rapidobill

Man, and this was my day off too Chris..... The 16xx uses a conventional skew wound 5-pole can motor with flywheel. A screen shot of the CAD file, less boiler and weight, is attached to illustrate. Can I go back to playing with my own trains now? Bill Schneider Rapido Trains

Yes, it is a 3D print.... with few wonky parts! Also, some small detail revisions were done based on our reviews of the samples. Bill

We're not dead yet! To be honest, the lack of a newsletter is due to... well.. lack of news. That and a very hectic schedule here. We're proceeding with several project already announced, but both we and our partners have decided that it would be best to hold off on any new announcements until we all see what impact current going-on in the Brexit situation will have. However, we do plan to continue, so you haven;t heard the last of us. (Sorry...) :>) Bill

You might also try loosening the screws slightly to allow a little more motion. The factory will sometimes cinch them down just a bit too tight.... Bill

The Single's sound chip won't work for this. He has a special one though... ;>) Bill

Over the last several days Adam and Oliver at Rails have been diligently searching for information that will either verify or refute our decision regarding lining - or the lack of it - on the Dynamometer car. Yesterday they provided me final and - I think all will agree - irrefutable proof that our decision was correct. The discussion can stop now. Bill

The recording gear inside all seems to be oriented towards and connected to the drawbar at the same end of the car as the instrument room (the one with the ducket fitted in later years). Additionally the plugs for the instrumentation were on that end only. So - I'm going to venture a guess (HORRORS!) that yes - that end would always be towards the loco during a test. Bill.

Stay off of the forum for a few days and look what happens...! Throughout the research on this project we both corresponded with and visited the NRM, met with the conservation people there several times and corresponded with several LNER experts on the issue of livery - specifically the lining (or lack thereof). While we could find no definitive information that exactly indicated the livery in 1938, we did find a large amount of circumstantial evidence that guided the livery choices on the models. - What everybody seems to be in agreement with (even on this forum!) is that between 1938 and 1948 the car received no major repainting with the exception of the number change. - The conservation experts at NRM that we consulted with indicated the car was restored into the livery that it was retired in and NRM documentation seems to support this. So - working backwards, if we assume that the car has no lining now (It doesn't) and that the NRM was diligent in the restoration (they seem to have been) and that the car was not repainted significantly during the war years (as shop records indicate), then it would follow that the vehicle was not lined in 1938. Further, it is my understanding (and I'm sure that I will be corrected!) that LNER post-1928 or so did not line secondary or non-passenger carrying stock. We were NOT able to find any livery diagrams that covered this car specifically so had to base our livery decisions on the information we were presented with - which concluded that for one of a few possible reasons the vehicle would not have been lined in 1938. Vintage colour photos on Steve Bank's web site - https://www.steve-banks.org/prototype-and-traffic/133-teak-coaches (scroll down about half way) seem to support a lack of lining. The photos posted from the Pathe film are clearly from a period before the car was re-shopped as they feature the earlier bogies and no gangway connections. As such, they are not really relevant to either the 1938 or 1948 appearance of the vehicle. I will now crawl into my bunker and await incoming rounds....! Bill Schneider Rapido Trains

Please let us recover from this one first! :>) Bill

Not trying to be coy, but it's not my place to announce Locomotion's production numbers. I'll let them do that if they wish. As for the Hornby thread - Seen the thread? Yes. Read any of it? I'll just wait for their announcement. To be perfectly honest I'm up to my eyeballs in making our own models, commission and otherwise, including at least three..four,,, .errr.... make that six.... seven.... I mean.......... never mind... that have not been announced yet. Read what you want into that ;>) Bill

Just three?

You're reading WAY too much into this by assuming that I photographed all the bins.... :>) Bill

Greetings from lovely (?!) downtown Donguan, China! I'me here on one of Rapido's quarterly China trips to work with the factories on upcoming and current projects. As it happens, there are a few of our UK projects underway while I am here - one of particular interest to this thread - so I thought that I would share some photos of Stirling Single production that I've taken over the last few days. This production line is working on Single tenders. All of the Single chassis have been assembled and are being tested. They are stored in blue bins awaiting final assembly. There are lots of them! Every chassis undergoes a QC test to ensure that they operate to specification. This is probably one of the most exciting jobs in the factory. Ahem.... Likewise, every tender is attached to a running chassis to check all the wiring connections. While we all are anxiously awaiting our models, you can just sense the excitement that this supervisor will feel when she sees the last one LEAVE! On the other side of the table every decoder is tested ahead of adding the tender shell. This woman's testing routine included blowing the whistle to check the speaker connections. I've been here three days and am already tired of hearing peanut whistles! Once she is done testing the chassis they move to the final assembly steps. This involves adding the body, railings and coal load. I'm afraid that the woman on the right has given away our secret factory location. Don't tell anybody.... A few finished tenders awaiting the arrival of the dreaded Blue Bins. So, you ask, where does all this leave us who are waiting SO patiently? The assembly workers are working today (Sunday) to get the final tenders finished. As I mentioned, all of the chassis have been assembled. All of the remaining parts have been painted and decorated. The plan is to start final assembly on Monday, with the finished models going directly into packaging for shipping. It will likely take a little more than a week or so for this to be complete. I'm hoping to be able to watch them load the container before I leave. I may even offer to help! So, the model IS coming - and soon! Thank all of you who have pre-ordered for your patience and support. For those who have not pre-ordered - what are you waiting for? ;>) Now, off to the other factory which is working on another project! Updates next week on another thread! Bill

... and that's the easy part! Nearly every interior part has some level of decoration, from paint (several colours) to printed decoration (I don't want to count how many colours!). I've said before, there is more decoration INSIDE this model than on most goods wagons! Bill

It will be good exercise on the way home.... ;>)