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Rapido Newsletter Vol. 197
©2024 Rapido Trains Inc.
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Dear Rapido Customer,
Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the newsletter's so delightful. Since we've got no place to go, let's read our announcements in HO, HO, HO!
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In this 197th issue...
- Burlington Northern C30-7 Update
- A Quick Note About Tariffs
- Silent Night Mystery Box
- New Product Announcements
- Upcoming Shows
- Tooling, Factory and Shipping Updates
- An End of Year Message From Jason Shron
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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Burlington Northern C30-7 Update
We wanted to kick off this newsletter with some great news to share with you! The factory sent us a nice surprise in the form of reworked Burlington Northern C30-7 bodies with the CORRECT painting on the anticlimber top deck. These C30-7s will be leaving the factory THIS WEEK and should be arriving by mid-January. We can't wait! Until then, keep checking future newsletters and our Facebook for more updates.
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A Quick Note About Tariffs
Jason here. Before we get into this action-packed newsletter, I want to briefly discuss tariffs. Please don't worry about them too much.
Rapido's tentative plan is as follows:
1. If the 25% tariffs on goods entering the US from Canada is put in place, we will put our US shipments on hold for a few weeks while we wait to see if the tariffs are removed. My guess is they would be removed quite quickly as too much of the American economy depends on free trade between Canada and the US. We do have a US company, and if the 25% tariffs are in place long term we will hopefully be permitted to shift our US operations to our US company so you will not be dinged with the 25% tariff.
2. The same applies if tariffs are applied on all model trains coming from China. We'll wait for a few weeks rather than having people pay a tariff that is then removed a short time later through negotiations way above our level.
3. If tariffs on model trains from China are put in place and they last longer than a few weeks, we will treat it like a tax. So the invoice from us will have the tariff listed as a line item. The tariffs would be paid directly from Rapido to the US government so there is no way around them. My guess is any final tariff on model trains would not be more than 10%.
I would not recommend cancelling your preorders now in fear of tariffs that may or may not happen and may or may not be higher than 10%. When/if the tariffs are put into place, stores and manufacturers will most likely be understanding if you can no longer afford your order and need to cancel or put on hold until the tariffs are removed. You would not be alone in that. A lot of things would become less affordable, and if it's a choice between model trains or groceries, groceries will win the day.
In the January Railroad Model Craftsman I go over tariffs and our hobby in much more detail. It is available now.
If you are feeling anxious, please refer back to my first line above: don't worry about tariffs too much. Whatever happens, we will get through it together.
Back to you, Bobby!
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The Rapido Silent Night Mystery Box
The Silent Night Mystery Box is here and it offers everything you could want...at an even lower price! In this box, you are guaranteed a DC/Silent HO scale locomotive, at least one other piece of HO scale equipment, a Rapido Christmas ornament, Rapido's delicious sea salt dark chocolate, and the possibility of other Rapido goodies! While we no longer are offering our Premium Mystery Box, we promise that whatever you get, it will still be worth WAY MORE than the purchase price for this box, and that it's just as good!
Please keep in mind that many of our DC locomotives come equipped with a factory-installed speaker to be converted for DCC use (all you need is a decoder).
Definitely take a chance and order your Christmas Mystery Box today for yourself or the modeler in your life today! Psst... they're going really fast!
Disclaimer: Boxes will arrive after Christmas, depending on courier times. No warranties implied or otherwise offered.
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Check out the haul! These are from a our Premium Mystery Box, which are now sold out!
The good news is you can still order a Silent Night Mystery Box.
...But don't wait, they'll selling FAST!
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Check out the Christmas Day launch video that has our usual festive twist. There are SO MANY new products this time, so warm up that eggnog or cider and take a cozy seat by the fire before hitting play. Click here or that photo above to watch the video. | |
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NEW MODEL! HO Scale Santa Fe CF7 Locomotive
Could there be a more iconic “rebuilt” road switcher than the (Rapido) CF7? This locomotive was built to fulfill the need for more smaller-duty locomotives and it has withstood the test of time. Now it joins Rapido's line of highly detailed locomotives!
Shown here are the preliminary 3D CAD renders of the CF7. Please note that these are based on our actual design files and are subject to revisions.
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The pinstripe/bookend scheme looked superb on the CF7s. 2620 looks great wearing it! Below, three CF7s and three F7Bs hustle a freight in a real whack of a lashup.
Photographer unknown, courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection.
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The round cabs really had an attractive appeal! Dig that can antenna.
Below, a similar version awaits the next job assignment.
Photographer unknown, courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection.
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Here's a quick bit of history of the Santa Fe CF7s. In the late 1960s, Santa Fe’s F-unit fleet was nearing the end of their lifespan. At the same time, Santa Fe was looking to fulfill a need for nearly 200 plus "road switcher" locomotives for use on their secondary and branch lines. High costs from GE and EMD led the Santa Fe back to the locomotive rebuild concept. Santa Fe's Cleburne Shops was tasked with this famous program, under the guidance of shop superintendent, Charles W. Cramer.
Aside from their new long hoods, rehabbing of the trucks, prime mover and cutting off the trusses of the F-Unit, they also received new cabs. The first CF7s received round cabs, using the roofline of the F-Unit contours. As the rebuilding program picked up, it was soon determined that parts needing to be fitted to the rooflines would have to be custom built over using stock parts. Out came the "Topeka" style cab — even though it was the Cleburne Shops that made them From start to finish, the program took just 45 days to complete for each unit!
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2424 shows off the angled cab without the Stratolite and extra side window.
In 1985, Jim Boyd caught a similar version taking a short break. Courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection.
| Santa Fe 2600 shows off the angled cab with Stratolite beacon and raised antenna stand. Below, the real life variation is on a manifest on the Tehachapi Loops, proving they really did get everywhere! Photo by Jim Boyd, courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection. | |
LA Junction 2619 sits in its namesake city of Los Angeles.
Photo by Randy Keller, courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection.
| What sets the Rapido HO Scale CF7 Locomotive apart from the rest? Let's start at the underframe details — and there's plenty of them! | The F-Unit style air tank and contours of the fuel tank are a neat touch previous models didn't have. The piping and cables add a level of detailing that brings this CF7 to the next level. | We also have FIVE different cab variations, two long hoods, open and closed sills and Cannon and Company licensed 36" cap top radiator fans. Ooo-la-la! The CF7 Locomotive has never had this much attention, before. | The Cannon and Company licensed 36" cap top fans add the cherry on top! | |
Looking for the Rapido HO Scale CF7 Locomotive features? You've come to the right place.
- Five different cab variations
- Two different hood variations
- Open and closed sill assemblies
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Cannon and Company licensed 36” cap top radiator fan designs
- Incredible underbody details including piping, draft gear, sand lines and much more
- Etched grills and steps
- Heavy, die-cast chassis
- 5-pole motor with dual flywheels
- Lit control stand gauges!
- Working headlights, ground lights, number boards and beacons
- Separate metal grab irons and handrails
- Insane amount of roadnumber-specific details
- Full, multi-color interior
- DC/Silent (21-pin DCC Ready) or DC/DCC/Sound (ESU LokSound) options
- MoPower capacitor system for uninterrupted DCC power
- Suggested minimum radius: 18”
OK, now for the BEST part: the schemes! Scroll down,there's quite a few.
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Rapido Trains Inc. is an official licensee of Amtrak®.
Time to place your orders! You can get the ball rolling on those CF7s by clicking the button below. We appreciate those early preorders as it makes us feel good! 😁
These will be sent to the tooling shop before Chinese New Year, and we expect our first samples in the spring. Target release date is late 2025/early 2026. There are other CF7s out there. We hope you will wait for ours. As you can see from the designs, it will be OUTSTANDING.
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NEW MODEL! HO Scale PRSL Cab GP38 Locomotive
The long awaited Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines GP38 is about to become a reality in HO Scale! For many years these unique dual-control stand cabs have been requested and Rapido is proud to present not one, not two but THREE variations of this iconic GP38.
Please note: In the video, the PRSL 3D CAD render file contains dynamic brakes which are incorrect for the model. We are aware of this and you can be assured these will ONLY be applied to the correct schemes.
| The 3D CAD renders of the PRSL extended cab Geep get us excited! | The familiar lines of the cab and pushed out front window wall, to make room for the dual controls. | |
In the late 1960s, The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, which was jointly owned by the Pennsylvania and Reading Railroads, needed modern power to replace their aging fleet of 1950s-era Baldwin diesels. EMD provided the solution in the form of the then all-new GP38 Locomotive. While mechanically a standard GP38, the PRSL fleet featured a distinctive cab design due to the PRSL’s requirement for dual control stands. This feature pushed the cab front windows out over the nose which created a distinctive look. While not a true "extended cab" it visually created that look. More on this in a bit!
The PRSL ordered a total of 15 of these GP38s delivered in three separate orders. 2000-2004 were delivered in 1967, 2005-2009 in 1969 and the final five, 2010-2014 were delivered in 1970. The last five were financed by Penn Central owing to PRSL's financial woes at the time. These units would become part of Conrail in 1976. From there, these units would scatter throughout the country on different railroads as leases expired. One would eventually find its way to BNSF, where it still operates today. Most of the other ex-PRSL Geeps still survive today on various shortlines.
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PRSL 2004 sits inside of Pavonia Yard in Camden, NJ.
Photographer unknown, courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection.
| Jim Sorenson caught Conrail 7905 with another GP38 variant, ready to shove out of Port Reading (NJ) Yard on a YPPR local. Jim was a good friend to discuss the merger and 1990s era of railroading. Sadly he passed away a few years back, but thankfully his vast collection of photos lives on. Photo by James L. Sorenson, courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection. | |
About that unique dual-control stand cab...
The reasoning behind the PRSL's decision to order a customized GP38 Locomotive from EMD with dual-control stands was simple: they lacked turning facilities on their system. Of the 15 built, there were two control stand variations of the dual-control stand, which we will feature on our models plus a third, rebuilt style with the long hood forward control stand removed.
If you noticed above, we have the large box-style stand, the true dual-control stand and the rebuilt short hood forward only stand. The downside to the dual-control stands was the large box stand was incredibly unwieldy to navigate around and it eliminated the jump seat for the brakeman.
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Here's a render of the interior of the double control stand variation.
Note the fireman's jump seat in the middle.
| This is the box control stand. Even more crew discomfort! Note how little room there is for the crew to navigate around that box housing the linkages. | |
Psst.... don't forget, all PRSL Geeps were manufactured without dynamic brakes, however some would receive this feature later on in life — we cover both!
OK, now for those HO Scale PRSL Cab GP38 Locomotive Features:
- PRSL “dual control stand” cab - First time in plastic!
- Highly detailed cab interior featuring three separate interiors (large box, double and rebuilt single control stands)
- Road-specific details for each model
- Rapido’s innovative dead straight metal side handrails with plastic stanchions
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Cannon and Company licensed radiator fan designs
- Incredible underframe detail including traction motor cables, air filters and a silly number of separately applied parts
- Separate grab irons and handrails installed at the factory
- Operating headlights, rear lights, white class lights AND ditch lights and beacons (where appropriate)
- Separately applied wire grabs
- See-through, etched steps
- Correct fuel tank sizes per road number
- Multiple truck sideframes tooled
- Multiple dynamic-brake hatches and air filters
- DC/Silent (21-pin DCC Ready) or DC/DCC/ESU LokSound
- MoPower capacitor system for uninterrupted DCC power
- Suggested minimum radius: 18”
And now for the schemes.
| Excited yet? We certainly are and can't wait until we get a pre-production sample, which we expect will be sometime in spring 2025. Until then, let's get to ordering those PRSL Cab GP38s. You can do so through your dealer or below. | |
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NEW MODEL! HO Scale GP39 Locomotive and Slug Sets
Rapido Trains is proud to present the EMD GP39 Locomotive in HO scale. But wait, there's more! We can't offer the GP39 WITHOUT also announcing the SWMT Slugs. Boom. Here's some of the 3D CAD renders. Note, these renders have footboards, which will not be included in the Chessie System and newer units as they were outlawed by the FRA in the 1970s.
| Everything looks better in Chessie! Different angles of the GP38 and the SWMT slug. | The GP39 Locomotives will be offered as single units and GP39 Mother+SWMT Slug Sets. | |
C&O 3910 along with one fantastic lashup head a freight through Riverside, Illinois.
Below, 3901, now pained in the classic Chessie orange, blue and vermillion lead a freight through Akron, Ohio. Both photos by Paul Wester, courtesy of the Diesel Era collection.
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The EMD GP39 Locomotive was unique in that it featured a 12-cylinder, turbocharged 645E3 prime mover — 4 cylinders fewer than the GP38. The concept was to build a similar locomotive with slightly more horsepower (2,300hp) and have better fuel efficiency. This was not the case as the GP39 saw higher maintenance costs of the turbocharger, whereas the GP38 model featured a more efficient roots-blown 645 power plant. These factors led to the GP39 model seeing only 23 examples built with the Chesapeake & Ohio, ordering 20 locomotives.
The 23 GP39s could be spotted all across the C&O system and into the Chessie System era. Around the mid-1980s, Chessie began to mate select GP39s with switcher mates (SWMT), which were GP7 and GP9s chopped down and turned into slugs.
Did we mention we have renders of those, too? ...C'mon, scroll down!
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The rear end of the SWMT slug, with cable connections to the GP39 mother unit.
A top view of the SWMT slug shows off the smooth roof lines.
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4293 sits in Akron, Ohio, wearing Chessie colors but now operating under the CSX brand.
Photo by Roger Durfee, courtesy of the Paul Wester / Diesel Era collection.
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The GP39 and SWMT Slug combo could be seen in yards across Chessie's network, but their mainstay was their Russell, Kentucky, yard. Many of these sets made it into the CSX era, receiving a wide variety of paint schemes. Some even made it into the YN3 era! Hey Canucks - these even ran in Southern Ontario! | |
Not all GP39s in the CSX era were mated to slugs. 4289 sits idle in Lima, Ohio while 4280 is mated to an SWMT. Photos by Todd Novak, courtesy of the Paul Wester / Diesel Era collection. | |
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CSX SWMT slug number 1040 proves these lasted well into the 2000s, wearing YN3 paint.
Photo by Doug Boyd, courtesy of the Paul Wester / Diesel Era collection.
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Want to know ALL of the GP39 and GP39+SWMT Slug Set Features? Everything is listed here:
- Powered SWMT Slug — a first in plastic!
- First GP39 in plastic!
- Road-specific details for each model
- Rapido’s innovative dead straight metal side handrails with plastic stanchions
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Cannon and Company licensed radiator fan designs
- Incredible underframe detail including traction motor cables, air filters and a whopping amount of separately applied parts
- Road-specific battery box doors
- Separate metal grab irons and handrails installed at the factory
- Operating headlights, rear lights, white class lights, ditch lights and beacons (where appropriate)
- Highly detailed cab interior
- Correct fuel tank sizes per road number
- Multiple styles of stepwells
- See-through, etched steps
- Separately applied wire grabs
- Multiple sideframe variations tooled
- Multiple dynamic-brake hatches and air filters
- DC/Silent (21-pin DCC Ready) or DC/DCC/ESU LokSound
- MoPower capacitor system for uninterrupted DCC power
- Suggested minimum radius: 18”
Below are the schemes and variations. First are the standalone GP39s.
| Now for the GP39 and SWMT Slug sets. | |
For all you freelancers, we've included two generic styles of SWMT Slugs, so you can roll your own.
We know the GP39 and GP39+SMWT Slug sets will be a popular commodity. Place your reservations through your dealer or our website below. As with other oddball locomotives, it will probably be many, many years before we rerun these. So get your orders for this run!
By the way, these will be heading into the tooling shop as soon as we finish our final corrections.
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NEW MODEL! HO Scale Balloon Top Coaches
The Balloon Top Coaches – or “Canadian Flyers” as they often called by railfans – are a series of 50 day coaches built by Canadian Car & Foundry in 1937 for Canadian National, numbered 5180-5229. (An order of 25 additional cars was delivered in 1942, with significant spotting differences.) The 1937 Balloon Tops were transferred to VIA Rail Canada in 1978, and the last car – 5186 – was finally retired in 1996!
| It's in the details! From the sides to the famous underbody detailing of a Rapido passenger car, the Balloon Tops have it all! | |
The Balloon Tops offered top-of-the-line comfort in 1937. The cars featured swivelling and reclining Heywood-Wakefield seats with thick, Dunlopillo foam cushions. It also had ice-activated air conditioning, steam heating, reading lights and a positively luxurious ladies’ bathroom and sitting area rounded out the interior amenities. They ran on cast six-wheel Commonwealth trucks, originally with either McCord journal boxes or Timken roller bearings. All were soon converted to roller bearings. The cars were delivered with sash windows but these proved troublesome and were soon replaced by sealed Adlake windows. | |
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Balloon Tops were used on CN and later VIA services all across Canada and into the United States. They were used on local trains as well as premium trains like the Rapido, the Ocean and the Super Continental. They were also a mainstay on commuter services in the Toronto area before these routes were adopted by GO Transit. Most Balloon Tops were retired with the other ice-activated AC cars in the 1980s. However, 5186 soldiered on in northern Manitoba on the Lynn Lake mixed train until late 1996, when it – and 1919-built Colonist Car 7201 - were finally replaced by a pair of rebuilt EM coaches.
Two Balloon Tops were returned to CN, one for company use (in silver paint) and one for the Northern Alberta Railways service between Edmonton and Waterways/Fort McMurray (in a CN version of the VIA paint scheme).
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It's 1980, in Toronto railroad scene was still filled with amazing consists and locos.
Photo by John Sjolander, courtesy of the Kaluza-Mueller collection.
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Why “Canadian Flyers”?
The “Canadian Flyer” moniker appeared after similar-looking New Haven Osgood Bradley coaches were referred to as “American Flyers” in Arthur Dubin’s influential 1974 book, More Classic Trains. However, the Balloon Tops were only referred to as “Canadian Flyers” by railfans, and never by the railways. We can find no evidence that these cars were copies of the Osgood Bradley cars; nor is there any evidence that the Balloon Tops were built under any sort of license from Pullman-Standard. As far as we can tell, these are all just railfan myths.
| The first sample cars have an amazing interior. Those seats have arm rests! | |
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Rapido’s Balloon Top Coaches feature:
- First time in any scale!
- Scaled from CC&F blueprints and 3D scans of the real cars
- Full multi-colour interior detail with separate seats including see-through arm rests
- Full underbody detail with separate piping
- Track-powered interior lighting with capacitor system, operated by magnetic wand
- Super detailed, free-rolling 6-wheel Commonwealth trucks with truck-mounted generator detail
- Separately applied grab irons and handrails
- Sprung diaphragms with etched-metal end gates
- Flush-mounted windows with printed window blinds
- Suggested minimum radius: 22”
Below are the schemes for the Balloon Top Coaches. Note we are also offering two generic unlettered schemes: Green and Tuscan. Please also note that Cape Cod, the CN oddballs, and generic Tuscan are conditional on us receiving enough orders.
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As we already have a sample that requires only minimal corrections, the order deadline for these works of art is April 15, 2025. We will ensure these are not delivered at the same time as our new run of Super Continental passenger cars, so you can budget for both. Be sure to order your fleet of Balloon Tops before they fly away without you! | |
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NEW MODEL! Budd M3 and M3A Railcars
1984 was a breakthrough year for technological events: Apple released the Macintosh computer, Thomas the Tank Engine aired its first episode in the UK and the Budd Company was busy rolling out brand new Metropolitan Railcars for Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road. These were the M3 and M3A Railcars that have been a long-time backbone of M-N and LIRR's fleet, carrying thousands of commuters every day.
These iconic commuter railcars are a thing of beauty, as you can see in these preliminary 3D CAD renders.
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The LIRR and M-N 3D CAD renders in the current day schemes.
Note the close coupling system below.
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The Budd M3 and M3A Railcars were an upgrade from the original M1 and M1A cars built a decade earlier. These cars featured GSI 70 cast trucks, upgraded mechanical parts and a bit more tractive output. On the outside, they looked nearly identical to their M1 and M1A counterparts.
More renders? Why yes, of course!
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The interiors with the multi-colored seats. Below, the cars show off their mu-style couplers. | |
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The Metro-North M3A Cars were delivered with the MTA-style blue band below the windows along with the "M ball" logo. In the mid-1990s, new FRA requirements saw a single-lens headlight installed just below the front roofline, to conform to the "triangular lights" pattern. The mid-2000s saw the "M balls" phase out in favor of the now standard MTA logo with the Metro-North Railroad wordmark. Around this time, warning stripes were added to the front of the nose for better visibility.
Today, a good portion of the fleet still exists in everyday service. They call the Brewster Shops, located on the Harlem Line, their home base, but can also be seen on the Hudson Line.
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A Hudson Line train bound for Grand Central Terminal, leaving Dobbs Ferry.
Photo Courtesy of Bobby Allard.
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LIRR's M3s have worn a variety of schemes over the years. They were delivered in the MTA-style blue band scheme, nearly identical to M-N's cars, except they sported the two-tone blue Metro "M" logo. This logo was the standard since the mid-1960s when LIRR was bought from the Pennsylvania Railroad by the State of New York.
In the 1980s, the cars received a reflecting yellow band on the front for increased visibility. Some cars would lose their blue side bands, creating a unique off-silver look against the carbody itself. By the 2000s, the streamlining of MTA properties saw these cars receive the standard MTA logo with the Long Island Rail Road wordmark.
Despite many cars being stored, nearly 50 remain in service today. Thanks to the East Side Access Project, some of these venerable railcars have seen new life.
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LIRR M3s wearing the unique blue side band with the front yellow band.
Photo Courtesy of Nick Gagliardi.
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Looking tired, but soldiering on.
Photo Courtesy of John Terry.
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The sun sets of LIRR's M3s. How much longer might they have?
Photo Courtesy of Nick Gagliardi.
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Here are the HO Scale Budd M3 and M3A Railcar features:
- First time ready to run!
- Two-car sets with multiple roadnumbers
- Fully hidden underfloor drive system
- Full interior details
- Complete underbody detailing
- Two-car sets connected by a close coupling system
- Full interior lighting
- Accurately scaled from prototype drawings and field measurements
- Detail variations for both Long Island and Metro North units throughout their careers
- DC/Silent or DC/DCC/Sound options
- MoPower capacitor system for uninterrupted DCC power
- Multiple unit numbers available
- Suggested minimum radius: 22”
Now for the schemes with Metro-North first, then LIRR second.
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Trainworld Exclusive — LIRR M3s
Trainworld will be offering an exclusive run of the LIRR M3 Railcars! Full details will be provided soon as we work out all of the specifics for their cars. Stay tuned to a future newsletter and their website! Below is a teaser image, it might just look something like this...
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Don't miss the train! We're anticipating these cars will be popular, so get your preorders in to reserve your cars. You can do that by clicking the button below.
These are in tooling now. We will provide an order deadline as soon as we get our first function samples.
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NEW SCHEMES! HO Scale GP38 Locomotive
MORE HO Scale GP38s! Here comes the return of new schemes and variations along with the much-anticipated -3 rebuilds!
| The latest and the greatest. Note the modern additions: ditch lights and that Dayton-Phoenix air conditioner. | |
The GP38 Locomotive are one of the most successful locomotives to roll out of the EMD's LaGrange factory in terms of longevity. Trains Magazine even called the GP38 the "All American Diesel" The size, horsepower and the versatility of the 4-axle trucks makes this locomotive a go-to for nearly any light to mid-duty assignment.
By the mid-2000s, many GP38s were put through rebuild programs. Some were rebuilt to -3 standards, which saw the addition of a microprocessor computer. We'll be offering two unique versions: CPKC 2000 and Union Pacific's 2400 series.
As a Canadian operation, how could we NOT trot out a CPKC loco?
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The side view of the CPKC 2000. This is a GP38-3, which means it has all-new electronics. | |
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The classic scheme of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, with an IC boxcar.
Photo by Jim Boyd, courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection.
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NECR 9520 sits at White River Junction, Vermont.
Photo by John Bartley, courtesy of the Kevin EuDaly collection.
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Did you know the Rapido GP38s are packed with details? LOTS of details. Tons of underbody and road-specific parts, multiple step varieties and so much more making this locomotive a classic. But don't take our word for it, check out some detail shots from the initial run. | |
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These GP38s are from the initial run, but they show off all of the amazing details.
Tons of underbody details, too!
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Now for the HO Scale GP38 Locomotive features:
- Measured from a living GP38
- Road-specific details for each model
- Rapido’s innovative dead straight metal side handrails with plastic stanchions
-
Cannon and Company licensed radiator fan designs
- Incredible underframe detail including traction motor cables, air filters and a silly number of separately applied parts
- Road-specific battery box doors
- Separate metal grab irons and handrails installed at the factory
- Operating headlights, rear lights, white class lights, ditch lights and beacons (where appropriate)
- Highly detailed cab interior
- Correct fuel tank sizes per road number
- Multiple styles of stepwells
- See-through, etched steps
- Multiple truck sideframes tooled
- Multiple dynamic-brake hatches and air filters
- DC/Silent (21-pin DCC Ready) or DC/DCC/ESU LokSound
- MoPower capacitor system for uninterrupted DCC power
- Suggested minimum radius: 18”
And we can't forget the best part: the schemes!
| Don't wait, order your GP38s today, below or through your favorite dealer. We'll be announcing an order deadline as soon as we have our first samples. | |
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Cocoa Beach Prototype Meet — January 9th - 11th, 2025
In early January we'll be at the Prototype Rails RPM at sunny Cocoa Beach, Florida. I say "we" but it's just "Bill," relaxing in the sun and going to the drive-in burger bar in his Mustang.
Grab your Florida-themed shirt and join Relaxed Bill on January 9th through the 11th. Check out the many new samples on display – that didn't make it to Milwaukee! – and have your pressing questions answered.
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2025 Railroad Hobby Show - Springfield 2025
The annual Amherst Railway Society's Railroad Hobby Show is back and will take place on January 25th and the 26th in West Springfield, Massachusetts. We will display nearly every sample we have, provided we get them to the show in time, and you can have a friendly conversation with our Project Managers. We're excited to see you in late January!
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Tooling, Shipping and Arrival Updates
LOTS of new items will be arriving soon!
IN STOCK ITEMS!
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FINALLY! The 1937 AAR 40' Boxcar samples! These are early pre-production models.
Watch our video on these here.
Now that we have samples, we will be announcing an order deadline.
| The PA Demos! Please excuse the color as the factory doesn't use the best camera... | H16-44s everywhere! The Milwaukee Road cabs above and the Virginian bodies, below. | |
The Boston & Maine PC&F 5241 Boxcars taking shape.
Below, the containers for the G22 Gondolas have had their printing completed.
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The latest installment of the HO Scale Bilevels are shipping now!
This includes: Frontrunner, ACE, Coaster, Caltrain and GO.
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The PFE R-40 Reefers look great. | |
We just can't wait to get these out! A long string of these reefers will look excellent on any train. | | |
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We've come to just about the end of this newsletter, but not before we take a look back at 2024. As I hand over the end of year recap, I want to wish all of our friends a very Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a Happy New Year! Let 2025 be the year for you.
Bobby Allard
OK, take it away, Jason...
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Sidura and I had a productive visit to the UK office this month. We also rode trains! | |
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Thanks, Bobby!
Having received so many pointless Christmas and New Year corporate newsletters I've decided to write this essay only using hackneyed clichés.
Wow, what a year it's been! As we wrap up 2024, I just want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for being part of the Rapido Trains family. It's been a journey full of ups and downs, but like a good train, we've stayed on track and kept chugging forward.
We've accomplished so much, but we're just getting started! The best is yet to come, and we can't wait to see what 2025 has in store. Here's to new beginnings, exciting adventures, and continuing to ride the rails together. Let's make next year our best one yet!
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Now that we've all tossed our cookies, I'll start again.
Many of you remember the early days of Rapido when I used to give monthly updates about everything going on in the business, from messed-up baggage cars to the fact that the factory we were using in 2007 was making plates instead of our models! Well it's been too long since I've given you all a good behind-the-scenes kvetch, so here it goes.
2024 has been... challenging. But there has been good stuff too! I will start with the crummy stuff.
Before going any further, I want to shout out to our amazing teams in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Rapido is only as strong at the people running it, and thankfully we have a lot of really strong and special people.
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The biggest challenge this year for the North American model railroad industry was actually tied to COVID. Yes, COVID's tendrils are long, twisted and annoying. Our orders were very, very strong from 2020-2022. Our production runs literally doubled in size. That means we were making twice as many models for a given prototype than we were before COVID. It wasn't just Rapido. All hobbies experienced this spike.
By the time many of the ordered models arrived in late 2022 and 2023, COVID was easing and the demand waned. This resulted in way too much inventory in our industry and consequent lower orders for new announcements. This put our target 10% annual growth at risk. We maintain that growth target so we can keep the company healthy and strong. A shrinking company is a bad sign for the future...
The only way to achieve growth in 2024 was to do twice as many prototypes (or more) as we were doing during COVID. We almost managed it; our growth was 7%, which is phenomenal in this market. Very few model train manufacturers grew in 2024... But achieving this growth has been a real strain on the whole team. We're all working very hard, as evidenced by the regular 2 a.m. conversations between members of the team when they really should be sleeping (or playing video games, in Jordan's case). Thankfully, we've got a lot of new talent sharing the load on all three of our teams: project development, marketing and administration. We're settling into the new rhythm.
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The other big challenge has been our switch to a new ERP system, i.e. our back-end inventory and accounting software that also runs the payment gateway on our website. The process has lasted more than a year. First there were several months of prep and programming, and then we finally changed over in August. Four months later, we've got most of the bugs ironed out. Most.
If any know-it-all tells you "Rapido obviously doesn't know what they are doing - this should have been easy and straightforward" I give you permission to punch them in the face (though I accept no liability for the consequences!). We have a very talented IT team working on this project but even they could not foresee every possible glitch in migrating many years' worth of data and integrating so many different systems.
Because of all the teething issues, our admin team has been doing a lot of manual workarounds for systems that are supposed to be automatic. Spending so many hours a week on this stuff meant that our customer service emails started backing up. I would like to apologize again if you got frustrated ordering stuff from us or communicating with us. We've improved this over the last few weeks and we will continue to.
We've hired two new admin people and our system is getting more reliable every week. Once it's running at 100%, we plan to blow up our website and design a brand-new one. Many of the problems we've struggled with have been due to weird coding issues on our website.
Finally, and this is a good problem, the growth at both Rapido and Rapido UK has meant that our factories sometimes struggle to deliver everything on time. Our partners at the main Rapido factory plan to hire more than 50 new workers after Chinese New Year. That should get things flowing a bit faster.
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I don't want to give you the impression that it's been all doom and gloom at Rapido! 2024 has actually been most excellent and bodacious.
We've got more models in design and production now than ever before, and we're hitting almost all of the different regions and eras of North American model railroading. Who thought Rapido would do a D&RGW caboose? Or big C36-7 locomotives? Or subway models? Or LAJ CF7s? Or oddball CN/VIA passenger cars that I need for my layout? Well, I guess a lot of people probably predicted that one.
One major player in our industry told me he thinks Rapido is now the third or fourth largest model train manufacturer in North America. Can you believe that? I can't. It is totally mind blowing, and like, a beauty way to go, eh?
Our 20th anniversary bash in November was a real hoot, especially seeing the old Toronto subway running under its own power again after so long. Too bad Bobby missed it. But he did a good job guarding our model display while all our guests were riding the subway without him.
Finally, our Christmas Mystery Boxes ended up being a real success. I hope you all enjoy your Rapido toques, eh? We thought about including Five Golden Toques for one lucky customer (like in the well-known Christmas song, Bob and Doug McKenzie's Twelve Days of Christmas) but gold is, like, really expensive.
Thank you to everyone who has bought or preordered a Rapido model in 2024. We look forward to both announcing and delivering more cool stuff in 2025.
Best wishes for a Beauty Christmas and New Year,
Jason
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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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