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Kato 富山ライトレール TLR0600形 (aka LRV) and Unitram


to2leo

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Hey everybody,

Not sure if anybody notice but Kato Japan has posted some official information about the LRV and Unitram.

 

 

Available in 3 colours:

post-60-13569923217065_thumb.jpg

post-60-13569923218032_thumb.jpg

post-60-13569923218446_thumb.jpg

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Your choice of starter set or variation set:

 

It looks like the starter set will only will you a half circle and the V50 will give you the rest.

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The photo with the people inside looks great. Looking at all the new products I think my credit card fainted.

 

Only half a circle!....that doesn't look like a fun starter set.

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Only three paint schemes?  By December there will be 10 low floor cars in Toyama in 10 paint schemes on two systems.

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A few observations and comments:

1) It looks like all the people are standing, does that mean the seats are only half a seat?

2) Since we can add so many items inside the tram, I hope the tram is easy to open...like Kato's N. American loco engine, no screw or locks just friction.

3) I wonder if Unitram is up to T-trak standard?

4) I wonder how DCC will fit in there?

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Kato 40-900 includes a power pack as well as the car and track.  40-800 includes the track and accessories only.

 

The interesting thing is that the 40-800 looks bigger than 40-900.

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4) I wonder how DCC will fit in there?

 

Why would you need DCC if the call only goes around and around and around????  

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1) It looks like all the people are standing, does that mean the seats are only half a seat?

 

 

Some are sitting.  The seats in low floor cars face forward, backwards, sideways depending on where they are. The business man is sitting.  These cars only seat 20-30 passengers. Lots of students.  It must be a school day during school hours.   :laugh:

 

http://www.katomodels.com/cgi-bin/nmi_zoomview.cgi?url=../product/viewer/tlr0600_m_ori.jpg

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1) It looks like all the people are standing, does that mean the seats are only half a seat?

 

 

Some are sitting.  The seats in low floor cars face forward, backwards, sideways depending on where they are. The business man is sitting.  These cars only seat 20-30 passengers. Lots of students.  It must be a school day during school hours.   :laugh:

 

http://www.katomodels.com/cgi-bin/nmi_zoomview.cgi?url=../product/viewer/tlr0600_m_ori.jpg

 

Based on an earlier picture that I saw (if i remember correctly), the 'floor' goes up to exactly where the window starts, so maybe to model the business man you have to use the upper body only and cut off the his lower part so he appears to be sitting. This is of course pure speculation on my part.

 

The models seen through the door is of course full body, because in this section the floor really is on the base.

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These cars only seat 20-30 passengers.

 

The TLR 0600s seat 28 passengers.  Overall capacity is 80 with 52 standees.

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Reading the official site I got the following information:

 

40-900 is an all in one starter set with a MSRP of about $360 USD (This matches the price that was heard when unitram was first announced)

It's basically a unitram version of the standard Kato starter (ex. Kato 10-001)

 

You get:

The track plates making a loop, plus some extra street plates forming a U shaped section of road (the track plates make a 496mm × 620mm rectangle, while the whole thing is 682mm x 620mm)

Accessories pieces including the tram stop, power poles, fences, a few traffic lights and 2 backdrops (no size given or picture given of the backdrops)

1 red TLR0601 tram

1 power pack

1 manual

 

40-800 is cheaper at about $210 USD

It's the same thing as 40-900, but without a tram or power pack (you get the plates, plate accessories and the manual).

 

http://www.katomodels.com/product/viewer/unitram_m_2_ori.jpg

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Hmm since the release date is not set yet and seeing all the products are already on display, I wonder if Kato is able to release them before Dec...like November when I will be there  :clock:

 

I also wonder what other types of LRV will Kato be releasing next?

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Hmm since the release date is not set yet and seeing all the products are already on display, I wonder if Kato is able to release them before Dec...like November when I will be there  :clock:

 

I also wonder what other types of LRV will Kato be releasing next?

 

 

 

For now I only see the one type announced, though there are three colors:

 

14-801-1 Red (Same as the one in the starter set)

14-801-4 Blue

14-801-5 Green

 

MSRP: $110 USD

 

Kato seems to be advertising them as factory lit, with the operators cab fully modeled (they don't specify the rest of the car as being fully modeled, leading me to believe that the floor comes up to the windows where it can in order to hide the mechanism). The figures we've seen are not included, they're from the existing Kato figure sets. Minimum turning radius is advertised as 90mm (smaller then Tomix's smallest mini-curve track!) to match the real prototypes sharp turning capabilities.

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I also wonder what other types of LRV will Kato be releasing next?

 

One can assume they are going to manufacture all the new Japanese trams if the Toyama and Unitram experiment works fine. But who knows, we will see.

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Hobby Dreamer

Thanks for the update..  Has anyone gauged the interest in Japan for all the recent tram products?

 

The choice of TomyTec and Kato trams should satisfy many collectors, and with the new Kato track we may well see many tram variants available.

 

Its a good day for the hobby.

 

Cheers

Rick

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And you know that manual is going to be entirely in Japanese except for the diagrams.  

 

Oh that's alright, I think if we have a question, we know we can always post it here!

 

Since Kato is focusing more on Urban street scene, I wonder if they will come up with working light poles and traffic lights?

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