Help Save a Kato?


Breor47

Breor47

Brakeman
Hello all.

I recently mentioned that I had a broken Kato locomotive on another thread. This locomotive has seen better days, and now suffers from a multitude of issues I haven't been able to fix. I'm 16, and only a casual modeler, so I don't have a quarter of the experience I know some of you have. I was hoping that some of you would be able to lend a hand or give me pointers on how to fix it.

I'll post a couple of photos below. Here are the main issues with the locomotive:

1) The shell is missing the steps up to the cab. I dunno when or how these fell off, but they did. This is on both sides. As far as I can tell, they are their own clip-on parts and are not part of the rest of the cab.
2) The fencing on the front end of the locomotive is gone. Can I just buy N-Scale locomotive guard-rail? And if you can buy the whole walkway thing (see below), does it come with fencing installed on it?
3) The walkway has been scraped up over the years, and has got lots of glue all over it. Can I buy a new one of these? I cannot find it on the parts listings. Or, alternatively, could I remove the glue buildup easily?
4) The couplers and their boxes/ mounts are missing. Cannot find the coupler mounts anywhere online. The holes and places for mounting are on the bottom of the walkway.

Anyway, to my knowledge, the locomotive is a SD-40. I could be very wrong, so be sure to tell me if I am. If it is, here's the parts list.

I only recently restored the motor to working status. The reason why I am having so many problems with the exterior and couplers is this. You can see that everything is part of the shell here. The couplers are part of the trucks on that. Well, not so on my locomotive, which is more like this. As previously mentioned, and pictured below, the place for the coupler mount appears to be on the underside of the walkway...

Front & Gears.jpg Full Locomotive.jpg Missing Coupler & Box.jpg

Thanks so much to anyone who reads this whole thing and/or tries to help. I could use pointers to parts, repair instructions, encouragement, and whatever you'd like to offer.
 
If this is a Kato it's unlike any I've seen. Their web site doesn't list any four axle units that would be like this, which appears to be an EMD GP40.

Is it possible that this is an Atlas model built for them by Kato?
 
Could this be a GP-35?

This exploded parts diagram is from atlas, but it looks to match the locomotive I have. Mine has a Kato logo on it (partly visible in the third picture), but I suppose it's possible this is an Atlas model.

Thanks for the pointer to the EMD GP40.
 
Need more pictures showing any writing on the fuel tank, trucks, etc. and possibly a picture of both sides of the shell and a picture of the drive unit, both side and top view. This doesn't appear to be a GP35 but rather a GP40. It also doesn't appear to be an Atlas model, given the exploded diagram, at least of that vintage.
 
It's a Kato N GP50 from the 1990s. I'm wondering if at this point it still came with truck mounted couplers, and you would use a Micro Trains conversion kit to add pilot/body mounted couplers. That would be something to search on the Micro Trains site. I believe that's your best bet for parts and maybe diagrams.
 
If this is a Kato manufactured for Atlas check feebay for a body that specifies Atlas / KATO shell , it probably will come undecorated or check the Atlas website you may have some luck there.


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Thanks for the help guys... I agree with jwb... looks like a GP50.

I have poked around for parts a little bit this afternoon. It still looks like the coupler box is screwed in to the frame rather than part of the trucks... maybe jwb can confirm/negate if he has some of these locomotives.

Looking at getting maybe a coupler clip, if that will fit in.

Will update when I get home and do some more research. Certainly closer to fixing this than I was before.
 
Go to the Micro Trains N coupler conversion page at http://www.micro-trains.com/ConversionsN.php Then click on the PDF, go down a page or so, and you'll find the listing for the GP50 body conversion. It looks like your loco has already been modified for one of these. I would figure the hole in the pilot is 00-90, and it ought to be possible to drop the conversion in. Here is my loco with the conversion:

Kato_N_GP50_1.jpg


Kato_N_GP50_2.jpg


It's possible you may have an easy solution.
 
Hi
From the photos, as JWB says, it appears the GP-50 you have, already has the MT pilot conversion installed, but is minus the actual coupler box. The coupler box should just be screwed into the small hole visible in front of the trucks. As for parts, frames with handrails sometimes show up on Ebay. Battery boxes and cab steps are often missing from these, and a replacement may be able to be cut from an Atlas GP-38/40 shell. It won't be exact, but may do the job. I do have some spare parts for these, and may have a frame and battery boxes somewhere. Let me know if you can't locate what you need, and I'll have a look.
Cheers
Steve
New Zealand
 
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I couldn't find any mention of any older Kato locos on their website. The worm gears machined into the flywheels was something that I'd never seen before, along with the light boards looking to be held in place with screws. Then there's the fact that my interest in EMD pretty much ended with the mid '70's, hence my guess that it might have been a less than accurate GP40. Oh well, I tried!:) Good luck with this project.
 
Check out the Spookshow website for all you need to know about N-scale locos. Mark's site is the best for N-scale loco info and reviews.
Cheers
Steve
New Zealand
 
Here is my KATO GP-50 which I bought cheap because "It don't work" only thing is it has never failed to run for me.This unit has body mount couplers mounted just like any other modern KATO/ATLAS/LifeLike diesel.There is a pilot conversion listed (suggest a call to MTL to see if it is still available).As you can see the old girl has been rode hard and put away wet a few times.

CNW_5050.jpg

Look on Ebay for a store known as Sooo much stuff to possibly find parts for these as he has had parts at various times.No affiliation except as a happy customer.

The MTL conversion number is 1157,the new number is 001 41 010
 
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Halfway down this page, number 1157 (search the page with Ctrl-F) - is this what I need to order? I can't quite tell if everything is included here.
 
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