New Kato HO genesis

[Steamguy]

I have a few questions about Kato's new HO scale Amtrak GE P42 Genesis locomotives. While I do love steam, I also enjoy modern high speed equipment, such as the TGV or the Acela. But since it is Amtrak's workhorse and it is a fairly high-speed passenger loco, I ended up liking it very much. So I looked into this loco, and it seems that it has gotten mixed reviews. What most say is that the detail isn't worth $319 but the performance and sound is worth a million. I've seen videos where one unit crawls at 1 scale mile per hour fairly smoothly hauling 10 Walthers superliner cars and a baggage hi-cube. To me that's impressive. Now that they've started making DCC sound equipped versions with your choice of Tsunami or Loksound, I'm all game. I do like the Loksound sounds better, and it is cheaper than Tsunami. All things considered, is this superpowered unit worth $319? If not, is another company's like Athearn's models better? If so, why?

Best regards,
Jim

 

[bnsf971]

"Nothing runs like a Kato".
They are habitually low on detail, but with a few notable exceptions, the out-of-the-box running quality nearly makes up for it. When I am looking at locomotives, I test-run them before I buy. Unless it says "KATO" on the box, then I simply pick it up and pay for it. I've had a grand total of three dud Kato engines, all with bad motors, in two different scales, out of several hundred Kato locomotives.