Reservations for our new SW1200 switchers are due September 15. This project has taken on such a life of its own that Jason is now citing it as an example of what NOT to do for a new product launch! Every road name has its own body and detail parts! Our design team loves it, and you will too. Each model includes road-specific lights, cabs, steps, trucks, handrails, antennas and all sorts of other goodies.

A complete product listing in PDF format is available by clicking on the link below.

Our crack audio-visual team has just finished a new video featuring Janet, a bus and lots of silly bits. Oh, and the SW1200 running on the lovely Nottawasaga Model Railway club layout. You can watch the complete epic by clicking here or on one of the two images below.

Make sure to reserve your switchers today. You can order through your favorite dealer, or direct.

HO Scale Comet Coaches and Cab Cars - and a New Video!

Orders will be accepted through September 15 for our HO scale Comet cab cars and coaches. These models feature the full Rapido treatment including complete interior and underbody detail, interior lighting and operating headlights and ditch lights (cab cars, as appropriate). These cars are a must for any modern era commuter layout. There will be a 21-pin decoder socket on the motherboard in case you want to control the lights using a DCC decoder.

Models are available in AMT (Montreal Transit), CDOT (Connecticut Department of Transportation), MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority), NJT (New Jersey Transit) and SEPTA (South East Pennsylvania Department of Transportation). A full list of available schemes and numbers can be downloaded by clicking on the catalog below.

Be sure to contact your dealer, or click here to order direct.

Josh, Jeremy and Jordan (we have too many "J"s at Rapido!) have been hard at work getting a new video together on the new HO Comet cars. They tell me that it's almost ready. Waiting... Waiting... And it's done!

Click here or on one of the images below to watch!

Please get your Comet orders in ASAP. They will go nicely with our Rebuilt FL9 (which the factory promises will arrive in the next few months, only a YEAR late!). Click here for all the Comet info or to order direct.

Our new/old HO scale Steam Heater Car is the final product sharing the September 15th order deadline. We introduced this model several years ago, and now are pleased to bring it back in an updated form. We've added a sound chip that replicates the whooshing sound of the steam boilers at work, and it works on both DC and DCC layouts.

Our model is available in a variety of paint schemes. A full catalogue can be downloaded by clicking on the image below.

For those who may have missed it (or for those who enjoyed it so much the first time that they want to see it again), the Steam Heater Car video can be viewed by clicking here or on the image below. This video stars Jason's son Issac, who is in training to take over the company!

Get your order in today for the new/old steam gennies. Contact your dealer or order direct.

Following the success of our Superior Stainless Budd Mid-Train Dome, it is our pleasure to announce the HO scale Superior Stainless Budd Baggage Dorm! Pullman-Standard may have been America’s largest railroad car manufacturer, but Budd was without a doubt the most stylish. And Rapido’s new Baggage Dorm reflects that style.

Baggage Dormitory cars were used on many trains throughout North America, providing baggage/express service along with sleeping quarters for the on-board service crew. In later years, many of these cars lost their bunks and were converted to full baggage cars. Our model is based on the Canadian Pacific prototype built by Budd in 1954/55. Many railroads operated similar cars.

Like our HO scale RDC, our Superior Stainless Budd passenger cars are without a doubt the most detailed Budd passenger car models ever produced.

Each Baggage Dorm includes:

Here are the paint schemes. SP had almost identical cars, and one of them was lettered for SP Railroad Police. Of course we HAD to do that one. Bring your own HO scale railroad property trespassers to be locked up inside.

If you wish to commission an exclusive paint scheme for our new Baggage Dorm, please get in touch. Anybody want to commission Florida East Coast? They had Budd Baggage Dorms. If the three guys modeling FEC passenger trains in the transition era want to order, like, 30 each, please let us know! 😆

Click on the image below to download the catalog:

We will be announcing an order deadline for the Baggage Dorm when we are ready to start production, but we anticipate it will be in the next few months.

Don’t delay! Please order from your favorite hobby shop ASAP. And please click here to visit the web site for more information or to order direct.

Rapido’s break-out model in 2012 was The Canadian, a complete 10-car train which cost our then-very-small company so much money we almost went out of business! But it was a phenomenal success, and since then our customers have been eager to expand their trains or add to their fleet.

To that end, it is our pleasure to announce the Superior Stainless HO scale Budd Manor Sleeper, also known as a 4-4-5-1: four sections, four roomettes, five double bedrooms and one compartment.

All 42 Manor Sleepers were delivered to Canadian Pacific in 1954 and 1955. They were named after prominent figures in English Canadian history. The Manor Sleepers were transferred to VIA Rail Canada in 1978 and are still in use today. They form the backbone of the sleeper fleet used on The Canadian, with high season consists regularly including eight Manor Sleepers and sometimes as many as 12! The Manor Sleepers have recently received a cosmetic refurbishment and are expected to remain in service for a long time.

Seaboard Air Line tacked on an order for six cars of the same plan. Their cars were delivered starting in November 1954 and are almost identical to the Canadian versions. Amtrak operated similar cars.

Our Manor sleeper also has a fully detailed interior. No single-color lump of plastic here! Separate seats and other interior components come fully decorated and installed. Check out the antimacassars! Oh, and the toilets. You can't see them from outside of the car, but WE know that they're there! Sorry, they don't work.

The paint schemes offered on our Manor Sleeper are:

Just like the Superior Stainless Baggage Dorms, the Budd Manor Sleeper is the most detailed Budd sleeper model you will find in any scale. The full, multi-colour interior is really shown off beautifully by the track-powered interior lighting. It is so inviting that you will want to shrink down to HO scale and go for a long-distance ride on board your model…

Please click on the image below to download the catalogue:

The Manor Sleeper and the Baggage Dorm will be produced together, and we will announce the pre-order deadline in a future edition of Rapido News. Please click here for more info or to order direct.

Our new Superior Stainless passenger cars are available from all finer hobby shops. Crummy hobby shops don’t carry them…

Mark your calendars! Our next big order deadline is Tuesday, October 15th. You won't want to miss these products in N and HO scales.

Our N scale "Canadian" passenger car sets duplicate the features found in our acclaimed HO scale version, only smaller. These include full interiors, full underbody details, accurate body shapes and fluting and our renowned stainless steel finish.

Each "Canadian" set includes ten cars drawn from seven different Budd passenger car designs, and additional three-car sets include either an extra coach, Manor and Chateau sleepers; or two Prestige rebuilt Chateau sleepers and a Prestige rebuilt Park Dome-Sleeper-Observation. Additional "Skyline" dome cars are also available separately.

A complete illustrated listing can be downloaded by clicking on the image below.

The order deadline for the N "Canadian" is October 15. Order yours from your favourite dealer, or click here to order direct.

October 15 is also the reservation deadline for our HO scale X31A boxcars, being offered in both single-door and double-door versions. During the 1950s this was the second-most-common PRR boxcar (after the X29). Starting in 1934, more than 6700 were produced. They lasted in revenue service to the end of the PRR and many could be found in work service for years afterwards. Anybody modeling the period between 1934 and 1968 needs these cars!

Our upcoming HO scale X31A models feature correct details, including; properly overlapping side and roof sheets; full underbody details; metal sill steps; two different handbrake styles; correct PRR clas 2D-F12 trucks and much more.

We have received early injection samples (which we don't want to show you!), and final samples should be here shortly (which we WILL want to show you!). Watch for them in the next newsletter! In the meantime, a complete product catalog can be had by clicking on the image below.

Remember to get your order to your dealer by October 15, or click here to order from our web site. Don't forget, you need a WHOLE BUNCH of these!

Procor (originally Products Tank Line) built nearly 1000 GP20 class tank cars between 1969 and 1984. These cars could be seen across North America in both fleet and lease service. Most importantly, they ran on Jason's layout. (Boy, we need to make more O&W stuff...)

Rapido's all-new HO scale model has loads of detail including numerous etched parts, either 70- or 100-ton trucks (depending on group) and - A Rapido first - factory installed Kadee #119 shelf style semi-scale couplers! They are available in a variety of prototypical schemes, each with multiple car numbers.

The order deadline for these cars is October 15. You can download a complete listing by clicking on the image below.

Remember to reserve your through your dealer, or directly from us by clicking here. Please get your order in by the October 15th deadline!

F59PH - What Happened? Metrolink and TRE are AT RISK!

Often when we introduce a model we are bombarded with e-mails along the lines of "How come you don't offer this in XYZ Lines? It's REALLY popular around here!"

So, trying to head this off at the pass, and knowing that we have a huge number of loyal customers throughout the US and Canada (indeed, the world!), we decided to offer the HO Scale F59PH locos in what we thought should be popular schemes. Well, it's been a draw. Toronto, Chicago and Montreal have seen a lot of orders. The others... not so much!

So far the reservations for two railroads - California's Metrolink (all three schemes) and Trinity Rail Express in Texas have been... well.... crappy. Now, we KNOW that there are many wonderful modelers and customers in the great states of Texas and California, so where are you?

At this point we don't have enough orders to produce either the Metrolink or TRE schemes on the HO F59PH locos. Both need your love!

So, if you HAVE ordered either Metrolink or TRE F59PHs, thank you!

If you haven't, help us out! Texans - don't let those flakes in California show you up! Californians, come on - don't let those cowboys out-perform you!

(Please send hate mail to "Bill should be fired!, c/o Rapido Trains... Just order some locos, please!)

We'll have more on this in the next newsletter and let you know how we're making out. No doubt it will be written by somebody else as I will have been sacked, but if the orders are there it will have been worth it! Click here or contact your hobby shop to reserve yours.

Three pantograph mechanisms, two tooling revisions and significant hair loss later (Ed: you have hair to lose?), we FINALLY have one that we're happy with the operation of. So, where does that leave us?

The factory is currently working on the final EP-5 tooling and mechanical changes, and will be sending us a (final?!) sample as soon as they are done. We will test, photograph and film that sample. Then we will set a final order deadline and go into production. Watch our newsletters for information on all of this. You can also sign up for our book, "So You Want To Be A Model Train Manufacturer," due out any year now... (Just kidding. Well, unless of course we get a bunch of orders...)

If you haven't already, you can still reserve your EP-5s. Click on the image below to download the catalog, then run to your dealer and tell them that they ARE coming and you want one (or more)! Or, to avoid having to explain the delay to them... again... order direct by clicking here.

We want to thank our loyal New Haven (and Penn Central) customers for their patience. We're certain that you will be overjoyed with the final result. Click here for the web page.

Our crack (cracked?) Audio-Video Department has been hard at work on two new epic videos since our last newsletter. The latest offerings feature both crime drama and action! At least that's what they told me...

Break out the popcorn!

The first of this week's double bill is the stunning crime drama, "How To Break Into Your Rapido Trains Dining Car." Rapido President and CEO, Jordan Smith, takes to a life of crime as he... Oh.... Maybe it's not quite that dramatic. However, if you're interested in installing passengers in your HO scale Rapido dining cars, or even just want to admire the silverware up close, then let Jordan show you some tips and tricks to get them open easily. Click here or on the image above to watch!

Our second feature is the action packed "Rapido's N Scale Dash 8 'Draper Taper' in Action." Watch as Jordan shows off our new N scale Dash 8 locos and puts them hard to work on the Scarborough Club's fantastic N scale layout. And I mean WORK! Kind of amazing actually, I mean they pulled... well, you'll have to watch it to find out. Click here or on the image above to watch!

Our factories continue to crank out products, and we have some new and upcoming arrivals to let you know about.

By the time that you read this, we will have shipped our HO scale LRC coaches. This is actually the third run of these quintessential Canadian passenger cars, and features new schemes and also new Business Class car bodies and interiors.

We have also produced a custom run of HO LRC coaches for Otter Valley Railroad. These models represent cars that have been in service for several years and feature faded paint and graphics. You can order these coaches exclusively from Otter Valley by clicking here.

It's a bit of a standing joke around the Rapido office that any time we announce an HO scale project we will IMMEDIATELY get an e-mail asking when it is coming in N! You N scalers are a vocal group!

Well, in this case - they're on the way! The N scale LRC coaches are in the warehouse and are being prepared for shipping RIGHT NOW. Packed with nearly as much detail as their HO counterparts (and only because some separate parts would have been just to small to produce), these cars fill a much-requested hole in our N scale lineup. They should start to leave next week.

Just arrived in our warehouse are the HO scale 53' High Cube containers in a variety of new paint schemes. These are perfect for any modern era layout. We'll be shipping them out as quickly as we can get them unpacked and picked.

The next run of our amazing HO scale RDCs are on the water. They should be arriving in a few weeks. This run features all-new Canadian schemes on RDC-1, -2 and -3 models. In addition to their sharp schemes and crazy amounts of detail (We wouldn’t have it any other way!), the interior lights can now be turned on or off using the “Magic Wand” provided. Neat, eh?

We have a new guy here at Rapido. Sort of….

Some of you may have already had the pleasure of corresponding with him, and some of you may have even had your model repaired by him. However, we’d like to officially welcome Robin Claxton to (or, back to…or... it's complicated...) the Rapido team.

Robin is definitely not a new face here at Rapido. He has been helping out behind the scenes, aiding and assisting in almost every aspect of Rapido since 2013! Robin’s “real” career has been as a freelanced session musician based out of Toronto and he is an extremely versatile drummer and percussionist. Robin has performed with iconic music figures such as Dame Cleo Laine, the late Sir John Dankworth, Louis Pitre, Nia Vardalos, Guido Basso, Lorne Lofsky, the late Peter Appleyard, Maria Schneider, and Jackie Richardson. He has recorded on numerous albums and is the touring drummer for award-winning Canadian blues vocalist icon Shakura S'Aida and most recently, country music star Kira Isabella.

Jason asked me to point out that he has never heard of any of these people and has Robin ever worked with Donovan or Jefferson Airplane? That would be a no. (Ed: I had to try. What about the Byrds? Big Brother and the Holding Company? Autosalvage?) Jason, please go away. And nobody except for you has heard of Autosalvage. Of course, I would be impressed if he had played with Marillion... but... Oh, come on. Look them up! (Ed: Nobody's heard of them either.)

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck North America back in March, Robin’s entire industry imploded. We offered him full-time status which had previously been impossible due to his demanding performance schedules. We even gave him his own office and painted it entirely Sky Blue, sort of like a photo studio. Well, EXACTLY like a photo studio to be honest. Which means, he still doesn’t really have an office. Hey, at least he has a job!

So welcome Robin! You can’t say that you didn’t know what you were getting into!

Join us on Facebook on Monday night, September 14 as Jordan, Josh, John and me (to keep with the theme just call me J-Bill) as we do our best to answer your questions and give you further insightful updates. The banter... errr... questions will start at 8:00 PM. We hope to see you then!

In case you haven't seen it yet, we are proud to let you know that Jason's Kingston Sub layout is on the cover of the October Model Railroader. He'd like me to point out that it is the first time a VIA train has been on the cover of MR since May 1982. (Ed: I was seven!) There's that Ed guy again! That's enough out of you. Who let him in here?!

A different shot of the VIA Turbo train is also featured in a two-page spread inside the magazine. Congratulations, Jason, on getting your first MR cover. We're sure it won't be your last!

And now, for more on modeling from our Fearless Leader, I turn you over to Jason...

Thanks for doing the newsletter, Bill. You are a star.

Back in Rapido News 125 – at the height of lockdown – I wrote about how gratifying it has been to have model railroading as a solace during COVID. Since then I've shared the occasional layout photo with you, and I hope that the photo above won't disappoint. That's my best approximation of the Butlers Creek bridge in Brockville. As the prototype bridge is not that accessible and it was replaced in 1989, I had all of two original photos to work from. I'm happy with the result, even if I later discovered my abutments were too narrow and CN employees would likely fall to their doom reaching for the handrails...

The Butlers Creek scene took a month to build. Often we are in such a hurry to see progress on our model railroads that we regard the repetitive tasks as a burden. We're always looking for ways to cut corners, knowing that there are a finite number of hours available to work on the layout and we want to see results.

Cutting corners in a way that will not cause any danger or damage - like leaving the backs of buildings blank or dropping in a "puffball" forest in background scenes - is a totally acceptable and necessary part of our hobby. In fact, I have no problem outsourcing parts of my layout construction to people who are much better at those parts than I am! Truthfully, we don't have limitless time.

However, I want you to consider the value of taking the time to do those repetitive, "mindless" tasks, to dive into them and really benefit from them. For me, planting a forest tree by tree or blowing dirt onto a hillside covered in glue is a form of meditation.

Chassidus - a form of Jewish spiritual learning - teaches that each of us has two souls: a material soul and a Godly soul. If you are an atheist, bear with me as I think you'll agree with the concept if not the terminology.

Our Godly soul is fed by us acting in a Godly way. Being kind to each other, helping each other, being honest, doing what we can to make the world more friendly - all of these elevate the Godly soul. I believe that elevating the Godly soul increases God's presence in the world. An atheist would say it just makes the world a better place. Same stuff... different name!

When I am working on the "mindless" tasks of building a layout, the effect on my state of mind is equivalent to doing meditation. I am relaxed. I am at peace. When I leave the model railroad room I have the head space to listen to my kids and be present for them. I am less stressed on the road and I become a more courteous driver. I have a tendency to be more polite and more patient.

I recommend you give it a try. Don't rush through the building process. When I need to concentrate and plan what I am going to do next, my analytical brain is hard at work. But when it comes to carrying out those tasks I've planned out, I put on a lecture or some music and I get lost in the activity.

I used to struggle between the desire to build the layout and the desire to finish it and get things running. Now my biggest desire is to get lost in the construction process, to feed my Godly soul and make life more enjoyable for me and those around me. I then discover that while I was meditating, I just happened to complete a gorgeous new scene.

Take some time and give it a shot. Put deadlines and results off to the side, and just get lost in the build. See if you, too, can elevate your Godly soul in the process.

OK - back to Bill.

Bill: There's nothing left. The newsletter's done.

Jason: Oh. Is anyone still reading?

Bill: No. Even I'm not reading. It's just you. I'm in MY basement now!

Until next time,

Bill