Early birthday present - ACME Rapido 905

[jjb1970]

With my birthday rapidly approaching and a lingering liking for the FS E444 design I thought I'd look at models. I quite fancied a train pack offered by ACME of a Rapido train which bundled their rather excellent model of the E444 with some very good models of FS Type X coaches with deep skirts as then I'd have a train to run. However the two packs were quite pricey. However the Hobby Shop in Faversham had an excellent price for both packs, £360 so I decided to go for it. The model is this one:

 

http://www.acmetreni.it/index.php/en/main-menu/13-english-pages/347-rapido-905-2

 

The E444 is excellent, nicely detailed and finished but in some ways the coaches are the stars. They're beautifully detailed and with excellent interiors and under sides. I know that these are things you don't notice when running them on a layout but it does make a difference when looking at them closely. The finish is excellent, OK it is a simple livery but well applied and the various markings are faithfully reproduced down to the smallest detail.

Having had good experience with the ACME Br120 I had little hesitation ordering these two packs and I wasn't disappointed, they're superb. I'm now waiting for the baggage and restaurant twin pack to be released.

 

10 out of 10 for the service from the Hobby Shop too, great price and very speedy delivery, they were way cheaper than any of the options in mainland Europe.

[Talltim]

Italian trains really do have something. Even the the ones that should be ugly somehow aren't, even in brown.

[jjb1970]

Italian trains really do have something. Even the the ones that should be ugly somehow aren't, even in brown.

I love Italy in general, it is a beautiful country. Few countries in Europe at any rate have the sheer variety offered by Italy. The Alps, the northern lakes, the rolling hills as you move South through to an almost North African/Levant feel in parts of the South. Terrific food, people wax lyrical about French food but I find Italian food to be wonderful even if its reputation in other countries is somewhat tarnished by pizza which is now a culinary dustbin and cheap pasta sauces. Travel by train in Italy is a nice experience I find, it may not be the best railway system and it can be rather variable but it does tend to be a very pleasant experience.

On the trains, they do have a certain something, and at least until they went for the same Traxx and various EMU designs as the rest of Europe they had a very different, Italian feel (although many of the coaches were pretty much standard Euro platforms going back to the 60's). A very "modellable" system well served by some wonderful models, its odd that it seems to be very much a niche interest.