Kato USA - 106-020-A - Passenger Car, Lightweight, Pullman, 44-Seat Coach - Undecorated

Prototype History: Coach, 85’. Pullman Standard 44-seat coach.
Built for the Union Pacific and C&NW in 1950 as series 5400-5449 for use on the “City” trains, and again by ACF as series 5450-5487 in 1953. The ACF cars were almost the same as the PS cars, except the small window on one side at the door end (fourth window from the left in first model photo below) was a little smaller in the ACF car than the PS car.
The car is similar to the Pullman 48-seat coaches built for the Great Northern for the 1947 Empire Builder. The car is not identical because the GN car has 1 extra window on each side for the 4 extra seats. The car bears some resemblance to the 22-roomette sleeping cars built by PS for Southern Pacific’s Lark in 1949 and Cascade in 1950. This is a long-haul coach with long leg rests and rows spaced farther apart than the 60-seat short-haul coaches. Each pair of seats has its own window.

Road Name History: Although they may be molded in color, unpainted and unlettered, undecorated products are marketed to modelers who seek to custom decorate their models for private roads and/or road and/or company names that were not commercially produced by any of the major manufacturers.

Undecorated models are frequently also unassembled or only partially assembled and required modelers to be comfortable with glue, paint and sometimes solder in order to prepare their models for display. Materials for these models can vary but often include plastic, pewter and resin. Models may or may not come with decals or other decorations such as plastic signage, railings and ladders to enhance the appearance of the final product.

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.)