Victory for Niche N Scale Amtrak Offerings!

KATO has recently given hope to those of us (okay just me?) who hope for modern offerings that admittedly appeal to just a niche of the modeling market.

First up is their Amtrak Pacific Parlour car that is for sale for $30 at Amtrak's online store. This was probably not a hard car for KATO to do as they had the mold from their Santa Fe El Capitan set. All they needed was to apply an Amtrak Phase IVb livery.

Photo from Amtrak Store

For the record, Overland Models offered the Pacific Parlour in HO scale in brass, but only in Phase IV livery.

Before KATO stepped up, N scalers who modeled the Coast Starlight could get away without a Pacific Parlour--I often see the train with a second Lounge substituting for any Pacific Parlour down for maintenance. But it's the Pacific Parlour that makes the Coast Starlight unique amongst all of Amtrak's long-distance trains. The small fleet of Pacific Parlours are also one of last vestiges of the pre-Amtrak era that modern riders can experience outside of Canada. The Starlight would never come near Dewarville but I had to have one for any future layout that I might have that would run the train. And there is always the possibility that the Santa Maria Valley might be tacked onto the Southwest Chief heading for repairs at Beech Grove!

KATO is also soon to release Auto Train aluminium auto racks! Previously, only HO scalers could really put together an Auto Train with the older auto racks and Deluxe Sleepers from Walthers. But none were in Phase IVb. These auto racks look so nice and it's such a niche Amtrak offering I'm tempted to buy some. But I haven't--so far--as I cannot imagine ever having a layout set on the East Coast. N scalers who do model Auto Train still need a Transition Dorm/Sleeper and Deluxe Sleepers to be prototypically correct. But hey, the biggest obstacle to being prototypical--the actual auto racks--is about to be surmounted.

Photo from KATOUSA.com