Kato USA - 106-0004 - Freight Train, Diesel, North American, Transition Era - Erie Lackawanna

Specific Item Information: The F3A ph2 and Mixed Freight starter set includes Kato USA's powerful four-axle freight locomotive and an assortment of four specially decorated mixed freight cars (two tanks cars, one hopper, and one transfer caboose), along with a complete 2'x4' Oval of Kato UNITRACK with re-railing track, and a starter guide. Everything you need to begin building an N gauge train layout at home!

Set contains:

• N F7A Locomotive in Erie Lackawanna Livery, road number #6114
• N Mixed Freight Train Set containing four free-rolling, plastic wheeled freight cars
• Domino Sugar Tank Car
• Whale Belly tank Car
• Covered Hopper
• Transfer Service Caboose

Complete 4 ft x 2 ft of track (11" radius)

• 4 K20-000 (248mm Straight Track)
• 1 K20-020 (124mm Straight Track)
• 1 K20-021 (124mm Road Crossing Track)
• 1 K20-040 ( 62mm Straight Track)
• 1 K20-041 ( 62mm Single Feeder Track)
• 8 K20-120 (Radius 315mm Curved Track 45 Deg.)
• 1 K24-000 (Rerailer)

Model Information: Kato boxed sets for North American Prototypes come in various shapes and sizes. These may contain complete train sets with track and power pack or may be as simple as a pair of passenger coaches. Many of the sets use "bookshelf" boxes with cardboard sleeves and carefully cut foam inserts.

Prototype History: A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, transporting cargo all or some of the way between the shipper and the intended destination as part of the logistics chain. Trains may haul bulk material, intermodal containers, general freight or specialized freight in purpose-designed cars. Rail freight practices and economics vary by country and region.

Diesel engines during the transition era were relatively primitive compared to their modern equivalents. Canada, Mexico and the United States are connected by an extensive, unified standard gauge rail network. Partially from Wikipedia

Road Name History: The Erie Lackawanna Railway (reporting mark EL), known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route".

Like many railroads in the northeast already financially vulnerable from the expanding U.S. Interstate Highway System, the line was severely weakened fiscally by the extent, duration and record flood levels due to Hurricane Agnes in 1972. It would never recover, and most of the corporation's holdings were subsumed into the federal rescue purchases creating Conrail in 1976, ending its days as an operating railroad company.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: KATO U.S.A. was established in 1986, with the first U.S. locomotive model (the GP38-2, in N-Scale) released in 1987. Since that time, KATO has come to be known as one of the leading manufacturers of precision railroad products for the modeling community. KATO's parent company, Sekisui Kinzoku Co., Ltd., is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

In addition to producing ready-to-run HO and N scale models that are universally hailed for their high level of detail, craftsmanship and operation, KATO also manufactures UNITRACK. UNITRACK is the finest rail & roadbed modular track system available to modelers today. With the track and roadbed integrated into a single piece, UNITRACK features a nickel-silver rail and a realistic-looking roadbed. Patented UNIJOINERS allow sections to be snapped together quickly and securely, time after time if necessary.

The Kato U.S.A. office and warehouse facility is located in Schaumburg, Illinois, approximately 30 miles northwest of Chicago. All research & development of new North American products is performed here, in addition to the sales and distribution of merchandise to a vast network of wholesale representatives and retail dealers. Models requiring service sent in by hobbyists are usually attended to at this location as well. The manufacturing of all KATO products is performed in Japan.

Supporters of KATO should note that there is currently no showroom or operating exhibit of models at the Schaumburg facility. Furthermore, model parts are the only merchandise sold directly to consumers. (Please view the Parts Catalog of this website for more specific information.)