Kato Precision Railroad Models

KATO is a brand of the Japanese model train manufacturer KK Sekisui Kinzoku (Japanese株式会社 关 水 金属, kabushiki - gaisha sekisui Kinzoku, Eng. Sekisui Kinzoku Co. Ltd.. ), Which was founded in August 1957 in Shinjuku, Tokyo. 1986 followed as subsidiaries K. K. Katō (English KATO Co. Ltd.. ) In Tokyo and KATO USA, Inc. in Schaumburg, Illinois, near Chicago. The current President of the parent company is Hiroshi Katō; the company has evolved over the years to the largest Japanese model train manufacturers, whose products are sold worldwide, including in Germany, sold.

Became internationally known manufacturers for outstanding railcars replicas in nominal sizes N and H0, including even after German models (DB BR 515), and its models of the high-speed train Shinkansen. In its home country Japan especially the steam locomotives with Kato N scale are popular, such as the JNR Class C62, as they reach despite large-scale construction and relatively low prices, a detail and implementation of quality that rivals even some H0 models the German manufacturer, nothing. The only compromise is the usual in Japan slightly larger N- scale of 1:150, as the normal path (without the Shinkansen network ) operates there on Cape gauge.

Lag of the seventies to the turn of the millennium, the focus of the Japanese Kato offering clearly in N scale, so their first models in H0 Maßstaß for some years offered that run prototypically only 12 mm wide tracks, which in Germany a H0m - narrow gauge railway corresponds. This is because for the last several years internationally identifiable trend towards larger scales and gauges in the model railroad sector, especially in the field of higher quality products. As a result, the Japanese H0 models of Kato are both in model implementation and sale price relates almost in small series to be set, it is produced by reservation only, and so far the H0 models themselves are also available only in Japan.

Kato rose in the eighties also successful in the model railway market in the USA, here is now one of the largest leading suppliers. It produces standard gauge models in H0 and N for typical examples of the United States.

In addition, Kato manufactures its own patented under the name Unitrack track system with roadbed for the track width N, whose peculiarity lies in shallow underfloor drives in the switch (which are connected with directed flow, similar to LGB) as well as a sophisticated plug-in system, which makes the otherwise common rail connector superfluous. Standard track spacing is 33 mm. A similar system was also for H0, however, it was sold in their home regions almost exclusively in Japan and the U.S. due to the strong market penetration of European and American manufacturers and was also relatively expensive, so it disappeared from the market in Europe again.

Since 1981, the company collaborated with the Austrian company Hobbytrain, under whose brand name of the money for Europe KATO products were sold. Since 1990, Wolfgang Lemke GmbH is a general importer for most European countries. 2002 Lemke Hobbytrain has taken over.