather than black) Arnold Rapido couplers fitted
• Replacement (black) knuckle coupler
• Two passenger train headboards
• Two-page instruction leaflet (in Japanese)

While cosmetically different to the basic model, this model matches the usual Kato specification: directional lighting, see-through cabin, and a silky-smooth flywheel-equipped motor that works beautifully.

Performance and detailing

Performance is excellent. The heavy duty motor in this locomotive will handle any realistic train without problems. Response is smooth and pretty quiet. The flywheel ensures acceleration is steady and the locomotive coasts through Unitrack points without hesitation.

The headlights light up in the direction of travel -- unlike the situation with many British locomotives, Japanese models don't typically have working red tail lights. On the other hand, Japanese coaching stock and brave vans (cabooses) commonly have working tail lights, which is perhaps a more realistic approach anyway. However, out of the box, and unlike the Tomix models, you can't turn off the headlights when running this locomotive as part of a double headed train.

The detailing on this model is excellent, and the enhanced paintwork really sets it apart from the standard JNR red-liveried DD51. The chrome and stainless steel accents look beautiful.

However, the Imperial regalia at the front is an exercise in frustration. These are very brittle and the force required to clip them onto the running board seemed to exceed the force needed to damage them! Eventually, I needed to use some fine brass wire and superglue to create something a bit more sturdy, and then attached that to the running board instead. The wire is well enough hidden it isn't really noticeable.

Conclusion

If you can find one for a reasonable price -- or if Kato reissue it sometime in the future -- this is a fun addition to anyone's stud of Japanese locomotives.

With a long career and the potential to turn up almost anywhere on a 'special' train (without the Imperial emblems) or at the head of the Imperial train (with the emblems) you could justifiably use this loco on most layouts. Coupled up with another DD51 it'd be just as useful hauling a freight train, too.

While the super-brittle Imperial emblem is annoying, it does add a touch of class to the model that, possibly, justifies the efforts required to install it without breaking it! Doubly so if you choose to invest in the Imperial train pack, 10-853.

 

Review: Kato 803 SuYu 44 Mail Car

I can't quite remember where I picked this wagon up! I remember it was cheap and evidently quite old, featuring the older style Kato packaging. Perhaps from the 70s or 80s, given the 3-digit code (803) compared with the 4-digit codes used nowadays?

While it looks like a freight car of some sort, it turns out that JNR built these to be run at passenger train speeds. A simple, plain wagon that actually turns out to be quite interesting...

Background

Before the SuYu 44 car, post and packages were transported in smaller packages that were unloaded at stations through carriage or wagon doors. This was very slow, and mixed trains (that is, trains carrying both passengers and cargo) would be delayed for 10 minutes or more while this happened.

What the SuYu 44 car (and its relatives like the more general purpose SuNi 41 car) did was allow for 4-wheeled steel box pallets of cargo to be quickly loaded and unloaded at stations and depots. This was because the side panels could slide, allowing access to the entire interior quickly. Up to 24 pre-sorted pallets could be unloaded in under two minutes! This allowed JNR to speed up trains by reducing delays.

Classic cargo for SuYu 44 cars was letters and parcels. Unlike the superficially similar SuNi 40 cars that could be found in mixed trains, SuYu 44 cars were only used in trains running at express speeds. These would be either passenger trains (including sleeper trains) or dedicated mail trains.

Introduced in 1971 these cars remained in service until the end of express baggage and postal service trains on JNR by 1987. Legally, they belonged to the post office and not the railway, so after mail stopped being carried on the railways, they became redundant. Like the SuNi 40 cars, the SuYu 44 cars were basically 'all doors' they couldn't easily be converted into anything else, so once their purpose was gone, they were soon scrapped. The problem was that the doors were not rigid enough to be cut into, so they couldn't have windows cut into them or racks attached to them.

Kato also produce SuNi 40 and 41 cars that could be used to create a realistic mail-baggage train of the sort that ran through the late 1960s into the early 1980s. The SuNi 41 with its conductor compartment would be marshalled at the end of the train, the cabin turned away from the rest of the train.

Kato 803 SuYu 44 Mail Car (now Kato 8026)

What's in the box?

• Just the wagon!

Note that this is a really old model. The number on the jewel box is 803, but Kato use 4-digit numbers now. To get this model now, you'd want Kato 8026 (the current Kato 803 is apparently an HO-scale hopper!).

The wagon is pretty plain. JNR passenger blue on top and down the end faces. The sides are unpainted aluminium. Nicely printed markings on the sides include the designation and wagon type in kanji characters. This spartan appearance in keeping with the real things which were quite plain to look at. No doubt this model would benefit from some weathering, but as it stands now, it's a simple but functional wagon.

Performance and detailing

Not much to say about performance beyond the fact the wagon runs well. It's a very smooth runner in fact, and even a small tank engine like the C11 can haul this wagon as part of a train of 15 wagons without showing any signs of trouble.

The most notable feature is that the bogies have built-in Rapido couplings. If you want knuckle couplings, you can add them using Kato Parts 28-187 Knuckle Coupler. Unfortunately, the side doors don't open, but that's offset by the crisp moulding and decent paint job. The printing, as far as I can tell, is just about readable, but rather limited.

Conclusion

While the car itself isn't particularly interesting, even brand new these only go for ¥900 (well under £5) which makes them an absolute bargain.

Suppose you were operating a branchline layout. Both the Kato 10-034 (older brown cars) and Kato 10-034-1 (later blue cars) have potential. You'd want to remove the SuYuNi 60 from the brown car pack or the OYu 10 from the blue car pack since those are mail/baggage cars already. The remaining three cars can now be used with the SuYu 44 (usually right behind the locomotive) to create a situation where mail was being carried to a regional sorting depot off the mainline. A C11 would be a good pick for the brown car era, while something like a DD51 or DE10 could be used for with the blue cars.

You could also run this car mixed in with vintage mail coaches (such as the Greenmax Oyu 12 ones), some SuNi 40 cars, and a SuNi 41 at the end. This would represent a typical mail train of the era, the older brown cars gradually being replaced by the later blue cars. On electrified railways, the EF58 would be a good engine to haul such a train; otherwise, the ever-popular DD51 will do the job nicely.

One last thing

Don't confuse the SuYu 44 for the very similar SuNi 40 cars. While the former were strictly used by the post office, the latter were used to transport a variety of things including luggage and newspapers. They were used on a wider variety of trains including freight trains, usually marshalled at the head-end just behind the locomotive.

Kato Mini Diorama

Built this for the Warners model railway exhibition at the Birmingham NEC last year. Can you guess what it is?

The model, by the way, is the Metal Earth 'Imperial Shuttle'. Fun to make, if fiddly, then painted with acrylics for a more realistic finish.

Review: Tomix KiHa 40-2000 Metropolitan Area Color

I'd been looking for a diesel railcar for a while, and this particular model caught my eye because of its very attractive colour and high level of detailing. Thus far, I hadn't purchased any Tomix multiple units though, just locomotives and rolling stock. So, how would it stack up against my various Kato trains?

Background

The KiHa 40 was one of a small family of diesel railcars (the 40-series) and multiple units (the 47- and 48-series) delivered to Japanese National Railways between 1977 and 1982. They were widely used across the network, across both 'cold' and 'warm' regions. Designed for use on suburban and rural lines, these units have enjoyed long lives with many still in service today. Seating is of a high density sort, a mix of upholstered longitudinal and cross benches. A few have been modified into 'Joyful Train' sets with much more fancy interiors.

This model shows one of the refurbished units used by JR West that feature, among other updates to the original railcars, bright white LED headlights and (on a plastic sprue) wireless antenna. As such, they represent the trains as used on lines around Okayama from 2017 onwards, also reflected in the 'nostalgic' vermillion or metropolitan livery.

Tomix KiHa 40-2000 (7442)

What's in the box?

• Powered driving car

• Lots of plastic sprues with detailing parts

• Transfer sheet with car numbers

• Detailed instruction sheet showing where the detailing parts go

Plonked onto the track, the bright colour certainly works nicely, catching the eye. There are some printed details -- such as the buttons for opening the doors -- but they're quite small. I do wonder if a little bit of weathering would help here, for example, some inky washes to show up the moulded details a bit. Still, the livery looks good, including some silver and grey applied to things like foot steps and window frames.

Performance and detailing

Running quality is good thanks to the coreless M-13 motor and flywheel used. The motor is completely hidden underneath the visible part of the interior. It drives the two bogies via worm gears. It's a little noisier than some of my models, but not annoying at all. With a bit of running in, I expect that it'll settle in nicely. Response is steady even at quite low speed, and there's no stalling over the Kato points. Minimum radius is said to be 192 mm, but in any event handles my 315- and 348-mm radius Unitrack curves just fine.

Worth mentioning for those that care, there is a single traction tyre on each bogie. The bogies can be pulled out for easier maintenance. There's quite thick lubricant on the worm gear and the gear at the top of the bogie, but as icky as this looks, it seems to work fine.

Functional buckeye couplings are fitted to the cab ends for coupling up to trailer cars.

Switches on the underside of the train, just behind the bogies, can be used to turn head and tail lights off -- useful if you're running the unit along with a trailer car (the lights on the cab ends facing each other would not normally come on in such a situation).

As delivered, the model includes a fair amount of detail including snowploughs and some of the multiple unit jumper cables. But there are a lot of additional sprues provided. These include some underframe detailing parts, some for the roof, and some for the cab ends. The instruction leaflet is, of course, in Japanese. So, while you do have the diagrams to help, deciding what to do with many of these detailing parts might be a little intimidating!

On the other hand, this isn't all that unusual with Japanese model trains. To some extent, costs are kept down by leaving the modeller to add the more fiddly detailing parts. Not necessarily a negative, but something to consider if you're coming to this part of the N scale railroading hobby from, say, British railway modelling where (admittedly much more expensive) models have lots of plastic or metal detailing parts pre-fitted.

Conclusion

Overall, this is characterful little train that I'm glad I purchased. At the time of writing, RRP is 9,460 Yen (around £45) which seems fair. The somewhat startling number of sprues with detailing parts might put some people off, but even in its basic condition, I think does the job very nicely. The body lifts off easily, so adding a crew and some passengers shouldn't be hard, which should bring the model to life.