Dear Rapido Customer,

Some companies send you emails every couple of days. It's been two weeks since our last newsletter. By Rapido standards, this is a bombardment of information!

Before I begin, I just wanted to let you know that Dan Darnell and I are driving the Rapido Bus across the Prairies next week. Follow us on Facebook to get updates about our adventure. Hopefully those updates won't include the words "tow truck" or "ambulance."

In this issue of Rapido News:

• New! N Scale FPA-4/FPB-4 Locomotives
• New! HO Scale New Haven Parlor Cars
• New! HO Scale New Haven JET (really!)
• Last Call! HO Scale VIA Rebuilt F40PH-2D Starting Production
• Final Deadline: HO Scale Freight Cars
• HO Scale FPA-2 New Pre-Production Samples
• Factory Update
• Come See Us (And Our Cabbage) At Trainfest!

Before I tell you about these distinctive and exciting new CN/VIA engines, I am going to tell you about our N scale FL9. All you Canadian N scalers, please bear with me and keep reading.

Our recent N scale FL9 locomotive has received rave reviews. In Model Railroad News, David Otte writes:

This is very high praise indeed and we do not take it lightly nor will we rest on our laurels. Below is the cover of the magazine.

So why am I going on about our FL9? I want to get across that Rapido has learned how to make an amazing N scale locomotive. And we're bringing that knowledge and experience to our latest N scale locomotives, the MLW FPA-4 and FPB-4, produced exclusively for Prairie Shadows, the model train manufacturing, retail and distribution company owned and operated by Jeff Arnold in Winnipeg.

The FPA-4 an FPB-4 are unique to CN, combining the rugged looks of the FPA-2 with the reliability of the Alco 251 prime mover. They were delivered from Montreal Locomotive Works over two orders in 1958 and 1959 and soldiered on Canadian and American mainlines until 1989. Following retirement, the FPA-4 and FPB-4 locomotives were given new life on tourist railroads across the United States. Many are still in service today.

Our new N scale FPA-4 and FPB-4 are being produced exclusively for Prairie Shadows. The models feature:

• Body and nose shape scanned from the real thing
• Separate grab irons, MU hoses and sunshades
• See-through radiator grille
• Operational headlight and back-up lights
• Full cab interior
• DC (silent) or DC/DCC/sound versions available
• Authentic sounds recorded under load and feature accurate Canadian horns and steam generator recordings!
• Rapido's proven 5-pole, skew-wound motor and silky-smooth drive system
• Micro-Trains couplers mounted at the correct height
• Several numbers available per paint scheme

Paint schemes are:

• Canadian National (1954 Scheme)
• Canadian National (Sergeant Stripes)
• VIA Rail Canada
• Napa Valley Wine Train
• Undecorated

Please click here to visit our web site for more information, or you can skip our site and go straight to Prairie Shadows by clicking here. The Prairie Shadows web site has just been redesigned and their numerous other products will be appearing on the site in the coming days.

Dealer inquiries should be sent to Jeff. Click here to send him an email.

Bill dropped a couple of bombshells at the NHRHTA show in Connecticut last weekend. The first is another joint project with NHRHTA. We're delighted to announce the next car in our HO scale Pullman-Bradley lightweight series - the New Haven Parlor and Parlor-Lounge cars. Your passengers can now travel in true comfort and style!

Like our 8600-series coaches (which are completely sold out at Rapido and at most stores - you should have pre-ordered!), our New Haven Parlor and Parlor-Lounge cars feature:

• Accurately designed from original blueprints, including unique profile on non-vestibule end
• Accurate Pullman-Standard stainless steel fluting profile
• Rapido's renowned stainless steel finish, correctly toned for the stainless-steel sheathed cars used by the New Haven
• Partial skirting or no skirting as appropriate
• Full and correct interior details including separate seats and ash trays
• Track-powered constant lighting for DC and DCC
• And much more! (full features can be found on our web site)

Paint schemes are:

• New Haven Green (w/skirts)    
• New Haven McGinnis (w/skirts) - NHRHTA Exclusive
• New Haven McGinnis (no skirts)
• Penn Central (no skirts)
• Amtrak (no skirts)

The MSRP remains unchanged from the 8600s at $99.95 (higher in Canada).

The order deadline is Valentine's Day 2017. Delivery will be later in 2017.

Click here for more information or to order direct.

If you saw our HO scale FL9 video back in 2015, you may have noticed our model being overtaken by a New Haven EP-5 or "Jet." Click here or on the image below to watch it. (It's very silly but it features some gorgeous model railroading.)

We filmed the FL9 "under wire" on Rick Abramson's stunning layout and his Jet was a brass a model. Bill turned to me after we completed the filming and asked, "What about really doing a model of that?"

My initial response was: "No way. We won't sell enough."

But since then my gut has been telling me that we can actually pull it off. True, very few people have catenary on their layouts. But the Jet isn't just another electric locomotive. It's iconic. And it's New Haven. And it would look equally as impressive in a display case as on a layout. So we're diving in head first.

Bill is working with NHRHTA to design the Jet. We expect the designs to be finished in March and the first samples available to show in the summer or early fall. If you have anything in your collection that may help us in the design process, please get in touch ASAP. Mark your email "attention Bill" to make sure he sees it. Also, if you have good sound recordings of the Jet in your collection please get in touch as well.

At this point it's too early to give you many of the details, but I can say this:
The Jet will have functioning pantographs and the ability to collect power from overhead catenary.

We will aim to keep the price as affordable as possible, but this isn't a Prime Movers model: it will have the full Rapido super detail treatment. My guess is it will fall in the $375-$450 range with sound, but don't quote me on that! We'll announce the prices when the design is further along.

Stay tuned to our newsletters, Facebook page and web site for more information.

I thought we could give you more time to order these, but the factory tells us that they want to start production immediately after the RDC. So here is your two-week warning. If you want the first ever accurate model of VIA's newly-rebuilt F40 locomotives in HO scale, you need to order NOW.

The final, final order deadline is Monday, November 14th.

VIA's F40 locomotives were extensively rebuilt between 2010 and 2012. The main spotting difference is the large cabinet on the rear of the locomotive added to house the new HEP (Head End Power) generator. The HEP is no longer driven off the prime mover (diesel engine). Instead, it is generated from the new auxiliary diesel engine located in that cabinet.

Our HO scale model features all the details of the rebuilt F40, and the HEP cabinet has see-through grilles and models of the fan motors and other details visible on the inside!

Just painting any old F40 model into VIA's new paint scheme is simply not good enough for those of us who want an accurate model of VIA's iconic F40s. My contacts at VIA's head office informed me that the rebuilt F40 fleet will outlast the newer P42DC locomotives that were delivered in 2001.

Our VIA F40PH-2D is the ONLY accurate model of the F40PH-2D ever produced. If you want a contemporary VIA F40 locomotive that is still in use today, you can settle for "close enough if you squint from far away" model or you can order the real deal.

The MSRP is $349.95 (DC/DCC/Sound) and $249.95 (DC Silent).

Click here for more information or to order. Delivery is expected in February or March.

Remember - the final, final order deadline is November 14th.

Here's a quick reminder that orders need to be in on November 18th for the Prime Movers by Rapido 53' Gunderson Husky Stack well cars and 53' containers.

It is also the order deadline for our 3800 cu. ft. Cylindrical Hopper. Please get your reservation in for both of these products by the 18th so we have an idea of how many we are producing.

Note that our 3800 hopper is really a 3800 hopper! It is not a 4550 covered hopper painted as a 3800, advertised in the model train magazines at the same time as ours and at a lower price by a company ten times our size. Not that anyone else did that, of course. Not at all.

Click here for info or to order your well cars and containers.

Click here for info or to order your 3800s.

Jordan and Thomas have made a new video showcasing the spotting features and sounds of our new HO scale FPA-2 locomotive. Click here or on the image above to watch it. We're uploading a lot more of these information-based videos these days. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don't miss them.

We're officially re-opening the order desk for the FPA-2 and FA-2, as the factory won't be able to start production until February at the earliest. Please place your order now, either directly with us or with your favourite hobby dealer. I will announce the final, final order deadline a few weeks before we start production. It will likely be around February.

(If you are wondering why the VIA F40PH-2D has "jumped the line" and is being made first, it's because of Chinese New Year. We have time to finish the VIA F40s before Chinese New Year whereas the FA-2 and FPA-2 is a much larger production run and will take considerably longer.)

Our weakest seller is Erie. If you know any Erie modellers please let them know that our Erie FA-2 features prototype-specific details in the box, such as the nose-top MU, the nose side grilles and the extra grab irons. It also has the firecracker antenna installed and it even has the correct vertical louvers on the battery boxes, unlike all previous models of the FA-2 in Erie colours.

All of the other roadnames are doing just fine. But Erie? Oy vey. I think we've sold more undecorated. We must have offended Erie modellers in some way. Is it because we use two "Ls" in "modellers" or spell "favourite" and "colour" with a "U"? Have Erie modellers seen our devotion to New Haven and contracted a case of McGinnis Envy? Is it out of anger because we Canadians sent Tim Hortons to upstate New York? Whatever it is, I apologize. Please let your Erie-modelling friends know how sorry we are or, better yet, please order the engine.

Please click here for more information about our HO scale FA-2 and FPA-2 (including ERIE!).

I was planning on showing you a diverse collection of photos showing all of the many projects that our factory is working on, but there are so... many... RDCs....

So here are some random photos of RDC production at the Rapido factory in China.

Bill, Dan Darnell and Jordan will be heading to Trainfest in Milwaukee and they will be bringing our new Amtrak Cabbage and F40 with Ditch Lights samples! Please stop by our booth and say hello.

They will be in booth 4215 beside Micro-Trains and across from ExactRail.

I will be in China, making sure our new, second factory is working out OK. (I'm also missing the big British Warley Show for the same reason. Bill and Thomas will be at that.)

Trainfest is November 12th and 13th at the Wisconsin Exposition Center at Wisconsin State Fair Park. It is one of the biggest train shows in North America and is well worth a visit.

We *might* have the first sample of our HO scale New Look Bus at the show, but I suspect I will be prying that out of the moulds myself when I am in China.

That's it for this newsletter. I will next be in touch when we can finally, properly, announce the New Look bus. I love the New Look bus. Unless Dan and I end up in a ditch somewhere in the Prairies while attempting to drive the real New Look bus across Canada. Then I won't love it so much.

Until next time,

Jason

Jason Shron
President
Rapido Trains Inc.