in 1926, the japanese ministry of railways, aware of the development activities in the western world of electric locomotives, purchased 6 small electric towers from westinghouse in the USA and deemed them class ed53.......the 6 were assigned passenger hauling duty on the tokaido main line from tokyo to kouzu......in 1937, with the completion of the senzan tunnel which, because of its 3 mile length,  was constructed with electric locomotives as intended towers, the 6 ed53s were modified for mountainous terrain service and reassigned to tunnel duty on the senzan line........as modified, the ed19s had a gross weight of 68 tons with a top operating speed of 95 kph........following ww2, the 6 were assigned freight duties on the lida line with its daunting topography......obsolescence to more modern small electric designs occurred in 1976.....

the accessories for the set include the number boards and alternative couplers......instruction in japanese with pictures are included.....the number boards are the improved large sprue version typical of kato latest releases......