Kato C44-9W and AC4400CW


T

traingeeks

New Member
I've read on some websites that decoders for these two types of locomotives are difficult to put in or have performance issues after installation. Is there any validity to their stories? The reason why I ask is because I am interested in purchasing these locos. Any input is much appreciated.
 
link to sites.....

Have not heard about, but if there are issues I would like to know as well. My luck with KATO has not been good. Ask me about the first production runs on the SD40-2's.
 
Kato's first SD40-2 HO models were the 'black sheep' of the family; they were experimenting with some type of different electrical pickup configuration. Needless to say, the experiment was a major flop. But at least they learned from it. All the other Kato models I've owned have been sweet runners.
 
First you need to understand that the two links are for different scale engines. The first refer to the DN163K1B in a N-scale AC4400 and the second pretains to a HO AC4400. Obviously this is two very different creatures. With the N-scale the install is rather easy. There are certain things that need to be done before being installed but they are all easy and will make installing easier and function properly the first time which I actually typed up the reply in the first link. So you have to keep in mind that when you are asking a question like this scale is a big thing to get a proper answer.
 
Here what I've used for decoders in my AC4400CW, First just to run it I used a DH123 plugged in, worked fine, then got sound SDH104K1A. AC4400CW's run great and looks awesome, except when you're like me and its your first loco and you BUST THE HANDRAILS! As for Dash-9's I assume they run the same but I've heard complaints about details before...
 
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