rapidoandy

It’s difficult to remember a time when cross-Channel rail traffic went by ferry rather than via the Channel Tunnel. Well, you can now recall the glory days of the train ferry with our new Diagram 1/227 ferry van. BR found itself at odds with European railways in the 1950s/1960s. Incoming goods was being carried in long wheelbase vans with large sliding doors and sliding side vents and air brakes whereas the typical BR van wagon had a 10ft wheelbase and a capacity of 12 tons. The answer was the Dia. 1/227 van. It was nearly 42ft long (over headstocks) and had a massive 26ft 3in wheelbase. The sliding door (one on each side) was 13ft long and it could carry 20 tons. It looked like the incoming vans from Europe, with four sliding vents on each side. More importantly, it had both air and vacuum brakes. Pressed Steel built two batches of Dia. 1/227s, totalling 400 vehicles. With very few airbraked wagons in its fleet, BR ran a train of 99 ferry vans as part of brake trials in 1968. The introduction of bogies vehicles for cross-Channel traffic in the 1970s meant that the ferry vans’, which had been coded VIX on BR’s TOPS computer system, days were numbered. However, they found further use complementing the new, long wheelbase vans (such as the VBAs and VDAs) on domestic goods traffic or, increasingly, as barrier vehicles or on Departmental duties. This led to these ferry vans being re-coded on TOPS. The final ferry vans were literally removed from the national network in 2018 when three ex-Fastline ferry vans had to be craned out of Peterborough yard to be taken away by road. Surviving ferry vans can be found at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Peak Rail and at the Eden Valley, Spa Valley and West Somerset Railways. As is usual with Rapido you can order you 'VIX Vans' direct from us or from any Official Retailer. RRP for each model is £45.95.

Want to own a piece of railway history in miniature? Then you need one of our forthcoming ‘OO’ gauge models of the Highland Railway’s ‘Big Goods’ 4-6-0. The 4-6-0 wheel arrangement was used for some of Britain’s most iconic locomotives: the LMS ‘Black Five’ and ‘Jubilees’, the Southern’s ‘LNs’ and ‘King Arthurs’ and the whole of the Great Western’s 20th Century passenger and mixed traffic fleet. But the first railway to introduce the 4-6-0 to Britain was the Highland Railway. Despite the nickname ‘Jones Goods’ that was commonly applied to the class, it was Chief Engineer David Jones’ Chief Draughtsman, David Anderson Hendrie, who suggested that the 4-6-0 arrangement, common in other countries, could work for the HR. The result was a handsome 4-6-0 with 20in by 26in cylinders, 5ft 3 1/2in diameter driving wheels and a tractive effort of 24,362lbs. The HR board authorised construction in January 1894 and Sharp Stewart of Glasgow delivered all 15 by the end of the year. Nos. 103-117 were put to work between Perth and Inverness and, aside from some minor tweaks to the draughting arrangement, were an instant success. As the Highland expanded and modified its network, the locomotives began to run north of Inverness and out to Kyle of Lochalsh as well as on the new Aviemore Direct line. Supplying the Royal Navy, based at Scapa Flow, during the First World War taxed the ‘Big Goods’ to the limit but the locomotives continued to prove their worth well into the LMS era. The Highland Railway and the LMS made numerous changes to the ‘Big Goods’ over the years and our model will incorporate these detail differences. The LMS withdrew the first ‘Big Goods’ in 1929, by which time it had re-numbered the whole class 17916-17930. It took, however, until 1940 before the last, No. 17925 (No. 112) was condemned. Happily, the LMS saw fit to preserve one of this historic machines and cosmetically restored pioneer No. 17916 (HR No. 103). No. 103 was tucked away inside St Rollox works along with Caledonian Railway 4-2-2 No. 123 until 1958 when BR Scottish Region General Manager James Ness ordered it to be returned to service. Alongside other classic Scottish locomotives, No. 103 ran numerous railtours around the Scottish Region as well as making as far south as Bedfordshire for the filming of Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. No 103 was retired in 1965 and, restored to close to original condition as possible, is now one of Glasgow Riverside Museum’s star exhibits. As is usual with Rapido you can order you 'Jones Goods' direct from us or from any Official Retailer. RRP is £219.95 (DC) and £319.95 (DCC Sound).

How about this one? Taken by A.E West (Courtesy of M King) Andy

Lets be honest - you cant please everyone all of the time. We are asked every day about the status of xyz project - mostly in email, but also Facebook, RM web, carrier pigeon or even in person (our postman is a model railway person...) The page is there to give people that information easily. It also includes stuff we are working on to show people that we have plenty in the pipeline - even if you don't know exactly what it is. Our business model does require us to build our customers confidence and to do that we are looking to be as open as we can be. I can't tell you some of these projects as frankly it might inspire others. We can tell you were working on things and that there are plenty of things at different stages - which shows how much we are investing back into the company right now. It is a VERY exciting time for us. I know it wont be to some peoples taste (in the same way some people don't like our videos) but for others it is. Interestingly other than a Facebook post we didn't mention the page. However social media has been discussing it alongside here and some emails in to us. That helps brand awareness and is a bonus too. Keep telling us what you do (and occasionally don't) like and we will look to continue developing. Happy modelling!

It's my pleasure! Don't think of it as an announcement of an announcement. After all we may just go straight to the announcement stage.. Think of it more as proclamation of the development of further progress of exciting projects that you may (or may not) be interested in and that further information may (or may not) be forthcoming. Maybe its just something to look at if you feel nosey about what we are up to rather than anything more serious :-)

Evening all, I apologise for my slow response. The last few days have been hard work! Going back to the question asked of me - where is it best to buy from. Well there is no simple or correct answer to this. Yes buying from us direct is helpful. It gives us a little money from the deposits at the time of order plus the slightly higher full RRP gives us some extra pennies in the long run. However, buying from retailers (especially at the pre-order point) gives them confidence in us as a brand and will help them feel confident in ordering higher quantities of products in the future - again to our benefit. The biggest issue for us is cash flow. We are still new and with the exception of the Fleetline and latest run of Arab buses we have no real income. However with some 20+ projects on the go there is a lot of outgoings. In the future this will be much more balanced but right now every penny counts. The best thing anyone can do to support us is to pre-order products when they are announced (I know that sounds like a horrific sales pitch). However, it really does help us set our future budgets and point us in the right direction by seeing what people are actually buying. We are constantly looking at new projects and as such looking at the data of current sales. I would much rather use the data than predictions… I hope that makes some form of sense. I apologise if not - lack of sleep caused by weather related issues is to blame! Happy modelling!

Respectfully - that is far from the truth.

Its a lovely vehicle - actually a SER one - originally single ended but later rebuilt with double verandah. I’d love to see it restored!

Indeed we do have a few here in the UK :-) Andy

We also have these in the warehouse...

Ah - is that the chunky version with only one finger or two finger version. Or is the larger 4 finger version more preferable?

I also like breaks....

I like brake vans....

Evening all, I apologise for being a little quiet of late - as you may have imagined we have been rather busy ;-) Our general business model means we don't get individual livery samples of models. Our factories are smaller than most - the larger ones have whole areas devoted to paintwork and tampo printing an they are able to deliver decorated samples. For us to do so means fitting it in around productions schedules and also a cost implication. Time is another issue as setting up the tampo prints can take a long time (especially on ornate liveries). This is where we ask people to look at the quality of things we have produced before, the Stirling Single, Dynamometer car etc. These are all well known for their high quality livery application. I have got the latest sets of artwork for you to enjoy: Hopefully you can pick a few your fancy purchasing :-). Many thanks, Andy

Now this is a tricky one! We have no definitive date or answer as such. The SECR works drawing shows curved rain strips and all the SECR photos we have of these vans (there aren't many) show curved rain strips. The preserved SECR livery van on the bluebell has straight rain strips. Straight rain stirps seem to have started in SR days, both the common short type as we have produced, but also a full length straight version that seems to be less common. Some vehicles retained curved rain strips all the way through their lives. Andy

Evening all, Thanks for the kind comments, we are very excited by these too. So to answer a few questions and hopefully put some minds at ease: When we announced the 7 and 5 plank opens (which in Rapido style were a personal choice by me as I have always found the 7 planks a very pretty wagon) I asked a few of our retailers that also sold the kit to keep some notes for me. They report that the sales for kits have hardly deviated from their usual levels of sale. Speaking to them, their opinion is that those who build kits do - and those that don't - don't! Some like building them and have the skill and patience - others want to run trains and pay for the factory finish and details. This is backed up by the preliminary data from our survey which has allowed a very interesting insight into modelling habits. (Nothing we do is done in isolation.) Simply, the effect is very minimal. Price also has an effect. People who want long rakes are more likely to buy the kit. However, those like me that want one or two don't mind the price in return for the detail. The kit isn't the newest and in some ways our model is an upgrade. Obviously, we knew that there were other wagons that fitted the chassis, and one of the reasons for waiting was to see if there would be an effect on others. I'm satisfied that there is not and felt comfortable we could go ahead with more designs. Duplication will always happen. Sometimes it is non-intentional - someone keeps a project secret etc (lots of the manufacturers do speak to each other - this week alone I have spoken to two firms and on one occasion found a planned duplication which there will now no longer be - whilst other manufacturers don't say a word). Sometimes it is intentional, where people want to upgrade something, or duplicate something that is only in kit form. Other times its intentional with motive... A little competition can be good for the market. Regarding people who say there are plenty of low hanging fruit that will guarantee to sell well - I would ask - would you put your money up yourself to do it? We get lots of suggestions through our website where people say "this is guaranteed to sell". Whilst you can never be certain until you have done it, the financial numbers just don't add up - restrictions i.e. geography, operation, numbers made or liveries mean that expected sales require the unit price to be far higher than the range we would like - or what we think people will pay - again backed up by info in our surveys. Many of these "guaranteed" sellers only appear in the suggestion form once - which tells us something. Like it or not, most things that are going to be good sellers have come about in one way or another, RTR, kit, 3D print. Each of these have their merits and different people who like to use them. Interestingly, and getting back on track - the 10t covered goods van was suggested a lot with many people saying it would go on the same chassis - far more votes than any "guaranteed" sellers we had suggested. Andy

Like most wagons the covered goods wagons got everywhere. SECR design wagons in Scotland - yep that happened!

For those of you who don't read our newsletters (and why not?) we have had the first EP of the forthcoming Conflat P and containers. Enjoy!

Read the word ‘standardisation’ and your thoughts automatically turn to Great Western Railway 4-6-0s. But the GWR was not the only railway to make use of standardised components. The South Eastern & Chatham Railway introduced a new, 9ft-6in steel underframe under its new seven-plank open wagon in 1915. But this underframe soon found itself used under other vehicles, including a 10t covered goods wagon and a 2 plank ballast wagon. As Rapido Trains UK has lovingly re-created this underframe as part of our five- and seven-plank wagon range, we decided to add both of these to our range. These vans (SR Diagram 1426) were different to previous SECR designs and featured an elliptical roof, end ventilators, standardised steel underframe, lift-link brake gear and self-contained buffers. The design was so successful that it became the basis of the standard Southern Railway van. Nearly 250 Dia. 1426s were built, with many of them surviving into BR days in both revenue and Departmental service. One, No. 15750, survived into preservation and can now be seen on the Bluebell Railway. During their lives, the Dia. 1426s carried a wide range of liveries including SECR grey, SR brown (with two different lettering styles), BR freight grey alongside various BR Departmental liveries. We will faithfully reproduce all of these. The SECR introduced the first of its steel underframed ballast wagons in 1919 and 120 were built over the next four years, the last being completed by the newly formed Southern Railway (which allocated them the diagram number 1744). These wagons were often seen in long rakes as they took ballast to wherever trackwork required attention. They were so useful that BR didn’t finally get rid of the last ones until 1971, which made them some of the last pre-Grouping vehicles in operation in the Southern Region CCE’s mainland fleet. During their long lives, they carried a wide range of liveries including SECR grey, SR Engineer’s red (with two different lettering styles) and BR Engineer’s black. Again, we will faithfully reproduce all of these liveries. Sadly, no Dia. 1744 ballast wagons survived into preservation. However, because they used the standard SECR underframe (as modelled on our five- and seven-plank open wagons), the Bluebell Railway has re-created one, No. 567, using the chassis from a seven-plank open and original works drawings. These are now available to pre-order with an order deadline of the 1st April and planned delivery later in the year. See your local Official Retailer or visit www.rapidotrains.co.uk to order yours today!

Having asked the question it all looks to be good to go. As ‘our’ (Rapido) order book has been extended they have also kept theirs open to match.

The sheet rail is an item for customers to fit - as such the factory hadn’t fitted them to the photos. When I get the samples I will fit some up to show everyone.

The sheet rail is an item for customers to fit - as such the factory hadn’t fitted them to the photos. When I get the samples I will fit some up to show everyone.

A few more for you all: These are ready to ship and I hope to have some news on that front imminently.

We are pleased to say the final touches are going onto the production run and these (along with the 5 planks) will be ready to leave the factory next week.

Regarding the "Lady With The Lamp" it is interesting to note who now owns the Rights to it... British Lion Films - Movie List