rapidoandy

Rapido Trains UK is to offer modellers of pre-Grouping railway companies a ready-to-run vehicle, akin to the ‘generic’ four- and six-wheel coaches offered by other manufacturers… only this time, it’s a metal-bodied van. The GWR pioneered the metal-bodied van, better known as the ‘Iron Mink’ and the basic design was adopted by not only private wagon builders but other railway companies. Other railways and builders would use what was essentially the ‘Iron Mink’ body but use underframes and fittings to their own design. Sales & Marketing Manager Richard Foster said, “We thought we’d take advantage of the fact that the metal-bodied vans built by other railways were so similar to our GWR Diagram V6 ‘Iron Mink’ to offer ready-to-run vans to modellers of railway companies and private owner organisations where the pickings of RTR models are quite slim. “We trust that modellers will overlook any slight prototypical inaccuracies in order to enjoy highly authentic and well-researched liveries on a beautiful looking and refined model.” The order book for Rapido’s ‘Not-quite-Minks’ range is now open but modellers only have until April 28th 2023 to place their orders. Orders can be placed through Rapido UK stockists or direct on our website. Pre-order here: https://rapidotrains.co.uk/not-quite-minks/

Rapido Trains UK is to add some of the railway's unsung heroes to its range of 'OO' gauge wagons: five- and seven-plank open wagons to the Railway Clearing House's 1907 standards. The Railway Clearing House was formed in 1842 and would go on to manage the flow of wagons between railway companies, standardise mileage rates and even provided neutral ground for railway managers to meet. It issued a set of standards for goods wagon design in 1907, which were used by railway companies and wagon builders alike. Many thousands of private owner wagons were built to the RCH standards (which were revised in 1923) and many lasted until BR started to phase out wooden-bodied wagons in the 1960s. Those in industrial service continued to earn their keep until much later. Rapido UK Sales & Marketing Manager Richard Foster said, “The RCH’s 1923 open wagon design has been produced by many different ‘OO’ gauge manufacturers over the years but the original 1907 design has never been produced before in ‘OO’. We thought that that was something that needed rectifying as soon as possible!” Rapido UK has selected the 9ft wheelbase underframe and will offer two main variants: the five-plank with side doors and the seven-plank with side and end doors. Rapido’s UK design team has also been able to include the following detail differences: · Ribbed- or smooth-tapered buffers · Square, rounded or Ellis axleboxes · Straight or bent ‘V’ hangers · Split- or solid-spoke wheels · Single- or double-sided brakes The order book for these wagons is open and you can either order from your local Rapido Trains UK stockist or direct via our website. https://rapidotrains.co.uk/rch-1907-private-owner-wagons/

Rapido Trains UK is delighted to add one of Britain’s most famous locomotives to its range: Metropolitan Railway 0-4-4T No. 1. Launched to coincide with the 160th anniversary of the start of railway services on the Metropolitan Railway, ‘Met 1’ brings a model from the Tube’s history back to life for many to enjoy. ‘Met 1’ played a central role in January 2013’s 150th anniversary celebrations of the Tube when it brought steam back to London Underground’s tunnels for the first time since 1971. As a consequence of celebrating the opening of the world’s first underground railway, No. 1 challenged the likes of Flying Scotsman or Thomas The Tank Engine as the world’s most famous steam engine. 2023 also marks the 125th anniversary of the Met 1 locomotive which was first built in 1898 at the historic Neasden Works in northwest London. Visitors to the London Festival of Railway Modelling on March 18th/19th will be able to see the first Engineering Prototype being put through its paces and enjoy the detail and design carefully included in the new addition to the Rapido range Sales & Marketing Manager Richard Foster said, “As No. 1 was essentially a one-off, it has some unique features and detail differences. Therefore, we’ve just produced No. 1, which has become a bit of an icon. We have discovered that classmate No L48 (formerly Metropolitan No. 81) was close enough in detail to be able to offer that too.” Ellen Sankey, Brand Licensing Manager at Transport for London said: “The Tube is a true London icon, connecting people across the capital and transporting tourists and commuters across the city. This new model of ‘Met 1’ brings a model from the Tube’s history back to life for enthusiasts and collectors to enjoy.” No. 1 is being offered in two preservation era liveries: the livery is carried between 1999 and 2009 and the take on the 1920s Metropolitan livery that it has carried since 2013. Rapido also plans to offer two London Transport liveries, including ‘Met 1’ as No. L44. All models have been fully licensed from Transport for London. ‘Met 1’ has the high specification one would expect from a Rapido Trains UK model. Fine detail, a smooth and powerful mechanism, flickering firebox, Next18 decoder socket and factory-fitted sound speaker. Sound-fitted versions are also available. All ‘Met 1’ models are available to order now and the order book closes on July 3rd 2023. Production will commence shortly after and delivery expected towards the end of 2023. You can order from your local Rapido Trains UK stockist or direct from our own website. Pre-order here: https://rapidotrains.co.uk/metropolitan-e-class/

Well I never expected so much froth over time... Maybe its a range of radio signal NSE style station clocks with a sound fitted option for the clunk as the flaps roll over. Of course as it all rolls back at midnight it will wake everyone in the house up!

Hi Ian, You do seem to have an odd one but we will keep it in mind. That said it’s a fine balance - I have also been asked to ensure couplings are a tight fit so that they don’t pull out when operated in long trains - something I have seen in the past. Andy

Oh me me!! I know! Sadly I have been off as I have a poorly toddler and not got round to updating a few things. The OAA is really not far off finished. I’m hoping we may get a few samples flown over in time for Ally Pally. Then it’s the mercy of shipping by sea - the reality is it’s probably going to be the end of April or so. Andy

Its OK Andy, it wasn't Phil going "chuff chuff" on this recording - it was me this time!

Sounds sensible to me... :-)

Watch this space.... news very soon I hope :-)

I have asked the relevant man and have been promised some measurements when he's next there...

I like cake. We certainly plan to offer chips with our sound set on in the near future as soon as the ESU issue is resolved. Sadly I cant trade cake for one mind...

It might cost you a cake next time we catch up. Leave it with me and I will ask.

No problem. The warranty form let’s you give us lots of info (and even photos) and we usually get a postage label out within a few days for you to return it. Happy modelling!

Would you like me to ask the team at Chasewater for a sketch and some photos?

Drop us a line via the website - I don’t like the sound of that. we are more than happy to take a look.

As mentioned up thread the samples were fine for removing the couplings - but somewhere along the way they have got far tighter than I have liked. It will be fed back to the factory. Andy

Also be aware that the Holly Bank engines had non-standard handrails. They have extra handrails around the smokebox and also some grab style handrails above the steps to access the water filler. I did look at doing them in early condition but wasn't sure if the missing handrails would put people off.

Looking at the painting specs the details for Hollybank No.3 as delivered are as follows: Olive Green lined black style & vermillion with 0.25 inch yellow distance line. Robert Nelson No.4 and Carol Ann No.5 were also the same. At various points before changing to blue they had NCB applied in varying places and sizes.

Feel free to come straight to us. That’s certainly not right and I’d like to take a look at it. Head to our website and fill in our warranty form - we can get a postage label to you to return the model at our cost to sort out. My apologies!

Sadly not on this - I wanted to but for various reasons I wont go into its not something that was provided. It is something we are actively working on with our Canadian counterparts and electronics engineers.

Morning all, Nice to see that everyone is (generally) very happy with their locos. Its been a labour of love for me as I have been lucky enough to drive and fire several of the preserved locos and I count them among my favourite types. Firstly - if anyone has any issues with a model go onto our website and fill in our warranty form. We dislike sub-standard models and only want happy customers and will always do everything we can to sort them. So to answer a few questions that have cropped up: Brake function on DCC - Our market research showed us that this feature is split nearly 50/50 between those who like it and those who don't. Supplementing that with a further question to those that do - we found they are the more advanced DCC users who tend to want yo chose their own chip anyway due to preference. However those who don't tend to be "out of the box type". As a result we opted not to on this model - but we will try it on a future release and compare the feedback. Another option is to set our project up with a CV that when turned on or off would give a "prototype" function or a "model railway simple" function which could include enabling the brake. Lots of whistles - well after speaking with various ex-NCB crews there were different whistle combinations set for things like, setting forward, setting back, etc etc. So we recorded and included those. Sadly they got missed form being explained in the manual - one to add in the future. Slow speed running - we do say in the manual that each individual model only gets about 30 seconds of testing. The lubrication does not get to work round fully and the gears to work in. If after some time you have issues do let us know. The lubrication grease on my models (which have done a fair bit of running as they were samples delivered a few months back) has worked round a bit and loosens up but I have seen some that are a little heavy on the stuff. Removing couplings - i'm going to feed this back to the factory - on the samples they were tight but did pull out. However they are now too tight on the production models and required keeper plate removal on some which is a bit more involved and less than ideal, P4 - EM etc. So our policy here at Rapido is that if we can make something work for the finescales without costing us any more money then we will do so. Our wagons are a good example of that (Scalefour News has an article on our SECR opens and the ease of conversion). I also speak to various people who model using said standards to seek advice etc. However, if its going to cost us money, or mean we have to design it completely differently to accommodate the tiny percentage that use these standards then we cant do it. Its just economics. Our big survey we did a couple of years ago showed less than 2% of people were working to any finescale standard. So why design the chassis like we have - well if you take a Hunslet and cut it in half then you will see that we have used all the possible space. Flywheel in the smokebox, motor in boiler and tank and driven down through the firebox with the speaker in the bunker. This allowed the proper daylight and some motion bits under the boiler. Some will say a flywheel adds nothing, we disagree and have done tests to show it is useful. Maybe we can put a smaller motor vertically in the firebox - but it would be smaller and not as ideal. As a result the model becomes completely integral. If it was a big side tank loco we might do it differently. Our factory that made this also like this format - its used around the world in other models - its just not so normal here. I don't mean any of this to sound offish - I just like to explain our thoughts. I do look at feedback and comments and we take those forward into stuff into the future. Just remember the next model may not get it as that is likely to be fully designed and in production. It does take time. I would love to see photos of peoples customised models - its always great to see different things. Now to think about a second possible batch... Happy modelling! Andy

Bit late in the game for considering for the next industrial… there are several already well considered 😉

What a fantastic photo! If you have any others in colour you would like to share and let us use I would love to see them :-)

As seen in the latest newsletter - our CAD team have made a few colour renders of the forthcoming E1s to whet your appetite.

Jacks Green and Holly Bank No.3 are both preserved in the guise we have modelled. Primrose, Beatrice and Arthur are all also preserved but are carrying other liveries or not in traffic. To fit the chip the saddle tank un-clips. All very simple!