RapidoCorbs

Taking into account the specification, design, capability, and the fact it exists in RTR at all, I think it's pretty cool. We decided that a blanking plug for the bufferbeam was an acceptable compromise for those who wanted to remove the TLs, and such a component will not add to the assembly or manufacturing cost as it is so minor. Screw-in replaceable diecast bufferbeams* were not. *they need to be diecast to keep the overall weight up as the cab and tank need to be plastic

It's not too late to ask because the answer would be the same either way 😉 it's part of the diecast running board.

Well it's the first Friday of the month, so it's time for a rejected livery on our social media posts. This instalment pontificates on what the O1 might look like in the same livery as P Class 'Bluebell' complete with Bluebell Railway crest. Looks rather nice, shame really.....

But then there's an iterative R&D process to that as we have to make sure it is compatible with other TL couplings, which has to be paid for in advance because we wouldn't want to release it and then find out customers have issues with coupling to other stock. There's also no way of telling exactly how many people would genuinely have bought one if it wasn't for the loco having the standard coupling used in OO. In our experience so far the people who use excuses like that were unlikely to have purchased one anyway.

The locos come with a blanking plate for the bufferbeam so people can ditch the kid-e-couplings and shunt like adults.

Have sent you a PM.

Nano uses same interface as Next18. Electronics/PCB design are being worked on and are TBC currently.

A quick thought - We do not share the belief that there is such a thing as 'excessive detail' or that the issue that customers have been having is that the models are 'too detailed'. What we are mainly seeing is a combination of errors made during assembly* and damage in transit. There are some design approaches that are being improved building on this experience. We are always looking at packaging, especially with regard to the 'last leg' of the journey. Most models that arrive in our warehouse from the factory have not been damaged in transit, only to then get belted across a sorting centre in the UK. As an example of this, the models that are coming in for warranty are being given new clamshells when they are sent out again in an effort to better protect them. We have confidence that the factories we work with are capable of making excellent models with high levels of detail, as evidenced by the examples of 15xx locos that are well-assembled and run nicely, which is why we are addressing this situation internally. *This can also apply to running issues e.g. a wheel that has not been pressed on to an axle properly.

Yes I hope we've been quite honest that the 0-6-0Ts were goods engines. This train pack is essentially composed of re-liveried versions of two existing models plus the extra mould slides for the other coach, which is how we were able to make it happen, as Andy says this wouldn't have been possible as a standalone model if we didn't already have the Model Rail J70 and the Titfield projects.

The colours for this project were chosen with the help of several consultants including the GER Society, we are very grateful to all who gave their input. We arrived at a light grey shade from a combination of notes and advice and by looking at the available photographic evidence. It is quite bright but it is the colour we chose and we're happy with it 🙂 Another historical consultant said to me 'the only person who will truly be able to correctly advise you is the 150 year old with 20/20 eyesight and perfect recall, so at some point you have to make a call on it'.

Some imbecile graphic designer didn't change the SKU numbers on the picture above. No idea who that was, but here is the corrected version.

A little update on the CAD - several people noticed the chimney proportions were 'off' - this has been amended, thank you to everyone who assisted. Also shown is the flush-riveted smokebox variant :) Old on the left, new on the right.

"But I don't catch cows, Sir" Sorry for the confusion about them being in the instructions and not in the package. If you do want to swap the cow-catchers for the non-tension lock variety, we can send you a pair FOC. All you need to do is go here, say you bought a W&U Pack and you would like a pair of cow-catchers without coupling holes: https://rapidotrains.co.uk/warranty-form/ Please allow for the usual Christmas post delay.

Glad you like them - the artwork reference pictures typically only had views of one side so rather than take a guess we decided to apply the same to both sides.

Hi tlm, I understand that you would prefer to fix it yourself, I am a tinkerer as well and generally like to get stuck in even on brand new models. I would like to explain our policy on sending out parts and why we are firm on the models being sent back. We have a limited stock of spare parts, if we send them out to people, there is no guarantee that the repair will be carried out. All our models are sold with a limited lifetime guarantee, so if that model isn’t repaired and then is sold to a new owner, we may end up doubling our problem because the new owner may need the repair done, but we will have ‘lost’ the parts we sent. There is also no guarantee that the repair will work, or there may be a mistake made (these things happen) which results in the loss of the spare parts and then further damage to the model which would then need to be sent back to fix, again doubling the problem. We can’t make an exception to this because if we did and the word got out, then more and more people would be asking for the exception and increasing the risk of there being an issue. I know it’s not ideal but I hope this explains things from our point of view. Hello Andrew, I experimented with my own model on the rollers last night and I couldn’t replicate the issue in the manner you describe, but if I pushed on the crosshead it would catch on the crankpin. I spoke to another customer about a tight spot where it would lock up, they told me that extra running-in (circa 2 hours in each direction) helped a lot and cured the problem. If you want to try this, I strongly recommend this on a circuit of track rather than on rollers. Of course I do also understand if at this stage you want to ask the retailer for a refund rather than sending it back to us again.

Is the crankpin catching on the back of the crosshead, Andrew?

Not sure what you mean?

Sorry I missed your message. I'll need to check our samples ref. colour as I am working from home today and not got my swatch box to hand. I think it may be that the eras represented by the tooling didn't see a change in green shade. But at the moment the plan is for them all to be the same green with just the decoration changing. Chimney and safety valve - yes copper cap and safety valve cover painted brass colour on 4400 but black and green respectively on 4408.

I think 4402 only got new rear driving wheels as the other two pairs look to be 10-spoke. I would guess that for some reason (damage/wear?) they needed replacement and Swindon had standardised on 12-spokes? 4403 seems to have gained them earlier than the others so perhaps the castings were made for 4403.

It will be painted in our standard metallic finish, as shown on the sample. 🙂

I had thought you meant it completes the set of SECR locos in preservation.

No problem 🙂

Yep, we're not going to change it for the plated brass style, we've standardised on this finish and we're happy with how it looks. Same for Lion's firebox shroud and the O1.

We think it looks good.

Mid-overhaul red oxide.