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Rapido Newsletter Vol. 200
©2025 Rapido Trains Inc.
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Dear Rapido Customer,
It's our 200th newsletter! Can you believe it? To celebrate, we're announcing updates to 200 FOUR existing projects, as well as a few other updates. So hop onboard the newsletter train... or bus.
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In this 200th issue...
- Update on Shipping and Tariffs
- Rapido is Hiring — Service Technician
- Rapido and Me
- Back from the Vault! Order Deadlines and Updates
- Tooling, Factory and Shipping Updates
If you are using a web-based email service such as Gmail, be sure to click on the link near the bottom of the email that says something like "[Message clipped] View entire message". That will ensure you don't miss any of this newsletter.
Please note that all renders, pre-production samples and artwork are subject to change before the final product release.
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Update on Shipping and Tariffs
As you may remember from our update in the last newsletter, the tariff on model trains from Canada to the US is much higher than on model trains shipped from China to the US. We've decided to hold all of our shipments until we are set up in the US warehouse, and we are transferring our products to our US company, Rapido Trains (USA) Inc., before selling them on to you. This will reduce the tariff charge significantly. We still believe in showing tariffs as a separate line item on our invoices rather than just increasing all of our prices. If the tariffs are here to stay long term, then we may reexamine that policy.
All going well, we will be able to start shipping from the new US warehouse in April. We know a lot of you are eager for your F40PHM-3s, Comet cars and other new products. Please stay tuned for further updates, and thanks again for your patience as we deal with forces outside of our control.
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Rapido is Still Looking For Warranty Dudes or Dudettes!
Now we are looking for two new full-time service technicians to join our team here at the Markham office fixing model trains and helping customers. Our warranty return rate is between 1% and 2%, but even that represents hundreds of models a year and we're always swamped. We're especially swamped with email questions and parts requests.
We've received quite a few resumes from places as far away as Bora Bora and Callufrax. You need to be able to work at our Markham office now, not in some unspecified future time when you are legally allowed here or when we develop interstellar warp drive.
Required skills include:
- Must be good at taking apart, repairing, and putting together model trains or similar products.
- Must be able to identify parts based on cryptic customer descriptions and locate the appropriate parts in our disorganized warranty stash.
- Must have an understanding of model railroad or similar electronics and be very skilled with a soldering iron. Knowledge/understanding of DCC is a huge asset. Must be willing to learn new skills as needed.
- Must have excellent written and oral communication skills in English (but any ability in French or Spanish would also be useful).
- Must be able to reply to a high volume of customer emails and occasional phone calls daily.
- Must be well organized, highly motivated, and able to follow instructions precisely.
- Must be able to work independently and as part of a team.
- Must be comfortable with MS Office and be able to learn other software on a computing device, slide rule, or abacus.
- Must be able to politely interrupt a customer to get off the phone when the customer wants to spend two hours talking about their railfanning adventures in 1958.
- Must have the patience of Job (this has nothing to do with our customers and everything to do with working for Jason).
- Must be – currently – legally able to work full-time Monday through Friday at our Markham, Ontario office.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Please email your resume and cover letter HERE (jobs@rapidotrains.com) and the team will have a look! Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted.
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Rapido and Me — Customer Photo Submissions
Hey there! Check out some of the recent photo submissions we've received from our friends. Remember, you too can be featured in Rapido and Me. You just have to send them to us at trains@rapidotrains.com or tag us on social media (and not in a story that will disappear after 24 hours!).
Here's three for this month.
| Here's a fantastically weathered GP9rm done up by David Hunter. | Into weathered GMD1s? We've got you covered with this excellent model by Peter Graham. | This awesome night shot was sent to us from the Lehigh & Keystone valley Model Railroad Museum in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. | |
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RELAUNCHING NOW!
Hey hey! In the midst of all these new launches we've had in the last few months, there have been some projects that have been left behind in the "vault." This month we're reviving four of these projects with final order deadlines in either April or May: the Trenton Works 6348 cu.ft. Boxcar, the Autoflood III Rapid Discharge Hopper, the X-3 Tank Car, and the Drop Bottom Gondola.
In order to sweeten our relaunch, we have added some new schemes to all of these projects. We even have a new video for these relaunches. Click here or watch it below.
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HO Scale Trenton Works 6348 cu.ft. Boxcar
Did you forget about the HO Scale Trenton Works 6348 cu.ft. Boxcar? So did we! (Ed: What else have we forgotten? What happened to the Flyer D700?) One of our 2025 New Year resolutions is to support the projects we've already started and make 'em even sweeter! But first, let's talk history.
Built between November 1993 and February 1994, Canadian National purchased 300 of these cars for specialty wood products and lumber service all across Canada. The cars had a major presence in the province of Québec soon after delivery and were later seen all across North America. They are still in service today and necessary for any modern layout!
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Oddly enough, Trenton Works 6348 cu.ft. Boxcars did not receive the usual “Canadien National” French spelling, instead having both sides in the traditional “Canadian National” look. The operational and warning labels instead were bilingual — another unique oddity to these cars.
Check out more photos of the pre-production sample below. Tooling, as always, is subject to further refinement.
| New to the HO Scale Trenton Works 6348 cu.ft. CN Boxcar is the addition of Railroad of Lies! We even have a render of it. See it below! | |
The Rapido Trenton Works 6348 cu.ft. CN Boxcar features:
- Designed from original blueprints and field measurements.
- Redi Roof 1 (peaked and overhanging)
- Correct handbrake styles and housings
- Barber S-2 cast steel trucks
- Full underbody detailing
- Correct brake platforms and running boards
- Semi-scale couplers and coupler boxes
- Free rolling turned metal wheels
- Accurate paint and lettering
- Multiple road numbers available per scheme
- Assembled, painted/unlettered version offered
- Suggested minimum radius: 18"
JASON: Hi everyone. The initial preorders for our 1970s CN combo-door boxcar were quite low. When they arrived, the extra 20% we made sold out in a couple of weeks. Please, please, please preorder your fleet of these new cars so you are not disappointed when they come in. Back to you, Bobby.
BOBBY: Thanks, Jason. Here are the paint schemes:
| Order up! Please note the Trenton Works 6348 cu.ft. Boxcar has an order deadline of April 15th, 2025. In the meantime you can order 200 of these cars below to celebrate our 200th newsletter! | |
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HO Scale AutoFlood III Rapid Discharge Hopper
The HO Scale AutoFlood III Rapid Discharge Hopper Car has been a popular car in our fleet.
Beginning production in 2004, the all-aluminum body prototype has been produced in the thousands and has traversed all over North America. With millions of tons of coal per year being mined and hauled out of various locations across the country, you would be hard pressed to not have seen one of these prototype cars in a modern-day coal train.
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This 4,200 cubic foot, exterior post prototype (not to be confused with other prototype exterior post or interior post models) is primarily used as a rapid discharge car which can unload the payload in a matter of seconds via the bottom bay doors. However, the car can also be equipped with a rotary coupler at the end(s), indicated by the color blocks, for either bottom discharge or rotary unloading based on the infrastructure at the final destination.
You may have guessed, due to popular demand, we are now also adding Railroad of Lies to the fleet (thanks Jeremy)! Check out the 3D CAD render of the new scheme, below. That blue really pops.
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Here's the HO Scale AutoFlood III Rapid Discharge Hopper features:
- Die-cast frame and floor for optimum car weight
- Full interior rivet and K-member details
- Super-detailed end cages including separate air and brake piping
- Barber S-2 100-ton Trucks with metal wheels
- Hopper bays feature highly detailed outlet gates
- Etched, see-through end cross-over platforms
- Full end detail, including uncoupling levers
- Separate grab irons installed at the factory
- Accurate paint and lettering
- Removable coal load included
- Multiple road numbers available for each scheme
- Available in singles or multi-packs (Dealers must order multi-packs.)
- Multi-packs boxed for individual sale
- Suggested minimum radius: 18"
Eight schemes being offered on this run PLUS the newly added Railroad of Lies and a data-only version!
| The Autoflood III Rapid Discharge Hopper will close out on April 15th as well. You have a little more time to roll those orders in! Order below from our website or through your local dealer. We highly suggest you reserve while you can, as some schemes are likely to sell out (such as Railroad of Lies)! | |
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HO Scale X-3 Tank Car
Did someone say bread (box)? Here comes the HO Scale X-3 Tank Car back into the fray! This popular tank car saw plenty of life in its nearly 40 plus years in rail service. In this release, our X-3 tank car replicates the 8,000 (new tooling), 10,000 and "Breadbox" (also new tooling) 10,000-gallon designs.
From the 1920s onwards Union Tank Car (UTLX) fielded the largest fleet of tank cars in North America. The basic X-3 was used to haul fuel oil, gasoline, vegetable oils — essentially any liquid that did not require special handling features and went almost everywhere.
Check out some detail shots of the X-3 tank car. These are from the initial offering of cars previously released.
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Union Tank Car also modified a group of X-3 Tank Cars through the addition of heater coils outside of the tanks with wagon-style insulation and jacketing. These highly distinctive and interesting cars were primarily for the transport of transformer oil, used to insulate and cool transformers. These cars could be seen anywhere in the US from the 20s into the 60s. These were EVERYWHERE! | |
We are offering distinct versions for K-brake equipped cars, good before 1953, and AB-brake equipped cars good from the 1940s onwards. In addition to brake equipment, our models feature correct handbrake and coupler cut bar arrangements, which differed depending on the brake equipment installed. | |
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The new run of HO Scale X-3 Tank Cars feature:
- Design from original blueprints
- Correct tank bolster pads
- Correct diameter domes and dome fittings
- Correct UTLX-style warning placard holders
- Andrews or “Bettendorf” cast steel trucks
- Full underbody detailing with two distinct brake systems offered
- Correct end platforms
- Correct coupler cut bars and hand brake mountings
- Semi-scale couplers and coupler boxes
- Free-rolling turned metal wheel
- Suggested minimum radius: 18"
Check out the schemes of each car below.
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Luckily, the X-3 tank cars have a May 15th order deadline so you have time to have your bread buttered on both sides. Order from our website or hand your dough over to the dealer of your choice. | |
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HO Scale GS Drop Bottom Gondola
The GS Drop Bottom Gondola is back with six new schemes joining the existing run! Check out the samples below!
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The Pressed Steel Car Company built 500 41’-6” drop bottom gondolas for the Northern Pacific in 1940. Numbered in the 50000-50499 series these cars were used in general service on the NP, in particular coal and ore service.
Numerous railroads used almost identical gondola designs, and we are now including several of them in our first run offering.
| While these cars were built in the 1940s, many lasted in service into the 1980s. They would fit on any transition era to early modern layout. | |
Rapido’s HO Scale GS Drop Bottom Gondola features:
- Designed from original blueprints and field measurements
- Fully detailed interior and underframe
- Rapido semi-scale metal couplers
- Free-rolling trucks with turned metal wheels
- Accurate paint and decoration
- Multiple road numbers per scheme
- Suggested minimum radius: 18"
Now check out the paint schemes below!
| Ready to order? The drop your orders for the GS Drop Bottom Gondola below or through your local dealer before its deadline on May 15th, 2025. | |
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Tooling, Shipping and Arrival Updates
LOTS of new items will be arriving soon!
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Metra F40PHM-2s are almost here! Here's a look at the production sample we just received. | |
Gyralites, Stratolites and stipes: a Chicago staple.
Below shows off the neat roofline painting.
| H16-44s are also almost here! Here are the samples we showed off last month at Springfield. | CP and Virginian H16-44s. | Turbos! The CN version above and the Demo below, | |
Close ups of the details. | |
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Interior lighting and the rubber diaphragm between the cars highlights the attention to detail.
Below, the iconic nose of the UAC Turbo.
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Camp cars, which are a staple of Conrail and Norfolk Southern. They're on their way to use now. | |
Can;t forget the BNSF F30 Tie Flats. Note the concrete tie loads are removable. | |
Check out these neat PA shots! We see New Haven above and below the Union Pacific B-units. | Cab interiors for the H16-44, complete with wiring for the control stand lights! | Berlin Mills boxcars! The Pan Am versions are taking shape. | |
N scalers, we don't want to leave you out! Here are the RR-56 Reefers. | |
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200 newsletters is a feat! I'm very happy to have been a part of nearly half of them — and to think Rapido's been around since 2004! Since 2020, we've more than doubled in size which means the number of newsletters has, as well. 200 down... Here's to 200 more!
Enjoy the wintry weather, I know I'm looking forward to the spring... and newsletter 201.
Bobby Allard
Newsletter Reporter
I saw my shadow, but I don't want 6 more weeks of winter.
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USA: PO Box 796, Higganum, CT 06441
Canada: 500 Alden Road, Unit 21, Markham, ON L3R 5H5
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