Like the six-car freight pack with its basic container flat, these two models lack the finer details seen on Kato's higher-end models. On the other hand, they are definitely priced to sell, and with a bit of weathering, make good models for running behind a wide range of electric and diesel locomotives.
Background
The 10000-series container wagons were built between 1966 and 1969. They were designed to run at higher speeds (up to 100 km/h) than earlier designs. At one end is a small platform for an operator to stand on when using the hand brake.
Like other container wagons of the era, the 10000-series were designed for the JNR standard 10' container. Others were designed and built expressly to carry two 20' containers (the 11000 and 12000 series) instead of the 10' containers. These modified wagons could not carry 10' containers. There were some other variants produced over the years, including one series (the 18000 series) built in 1968 for use in the cold climate of Hokkaido.
Perhaps the most unusual variant was the Kokifu wagons. With freight trains being accelerated to 100 km/h, suitable accommodation for the guard, or conductor, became an issue. Existing brake vans (cabooses) could not run at that speed, so instead a number of container wagons were built with a small conductors compartment. These wagons could now only carry four 10' containers rather than five.
Both the Koki and Kokifu wagons were in widespread use across the network from the mid 60s through to the mid 80s. The Kokifu wagons were phased out during the 1980s because they were deemed (understandably!) as unsafe quarters for the guard, and by 1985 guards were abolished from freight trains, making the Kokifu wagons redundant. The Koki wagons lasted a bit longer, but being incompatible with the 12' containers and lacking modern standardised air brakes, they were increasingly ill-matched to the modern railway. A few soldiered on into the 1990s, but they were all withdrawn by 1996.
Kato 8002 Container Wagon
What's in the box?
- Koki 10000 container wagon
- Arnold Rapido couplings (easily replaced with Kato 11-702 buckeye couplers or Kato 28-187 shortening knuckle couplers)
- Non-removable containers
The wagon is nicely moulded and presented in JNR freight blue. The lettering is simple but effective. The wagon itself is solid, with only basic detail represented underneath the solebar and nothing much on the top. There is a metal weight on the top of the wagon, with all five containers represented by a single-piece that clips into the place. The metal weight seems a bit loose, so I used a drop of glue to fix it into position.
The containers are the standard JNR 10' containers. Google AI tipped me off on the shade of green used: Yellow-Green No. 6, introduced in 1959 to contrast with the grubby brown seen on freight trains up until that point. The containers were used on the Takara-go train between Tokyo and Osaka, the train became emblematic of the bright, shiny technological age that Japanese industry was moving into.
As supplied, the container moulding works, just about, but the gap between each container isn't completely convincing. Weathering makes a huge difference, giving you a reason to run some dark, watered-down paint into those gaps. This makes the gaps look more like shadows. It's also worth painting the metal weight while you have the container removed for weathering. The weight is easily visible from the side, and if you paint it black, it won't be nearly as intrusive.
Kato 8003 Container Wagon with guard's compartment
What's in the box?
- Kokifu 10000 container wagon
- Arnold Rapido couplings (easily replaced with Kato 11-702 buckeye couplers or Kato 28-187 shortening knuckle couplers)
- Non-removable containers
Basic specification much like the Koki 10000 wagon, but with the distinctive caboose, or conductor's compartment, at one end. Again, judicious weathering will really help make the single-piece container moulding more realistic.
On the plus side, this is a quirky prototype that adds interest to any container train. But on the other hand, the low-end specification mean the model isn't as good as it might be. There are no working taillights at the back of caboose, and neither is it possible to add the Kato lighting kit to illuminate the inside of the guards compartment.
Summary
These wagons use a very old (late 70s/early 80s) tooling which explains the relatively coarseness of the detailing presents and the absence of separately fitted details. At the same time, use of the old tooling allows Kato to produce Koki containers wagon with an RRP of ¥770 (about £4.25 at the time of writing) and the Kokifu at ¥825 (about £4.50). That's gives the consumer pretty good value given that the models run well, look good from a distance, and represent a useful, long-lived prototype.
Of course, they're compromised in significant ways. The container loads aren't removable, so you can't swap the supplied containers with different ones to add variety to your trains. Equally, as you can't remove the containers, you can't run an 'empty' train, and even if you could, the wagon frame isn't open and lacks the details such as pipes you'd expect to see on a modern-spec model.
Still, a train of these wagons looks splendid behind the right sort of locomotive. You want something that's late Showa-era, and more the industrial heartlands than, say, a cold climate loco from Hokkaido. A JNR-liveried DD51-1000 'Warm Region' type (like the Tomix 2219) diesel looks the part, but you could also opt for an early model EF66 in blue on a racetrack mainline between Tokyo and Osaka, or a bright red ED75-1000 hauling a rake across the steeply graded northern lines towards Aomori would do the trick just as well.
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