VIA Rail Canada has commissioned us to produce an exclusive, limited edition model of the "Canada 150" F40PH-2D locomotive. And guess what? They are arriving in two weeks!

I'm sure you already know all about the Rapido models of VIA's F40PH-2D locomotive. We have sold out of two production runs - original and rebuilt - to great acclaim. Here is your chance to own a special variation of the F40 locomotive.

In 2017, VIA decorated several of their locomotives in this striking paint scheme to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday, with the names of towns and cities across Canada adorning the sides of the locomotives. Offered here are two of those locomotives, 6402 and 6454, in a very limited production run. Only 150 of each number have been produced in this once-in-a-lifetime offer. These units will never be made again. 

Included with every model is our classic wood and acrylic display case.

Rapido is selling these models direct to the public on behalf of VIA Rail Canada. The Canada 150 F40 locomotives are only available from our online store. VIA is notifying the general public about the models later this week, so you as a Rapido News subscriber are the first to find out. Take advantage of that and order yours ASAP.

The price is $399.95 (Canadian) plus shipping and any applicable taxes. This is the same price and currency no matter where you live.

Click here to order your limited edition "Canada 150" F40PH-2D. Once they are gone, they are gone!

The models are en route from the factory now and will be shipped to customers in about two weeks' time.

"How Model Trains Are Made" Video of Our Factory 

As you are a regular reader and customer, a video of our factory in China is no surprise to you. But for some reason it's a big surprise to YouTube. Since I uploaded this video a couple of weeks ago, it has been viewed 100,000 times!

Click here or on the image below to watch this latest update from the factory. You'll see FA-2s in production and the Royal Hudson in the tooling workshop.

I've explained many times why and how model trains are made in China. But wow - this video has reached a new audience and I've had to delete over 100 comments from some really bad internet trolls. We've had racist comments, political comments, vile language, you name it. I'm not sure how this video became such a flashpoint but I guess that is the state of dialogue on the internet today. You can say whatever you want as long as you are comfortably ensconced in your mum's basement and nobody knows what your real name is...

Click here to watch it and join the discussion!

Latest Delivery Schedule

After a quiet few months, the deliveries are really picking up speed. All of the upcoming deliveries are in HO scale. But we will have many N scale deliveries in 2018.

• In stores now: PRR FA-2 locomotives
• Arriving this week: B&O, CPR, GN, NYC FA-2 and FPA-2 locomotives
• Arriving mid-October: "Canada 150" F40, "Easy-Peasy" lighting kits
• Arriving late October: CN Dash 8 locomotives, first shipment
• CN (North America), CN (simplified scheme, all variations)
• Arriving late November: FA-2 locomotives (remaining schemes)
• Arriving late November: CN (stripes) and BCR Dash 8 locomotives
• Arriving mid-December: New Look Bus TTC and STCUM
• Arriving January: 3800 Cylindrical Hopper, New Haven Parlor Cars

Horns For Sale! Get Your Fresh Horns Here!

We have found ourselves in possession of a huge pile of original Nathan Airchime K3L and K5L horns. We're talking 1:1 scale, not the small stuff! They are all being cleaned and restored and made operable, but we are not sandblasting or repainting them - they have years of history caked on them!

These horns are taking up room in our warehouse, so we will soon be listing them for sale on our web site. These came from the RDCs that were scrapped in Moncton last year.

If you are a horn collector and you would like to buy one or more of these before we list them for sale, please send us a reasonable offer by email. We are not interested in giving these away below market value, so please only send in serious offers.

And no, we don't need anyone to come in and sweep the floor in exchange for a horn. But thanks for the offer.

Rapido's New Crew Car

We love our Fishbowl Bus, but it just isn't practical for when a few of us need to go to a meeting or out for lunch. For the last couple of years I've been looking for a company car. And I found it... in Duncan, British Columbia! Amazingly, the company car is actually older than the bus!

It's a 1961 Austin FX4, otherwise known as a London Taxi, originally exported to a hotel in Oregon. It's our new Rapido crew mobile (crew cab?) for when we don't need the bus. We'll get good use out of it unless it's snowing. Or raining too hard. Or the roads are a bit slippery. Or we want to drive faster than about 55 MPH. Or...