A KATO starter set puts a train, a full loop of Unitrack and a controller in one box, so whoever opens it can be running trains the same day. The harder part is choosing one. We stock more than forty, and the right one comes down to three things: the railway they love, the space […]

If you've bought a KATO loco and a couple of matching cars and felt like something was still missing, you've run into the difference between owning a train and owning a formation. In Japanese prototype modelling, a formation is the full, correctly ordered set of cars that made up a real train, and it matters […]

There's nothing else in N gauge quite like a full Shinkansen formation. The length, the nose profiles, the sense of speed even when it's standing still. For many collectors of Japanese outline, the Shinkansen is where the collection starts, and where it keeps coming back to. But the Shinkansen isn't one train. It's more than […]

Planning a layout with KATO Unitrack offers one genuine advantage over traditional flex-track construction: the geometry is predetermined. Every piece of Unitrack is manufactured to a specific radius, length, or angle, and because the system snaps together with Unijoiners, there is no ambiguity about whether a curve is consistent or a joint is aligned. The […]

Many of us sat through algebra at school idly wondering what all these x's and y's meant and what exactly was the use of pi if you couldn't eat it? I was adamant I'd never need it after leaving school, but alas, as an adult, I was set upon by the realization that I needed […]

October seems to have arrived a bit quickly!The good news from our point of view is that the TrainTrax shelves are looking pretty healthy at the moment. We have good stocks across much of the KATO range, including plenty of Unitrack, together with locomotives, rolling stock, buildings, accessories and a growing pile of recent arrivals.So, […]

Questions about KATO, Unitrack, DCC or getting more from your model railway? We've brought together answers to some of the questions we're asked most often. Use the links below to jump to the section you need, or simply browse the page. Getting started What power adapter do I need if I'm buying from Japan? Short […]

There’s rather a lot of new KATO around at the moment.We’ve got the latest announcements from Japan, a substantial delivery from KatoUSA, two new trams, and plenty more that has appeared on the shelves since TINGS. This is therefore another slightly longer email. There is a thought - and a question - at the bottom […]

See us at TINGS TrainTrax (and themodeltreeshop.co.uk) will be at The International N Gauge Show at the Warwickshire Event Centre on 12 and 13 September.You’ll find us and some demos on stands 27 and 28. Our main focus at TINGS will be KATO Unitrack and accessories, alongside a carefully selected range of Japanese and American […]

As promised, a KATO update: new pre-orders from Japan and the USA, a quick reminder that we’ll be at TINGS in September, and a fresh batch of recent arrivals now on the website. It's a bit long, make sure you read right to the bottom! The headline Japanese release is the return of C57 1, […]