Rapido UK Newsletter No. 48

©2024 Rapido Trains Ltd

See, we told you September was going to be good, didn’t we? We apologise that it’s a couple of days into October – but we have been somewhat busy!

As you are a loyal Rapido newsletter subscriber we are sure you are aware that we have announced a boatload of awesome new models, and even put on our own event, where we showed off as many samples and prototypes as we could.

In case you missed any of the announcements, or Railex, we thought we would give you a detailed recap of all of it for this month's newsletter.

If you are eagerly awaiting news on the other projects that are already in the works, fear not! We haven’t forgotten about you, and we aren’t going to make you wait another month to hear some news. We will give a brief update on all of our upcoming projects too.

So, without further ado, let’s dive into the awesomeness that was September!

New Announcements!

In case you missed our new announcements, we thought we would recap those first. 

Ivor The Engine (OO Gauge)

Working alongside Daniel Postgate under an exclusive worldwide license, we will produce two Ivor the Engine packs in OO gauge. Each pack will come in a special presentation box and will include a number of 2D characters (with bases), alongside cardboard fold-up buildings that are all faithfully reproduced from the original artworks and animations. The DCC Sound packs will even feature a full range of sounds, music and quotes taken from the original productions. 

You can find out more about Ivor the Engine and pre-order yours here:

48’ ‘Evolution’ Bogie Coaches (OO Gauge)

An exciting new range of generic pre-grouping 48’ bogie coaches, each detailed with an array of key features that modellers associate with their railway of choice and fitted with working internal lighting controlled by a magnetic magic wand.

You can find out more about the 48’ ‘Evolution’ Bogie Coaches and pre-order yours here:

Midland Railway 483 Class 4-4-0 (OO Gauge)

It was only a matter of time before we decided to tackle the unquestionably beautiful and regal livery of the Midland Railway. We are proud to announce that we will be producing the Midland Railway 4-4-0 483 Class in OO Gauge. Since our announcement a 3D print has been produced - we know the running board is a little wonky but it gives an impression of what is to come.

You can find out more about the Midland Railway 483 Class and pre-order yours here:

BR 1Co-Co1 Class 45 and 46 (N Gauge)

With the recent arrival of the engineering prototypes for the N Gauge BR Class 44, we are pleased to say that we will be adding the other highly anticipated classes of BR 1Co-Co1 ‘Peaks’ to our N Gauge range too - the Class 45 and Class 46!

You can find out more about the BR 1Co-Co1 Class 45 and 46s and pre-order yours here:

LMS 20t Iron Ore Hopper (OO Gauge)

Between the early 1920s and mid-1930s the LMS constructed numerous Iron Ore Hoppers that for the most part, looked almost identical. These 20-ton Iron Ore wagons were used for carrying a plethora of raw materials throughout their lifetime and received numerous extensions, additions and alterations in their later lives.

You can find out more about the 17 different versions of the LMS 20t Iron Ore Hoppers and pre-order yours here:

GNR 8-Ton Van (OO Gauge)

Designed and built by the Great Northern Railway, the 8-ton van was a multi-purposed express covered goods vehicle which came in numerous variants to accommodate more specialised traffic such as explosives, meat, and fruit.

You can find out more about the GNR 8-Ton Vans and pre-order yours here:

All of our new announcements are available to pre-order now, and you can pre-order yours either directly through our website or through any of our Official Retailers. If you want ALL of them, don't worry! They won't all be arriving at the same time!

Railex Round-up!

It was a long time in the making and a lot of hard work in the planning and execution. But we can say with some confidence that RailEx was a success, and it was most definitely worth the effort.

Over the two days of the show, we saw a whopping 1050 people of all ages come through the door, and it was lovely to see so many smiling faces and answer so many enthusiastic questions.

The new announcements were one of the biggest talking points, and the engineering and 3D-printed samples we had on show were a nice surprise for many of you.

(We were so busy at the show talking to customers that we couldn't take any photos to show how busy we were. Thankfully Callum Willcox from Railway Modeller was on hand to take some for us!)

If you weren’t in attendance and would like to know what progress we have made and what was on show, we had the following Engineering prototypes make their public debuts:

• USATC S160
• AB Fireless
• GNR 8-Ton Vans
• LMS 20t Iron Ore Hopper
• GWR Open C
• Updated prototypes for the GWR 44XX

We had painted production samples for:

• LNER Y7
• SECR O1
• LNWR D88
• LNER/LMS 25t LOWMAC

In addition to samples that had been seen before such as the Port of Par Twins, we also had new 3D-printed prototypes on show for the N Gauge Minks, OO Gauge Manning Wardle and Midland 483 Class (we know the running board is a bit skewed, which won't appear on the final thing of course, but the rest of the print gives you an idea of what’s to come).

Although incomplete, we also managed to get prints done of a bogie, coach ends, and a few interior sections for the Evolution range, giving you a window into the early stages of this project’s development.

The star of the show, Ivor the Engine, also made an appearance in 3D printed form, along with the other rolling stock that will be available in the packs.

That Model Railway Guy (Joe in real life) came along and has created this great video from the show which we thought we should share.

The show was also the maiden run for our customisable wagon livery service. Working hand in hand with The Wagon Yard and their expertise, we managed to take an incredible number of orders for bespoke wagons over the weekend. We will be working on getting these completed and sent out to customers over the coming weeks and can't wait to see them on your layouts.

Congratulations to all of our winners of the advance ticket holder competition – in particular, Oscar and Noah, who won a W & U tram pack and were clearly over the moon! Well done boys! We hope all of our winners enjoy their Rapido swag!

Finally, we would like to thank all of the layout owners, operators, stall holders, ticket takers, and everyone who contributed to making this happen. It's been a hell of a journey, but it was so worth it, and your help has been instrumental in making this a success. So once again, thank you from all of us at Rapido.



What do you guys think, should we do it again next year, and do you think we can outdo this one?

Product updates

Beautiful B-Set Painted Samples!

To describe our recently arrived painted GWR B-Set samples as beautiful is a bit of an understatement. They are spectacular, and we couldn’t be happier.

This two-coach set is crammed full of detail inside and out, and the painted samples really bring this to life. Now you can see the wonderful carriage prints and mirrors, guard’s compartment detail such as brake pressure gauges, and optional drop light windows in all their glory.

Yes, we have decorated gauges in the guard's compartment. We're those kind of people.

With liveries covering the earliest days of the grouping era, right through to the later days of BR steam, there is an eye-catching version for every Western Region modeller.

For those of you who are looking to model the GWR Shirtbutton livery and want a blank canvas to add whichever regional markings you would prefer, you will be pleased to hear that our friends at Derails have commissioned an exclusive run of Shirtbutton livery B-sets without regional allocation markings.

You can find out more about these and order them HERE.

If you are also getting excited about the Evolution range, or maybe you are still on the fence, we have some good news! The entire Evolution range will feature the same high level of detail as the B-Sets, and have the same magic wand-activated lighting, and optional Droplight windows installed too. 

New GWR 44xx Engineering Prototypes

Following our review of the previous prototypes that we had received, there were some changes we wanted to make to both the mechanical and cosmetic parts of the model before we put it into production. They weren’t running as smoothly as we would have liked and some of the body details weren’t as straight as we had designed them. Oh, and many of the details were a garish orangey red, making it hard for you guys to focus on the details included.

The factory has made the necessary tweaks and has sent some new samples for us to get our teeth into, and we are pleased to say that they appear to have rectified our previously identified concerns with these recent prototypes. We will be conducting a more thorough assessment of these samples over the coming weeks and will update you in due course.

As we have painted samples of the B-set and new prototypes for the 44XX, we could not resist coupling them up together!

Order books are still open for the GWR 44XX. Get your orders in directly with us or with any of our Official Retailers now!

Magnificent Manning Wardle 3D prints

Hot off the printer and making their exhibition debut at RailEx last week, these incredible 3D prints of the upcoming OO Gauge Manning Wardle L Class highlighted just how much detail can be squeezed into a more modestly-sized model. As these delighted many of you who were able to attend the show, we thought it was only fair that we show off the project's progress to the rest of you who sadly couldn’t make it.

With both the open and closed-cabbed versions on display, you can see how spectacular the exposed backhead, boiler pipework, outside springs, and many other details will look.

There's a place for this compact contractor in everyone's collection, and the order books are still open, so order yours now!

Mink Prints - N Gauge Iron Mink 3D Prints

At TINGS earlier this month, we proudly presented these rather snazzy-looking 3D prints for the first time.  Still hot off the printer, our upcoming N Gauge Iron Minks went down a storm. Although these are our first prototypes, we think they look rather smart.  Given the wealth of positive feedback we got for our SECR Freight Packs at TINGS, we think these are going to complement them nicely, giving Western Region N Gauge modellers something to get excited about and add to their collection.

Don’t forget, these are also available to pre-order in a wealth of liveries that were seen beyond the West Country, so there is something for everyone, including a rather suspicious one heading to Westminster. What could someone possibly need with a van full of gunpowder there?

Delivery updates

LNWR D88s and LNER/LMS 25t LOWMACs Have Arrived

With these arriving earlier this month and being sent out to our Official Retailers as fast as we could, we have already started seeing them appearing on layouts up and down the country. Both wagons are sold out directly through our website, but many of our Official Retailers may still have stock. So, if they have caught your eye, get in touch with your chosen retailer and grab them before they have gone.

N Gauge BR OAA Open Wagon Packs Are on the Way

With the imminent arrival of the N Gauge OAAs, we are hoping to have them in your hands shortly. Once they have arrived and passed our QC checks we will get them sent out as soon as possible. Keep an eye on your emails over the coming weeks if you have these on order.



Y7 Nears Completion



With the production of the LNER Y7 nearing completion, we teased you with this batch of glorious painted samples in last month's newsletter. We are so pleased that the cab is so detailed, with the gauge glasses having the clear striped pattern neatly wrapping around each one, and fine brass handles and levers. We are confident that this little loco is going to make a big impact. These are nearing completion and are likely to be shipped in the next few months, with them hopefully arriving at some point in Q4 of this year. Keep your eye on newsletters and social media for further Y7 updates and shipping news.

The International N Gauge Show

Railex wasn’t the only show we attended in September. Mid-month we headed to Leamington Spa for The International N Gauge Show. TINGS has become a staple in our annual events calendar, and we wanted our display to blow last year's efforts out of the water, and we think we managed it...

With the N Gauge Class 45 and 46s being announced and available to pre-order just hours before the doors opened for the show, and gorgeous running samples of all 3 classes of ‘Peak’ being proudly displayed, painted production models of both the recently-arrived SECR Freight packs, and the OAA opens, along with a cheeky 3D print prototype of our upcoming Iron Minks we had lots to talk about.

Check out how busy our stall was and how pleased some of the punters were with what we had on offer.

Thought of The Month

Out of Steam!

With two shows in one month, five big announcements, and hundreds of your interesting questions answered, we are all well and truly spent. We were going to put something thought-provoking or profound in the Thought of the Month, but we simply haven’t got enough left in the tank to come up with something further to grip you, and frankly with the excitement around all of the announcements, we doubt you need more from us.

See, even Ernie has had enough!

We will pick Thought of the Month up again next month though, don’t you worry!

JASON: Hang on a minute!

As I wasn't able to come to the show, I thought I might take over the Thought of the Month this issue and share some stuff with you. We just got production samples of our HO scale TurboTrain model.

Following the UK team's example, the Turbo models come with all sorts of goodies in the box!

I started Rapido 20 years ago with the goal to produce a model of my favourite train of all time, the United Aircraft TurboTrain, known in Canada as the Turbo. I did produce it in 2008, but my lack of experience as a manufacturer meant that the model had all sorts of problems. Sixteen years later I am very grateful to be able to rectify that with a model that is up to my standards. 

You can actually thank the Turbo for all of the wonderful Rapido UK models that Andy and his team have been announcing these last few weeks. I fell in love with the Turbo – this weird, experimental jet-powered train – when I was two years old. My obsession with it led to me starting Rapido Trains Inc., which then led to me starting Rapido Trains UK.

(Incidentally, the Canadian Turbos were running 97% on time and 98% availability when they were retired, so tell that to the next know-it-all who calls them a failed experiment!)

A first-run Turbo approaches Brockville on my HO scale layout. I'll now have to weather my new Turbo models to match!

Isn't it interesting how one seemingly insignificant moment can affect the future. Imagine you were visiting Canada in 1980 and you rode the Turbo between Toronto and Montreal. Would you have ever thought to yourself, "Because of this train, I will one day own a model of the APT-E, the Titfield Thunderbolt, and Ivor the Engine!" 

We can only speculate about what random "modern rubbish" that we take for granted today is actually having a huge influence on the model railway manufacturers of tomorrow. Next time you are grumbling aboard a packed-to-the-gills Voyager, pause for a moment to think: somewhere there is a young person inspired by that Voyager, and they think it's magical. 

This gives me tremendous hope for the future.

Back to you, guys!

RAPIDO UK: Thanks, Jason. And thanks all of you for reading. We hope you are as excited as we are about our latest announcements, and that you enjoyed RailEx as much as we did. We now look to the end of the year and, of course, The National Festival of Railway Modelling in November.

We have some rather special things planned for you to see at the show, so we had better get our heads down and get them ready.

The Rapido Trains UK Team