Transition Dorm/Sleeper. These are all Superliner IIs and every Superliner train I've ever seen from 2004 onwards has had one. Such a model would require a new body mold as one of the vestibules on such cars is at normal height. This is probably an offering better suited as a KOBO custom offering. That said, I guess KATO figures N scale Amtrak car attendants can sleep in the aisles!
Well scratch one sub-item off the list! KATO will be releasing a Transition Dorm/Sleeper in the October timeframe.
This car will finally make our KATO Superliner consists somewhat prototypical. In the last ten years, I have seen some Amtrak trains like the California Zephyr with a near Superliner I-only consist. But they always had a Transition Dorm/Sleeper.
The obvious outward difference between the Superliner Is built by Pullman-Standard and the Superliner IIs built by Bombardier are their axles. There may be other outward details I am not aware of. There are of course differences inside: the closets in roomettes, bathroom modules, lighting.
But if KATO has done up the axles for this Transition Dorm/Sleeper, how much harder would it be to do two four-car sets of Superliner IIs?
With some Superliner IIs, then our KATO Superliner trains can really get prototypical because again, even the mostly Superliner I or II consists will almost always have at least one car of the other type, beyond just the Transition Dorm/Sleeper.
KATO?
On a side note, I got to ride in a Transition Dorm/Sleeper in December 2008. I had booked my passage east rather late and was lucky to get a roomette in that car, which sometimes had roomettes open for public sale. The car was very quiet as most of the crew were away from it. It also had two additional showers upstairs (Superliner sleepers normally have but one downstairs). These showers were smaller than the downstairs version and I normally used them as large sinks as I hate the airline style faucets in most Superliner bathrooms.
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