A Review Of Kato Model Trains
For first world, extreme quality, mass production, there’re few that may match the Japanese. Because of the high quality and excellent costs they offer, they have penetrated in many industries that require demanding processes, such as cars, computers, and of course, model railroading.
Kato Precision Railroad Models, excellent known as Kato Model Trains, are among the best Japanese manufactures of model trains. Although not as well known as other names, like Lionel trains and Bachmann trains, Kato model trains are sold in Japan and the United States, where they compete in quality, level of detail, and price.
Kato Model Trains was founded by Hiroshi Kato in 1957, so as to satisfy the needs of the Japanese fair , which was booming thanks to the industrial revolution that was fashionable in Japan at the time and which was the result of the re-modernization of the country after World War II.
What set Kato Model Trains apart from the competition was the design and manufacture of local Japanese trains. Up to that time, model trains in Japan were representations of western trains. Kato Model Trains was the first company that manufactured trains that Japanese persons really rode.
The company had such a great success that they grew to dominate the Japanese marketplace . In 1987, Kato Model Trains decided to penetrate the Exceedingly competitive and demanding shop of the United States of America, opening its subsidiary, Kato Model Trains USA. Learning from their experience, Kato Model Trains USA decided to make its first entry to the American fair with an American train: the diesel-electric hybrid EMD GP38-2 locomotive produced by General Motors Electro Motive Division.
That doesnt mean that Japanese models arent sold in the United States, its just that they are very common because most American modelers arent familiar with Japanese trains. Nevertheless, famous trains like the Shinkansen Japanese bullet train are in high demand.
Additionally, Kato Model Trains is in charge of the design and distribution of the products in the United States, deciding which models have to be manufactured for that . In this way, the company may adjust its processes to custom their production to the tastes of the American clients. Nonetheless, all manufacturing and processing is handled in Japan.
One of the innovations that Kato Model Trains brought to the hobby is the UNITRACK system. This system permits integrating the track and the roadbed in a single piece, in addition as a quicker assembling process. This surelyis a lot of time and work saver for modelers, Although it might not be appealing to the purists who wish to do each part themselves.
Finally, some persons confuse Kato Model Trains with the name Sekisui Kinzoku. In actuality, Sekisui Kinzoku is the companys name in Japan.
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