We’ve also taken delivery of one of our biggest orders to date, in the form of the lovely SR 8 Plank opens. The remaining VIX ferry vans have also gone out to those who were still awaiting their orders and we would like to thank you for your patience and understanding regarding the delay.

By the time you read this, both the VIX and 8-Planks should be in your hands and by this time next month the GWR Toad and Loriot Y will also have been dispatched. We hope you enjoy them and we can’t wait to see some pictures of them on your layouts – don’t forget to send them in!

In the last couple of weeks we have received the engineering prototypes for our forthcoming GWR open wagons and covered vans. We are very pleased with these and they only require a few amendments (including improved packaging to stop the tie-bars bending and fitting the correct optional parts) before they can enter production.

As they are almost finished we will be closing the order books on Monday the 10^th of July. In case you missed them, here's a video with more information:

Further to the above, here is a closer look at the models:

Seven different versions are available to pre-order, representing the inter-war, post-war GWR and steam-age BR. You must be ‘avin’ a ‘nana if you miss out on these!

If you are considering adding these highly detailed models to your collection, don’t slip up – peel your wallet out (get it?) and get your order in ASAP. As usual you can order from any Official Retailer or direct from us.

A symphony of piston beats and whistle noises filled our office as we let off steam and tested the wonderful production samples of the upcoming 15XX that arrived last week.

This hard-working tank engine is well known for its power, and the lovingly recreated sounds by John G. at Digitrains captures the ‘Raging Bull’ spirit perfectly.

Not only do they sound awesome, but they look incredible too, as you can see these beautifully recreated liveries perfectly recapture the loco’s various guises throughout its existence, along with a rather striking “What if” Great Western Railway Green variant. This particular model compliments our upcoming GWR Toad Brake, Loriot Y, and, ‘Mink A’ (V14/V16) vans perfectly.

Of course, these plucky little shunters didn’t just spend their days moving empty coaching stock around during the British Railways era, some made it to the further reaches of the UK, including South Wales and the South-West.

Beyond BR ownership, three of the ten locomotives were purchased and subsequently repainted by the National Coal Board into NCB Maroon livery. One example survived the Coventry Coalfields into preservation. Today it can be found at the Severn Valley Railway in fully lined BR livery (which of course we had to produce in model form).

With DCC sound-fitted and DCC-ready versions available in liveries covering all the 15XX’s busy life, you have the freedom to model it wherever and whenever it ran. We expect these to arrive within the next two months, so don’t miss out, get your order in today!

Production samples for the LMS D1666 open wagons have arrived and we are really rather impressed with how these have turned out. A whopping 54,450 Diagram 1666 wagons were produced, making them more numerous than the entire Southern Railway’s wagon stock and the perfect addition to any “Big 4” era or BR era layout. Suffice to say they got around a bit and could be found all over the UK.

Nearly all of the original wagons were unfitted with independent either-side brakes but with a number of different wheel types. We have faithfully produced a variety of prototypes to reflect the wagons throughout their lives.

If you are a Midland modeller (or frankly model anywhere in the UK) and haven’t grabbed one of our wagons yet, this is the perfect place to get you started.

We can confidently say that our first foray into the LMS wagon fleet has the same level of detail, running abilities, and historical accuracy people have come to associate with our wagons from other regions.

Find out more and pre-order yours here or from any Official Retailer.

We took the first running sample of the 00 Gauge Jones goods on a little trip to the Chatham and District Model Railway Club last month, and if you’ve been following our social channels, you’d have seen a little sneak peek of what’s to come.

In case you missed it, we thought we would put together another video in the safety of the Rapido offices. Enjoy!

Back in March, in the lead-up to the London Festival of Railway Modelling, we announced something rather special, the RCH 1907 Private Owner Wagons.

Remember, these got all over the country, so you aren’t limited by the company’s point of origin. Great Central Railway wagons were seen at the Kent coal fields, Welsh Coal made it to East Anglia, and Scottish wagons had many adventures south of the border. Pre-order your favourite RCH 1907 Private Owner Wagons now!

Don’t panic Brighton modellers, we haven’t forgotten you, the E1 is progressing. However, this is a complicated project: there are lots of variants and our factory and design team have been working to get them right. We believe (and think you will agree) that it is important that these are correct, and ensure they are given the time they deserve to be accurate. So as it stands, they are taking a little longer than anticipated. We will keep you posted over the coming months as we make further progress.

However, we do have to own up to some minor error. Item 936005 was advertised as number 110 in LBSCR Umber. Sadly, we have found this locomotive is not suitable for our tooling and livery choices. Further research identified locomotive B96 as a suitable candidate so we will be offering this running number in place of the original advertised number.  Likewise, 936007 was originally advertised as B690. Again, this locomotive had some unique characteristics that don’t quite fit our planned tooling. As a result we will be changing the running number to B142.

Slightly further along the production journey are the 00 Gauge OAA wagons. We were hoping to get these to you sooner, however due to a paint issue they have been held up. This has now been resolved and, as you can see from the image above, we are in full production of these. We hope to have them with you later this summer.

We had hoped to be able to put our 44XX prairie tanks on sale this month, but there are some final design tweaks which have meant a slight delay to the tooling quote, which in turn means we cannot confirm the final prices yet, so instead take a look at this tasty render showing a work-in-progress artwork of 4400, the first in the class.

However what we can share is our intended list of locomotives and the liveries they will carry. Each of these will contain a number of detail variations covering the life of the class:

Please note this list is subject to revision if required.

We hope to have these models available to pre-order very soon.

Design work on the Class 44 diesels is also nearly been complete. We are now moving onto preliminary design work for the Class 45 and 46 locomotives prior to finalising the Class 44 design. This will allow common parts of the models to be used across the range and minimise further tooling costs down the line.

Our project designer wants to complete this within the next month allowing us to have the model available to pre-order in time for TINGS.

Sometimes working for Rapido Trains UK comes with some awesome perks, and Andy and Dan’s trip to the Middleton Railway at the end of May was a great example. Accommodating their every need, the Middleton Railway steamed up NER H class (LNER Y7) No.1310 and then let the lads get up close and personal with a variety of sound recording equipment throughout the day. This is required to bring you the detailed and realistic sounds for the DCC Sound-Fitted Y7 we have in the works.

Spending the day riding up and down, they gathered everything they needed to produce a diverse set of sounds that represent all the clanks, squeaks and chuffs of this delightful little locomotive. Sadly, the boiler certificate of 1310 expires in the coming months and the engine will fall silent - so this visit was timed perfectly.

“But what of the model?” we hear you ask. The design work is in the final review stages. Our partners at ESU have helped with the speaker and sound design – it is all a rather cosy fit. Final design work will continue over the next few weeks and we hope to be in a position to send the model to tooling (and to put it on sale) within the next two months.

While they were on the road and had the sound recording equipment, Andy and Dan also visited the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre to grab a very specific set of sound recordings. If you have been keeping an eye on our social channels you may have seen the picture below.

Before anyone gets too ahead of themselves, no, we aren’t making models of the ‘bucket’ (at the moment, anyway), however this lovely Austerity (the last standard gauge locomotive built in the UK prior to the preservation era) was a great substitute steam-producing device to get the whistle sounds we needed for the upcoming Metropolitan E Class models. As Met No.1 is currently dismantled for overhaul, the ability to use it to record sounds were somewhat diminished. The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre were kind enough to fit Met No.1’s real whistle to No.66 for the recording, helping us get one step closer to production for this highly anticipated locomotive.

The 00 Gauge Metropolitan E Class is available to pre-order now, including the famous ‘Met 1’.

Which one will you pick?

We often get asked what products we have in stock at Rapido, although we don’t really keep a huge amount of stock for each release, we do occasionally have bits that get found around our warehouse. Currently, we have a few of the following items on the shelfs. Currently we have limited stocks available of:

All available items are while stock lasts, so get them before they go! Click on each item above to find out more.

We have had a few people get in touch with us regarding the spelling of Break/Brake on one of our recently released SECR 6-wheel brake vans. The model in question is the Single Veranda SER Red-Brown livery variant, which our friends at Rails of Sheffield had kindly commissioned. The van has “Goods Break” printed on the side, despite other variants having similar markings but spelled “Goods Brake”.  

Looking at images that appear in a variety of published sources, we were pleasantly surprised to see this unconventional spelling on several SER vans and as such, we have included it on ours. This information was also verified by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Society, who reassured us that this was the convention of the era. You can find pictures and drawings of this in the Oxford publication An Illustrated History of Southern Wagons Volume Three: SECR.