Surprise, they're back! The HO Scale Budd Mid-Train Dome Cars have made a return, but beware, supplies are VERY limited! These are available for order IMMEDIATELY from your favorite dealer - so don't wait, order NOW!

And as a special treat, we have a video for these new cars. Click here or the photo below to watch! Then hurry back to view all of the samples and details about these cars.

Exciting, eh? Now let's take a look at the Budd Mid-Train Dome models that just arrived. And there's also an exclusive car from Spring Creek! Keep scrolling to find out.

We know... it looks a lot like that passenger road from that movie. No, we aren't making that road.

Spring Creek Model Trains is releasing an exclusive Mid-Train dome decorated in DRGW colors, named "California". This car was one of the private cars that was tacked onto the end of the Ski Train consist. Enhance your train by adding this car, today! Head over to Spring Creek's website to order one now!

The HO Scale Budd Mid-Train Dome Cars have plenty of details and features:

In addition to the above, they also feature two different interiors:

But what about those paint schemes? Glad you asked! Check out the photo below to see every scheme being offered. Yes, there are two identical VIA cars. That's because - and we think we're being very clever here - some have the post-1992 bluish interior and some have the post-2015 green and brown interiors! And they are car number-specific!

Need to see the Budd Mid-Train Dome Car Catalogue? Click the photo below to check out all of the info regarding these new cars.

The Dome Cars are here, and we are sold out at Rapido. That means you must get your order in with your favourite hobby shop ASAP! Head on over to the listing of dealers or call your regular dealer today.

Here's a letter that Jason just sent to dealers. It applies to direct orders as well. We appreciate your understanding about this. We're in between a rock and hard place.

Flower Power IS STILL the best.

Need some new swanky threads? Maybe you want a coffee mug or a hat. Wherever your desires take you, our Swag Store has it all! But remember, if you want your order by the holidays, your best bet is to order now!

So, tell your parents, your siblings or your significant other that you want Rapido Swag! You can wear it at any event, such as:

There is no limit on how many shirts, caps or mugs you can have, and luckily for you, we intend to keep adding more items on a regular basis. That means you'll just have to keep checking the Swag Store to see what has arrived!

Mark your calendars, the HO Scale Rohr Turboliner order deadline has been pushed to February 15th, 2022. Why the change? Well, two VERY BIG reasons: Firstly, we are a few days away from receiving a painted sample to shoot a video on Dave Abeles's Onondaga Cutoff layout, and it won't be ready in time for the deadline.

Dave's layout is based in the home territory for the Turboliners, and Dave has set his layout in 1994, absolutely perfect timing! His beautiful layout will provide lots of great video and photo opportunities you won't want to miss - so keep an eye on our YouTube page for that video in the next few weeks.

The second reason is we will be bringing this sample to the Amherst Railway Society's annual Springfield train show, on January 29th and 30th. We couldn't think of a better way to end the order deadline than to show off our sample for everyone to see! So, make your plans, set your alarms for that weekend and head over to our display!

Three BIG order deadlines are on call for the 15th of December. Make sure to put the HO Scale RR-56 Reefer and the HO Scale USRA Single Sheathed and CP Clone Boxcars all on your calendar. You won't want to miss out on these great items!

HO Scale ATSF RR-56 Reefer

In November's newsletter we went over all of the details of the HO Scale ATSF RR-56 Reefer. This time we have a video on these cars! In a week or two we will have a snazzy new video with Craig and Matt! Subscribe and bookmark our YouTube page to get alerts when it goes live. In the meantime, check out some new angles of the samples!

Note the piping and the four tanks. No, we didn't miss an underbody detail on the RR-56 Reefers! Did we mention that the flooring also has the correct spacing? Now, let's move to the sides and that amazing detail and etching near the reefer motor.

And don't forget the sound module that is an extra feature for these cars! In case you missed it: These reefers contain a "plug and play" circuit board that accepts our new reefer sound module. To install the sound, you simply remove the shell and plug in the sound module. You can order these from your hobby shop or directly from us.

Now, let's dive into the RR-56 sales catalog. Click the photo below to look through it.

Are ATSF Reefers your thing? Maybe you just need to move those perishables from the left coast to the east. Either way, the ATSF RR-56 Reefer will closeout the ordering period on December 15th. So round up those orders and get them in!

By the way, Jason says that the orders for this bodacious reefer are WAY behind the orders the USRA cars (below). Remember, these cars did not just operate on the Santa Fe. They operated EVERYWHERE!

Last newsletter we promised a new video to accompany the HO Scale USRA Single-Sheathed and CP Clone Boxcars. The sample is enroute to us now, so we will have that video uploaded on our YouTube page ASAP. Scroll down to see the latest photos of these first samples. As a reminder, these are pre-production models, and all details are subject to revision. However, we think these are amazing first test shots! They even have rivets!

Superb detailing on the ends AND that Creco door.

We didn't forget about the CP Clone cars. Check out the photo below!

Ready to see more info for these boxcars? The USRA Single-Sheathed catalog is on the left and the CP Clone catalogue is on the right. Click the photo of the one you want to view.

Ready to get your last-minute orders in for the USRA Single Sheathed and CP Clone Boxcars? December 15th is the deadline, so make sure you have your list and check it twice!

We have exciting news about a new website coming, as well as a few new samples and some crazy videos!

In January we will be launching a new website with all sorts of added features and additions. The good news: It should be 100 times more reliable and faster than the current site. The bad news: Both websites will be down for at least a week while the new one is changed over during one week in January 2022. This is also why there will be no January order deadlines. So, make sure you have all the info you need from the website before the changeover takes place.

The new website will allow our stores and distributors to enter and manage their own orders. It will also allow our direct customers to view their orders much more clearly. The big issue for us is the "back end" of the web site, i.e. our accounting software. The accounting software currently requires a lot of manual entry (such as every single dealer order) and there are a lot of opportunities for errors. It's been a long time coming, but we're finally upgrading our system from the 1990s.

We have THREE awesome new videos! The first is Jason getting a bit too excited to see not one but two detouring VIA trains running past the office. You can watch that by clicking here or the photo above. Beware: There's lots of "Oh-Yeahs."

Next up is the November Unboxing video, hosted by Jordan. It contains the HO Scale Barrel Ore Hoppers and the HO Scale X72 Boxcars. Watch the video to see amazing closeups of the details on both cars. Click here or the photo above to watch.

And for all of the skeptics, we have a weight-pulling test video. No, no, it's not Janet vs. the warranty department in weightlifting, it's the HO Scale CP D10 Steam Loco pulling 15 cars up a 1.75% grade on Bill's layout... with ease! This out-pulls many regular diesels from other manufacturers.

Click here or the photo above to be awe-struck by Bill's layout...I mean the D10.

Our famous "Ask Us Anything" livestream will be on Monday, December 13th, at 7PM EST (4PM PST).... and as always, 8:30 in Newfoundland! Tune in to see Jordan, Jason and other Rapido members join the panel to discuss everything under the sun, even model trains!

You can check all that out on our Facebook page, on December 13th at 7PM EST! If you can't make it then, no need to worry, you can re-watch it on Facebook or once we upload a VHS version to our YouTube channel!

We've got a few updates this time, including the Chevy Caprice project! I don't know about you, but I'm excited, so let's go right to the cars!

Who's excited about the HO Scale Chevrolet Caprices? We are! Check out some of the production models we just received.

Francis and the warehouse team have been CRAZY busy the last few weeks! We've just shipped:

Next week we're shipping:

Enroute from the factories are:

Leaving the factories next week are:

...as for when they'll get here, your guess is as good as ours!

Check out these photos of the Barrel Ore Car production samples.

A New Haven EP-5 ready to go!

The PC EP-5 sure looking good.

Packing up the Barrel Ore Cars!

Here are a few photos of some projects currently in various states of assembly.

A gaggle of GO Transit F59PHs, looking pretty.

And for the west coast fans, Metrolink F59s!

Check out all of those Bilevel cars!

And their trucks, all wired up and ready to be placed underneath the Bilevel cars.

Here's a PA body, in partial paint! Still more printing to go. Nevertheless, it looks superb and almost ready for details.

Here's an E8 Locomotive body shell test shot, sitting on top of the ginormous mold it came from. Soon!

N Scale Buses! They're small, so you can fill a whole cabinet with them!

What could this be? These are the Fruehauf Trailer molds, of course!

For those N Scale fans, here's the AutoFlood III Coal Hopper underbody.

Please note Rapido will be closed from December 25th to January 3rd (inclusive). If you have a model railroad emergency during that time, please remember... There is no such thing as a model railroad emergency!

In all seriousness, if you need to get in touch during that time, we will get back to you in early January. And don't be like that guy on Facebook who messaged us at 7:30 p.m. on a Friday and then complained at 8:30 p.m. the same day that we had not got back to him. (TRUE STORY!) Contrary to popular belief, Rapido employees do need to eat and sleep on occasion.

Short newsletter this time. (Ed: Short?? You call this short???) That means the Christmas Day newsletter might be double the size! Maybe even have something new in it... You'll just have to open it up with your gifts on the 25th!

Until next time,

Bobby