Model Railroading > Mr. Yuji Kato, the founder of Kato, passed away

According to the issue of Jan. 2017 "Train" magazine (a Japanese railroad and model hobby magazine) reported that it was on 21 November,  88 years old.

Condolences to his family.  IIRC, there was an article about him a few years ago and he was an avid model railroader and IIRC, he had an HO UP type layout.

Jim Fitch

As I understand, After WW2 he became interested in trains and entered a bunch of contests. He won a bunch and became skilled enough that people started asking him to make them, thus Kato was born.

Thank you for passing this along. As an N scale modeler I have many jewel cases with the KATO name on them. And of course thank you Mr KATO, you've made people happy Worldwide.

Jim

What a great legacy he leaves with modelers the world over. His company set the standard for buttery-smooth drivetrain operation in HO and N, not to mention innumerable great models of many famous American and overseas prototypes.  

Thank you Mr. Yuji Kato, you will be missed.  May your company continue the great standards that you have set.

Best Regards,
Harry K. Wong
Associate Editor
Railroad Model Craftsman
 

That is sad news. I enjoy the Kato models that I have, they look and run great.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

tracktime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What a great legacy he leaves with modelers the
> world over. His company set the standard for
> buttery-smooth drivetrain operation in HO and N,
> not to mention innumerable great models of many
> famous American and overseas prototypes.  
>
> Thank you Mr. Yuji Kato, you will be missed.  May
> your company continue the great standards that you
> have set.
>
> Best Regards,
> Harry K. Wong
> Associate Editor
> Railroad Model Craftsman

I did a quick look up of Mr. Yuji Kato, and found a few more interesting details to add to the information already posted here.

The contest he entered and won was in 1949, at Tokyo's Transportation Museum, which closed in 2006. The museum was the predecessor to the current Railway Museum in Saitama.

His family was already in the metal forging/casting business, and he pursued his railroad passion by drop forging HO scale truck parts as OEM for the likes of Tenshodo, Katsumi (KTM), Kawai, and Atlas starting in the late 1950s.

His first train model was a C50 steam locomotive in TT gauge (size between HO and N, for those unfamiliar), but per advice by a model railroad magazine editor (Kiyo Yamazaki), he was encouraged to manufacure in N scale, and became Japan's plastic N scale pioneer by manufacturing a smaller C50 plus passenger cars.

He retired from the business in 2004, and passed his responsibilities to his son, so the sad news shouldn't affect the business operations at Kato.

The company's formal name is Sekisui Kinzoku, or Sekisui Metals, and I've seen some of his earlier models using that name instead of Kato. All of Kato's locomotives and rolling stocks are made in Japan, so for his core products, he resisted the temptations of outsourcing. 

may God Bless Mr. Kato and his family.  Kato's n-scale trains have given many hours of enjoyment to model railroaders.......

66

Thanks for creating the Kobo line. Great operating engines.

Posted from Android