rapidoandy

If I had been working for Rapido 10 years ago we would have seen them then! Whilst contracting for others I also pushed for similar. I’m not convinced every pre-grouping items is a seller and I think the ones that have sold well have links to preservation and or related to other products that are around. I doubt the rails vans would have sold as well if the C, P or H hadn’t come along before.. it is all about the big picture..

Yep really! However, you don’t actually answer them all. Depending how you answer questions sections get removed so it is tailored to you. The whole thing takes about 6 mins to complete and the uptake so far (considering I only put a link randomly in this thread) has been fantastic. I really would urge anyone to try it. It’s very common to see people say ‘I wish manufacturers would / wouldn’t do xxx feature’. Well now is the time to have a say. I suspect there will be some who won’t take the time to tell us their views but will spend a long time writing posts on here questioning manufactures decisions.. Andy

Thanks everyone for the discussion. I agree that supply can create demand - the important question is does it create ENOUGH demand. If that demand will beat the minimum order numbers needed then there is no reason why a model shouldn't be released in a pre-grouping livery. Factories usually want quite high numbers of each livery as a minimum number and this is often increased if the livery is complicated to apply (using lots of tampo prints etc) if the end price is going to be the same. Personally I think there is a lot of people interested in pre-grouping liveries but I think this is swayed by seeing these liveries on preserved locomotives and rolling stock. We have seen several SECR locos, the Rails Caley tender engine and Dyno car, the NRM with various locos and lots of terriers selling well. However these can be seen "in the wild" and are in the public eye which may help persuade people to buy (not just die hard modellers but average "I have a model railway" types. Would the same sort of sales volume be seen for a GER J70 where none of the class have survived, let along in GER blue? No doubt you would sell a fair few - but is it enough to satisfy the manufacturer and the people taking the financial risk? Regarding the J70 you also have to remember that with both a commissioner (model rail) and a manufacturer involved the margins can be very slim - thus the commercial risk can be greater... Now for any of you still reading we at Rapido are about to launch another survey which actually has some questions about this very issue. We plan to push this in our next newsletter but until then we can have a a 'soft' launch and you can take a look here: The Great Rapido Model Railway Survey There will even be a draw to win some prizes when the survey is closed next year. Come and tell us your thoughts and have your say! Andy

We certainly will include a BR liveries van or two. Interestingly we have not found many clear photos that show all the lettering which makes things harder. If anyone knows what the instructions on this van were - or knows of any other images I would love to hear from you. a couple of preserved vans will likely appear but we do list the on the website ‘as preserved’. Many of the service vans contained a random assortment of bits in their later days too by all accounts.. Andy

We did look at the option of adding lights to the toad. However, some people would want to run them the opposite way to others and its one of those issues where you couldn't make everyone happy. However it does look rather smart and with the options tooled we can cater for most of the AA20 variants. Andy

Just going to pop these here... Numbers are running low - order yours before it is too late! Andy

Afternoon all, Well not as much frothing as I thought! So to answer a few questions... All of the Titfield related items will be released in a stand alone format. Full details of these will come out in the near future. For the Loriot this is likely to be the original GWR livery and the livery seen in Paul B's photos. Interest inly we have found no other images or records that show them in any other livery. Anecdotal evidence shows that 41989 was scrapped shortly after the Titfield filming. Only a handful of photos survive for these two models. The toad is looking really good and i'm currently choosing examples to produce outside of Titfield. Work is progressing on the W&U. The interest around this model has been really quite large.. Happy modelling. Andy

It is a very exciting time in the office :-) So much stuff on the go....

I apologise. I did try to send everyone on the form an email but it seems some have not sent. The latest parts are apparently on the way. I’m very aware that Christmas is just around the corner and that will no doubt complicate things but we are moving in the right direction. Andy

Evening all, To address concerns about the performance of the ‘OO’ gauge ‘16XX’, this is an intermittent fault that is affecting a small percentage of models. We have been trying to find the root cause of the problem and the three models that we’ve had on test in recent weeks have performed faultlessly on DCC with a combination of Dapol, DCC concepts, Gaugemaster and Lenz decoders on a number of different controllers. We have struggled to replicate the faults. Based on what we’ve seen so far, it’s fairly safe to assume that your ‘16XX’ will work straight from the box. If you are unlucky and receive with this fault, then please contact either Model Rail Offers or fill in the form on our website (https://rapidotrains.co.uk/warranty-form/). Our recent testing has thrown up a couple of other areas to concentrate on and the factory has posted some new parts to the UK for us to test. We’re keeping everything crossed that these parts solve the problem. As has been well publicised there has been a slow down in output from vendors in China etc which has resulted in things taking longer than we hoped it would. We’re doing everything we can to fix this fault, which, we’ll admit, has left us and the team in Canada baffled. We thank you for your continued patience while we try to solve it once and for all. Andy

Evening all. As Rapido continues to expand the time has come to take on some more staff. We currently have a full time vacancy for a Warranty Engineer, Warehouse and Customer Service Assistant at our Staplehurst HQ. We are also on the look out for a Technical Graphic Artist. To find out more head over to the Join Our Team page here: Join Our Team – Rapido Trains UK We can offer competitive salary / rates for the right person. We are always keen to know what other skills prospective applicants may have - do tell us as you never know where it may lead! Andy

Well your sort of right and sort of wrong. So whilst your right that the timber p may appeal to those who are not interested in a conflat P it’s not as simple as that. The conflat P seemed logical with our class 28 - and we had a LOT of requests for it. I’ve not seen a similar number for the Timber P. To do the Timber P we would be starting again from a tooling point of view - although from a research and design point of view we would be well ahead. We also need to consider - can we sell enough wagons that had specific regional / geographic or limited operational life. The Conflat P was worth a punt because of the link with the 28 and the amount of asks for it. If however the sales turn out to not be ideal then it does call into question if a timber P (or other similar wagons) would be feasible or if we should maybe try some more common/mundane types next. whilst it’s very easy to say ‘manufacturer x should make y’ there is a LOT more work required than that. Regarding the comments about how long a company takes to make a profit - even some really good projects won’t make a company that are expanding quickly make a profit overnight. The model making business is VERY complicated. Andy

Just to add a little colour we have had our Engineering Prototype hand painted....

Here’s the first look at our ‘OO’ gauge WR ‘15XX’… sort of! If you’re wondering why it looks a little angular, that’s because this is not an Engineering Prototype but a 3D printed sample produced from the design files. The first stage with assessing any model is studying the computer design file. Once you get used to looking at a CAD file, it becomes much easier to spot mistakes or areas that don’t look quite right. But the problem with looking at a CAD file is that it’s little more than pixels on a screen. It can be very difficult to see how the multicoloured image will look as a physical thing and whilst not perfect s 3D print gives us a representation of how the model will look in the flesh. We’ll double check that everything looks shipshape and Swindon fashion before we approve the factory to start making the moulds any day now!

Morning everyone. Its been one of those weeks! Unfortunately we have become aware of a little problem with our latest batch of Fleetline and Arab buses. Please read the notice for further information - if you have any issues with your model please do get in touch. Andy

I can send you a sample of the black we may use That said someone will say its the wrong black

There is an option to vote for the livery. However to make a specially tooled version might be a step too far...

Oooops! I completely missed the goods black building the form - now added! :-)

This is keeping me busy…

The first engineering sample in action... Happy Wednesday!

For all of those whoa re waiting - they are nearly here. Until then here is a little picture to whet your appetite...

Rapido Trains UK’s new ‘N’ gauge ‘Conflat P’ • Highly-detailed new container wagon • TWO all-new containers • Perfect for modelling BR’s famous ‘Condor’ service Rapido Trains UK is delighted to announce that ‘N’ gauge modellers will now be able to replicate one of BR’s most famous goods services with our new ‘Conflat P’ wagons. BR created 60 Diagram 1/60 ‘Conflat Ps’ for the introduction of the Anglo-Scottish ‘Condor’ service in 1959. They were rebuilt from Dia. 1/431 and 1/432 ‘Plate’ wagons. The sides and floors were removed, they were fitted with roller bearings and new suspension and a new central girder allowed them to carry one Type BD container as well as a Type A. The ‘Conflat Ps’ served ‘Condor’ until 1964 when they were replaced with a batch of Ashford-built bogie wagons. ‘Condor’ was withdrawn in 1965, superseded by the new nationwide Freightliner container service. All the redundant ‘Conflat Ps’ were rebuilt as timber carriers – dubbed ‘Timber Ps’ - and were a common in Scotland until they were withdrawn in 1981. These new wagons are the perfect accompaniment to Rapido’s forthcoming ‘N’ gauge Metro-Vick Type 2. Six Co-Bos were allocated to Cricklewood to work the overnight London-Glasgow container service. Together with the ‘Conflat Ps’, the Class 28s were immortalised in Terence Cuneo’s 1959 painting ‘Night Freight’. Rapido Trains UK Sales & Marketing Manager Richard Foster said, “The Class 28 is most famously associated with ‘Condor’ and it makes so much sense to produce the ‘Conflat P’ to run behind the ‘28’. “This has been a hugely challenging project thanks to a dearth of research material. There are literally only a handful of published ‘Conflat P’ photographs and drawings are just as scant. We’ve combined official drawings of the ‘Plate’ wagon with Paul Bartlett’s and Trevor Mann’s research to make as best a guess on the internal structure as possible. “The other challenge is that, unlike, say, a ‘Conflat A’, the ‘Conflat P’ has no floor. All the chassis beams are visible and so there are very few places to attach things like brake pipes. “But despite the difficulties in designing the ‘Conflat P’, we’re really pleased with how well they have turned out. They’ve really got that ‘open frame’ look and I think our designers have done a grand job to make all the fittings as unobtrusive as possible.” To complement the new ‘Conflat Ps’, Rapido has also developed all-new 1:148 scale Dia. 3/050 Type BD and Dia. 3/001 Type A containers. These will initially be only available with the ‘Conflat P’ but will be released as separate accessories at a later date. Both the ‘Conflat P’ and the new containers – along with the MetroVick Type 2 – are now in tooling and Rapido hopes to be able to show off samples in the near future. More details and ordering is available at https://rapidotrains.co.uk/conflat-p/

Work is progressing on various Titfield bits and pieces. Today we shared the latest CAD work for the Bedford OB on social media so I thought I would drop it here too. Enjoy!

Don’t forget the order books for the 7 and 7 plank wagons closes on Wednesday. These have been really popular and I suspect that any extra stock retailers will have will be snapped up very quickly on release. To make sure you get yours pre-order yours today though our official retailers or direct from us!

Hi Bill, With that information I would tend to agree with you. I will speak to our man once I’m back from holiday - do feel free to nudge/kick/pole as required. I suspect there will be a lot of emails to delete (sorry reply) too. Andy