The Kato Mikado is still the gold standard of all N scale steam
locomotives. While there have been many fine steam locomotives released
in N scale in the past two or three years, the Kato Mikado is still the
standard on which other steam locomotives can be judged.
Once Kato issued the traction tire option for the Kato Mikado, it can
be ranked the finest steam locomotive in N scale. Before the traction
tire option became available, the Kato Mikado could barely pull four or
five cars on level track. With the traction tire option installed, the
Kato Mikado can easily pull 15-20 cars on level track. This performance
will vary from layout to layout. This locomotive's performance improves
dramatically with increased running time. With over 20 hours of running
time, this locomotive can pull on average 25 cars on level track. Of
course your results will vary depending on your layout and track. All
the cars done in my study have metal wheel sets which also helps
performance dramatically.
Installing a decoder in this locomotive isn't difficult at all as long
as one follows directions. My Lok Sound decoder installation for the
Kato Mikado was published in the July-August 2007 issue of N Scale
Magazine.
You can see the pictorial tutorial in one of the links on this website.
The Kato Mikado also has a full assortment of detail parts that the user
must install on the locomotive and tender. Many modelers have become
frustrated with installing these minute parts and many locomotives run
on layouts without these parts being installed. Once one assembles the
Mikado with these detail parts, the second and third attempts take much
less time. The results are worth the effort.
Below are two photo's of a ATSF Kato Mikado with all the detail parts
installed. There is a Lok-Sound Micro decoder in the tender. If I was
doing a sound decoder installation today in the Kato Mikado, I would use
a Soundtraxx Tsunami Micro decoder because the sound files are more
vibrant and more user friendly with many sound options.
I have over fifty Kato Mikado's on the roster of the JJJ&E. They all have sound decoders installed in the tender.
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| ATSF Mikado #4016 On The Upper Level Of The "Original" JJJ&E With The Town Of San Marino In The Background |
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| Closeup Photo OF ATSF #4016 Mikado Showing All Detail Parts Added |
Note***- All photo's were taken on the upper level of the "original" JJJ&E.
ATSF #4067 Mikado on the mainline near the turntable of the JJJ&E. There
is a Soundtraxx Micro Tsunami sound decoder in the tender. Backdrop
buildings can be in the background against the Vinyl Roof Flashing
backdrop.
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| ATSF #4067 On Mainline Of The "New" JJJ&E |
You do need the traction option on the Kato Mikado. This easy to install
option turned a mediocre performance into an outstanding steam
locomotive, the Gold Standard of N scale steam locomotives.
As for the Model Power Mikado, many of these perform well without
traction tires. However when the traction tire installation is
performed, and it by the way is a very difficult installation, this
locomotive performance improves dramatically. It still isn't in the
class of a Kato Mikado.
The Kato Mikado has a much better motor and the detailing of the Kato
Mikado is much more advanced than the Model Power Mikado. Model Power's
ancient wiper system and half wheel pickup in the tender also hinders
its performance.
I still have six Model Power Mikado's on the roster of the "New" JJJ&E.
Unfortunately N scale locomotive manufacturers haven't been able to
design a steam locomotive to perform well without traction tires. The
pulling performance of steam locomotives without the traction tires is
mediocre at best. The reason for this poor performance is:
The manufacturers haven't been able to design a steam locomotive with
adequate weight in the proper places. for example if you add a GHQ kit
to a Kato Mikado Mikado without traction tires, the Kato Mikado will
pull 25 cars on average on level track due to the added weight of the
GHQ kit. The same locomotive with traction tires will pull 50 cars on
level track.
All N scale steam locomotives need more weight throughout the locomotive to pull properly.
I'll us traction tires that come with steam locomotives.
As for Bull Frog Snot, the jury is still out on its dependability. Some
locomotives have improved performance with Bull Frog Snot on a set of
drivers and others don't. In my opinion Bull Frog Snot is just a
glorified traction tire when applied to a set of drivers.
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| Closeup Of The Feed Water Heater And Its Detailed Piping On The Boiler Of The Southern Ms-4 Mikado |
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| A View Of Southern Ms-4 Mikado #4910 On The Fireman's Side Of The Locomotive On Upper Level Of The "Original" JJJ&E. This Photo Provides A Good View Of The Feed Water Heater |
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| Full View Of The Engineers Side Of The Southern Ms-4 Mikado #4910 With The Town Of San Marino In The Background On The Upper Level Of The "Original" JJJ&E |
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| Closeup Overhead View Of The Southern Ms-4 Mikado Showing All The Weathered Detailing And Piping On The Fireman's Side Of The Locomotive |
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| NP Mikado W-5 Class #1825 Oil Burning Mikado On The East Of San Marino. This Mikado Will Pull 60 Cars On Level Track. A GHQ Pewter Kit Was Used To Kit Bash This Locomotive |
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| NP Mikado W-5 Class #1825 Oil Burning Mikado On The East Of San Marino.
This Mikado Will Pull 60 Cars On Level Track. A GHQ Pewter Kit Was Used
To Kit Bash This Locomotive |
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| NP Mikado W-5 Class #1857 Coal Burning Mikado On The East Of San Marino.
This Mikado Will Pull 60 Cars On Level Track. A GHQ Pewter Kit Was Used
To Kit Bash This Locomotive |
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This PRR L1-s Mikado was kit bashed from a generic Kato Mikado using a
full GHQ pewter kit. There is a Soundtraxx micro Tsunami sound decoder
and speaker in the tender.
This steam locomotive has pulled 62 cars on level track. The drivers,
side rods and valve gear was blacked using Neolube #2. There is a MT Z
scale #905 coupler body mounted on the back of the tender. I used an N
scale MT conversion coupler on the front pilot. The front headlight of
the locomotive came from a Minitrix 4-6-2 steamer. Also installed was
the optional set of traction tires and drivers on # 4 driver.
I used Brunswick Green Polly Scale Paint to paint the boiler, smoke box and cab of the locomotive and the tender body tender. |
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A closeup overhead view of two PRR L1-s Mikado's (Top two) and the two
NP W-5 Class Mikado's on the bottom. All four locomotives were painted
Polly Scale Brunswick Green. Each locomotive took about 30 hours to
completely finish. Each of these locomotives weighs at least three tines
more than the generic Kato Mikado. On average each locomotive will pull
over 60 cars on level track. I really enjoyed kit bashing all four of
these steam locomotives.
The GHQ kits are well the effort in building one. If you want to start
off slowly with a GHQ kit for a Kato Mikado, get the GHQ detail kit for a
Ms-4 Southern mikado. You can detail any road name with those parts.
You'll quickly learn what a steam locomotive is all about. You can get
those detail parts from GHQ for $40. It comes in its own kit. | | |
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| A Southern Ms-4 Mikado #4839 On The Main Line East Of San Marino. The Monterrey Mountains Are In The Background |
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| Closeup Of Southern Ms-4 Mikado On The Main Line In The Center Of San Marino |
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| CBQ O-4 Mikado #5504 On A Siding West Of San Marino |
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| A Panoramic View Of CBQ O-4 Mikado's #5502 & #5504 On The Main Line In San Marino |
In conclusion, this magnificent steam locomotive gives the N Scale modeler many choices and options when adding the Mikado to a roster. It performs well when the traction tire option is installed and looks great when all the detail parts that came with the locomotive are added. You then have the option of using a GHQ pewter detail kit to transform the generic Kato Mikado into a special class Mikado of different roads.
