It's Easier to Start Model Railroading in N Scale because of One Company

I don't think there is any doubt N scale has grown as much as it has because of Kato. High quality stuff at a relatively affordable price. Kato brought N scale out of the dark ages of poor running.

Love kato. The premium starter experience is definitely the best part. Bulletprood trains. Power routing turnouts are a plus. Additionally they’re geared towards people with minimal space- which is a lot or the younger generation as well. They really do listen to the needs of the market when it comes to how they go about their business

If it's a product you believe in there's nothing wrong with promoting it.😊☕️

Kato uni track is the greatest invention since sliced bread. It's more expensive, but the time and headaches it will save you is well worth it. Trust me I've tried them all.

I started my collection with Kato's Santa Fe Super Chief Starter Set. Kato is a family run company started by a passionate fan, Yuji Kato. Kato started making his first model by walking into Santa Fe's Chicago headquarters and asking for detailed drawings of a passenger locomotive. I saw a video made in relation to the release of their UP Big Boy locomotive where current president Hiroshi Kato recalled helping out on the production floor by hammering recalcitrant parts loose from their molds. For folks that are interested in Japanese and European railroads, Kato makes plenty of both, but you have to look at Japanese exporters like Plaza Japan. They also make n scale light rail units in their Unitram line.

I live in Japan so I have seen the bookshelf collectors edition sets at second hand shops for as low as ¥1000 a box ($6.76). These are mostly Japanese trains but I think that’s an amazing price for these. I bought a set a while back and it worked perfectly fine, it was a N scale n700s Shinkansen and it had lighting and it came with the control unit already installed with it.

Sometime I hope to take a trip to Japan and visit the Kato Hobby Center.

Agree. You can buy a Kato N starter set and re-implement all of the components, including track and rolling stock, into a more advanced layout down the road. Plus the engines always run as well as anything else out there.

Yup, was going to go back to HO scale, but with Kato and Micro-Trains in the arena, that was enough to convince me with N scale! 👍

And, what you didn't mention was the Japanese market. If you go to places like "Plaza Japan" and others, you can get all the Japanese trains. This includes high speed bullet trains (I have a half dozen sets), European high speed trains (I have a TGV) and others. Plus Japanese specific engines and rolling stock. I found the bullet trains to be REALLY easy to change from DC to DCC if that's what you want - simply open a compartment on the bottom of the engine and swap chips - no tools required, no soldering. And, the bullet trains run great!

I have a couple older Kato HO engines (Atlas). Some of the smoothest and quietest engines on the market. Excellent Japanese quality.

Kato, you, and Steve's Trains are why I got back into N. I tried N 35-36 years ago, and everything is so much better now. Kato track and locos are so much more trouble free to me. Enjoying N along with my HO and G in the summer. Kato passenger trains rock and take up a lot less space than the HO counterpart. Kato is a great subject to discuss . Thanks!

Kato is a great manufacturer: I have European Kato models. But they are really just doing what the European manufacturers do. In n scale, Fleischmann and Minitrix make comprehensive start sets in both DCC and DCC ready which are the same loco and cars as are individually sold, and they can come with a complete DCC base station and power supply.

Agree Kato is really awesome.. only thing i d wish they d introduce is a double slip switch.. Not the double xover…

Great video Jimmy - you've actually made me think! I have always said that one big advantage HO has over N is the wider selection of products, but it's clear that Kato believes in the future of N scale and is working to negate that advantage. Also, I love that Kato's starter sets use the same quality locomotives and rolling stock as their separate items - that has been a huge reason (for me, at least) to stay away from starter sets. Now, if someone would just start making N scale kits that my old eyes and fat fingers could assemble!

Jimmy, I have the HV1 and HV2 and I like them because I am still building my layout but I use the KATO track to set it up temporarily in my living room to run my engines and rolling stock and it’s easy and fast to set up and put away. Happy house happy model railroading! Great advise.

I agree with you. KATO is easy to set up. I am moving from Atlas Track to KATO track to do my swithching layout with a small hidden yard.

Yup. I started mine with a Japanese steam loco and freight set.

Last weekend just bought my 1st set The Kato one you showed , just finishing the bench work ❤

With you all the way, man. After building my first n scale railroad with atlas track, I switched to Kato track. I will never use anything else.