Kato USA - Special Run Houston - Passenger Car, Lightweight, Budd Business - Bayou City and Gulf - Houston

Specific Item Information: 2003 Convention Volunteer Car

Model Information: Kato’s web site says “The cars we're offering now follow Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad prototypes and were built by the Edward G. Budd Company of Philadelphia, PA, between 1938 and 1956. Finding prototypes that are common to a number of railroads proved to be a challenge, as a large share of the prototype cars tended to be custom designed for a particular service on each railroad.”

Prototype History: In the post-war period, passenger rail service boomed. In order to increase efficiency, the railroads set to replacing their old wood, steel and concrete heavyweight passenger cars with newer lightweight, streamlined cars. The new cars were made from stainless steel, aluminum and Cor-Ten steel. These cars required less motive power to pull and were cheaper to manufacture. Production was also concentrated in a few manufacturers rather than each railroad making its own. This led to standardization which further reduced costs. The new "lightweight" cars were also given "streamlined" designs to make them more visually appealing. Budd, Pullman Standard and ACF were all well known manufacturers of these cars. Budd was well known for their corrugated cars (for which they held a patent).

Also known as Private Cars, Business Cars have existed since the early days of railroading. They are generally self-contained with office, meeting room, track inspection, entertainment, dining and sleeping facilities on board for railway officials and their invited guests. Assigned to key railway personnel for the purpose of inspecting track and traveling on company business, these cars were often handled on the rear of a convenient regularly scheduled passenger run. Today, it is not uncommon to see them at the back of an Amtrak or freight train.

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.)