I am arguably the biggest E5 fan on the face of the planet (check my avatar). I've bought a number of the Kato units and never experienced the "issue" being described in this thread. That's why I asked if it was used. There are those among us who buy stuff, muck around with them until they screw something up, and then sell it to somebody else to get rid of the problems they caused.
NJ, that would not surprise me at all. I do work on old S&W revolvers and C96 Mausers, so I see screwed up stuff come in all the time.
Kato has a large Japanese and European market. And space tends to be smaller over in both areas thus much smaller layouts with tight curvature. As a result Kato builds most locos to be able to take 9.75 unless clearly stated by Kato of a larger minimum radius. They even produce locos that will operate on 6 inch radius and smaller. I know because I am the owner of some of those locos. The E-5 was produced to operate on a minimum 9.75 inch radius. I used to have an E-5 and had no issues. Would suggest that something is not installed right, body, trucks, etc.
It was the E5 with the skirted trucks that was the issue........the "regular" E5s that Kato put out were fine. I remember one of the magazines had issues with their test unit, and one of our club members also had problems. He had purchased the "extra" loco as well as the set and when he had problems, we compared the 2 units and the skirted E5 definitely had less articulation on the front truck. And the Burlington unit was the only one I'm aware of that got the skirted trucks. Probably one of those last minute "hey let's add this" things for Kato. My guess is it didn't get checked out as well as it could have, and I doubt they sell many Burlington E5s in europe or Japan, plus the problem doesn't show up till you get down to smaller radius curves. And the interference was pretty small..........just a little grinding solved the issue. Just the amount of play in the trucks could make the difference.......if you got a "tight unit" it probably would have functioned OK......if you got one on the looser side it hit. But back to the problem..........the skirted loco came in the set, so if you picked up "a loco" it either wasn't new, was removed from a set (also not new), or was not the skirted loco and you shouldn't be having problems.
My smallest curve is over 11" and the hobby shop's are even larger. Sounds like "Aftermarket Engineering" or just the "Let's dump it on someone else." attitude.
Years ago, right after Kato brought out the first Budd cars, Charlie VLK pointed out that all the cars necessary to put together the Sam Houston Zephyr were in the mix, including the observation car. I decided to get busy and kit bash a Life Like E6 to pull the Kato Budd cars that I re-lettered using the consist information that Charlie gave me. It ran OK but I wanted a Kato real bad. Every train show that I went to where Kato had a booth set up, I would haul my Sam Houston Zephyr train by and show them what was possible. Well after many years of pestering, I finally got my Kato E5. I have one in the Silver Streak set and I bought an extra to letter for the Sam Houston. Here is the old Life Like. It ain't perfect but it is hard to mistake for any other locomotive.
This one has a B unit: DSCN0792 by NorsemanJack posted Jul 31, 2018 at 11:42 AM DSCN0793 by NorsemanJack posted Jul 31, 2018 at 11:43 AM
That's because Burlington was the only railroad to have E5s, they are all Burlingtons. But you're right, just the ones in the silver streak set have skirted trucks. If you're interested Kato parts sells the skirted trucks for $15.00 each. Remember that you need 1 front and 1 rear truck. That having been said, I own 10 E5s (although only one with skirted trucks) some of which have been converted to B units. I have never had a problem with any of them.
So the Kato E5s without the skirted trucks were the ones that ran ok? Can you post a pic of the differences so I can start hunting for one that should run well? Thanks!
I don't believe that skirted trucks cause any problems. I have two Silver Bullets (which came with skirted trucks) and that Silver Pilot/Silver Mate set in my photo were retrofitted to skirted trucks. I've never had a problem with any of them. Very often, when people report units that derail, it's a track problem and not an equipment problem.
I miss Charlie's posts. His dissertations about the early days and his interactions with various suppliers were always fascinating. Plus, he worked at the St. Paul Montgomery Ward store, where my aunt also worked, where he got his first Treble-O-Lectric, first hand. Mine were from there, too, except via mail order. Doug
While we're on an E5 binge, which MT couplers can be used ??? I'm guessing my least favorite (1128), but haven't performed the surgery yet !!! I have the "set E5" and "Silver Pilot". No problem with either.
I don't convert Kato couplers to MT, so I don't have any first hand knowledge. That said, I can tell you that unlike most Kato locomotives, the front mount on an E5 requires a straight shank coupler, not an offset shank. That is why the included "conversion" (to open the pilot and install a coupler) includes only a medium shank Kato coupler. I don't believe that Kato USA has sold anything with a short straight shank coupler since the NW2, and those replacement parts have been sold out forever. There are Japanese short straight shank couplers that are identical to the old US ones, except they don't have the hole for the magnetic trip pin. Hopefully this translates correctly: Attachment to KATO 923503 and EF65PF: New and forced! ! ! (muriyatte-seesaa-net.translate.goog)
NJ, the track was the first thing I checked. And my other 4 and 6 axle locomotives run through there fine. Thank you for encouraging me to try to find an E5 again though!
If I remember correctly, the skirts were eventually removed from the prototype locomotives. I swapped them out on the one I use for my Sam Houston Zephyr with unskirted trucks that I bought from Kato Parts.
Yep. I suspect that the E5 you had was "broken" by the previous owner. It amazes me the number of people who still think that the way to remove the trucks is just to pry the heck out of them. If you are running Kato E units through there, then you're running the exact same mechanism (other than fuel tank and light board). I'm down to six Kato E5s (seven if you count the B unit with Skytop models shell), and I've never had any problems with any of them.
They were. The story is that the maintenance departments got tired of having to remove and replace them, so they started just being left off. One of my dreams is that somebody will find a set of four in some abandoned shed and send them to Union for Silver Pilot. Wouldn't that be the day? Speaking of Union. I haven't been back for many years, and the last few times I was Silver Pilot was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately(!!), I have some personal business in Illinois next month and it just so happens that I'll be nearby on a weekend when he is scheduled to be running! Yippee!! (that's his beautiful nose in my Avatar)
I do too. IIRC, I communicated several times with Charlie off-line (us both being Burlington fans). I think he was as amazed as I was that Kato USA was actually doing the E5. If only they would release a proper B unit. I hold out hope that they'll ultimately release a Twin Cities Zephyr. They already have the correct domes and diner (from the corrugated sets and CZ), and would only need to tool the baggage/cafe, observation and (hopefully) an E5B.
