We started out with Andy and me working from spare rooms and our four new railway projects were little more than a collection of drawings and photographs. We didn’t even have a bank account.

Look at us now! We have an actual warehouse full of actual product. Our factories are making and tooling those four projects and we’ve launched three new wagons and a whole range of The Titfield Thunderbolt themed products in the meantime. We're also producing another run of APT-Es and, more importantly, we’ve got almost 100 retailers on board to stock our products.

But we’re not resting on our laurels. At the time of writing, we have five yet-to-be-announced wagons in tooling, four new locomotives at the design stage and two new buses that are coming together nicely.

That’s not bad for 12 months’ work!

Now's a good time to place on record a big thank you to Andy. Not only has he almost single-handedly put together a fully-functioning warehouse but he’s created the website, balanced the books, packed boxes of buses, argued with banks, liaised with retailers and negotiated important licences and has still found time to manage key projects too.

Before I ramble on anymore, we must also thank Andy’s brother Steve for his invaluable help as well as the blossoming UK design and graphics teams. We also have to thank all those from the North American business who have pitched in to help, especially to Bobby Allard, Josh Anderchek and Bill Schneider for their stellar work in all facets of product and advertising designs. And of course thanks to Jeremy Fleming, our video wizard.

If you're passionate about your model trains and buses and fancy joining this fantastic team of people, the good news is that we’ve got two vacancies to fill (more on this later).

Right, so what else do we have in this issue?

And finally…

Bad news: Richard’s made another video. Click here or on the above image to view it.

Which shall we deal with first?

ANDY: You mean there’s more bad news? Surely you making another video is bad enough…

RICHARD: And after all the nice things I said about you? Typical…

Well, we had hoped to bring you images and videos showing the fresh Hunslet 0-6-0ST samples that we’ve ordered from the factory. These will have the revised wheel design with much thicker tyres. We've also asked for a couple of other areas to be tidied up so that these samples will look nigh on perfect. But they’re still being assembled and they've missed the deadline for this newsletter.

The good news is that we've decided to extend the order deadline so that you’ll have plenty of time to see the new samples and watch how they run. You'll also have a bit more time to replenish the piggy bank after Christmas!

We’ll let you all know as soon as the fresh samples arrive but you won’t have long after that until the order deadline closes. It’s probably best to get your order in now to avoid disappointment.

JASON: Don't beat about the bush. Give it to 'em straight!

RICHARD: OK. Once we get the samples, you'll only have a couple of weeks to get your orders in as the factory is really eager to start production. So please order now.

If you are struggling for Christmas gift ideas, don't forget our wonderful 1:76 scale BCT 'New Look' Guys! They're an ideal stocking filler so add them to your Christmas list! If your order is big enough, Andy might deliver them in person in a full Santa outfit...

As you may have gathered, Christmas is coming. The Rapido Trains UK office will be closed between Christmas and New Year. The last day to guarantee your order for delivery in time for Christmas is December 16th 2021.

Despite the initial nerves at trying something new and my general fear when faced with new technology, our first Facebook Live event on November 16th was a success… apart from some bearded tramp who materialised half way through. Andy, clearly the security system needs improving.

ANDY: I don’t think he was a tramp. I think he's our boss.

RICHARD: He was really annoying, I know that much. He kept on poking me with things. Anyway, if you want to re-live the comedy gold that was our Facebook Live event or simply want to see the samples that we had on show…

ANDY: You mean the ones you didn’t leave at home?

RICHARD: Yes, those ones. Anyway, if you couldn’t attend the event live, you can watch it again either by clicking on the image above or going to our Facebook page.

We’ll be hosting another one again soon so keep an eye out for details. And if you don't follow us on Facebook, click here to see what you're missing.

Click here or on the image above to find out more about the Technical Graphic Artist role.

If working for a bunch of nutcases like us seems appealing, then we have two vacancies that we’re looking to fill.

We're looking for someone to create livery artworks as well as creative graphics, and we're looking for a new warranty engineer who can also assist in the warehouse.

If you think you’ve got the skills, the sense of humour and the same taste in biscuits as we have, we look forward to hearing from you!

So, click here to read or download the job description for the Technical Graphic Artist role

Alternatively, click here to read or download the job description for the Warranty Engineer/Warehouse & Customer Service Assistant role.

Please DON'T click there if:

JASON: I like Voyagers.

RICHARD: You're fired, then.

Click here or on the above image to find out more about our Warranty Engineer/Warehouse & Customer Service Assistant role.

Here’s the bit that I’m sure you always look forward to: what’s happening with all our products?

Let’s start with a first look at our ‘OO’ gauge GWR Diagram AA20 ‘Toad’ brakevan. This has been designed in the UK and it looks fantastic. The design files have gone off to the factory to be prepared for tooling.

Does that mean we’re ready to take orders for The Titfield Thunderbolt train packs? I’m afraid not quite yet. We’d hoped everything would be ready for this issue but Lion/Thunderbolt requires one or two minor tweaks and the UK designers had only just completed the 'Loriot Y' design work before this newsletter closed for press.

We're confident that we'll be able to announce the opening of the order book next issue. Stay tuned.

The design work on Lion is almost complete and has been double-checked by two experts. It's nearly ready to start tooling!

We are also delighted to announce that tooling has also started on the ‘15XX’!

ANDY: Finally, I hear you all shout.

RICHARD: Yes, it might have taken a bit longer than anticipated but it’s great that this project has reached this momentous stage.

Also in tooling are the ‘N’ gauge Class 28 and the ‘Conflat P’.

There's not much to show on the '15XX' yet but here you can see the shape of the boiler on one of the newly created moulds.

'N' gauge Class 28.

More importantly, we also have products in production! Closest to completion are the APT-Es.

They’re getting close to being ready to ship which is why it’s especially vexing to have decoder manufacturer ESU say that there’s a three week delay in the supply of decoders. This is the global electronics parts shortage rearing its ugly head again and so we can’t give you a rough ETA for the APT other than early 2022.

But we’re also delighted to say that production is in full swing on both the SECR five and seven-plank opens and the Gunpowder Vans. These are all selling fast. We expect the GPVs and several versions of the open wagons to be sold out before they arrive.

An almost fully painted sample of the fresh batch of APT-Es. This photograph was taken at the factory. The windscreens won't be covered in yellow paint on the production models!

Look at that: boxes full of freshly moulded SECR open wagon bodies ready for assembly.

Here's a first look at the GWR Dia. Z4 gunpowder van. This will make a striking addition to any Great Western layout.

No. 701016 was one of 20 GPVs from the 1936-39 batch painted grey; it's understood that the remaining 45 vehicles were painted bauxite.

We're producing two LNER liveried GPVs: this one depicts one of the five built in 1925 whereas No. N260936 was one of 20 built for the LNER by the LMS in the 1940s.

Mike Dean e-mailed us with a modification that he’s made to his BCT ‘New Look’ Guys that we thought worth sharing with a wider audience.

Says Mike, “I wanted to find a way to avoid connecting and disconnecting the lighting wires whenever I wanted to admire the bus more closely.

“My idea was to put pick-ups underneath the bus that would simply touch 'live' wires on the ground. Here’s what I’ve managed to come up with so far.”

Good work Mike!

If you have any Rapido-related projects that you would like to share with your fellow Rapido collectors, please let us know.

So apparently the ‘tramp’ that joined us for our Facebook Live event was none other than our intrepid leader, Rapido’s President and founder, Jason Shron.

JASON: Tramp? Hey! I resemble that.

RICHARD: To be fair, I did say that your outfit reminded me of Bender from The Breakfast Club. That’s quite a compliment!

Thanks to Covid, neither I nor Andy had ever met our boss in person. We’d met before we be both joined Rapido and we’ve had many, many conversations over Zoom.

Our flying visit to Model Rail's Consultant Editor Chris Leigh enabled Richard to test a couple of '16XX's' on Chris's layout. While Richard did this, Jason stank the place out with some sort of fish snack that he picked up in Waitrose’s kosher aisle.

Jason, Andy, Steve and Richard enjoy a well-earned drink in the Kings Head in Staplehurst. After bolting down our food we had to hot-foot back to the office for our first Facebook Live event.

Thank you for making it to the end of yet another newsletter! Before I sign off, I'd like to remind you that our LBSCR 'E1' survey is still open. Don't forget to fill it in or tell your friends about it. Your feedback really will help influence how this project turns out.

And that's it for now. See you again soon!

Richard