Kato City of Los Angeles Passenger Set

Kato’s model of Union Pacific’s iconic City of Los Angeles passenger set is now out and available at hobby stores. Kato has modeled a 1954 version of the train and while the typical consist varied quite a bit depending on traffic, time of year, etc., etc. they include a good mix of cars that could be easily expanded. The City of Los Angeles ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. We got our sets recently and decided to photography each of the different passenger cars so you get an idea of what the model looks like.

It is worth mentioning that there are a few differences with this new Union Pacific passenger set from pervious Kato UP releases. First, the trucks on the City of Los Angeles are harbor mist grey which is darker than the previous runs. This is correct for the year of the COLA passenger set that Kato choose to model. The interiors are also brown colored (again similar to the actual prototype) and not the beige/grey color of the previous UP passenger cars. Lastly there is a slight difference in the Armor Yellow paint color that has a bit more orange in it. We’ve found differences over the years in nearly all our UP models, particularly with different manufacturers, but even within the models Kato has produced over the years.

We don’t think this is a deal breaker as this is a very nice set. But if you are going to mix and match cars from different sets and model them non-weathered, then there will be variations. Then again most prototype photos of UP’s passenger equipment show different variations of yellow due to the age differences in the various cars, how clean they were, etc., etc. So you decide.

Meanwhile the gallery is below.