Kato is without a doubt the king of N gauge. They offer many Variation Sets that allow easy expansion of your layout. As you pointed out in your video Kato unitrack is the best and the single most important part of any model railway is the track work. Excellent video. Very well done.
I'm very late to this but a great video. I would add that another appealing feature of Untitrack is that because it's regularly jointed, you get that satisfying clickety-clack as trains run along it 🙂
The Kiha 58 is a diesel train who built in the 670's for express service.The dimensions of the cars were already standardized, and the colors obeyed a code. The red stripe (red n°11) designates diesel expresses, and cream (n°4) is the basic color of diesel trains (and later other electric express trains). The clover is the green car (first class)
You are correct about the green car being first class. You are also correct when you say that Kato are a great manufacturer. Japanese N scale is at a scale ratio of 1/150 except the Shinkenson which are made to a scale of 1/160. Great video. Thanks.
That is a nice set in my opinion. Thanks to magnetic couplers. I am coming back to N gauge and I already have Two Class 60's and a Class 92 which will be retro fitted with magnetic couplers that are less likely to break on hills and inclines. Nice train as well and I do plan to get a TGV at some point.
You may want to look at tomix next, their track system is based off of tomy road and rail (same parent company) they have much more "wooden railway" features like stackable bridge piers and a gigantic assortment of bridges, aswell as curved turnouts and double slips. Kato n scale roadbed is actually to tall to mate up with flexible track sections that's why you have to buy a special adapter, vs tomix which with a standard adapter allows you to integrate tomix track into a set track layout. However kato trains aswell as tomix are honestly top quality (modern ones) and aside from derailments on kato number 4 switches the ones iv had all ran smoothly. If you want something really affordable kato pocket line is really budget friendly.
@@Locoforce N gauge Kato locomotives and track are very common in the U.S. layouts. The details and quality are top notch. The track being easy to rearrange makes layouts easier. Well if you do decide to switch to N gauge, good luck and happy modeling.
@@acrranscaleandlifejourney4330 as soon as I do there will be updates! Realised I haven’t been doing the videos most people subscribed for so there will be some more interesting videos coming soon
fantastic video! i'm thinking of getting into n gauge myself, just watching these videos to gain knowledge before i buy. on a side note, have you ever considered getting one of those mics that attach to your clothes? i think that'll improve sound quality.
I started with a graham Farish set , the track was poor and noy the best controller , I Rapidly purchased the m1 starter pack from Kato Unitrack is great , the points connect to a switch that clips on the side of the kato controller which is easy . I now have around 300 American diesel outline Locos , a handful of English and some German locos and a semi permanent unitrack layout
Can more N scale track be bought without the plastic ballast base and nailed onto a board for a more realistic layout (with custom gravel ballast etc). I assume it would be KATO or PECO track? thanks (new sub today)
What I have noticed is that while some retailers discount prices they all seem to work out the same final price even on Ebay. Are Kato dictating the selling price?
Great but abit expensive,I just got bargain 7 car train for £125, now I need to work on getting some me to track ,looking at the m2 starter track pack if can find at a good price
I missed this video from a year ago. I am interested in starting my own railroad hobby. I assume this is an imported starter set? If you wanted to expand on this, you can buy additional track and cars? Is the power pack sufficient for an expansion? Thanks.
Yeah we stock a decent Rang wog starter sets at the moment. Still waiting on additional cars to come in, but if you want to get a starter set check out railwaymodelstore👀 we have a good variety in stock at the moment and hundreds of additional cars can be pre ordered. The power pack is very powerful and can be used for a significantly long loop of track
Starter sets are mostly the best option for a first start but adding to the fleet might set you back more than the cost of a starter set. Also the trackage might be a problem as somebody pointed out, mostly a tight radius that isn't that suitable for bigger locomotives. I do think Kato offers some real quality but they only seem to cater for the masses. There certainly are cheaper sets available but it all depends on what you are willing to model or create yourself.
I was in my countries ONLY and Amazing model train shop and they had tomix n gauge and they are very cheap. A H0 wagon cost from 39-94 dollars while a tomix n guage wagon costs 20 dollars. All I’m saying is that the dollar is not the US dollar
N SCALE JAPANESE OUTLINE SCALE COMPROMISE !!!!! Japanese outline N scale is LARGER than European & American N scale !!! World N standard is 1:160. Japanese N scale is 1:150 !!! The reason is, that KATO Japanese National Railways (JNR) Class 58 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) in real life runs on narrow gauge 3ft 6in gauge track, NOT Standard gauge as used in the USA/Europe/Britain !!!! What you need is the KATO Japanese N scale Catalogue which is about 500 PAGES. This very large range includes all sorts of Locos, Carriages, Wagons and HUNDREDS of Diesel & Electric Multiple Units. As well as ready made (plastic) buildings, the large "Unitrack" system, and various other equipment such as proper controllers. Including that Japanese specialty "Train Locomotive Desk Controllers". Which look like a real locomotive or Multiple Units Drivers Desk, with properly shaped power & Brake handles, Speedometer, Ammeter, Line Light, and even a recess for your stop watch, and can control multiple trains, without needing expensive "chips". (Note: Japanese trains are scheduled by the SECOND, not by Minutes or the nearest 5 minutes as in the rest of the World.) Indeed KATO in Japan is No 2. The Worlds biggest model train manufacturer is TOMIX (No1 in Japan) also with around a 500 page N scale catalogue. But there is also Micro Ace (which also do a very large Steam Range), Green Max who specialise in Multiple Units of the near 100 Private Railways in Japan. Modemo who specialise in beautiful steam era carriage sets. Hasegawa who have a range of trams, and some beautiful Japanese traditional buildings such as Shinto Temples & Japanese Castles. ALL N GAUGE. NOTE: Many Japanese N scale locomotives & power cars include technologies NOT seen outside Japan. SUCH AS: "Clip out quick clean" Motorised bogies. Illuminated Rotating Destination blinds. Built in Auto self uncoupling on many locomotives. Real life scale working Buckeye or Scharfenburg couplings on many Multiple Unit cab cars. Flexi-Couplings on carriages, which expand into curves and retract on straights to maintain more realistic gaps between vehicles. Mechanisms using "Frictionless Lubrication FREE" gearing. 7 pole Skew armature motors with double Flywheel drive, giving "inertia" run on. Indeed Japanese outline models are literally ROLLS ROYCE'S at FORD PRICES !!! Few of these specialised extras are fitted to Japanese EXPORT American or European outline models !!!!
Those longer cars limit how tight of a turn you can have in your layout. Sure, they are compatible with the curvature of the track in its set, but upon expanding your layout, if you are going to continue using those cars, you will want to keep that in mind. Obviously, that will limit the number of layouts you could build. It's no big deal because you still have a plethora of options available to you when it comes to the layout of your track, just as long as you keep in mind that you can not go with too tight of a turn . . . that means, with the bigger turns needed (larger radius of turn), will ultimately translate into a larger layout space required to accommodate your track. Just look up the specs for that engine, and the cars and you should be able to determine the tightest curve it can handle. Too tight of turns, and you will continually get derailments.
Kato is without a doubt the king of N gauge. They offer many Variation Sets that allow easy expansion of your layout. As you pointed out in your video Kato unitrack is the best and the single most important part of any model railway is the track work. Excellent video. Very well done.
I'm very late to this but a great video. I would add that another appealing feature of Untitrack is that because it's regularly jointed, you get that satisfying clickety-clack as trains run along it 🙂
I love N scale and currently working on my first layout, but it's really expensive. A good place for decent prices for Kato N scale is Plaza Japan.
The Kiha 58 is a diesel train who built in the 670's for express service.The dimensions of the cars were already standardized, and the colors obeyed a code.
The red stripe (red n°11) designates diesel expresses, and cream (n°4) is the basic color of diesel trains (and later other electric express trains).
The clover is the green car (first class)
Nice set pal, ps have all the barbers in your area closed down lol
Yeahhhhh I’m working on that😂😂😂
Very interesting thanks for the vid, was looking into the hobby and N scale Kato seems to fit in my budget!
I really enjoyed your video. I have been an Kato fan for many years. I thought tha the set you showed is cool too.
Very comprehensive and detailed! Great job.
Before I gave up on N gauge and moved to custom LEGO trains I really wanted one of these sets and controllers.
They look really fun to operate.
You are correct about the green car being first class. You are also correct when you say that Kato are a great manufacturer. Japanese N scale is at a scale ratio of 1/150 except the Shinkenson which are made to a scale of 1/160. Great video. Thanks.
Thanks for letting me know! And agreed, top quality stuff
That is a nice set in my opinion. Thanks to magnetic couplers. I am coming back to N gauge and I already have Two Class 60's and a Class 92 which will be retro fitted with magnetic couplers that are less likely to break on hills and inclines. Nice train as well and I do plan to get a TGV at some point.
Bought 2 Kato, Eurostar & e300 GWR, beauty for cost of one steam loco you get a complete train.
You may want to look at tomix next, their track system is based off of tomy road and rail (same parent company) they have much more "wooden railway" features like stackable bridge piers and a gigantic assortment of bridges, aswell as curved turnouts and double slips. Kato n scale roadbed is actually to tall to mate up with flexible track sections that's why you have to buy a special adapter, vs tomix which with a standard adapter allows you to integrate tomix track into a set track layout. However kato trains aswell as tomix are honestly top quality (modern ones) and aside from derailments on kato number 4 switches the ones iv had all ran smoothly. If you want something really affordable kato pocket line is really budget friendly.
Great looking set!!! I love Kato, my layout is all Kato.
That’s great! Very tempted to go N gauge and make a big layout but who knows!
@@Locoforce N gauge Kato locomotives and track are very common in the U.S. layouts. The details and quality are top notch. The track being easy to rearrange makes layouts easier. Well if you do decide to switch to N gauge, good luck and happy modeling.
@@acrranscaleandlifejourney4330 as soon as I do there will be updates! Realised I haven’t been doing the videos most people subscribed for so there will be some more interesting videos coming soon
@@Locoforce you do the videos you want or have to. I will watch.
That looks great. Very tempted to pick one of these up. Love that controller
The controller might be my favourite but if I’m honest it’s really cool!
Very cool set, I'm tempted even though I have a oo layout, nice review 👍
It is very cool, tempted to swap to N
Looks and runs well...
fantastic video! i'm thinking of getting into n gauge myself, just watching these videos to gain knowledge before i buy.
on a side note, have you ever considered getting one of those mics that attach to your clothes? i think that'll improve sound quality.
Una muy buena explicación del modelo de kato. Like para el video.👍👍
I started with a graham Farish set , the track was poor and noy the best controller , I Rapidly purchased the m1 starter pack from Kato Unitrack is great , the points connect to a switch that clips on the side of the kato controller which is easy . I now have around 300 American diesel outline Locos , a handful of English and some German locos and a semi permanent unitrack layout
Can more N scale track be bought without the plastic ballast base and nailed onto a board for a more realistic layout (with custom gravel ballast etc). I assume it would be KATO or PECO track? thanks (new sub today)
What I have noticed is that while some retailers discount prices they all seem to work out the same final price even on Ebay. Are Kato dictating the selling price?
I have fallen in love with Japanese n scale. Only I do not yet know where to purchase these products in the EU. Any ideas please, thanx a lot! :)
What brand of ballast did you use?
I believe Japanese n scale is different (1:150)to UK n (1:144) and also Europe & North America (1:160).
What are the couplings like,train got just pins,and I not figure out how put together
Great but abit expensive,I just got bargain 7 car train for £125, now I need to work on getting some me to track ,looking at the m2 starter track pack if can find at a good price
Could not set the M2 starter set on site linked to
Pretty much!
How do you change the AC power to DC power for these trains? 240v AC in Singapore. Thanks!
It looks very like a Lego loco
Try "Z" scale if you want something smaller!
I missed this video from a year ago. I am interested in starting my own railroad hobby. I assume this is an imported starter set? If you wanted to expand on this, you can buy additional track and cars? Is the power pack sufficient for an expansion? Thanks.
Yeah we stock a decent Rang wog starter sets at the moment. Still waiting on additional cars to come in, but if you want to get a starter set check out railwaymodelstore👀 we have a good variety in stock at the moment and hundreds of additional cars can be pre ordered. The power pack is very powerful and can be used for a significantly long loop of track
Our supplier imports them from Japan, they come with English plugs though
Hello, what is the radius of this track?
Starter sets are mostly the best option for a first start but adding to the fleet might set you back more than the cost of a starter set.
Also the trackage might be a problem as somebody pointed out, mostly a tight radius that isn't that suitable for bigger locomotives.
I do think Kato offers some real quality but they only seem to cater for the masses.
There certainly are cheaper sets available but it all depends on what you are willing to model or create yourself.
You can’t go wrong with Kato….
I was in my countries ONLY and Amazing model train shop and they had tomix n gauge and they are very cheap. A H0 wagon cost from 39-94 dollars while a tomix n guage wagon costs 20 dollars. All I’m saying is that the dollar is not the US dollar
Interesting as I'm setting up my Japaese layout, but please no more of the dreadful background "music"
N SCALE JAPANESE OUTLINE SCALE COMPROMISE !!!!!
Japanese outline N scale is LARGER than European & American N scale !!! World N standard is 1:160. Japanese N scale is 1:150 !!! The reason is, that KATO Japanese National Railways (JNR) Class 58 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) in real life runs on narrow gauge 3ft 6in gauge track, NOT Standard gauge as used in the USA/Europe/Britain !!!!
What you need is the KATO Japanese N scale Catalogue which is about 500 PAGES. This very large range includes all sorts of Locos, Carriages, Wagons and HUNDREDS of Diesel & Electric Multiple Units. As well as ready made (plastic) buildings, the large "Unitrack" system, and various other equipment such as proper controllers. Including that Japanese specialty "Train Locomotive Desk Controllers". Which look like a real locomotive or Multiple Units Drivers Desk, with properly shaped power & Brake handles, Speedometer, Ammeter, Line Light, and even a recess for your stop watch, and can control multiple trains, without needing expensive "chips". (Note: Japanese trains are scheduled by the SECOND, not by Minutes or the nearest 5 minutes as in the rest of the World.)
Indeed KATO in Japan is No 2. The Worlds biggest model train manufacturer is TOMIX (No1 in Japan) also with around a 500 page N scale catalogue. But there is also Micro Ace (which also do a very large Steam Range), Green Max who specialise in Multiple Units of the near 100 Private Railways in Japan. Modemo who specialise in beautiful steam era carriage sets. Hasegawa who have a range of trams, and some beautiful Japanese traditional buildings such as Shinto Temples & Japanese Castles. ALL N GAUGE.
NOTE: Many Japanese N scale locomotives & power cars include technologies NOT seen outside Japan.
SUCH AS: "Clip out quick clean" Motorised bogies. Illuminated Rotating Destination blinds. Built in Auto self uncoupling on many locomotives. Real life scale working Buckeye or Scharfenburg couplings on many Multiple Unit cab cars. Flexi-Couplings on carriages, which expand into curves and retract on straights to maintain more realistic gaps between vehicles. Mechanisms using "Frictionless Lubrication FREE" gearing. 7 pole Skew armature motors with double Flywheel drive, giving "inertia" run on. Indeed Japanese outline models are literally ROLLS ROYCE'S at FORD PRICES !!!
Few of these specialised extras are fitted to Japanese EXPORT American or European outline models !!!!
Scan the Japanese writing into Google translate!😁
Good idea!
no, the Tomix stater sets are HALF the price and Better value with more stuff and so much better
I respectfully disagree .
The track is less common in the uk
And the one tomix item I have is Thomas the tank engine . And that’s it .
Those longer cars limit how tight of a turn you can have in your layout. Sure, they are compatible with the curvature of the track in its set, but upon expanding your layout, if you are going to continue using those cars, you will want to keep that in mind. Obviously, that will limit the number of layouts you could build. It's no big deal because you still have a plethora of options available to you when it comes to the layout of your track, just as long as you keep in mind that you can not go with too tight of a turn . . . that means, with the bigger turns needed (larger radius of turn), will ultimately translate into a larger layout space required to accommodate your track. Just look up the specs for that engine, and the cars and you should be able to determine the tightest curve it can handle. Too tight of turns, and you will continually get derailments.
Yep, it can not be by chance that this starter set contains R315 curves.