The JR Freight Class EF510, one of my favorite freight trains operated by JR Freight and East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
But it can be a bit confusing as “Cassiopeia” has history, as a sleeper car with the EF81 which began in 1999 and the freight car which began in 2010.
Unveiled back in 2001, as of the year 2016, there were a total of 40 locomotives (24 EF510-0s and 16 EF510-500s) based at the Toyama Depot. The 500 series which were built in 2009-2010 for JR East, while the EF510-301’s were built in 2021 for JR Freight.
The train is similar to the Class EF210, but its original intention was to replace the old Class EF81 locomotives on freight services along the Sea of Japan coastal routes.
But the history of “Cassiopeia” actually goes even longer as the main Cassiopeia sleeper train began in 1999 and operated through 2015.
The 501-508/511-515’s were in “Hokutosei” blue color with a meteor on a blue body with a gold band. While the 509-510’s featured a Cassiopeia color of a metallic silver body and a colorful meteor with five color bands. The name “Cassiopeia” was first used in 1999 by the E26 series passenger car (E26 Keikyakusha), a sleeper car manufactured by East Japan Railway (JR East) in 1999 with the same color bands and silver metallic body.
The name was derived of being a night train and because “Cassiopeia” shines in the northern sky all night long, paired with the North Star and the Big Dipper.
The luxury sleeper limited express [Cassiopeia], which debuted in 1999, quickly became a popular train as a vehicle,while the Cassiopeia 509-510’s operated as freight locomotives in 2010.
But all things come to an end.
All 15 belonging to JR East were sold to JR Freight and the meteor mark and the “EAST JAPAN RAILWAY COMPANY” logo were removed from the exterior. The rainbow line on the front of the 509 and 510 units were removed.
With the end of the Hokutosei service on August 22, 2015, this would be the beginning to the end of the 500 series. The Cassiopeia 509 and 510’s were the final remaining units which ended on March 21, 2016.
Image Source: Wikipedia / Photo by Baba Toshinori
The EF510-500 features 15 locomotives originally operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) to replace the EF81 locomotives used to haul the Cassiopeia and Hokutosei overnight sleeping car trains from June 2010.
I will be reviewing the KATO EF510 500 Cassiopeia Color (N Gauge, 3065-2) model train, which was released back in 2010, the year of the commercial operation of the EF510 500 series. What’s interesting is that the train was actually towed by an EF81 until a month later when commercial operation began. By 2016, the trains would be towed by ED79 between Aomori and Hakodate, while a DD51 1148 (Sapporo) and 1143 (Ueno) towed the trains between Hakodate and Sapporo.
This is one of the coolest freight cars in terms of aesthetics (if you like silver and the top roof portion). The details of this train car is amazing.
Just look at under the train, the amount of detail that went into making this. So, beautiful!
Now the reason why I took this very bright photo is to showcase that black slot near the left of the star logo. There is one slot on all four sides. This is where you have to place a glittery type of silver plastic (which is the selectable number plate which shows 509 or 510) that snaps in.
That glitterypiece is the selectable number plate that shows the first four showcasing 509 and the bottom showing 510. To be truthful, to the naked eye, you probably can’t see the numbers well. You can see it with my macro lens, but depending on one’s eyesight and lighting, I would imagine that the chances are that the numbers will be placed upside down or you may put different numbers accidentally (because you can’t see it too clearly).
I ended up putting 510 on the front and 509 on the sides, ahh….the pains of bad eyesight. And even if I wanted to fix it, it would be a pain. You can put tape and possibly see if the name plate can be removed that way, but then you would get sticky residue and I’m not going to worry about it.
You get two magnetic head marks. One with the Hokutosei and the other which shows Cassiopeia. Magnetic and they stay on quite well, but I would be careful and go slow to avoid accidents and losing this piece. Granted, Kato sells replacement parts but I haven’t tried to see how challenging to get replacement parts are for this train.
Fortunately, the handrails are in place and are installed. If you lose them, fortuantely KATO does sell replacement parts for those.
One of my favorite parts about this train is the rooftop insulators which are green like the actual train. On the roof, which is a feature of the AC/DC dual-purpose locomotive, the metal roof wiring, equipment, green insulators, etc. are accurately reproduced. Pantograph looks cool!
The EF510 500 Cassiopeia features three bogies. While I’m not a big fan of Tomix triple Bogie (as I have had derailments with the center bogie numerous times with different trains), The Katp center bogie is held well and no problems during my stress test.
This uses an Arnold Rapido coupler, so it should grasp into both Kato and TOMIX freight cars with ease. But it does also come with two Knuckle couplers as well.
Front lamp lights plus a center top lamp have LED lighting powered when the train is on a powered rail.
Overall, the KATO EF510 500 Cassiopeia EF510 is a fantastic train to have in your collection. While the train did its job well, as it was meant to be, it was one of the shortest duration for a train. With the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, JR East would abolish its Cassiopeia night sleeper train and freight trains.
But while “Cassopeia” by name is no longer used, the 510’s were modified in 2021 and to follow Kyushu specification, the train has become a 300 series.
As for the KATO EF510 500 Cassiopeia EF510, it’s one of the more affordable trains sold today and one of the coolest model trains by KATO to showcase so much detail. It’s a model train that holds up 13 years later and still is a phenomenal train to own.
The KATO EF510 500 Cassiopeia Color (N Gauge, 3065-2) is highly recommended!
