N-scale Silver Streak Zephyr.


Iron Horseman

Well-Known Member
I just saw the advertisement to pre-order the Kato Silver Streak Zephyr. Once again N-scale beats HO to the punch for a much needed and wanted model. I've been waiting for the EMD E5s in something other than brass for decades.

http://www.katousa.com/N/SilverStreak/index.html

I am not into the pre-order frame of mind, but is anyone else planning on getting this set or loco.
 
Wow! Those are pretty cool. N scale has arrived.....all aboard the Silver Streak! :D Better wear sunglasses to protect from the glare. :eek: I'll have to wait a while to order.




Mike
 
It is amazing what is coming onto the market in N scale. If items to this degree of detail that ran well were available twenty some years ago, I would still be in N scale.
 
I'm not interested in the cars themselves as I already have the CZ set, but I pre-ordered a pair of the E5 units the day Kato announced them. :D
 
Anyone who models the Texas Zephyr or the Denver - Pueblo freight traffic in the late 1960s will have to get a set of these!

For those that don't know, when the E5s were removed from Texas Zephyr service the C&S hooked them in 4 to 6 unit sets and tried to use them in drag freight service over Monument Hill. The creeping along at 20 mph fried their high speed traction motors. Only 1 E5 escaped the scraping torch. It is in the Illinois Railroad Museum.
 
Got an email from Kato with a new picture. :)

katoE5.jpg


Also, I spotted this comment from Kato on a Youtube video they uploaded-

The model itself will be based on our standard E unit mechanism
 
I saw a flyer at a LHS for the E-5's and it looks pretty nice. However, it did seem to lack the luster of the polished stainless steel of the real E-5's. I do hope it runs better than my F-3's as they are kind of noisy and second rate compared to my Atlas GP-7 and SD-9 and my LifeLike GP-20. Anybody have the same or different experience? My Kato's look great, but look better than they run.
 
I have some F7s that were quite noisy when I first ran them (not vibrations, just very loud motors), but since running them in they've quietened down a bit.

I agree with the sentiments on the finish, but I think it's hard to make plastic look like metal without also making it a fingerprint magnet. ;)
 
I saw a flyer at a LHS for the E-5's and it looks pretty nice. However, it did seem to lack the luster of the polished stainless steel of the real E-5's. I do hope it runs better than my F-3's as they are kind of noisy and second rate compared to my Atlas GP-7 and SD-9 and my LifeLike GP-20. Anybody have the same or different experience? My Kato's look great, but look better than they run.


This has been completely different than my experience. I have dozens of both Kato and Atlas engines and about 99% of the time the Kato's are vastly superior in pulling power, voltage requirements and yes, noise. It appears you may have a lemon or two.
 
An important update on the E5s for those of you on DCC! A Kato rep has come back to me stating that existing E unit decoders aren't 100% compatible with the E5 as the LED leads aren't long enough. They also said that the various decoder manufacturers have already been advised and are working on a new product compatible with these engines. I can't speak for the other manufacturers, but I contacted TCS and was told that their updated decoder (K0D8-E) is finished and ready for purchase already.
 
An important update on the E5s for those of you on DCC! A Kato rep has come back to me stating that existing E unit decoders aren't 100% compatible with the E5 as the LED leads aren't long enough.
Interesting, but makes perfect sense considering the longer and more sloped nose of the E5 over the bull-dog E8.
 
Yep, that's why I had assumed the decoders would be different in the first place because the mechanism would have to be. They did say it's "based" on the existing E8/9 mech so it's probably just longer at the nose end. By the sounds of it though if you already have some old E unit decoders they could still be used if you don't mind extending the LED leads yourself somehow.

Kato just sent an email saying these are on track for an Oct 29 release, huzzah! :D
 



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