Kato USA - 106-8705-C - Passenger Car, Commuter, Nippon Sharyo Gallery - Virginia Railway Express - V808

Prototype History: The 85 foot Bi-Level "Gallery" commuter car continues to be a favorite design of many commuter rail agencies throughout the United States and Canada. The design made its debut on the Chicago & North Western railroad for their Chicago area commuter service in the 1950s.

The big and beautiful looking gallery-type passenger cars were developed to enforce the commuter transportation rules of Caltrans, a 50 mile railroad from San Francisco to San Jose. These modern Bi-level coaches carry a large number of riders in comfort. Their universal design of cab car/passenger car offers easy maintenance, cost reduction, and compatibility with AMTRAK coaches. In order to make US officials happy. these cars adopt a large portion of their parts from US manufacturers. Furthermore, final assembly takes place in the U.S. Hence they satisfy the provisions of the 'Buy America' act.

The cab cars can carry 139 passengers and the coaches 149. They weigh (empty) about 120,000 lbs. They can travel up to 100 mph (160km/h).

Road Name History: The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) (reporting mark VREX) is a regional/commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow, Virginia.
Service to Manassas began on June 22, 1992; the Fredericksburg service started on July 20, 1992.
VRE is owned by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission. The NVTC and PRTC are governmental entities that were created by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Local governments (such as counties and cities) within each commission's geographic area are members of each commission.

VRE opened in 1992 as a commuter rail service to connect Washington D.C. to suburbs in northern Virginia. Two lines are served, one to Fredericksburg and the Manassas Line to Bristow. There are a total of 18 stations over 90 miles of line. Today, trains are powered with a fleet of twenty MP36PH-3C’s. There are 100 coaches, 20 of which have cabs for push-pull service.

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.)