Kato F3North American trains are not really my thing, but I acquired a Kato F3 as part of a job lot, and a very nice little locomotive it is too.
The roof horns are missing (though they seem to be available as parts) and the front coupler was broken, but otherwise in excellent condition. For its size, it packs a lot of weight, and with a dual flywheel motor it has some pretty decent traction. Getting the body off is a bit tricky - rather than gently lever the sides apart and lift the body off, it seems the right way to do it is lever the sides apart and let the chassis fall out, as shown in this video. While experimenting with removing the body, I managed to pull the bogie frames off, resulting in the pickup contact strips falling out. To reassemble these, I found the easiest method to place the locomotive upside down in a cradle, carefully put the contact strips in place on both sides of the bogie, then - while ensuring everything stays in place - angle the bogie frames on from one side. Instructions for replacing the coupler here. Spookshow review here, going by which this must be a model produced between 1995 and 1999. |
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