Manufacturer: Kato
Scale: N
MSRP: 10 car set $250.00; 2 car add-on set $50 (4 different available)
Available: Feb. '08
Scale: N
MSRP: 10 car set $250.00; 2 car add-on set $50 (4 different available)
Available: Feb. '08
Features
- Exceptional exterior and interior detailing
- 10 car starter set includes:
- Baggage-Chair
- Articulated Coffee Shop, Kitchen, and Dining Cars
- Chair Car
- Two Articulated Chair Cars
- Articulated Chair Car
- Tavern Car
- Parlor Car
- Parlor Observation
- Observation car has lighted drumhead and marker lights
- Four different two-car coach add-on sets available
- Unitrack Display Track Included
History
In the 1940s, Southern Pacific's Morning Daylight was dubbed "the most beautiful train in America". Decked out in vibrant red and orange paint, it streaked along the California coastline from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back.Evaluation
Kato has faithfully reproduced the Morning Daylight coaches and the GS-4 locomotives that pulled them. All cars are detailed inside and out. Articulated cars have some of the best pantographs we've seen on N scale cars to-date. The cars come in a handsome display case, and the set include a Unitrack display track. The cars are well-designed and smooth running.If you have any experience with Kato's Super Chief you know what kind of quality you can expect in these Morning Daylight cars. If you're modeling California in the 1940s or 1950s this train may well become the center-piece of your collection. I know people modeling other regions and periods who are buying them just because they are so incredibly cool.
Options
Kato offers interior lighting kits for their passenger cars. These kits use bright LEDs instead of incandescent bulbs to prevent warping of the car's shells. A single kit lists for $10 and a six-car set is $50. DCC control for car lighting can be added using Kato's FR11 function decoder. Based on available information, its unclear to me if the FR12 will also control the drumhead light in the observation car. The FR12 lists for $24.99, a little steep for a single-function decoder, espeicially when the GS-4 Locomotive's motor-control decoder lists for only $22. Adding lighting and DCC control with these options more than doubles the cost of this 10 car set.Kato's kinematic close couplers hold the cars close together on straight track and allow the car spacing to expand on the curves. It is my understanding that this type of coupler has been available before in Europe, but is new in the United States.