|
Rapido UK Newsletter No. 53
©2024 Rapido Trains Ltd
| |
|
February was a crazy month for us. We are pleased to say that our efforts weren’t wasted, and we have lots to update you on.
As you probably already know, we love our industrial oddities and quirky rolling stock. Going against our usual conventions this month definitely has a more mainline feel to it, with updates on big locos, and two new announcements that were seen on mainline services across the country.
The beginning of the month saw the arrival of an enormous delivery of GWR B-Set coaches, which were swiftly packed up and sent out. We hope you are enjoying them, and we can’t wait to see some pictures of them of your layouts.
This busyness very much set the tone for the rest of the month, and with this job thoroughly jobbed, it was back to project work.
We’ve also been out of the office, seeing as many of you as we could over the last 4 weeks. We started the month by taking over Rails of Sheffield for the weekend, which was great fun. Over the next three weeks, we then took our stand to the Tonbridge Model Railway Exhibition and of course Model Rail Scotland.
Whilst talking of shows we are pleased to say that Rapido RailEx will be returning once again - read on to find out more about the second instalment of our very own show.
With the rumour mill in full swing throughout January (which we definitely didn’t encourage, of course, wink wink), the subject on everyone's lips was generally which Scottish loco Rapido would do to follow on from the ‘Jones Goods’, and which pretty loco was going to be announced to follow the Stirling Single. Well, why not both…
With our epic late January announcement of CR No.123 and loads of Scottish liveries in Batch 2 of Evolution, it’s fair to say we had quite a bit to talk to everyone about by the time we got to Model Rail Scotland. More on this later though.
We hear some of you cry “But I don’t model these immensely pretty Scottish railways, for some odd reason”. Well, there is no need to panic, we haven’t forgotten the rest of the Country, or should we say Counties either.
Without further ado let's recap what we’ve been up to for the last month and announce even more awesome models for you to enjoy!
| 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. | |
GWR County 4-6-0 (OO Gauge) | |
|
“Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? (Samwise Gamgee. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King).
It’s about time we added a big GWR loco to our range, isn’t it? And while we are at it, let's prove that not all Western locos look the same!
| |
|
We are proud to announce our first large Great Western Railway locomotive in OO Gauge; the conspicuous GWR County 4-6-0. Here’s a bit of background of what made the County special, and what set it apart from the other Western 4-6-0s of that time.
As World War II raged on, the Great Western Railway realised there was a growing need to expand its fleet of locos.
| |
|
In the usual Swindon tradition, Hawksworth developed the design from the existing family of mixed traffic locos descended from the 4-6-0 Saint. However, so it could compete with the powerful 3-cylinder locos of the LNER and LMS, this new design needed to be modernised. It also needed to be easy to service and repair, as the railway had lost many of its shed staff and labourers due to the war.
Hawksworth’s new design flew in the face of anyone believing that all Great Western locos look alike. This unconventional loco would be designated the 1000 Class, though it was more commonly known as the County. It would be the last new design of 4-6-0 built by the GWR.
| |
|
Hawksworth drew inspiration from further afield, adding distinctly LMS and LNER features. These included a joined single splasher rather than one over each wheel, with a tall flat-sided tender. When combined with features previously implemented on the Modified Hall Class, it resulted in a thoroughly modernised GWR loco design. The County followed the Modified Hall in its use of plate frames and separate cylinder castings, while the crew’s life was made easier by the installation of a hopper ashpan.
The County's most identifiable feature is its GWR No.15 boiler, which was pitched higher than anything previously built by the GWR.
| |
|
This new type of boiler was very similar to that of the Stanier 8F, and this is no coincidence; Swindon Works built 80 8Fs from 1943-45. The No.15 boiler was pressed to 280 PSI working pressure, dwarfing the 225 PSI of the Castle Class and generating a greater tractive effort. On paper, this made it the most powerful 2-cylinder loco produced by the GWR and theoretically, it should have matched the Castle’s performance.
Between 1945 and 1947, the GWR built 30 10xx Class locos at Swindon Works. They were later named after English or Welsh Counties, omitting the Shire part of their name as traditionally Shire and County mean the same thing, thereby avoiding a tautology. Emblazoned on a long straight nameplate, even this distinctive feature was considered non-standard, as traditionally the GWR used a curved plate fixed to the outside of the splasher.
| |
|
The County received a mixed reception from enthusiasts. Some loved the design, seeing it as a swansong of the Saint lineage and the GWR overall, whereas others thought of them as expensive and entirely non-standard.
Working as a true mixed-traffic loco, the County’s mainline duties included express trains such as the Cornishman and the Cheltenham Spa Express, as well as milk and fast freight work.
| |
|
Achieving a top speed of 99 mph on test, the County sadly underperformed in day-to-day use. This wasn’t helped by the poor quality of coal that was available at the time. Though the GWR denied reports of rough riding, there are tales of locomotive crews being cautious about taking Counties over 70mph due to the ride quality. In the beginning, their claimed high performance caused them to be rostered for Castle duties, which they struggled to maintain.
Working with such high pressure caused problems for the Counties, and under BR ownership in the mid-to-late 1950s, the boiler pressure was lowered. BR also used this as an opportunity to improve the loco's draughting, fitting them with a double chimney. With the boiler now topped off at 250 PSI its overall tractive effort decreased.
Although all 30 of the Counties were inherited by BR, the entire class was withdrawn between 1962 and ’64 in line with the rundown of steam on the Western Region and the rise of diesel-hydraulics.
| |
|
The last working example was No.1011 County of Chester, which completed the County Farewell railtour between Birmingham and Swindon in September 1964. Sadly, none survived into preservation.
Despite the unfortunate fate of County Class, significant efforts are being made to bring them back into the public eye. The Great Western Society has 1014 The GWR County Project, a bold initiative to bring an ‘authentic as possible’ rendition of the class back to life, utilising the frames of a Modified Hall and a Stanier 8F boiler. With an impressive amount of work completed, No.1014 County of Glamorgan is well on the way to joining her Western counterparts as a working member of Didcot’s fleet.
| |
|
This brand-new OO Gauge rendition of the GWR County will be available in 10 different versions and a variety of liveries, including County of Chester in railtour condition (when the smokebox numberplate was removed and the number added back on to the bufferbeam). With the Great Western Society’s County Project progressing nicely, we thought we should include a model of No.1014 County of Glamorgan in our range.
Detail variations include representations of locos from their short-lived time in GWR ownership and their later BR working life. This includes single and double chimneys, speedo drives, smokebox number plates, buffers, oil pipes, running board pipes and their County nameplates.
For modellers who prefer etched brass nameplates, we will include a painted plate appropriate to the relevant version in the detail bag.
| |
|
You can look forward to a smooth-running mechanism, factory-installed speakers, NEM coupler pockets, an ESU 21-pin decoder socket, factory-fitted MoPower stay-alive capacitor, tender pickups, vacuum cylinder between the frames, and firebox flicker with a dynamic fire draw effect.
The order book is open, and you can pre-order your models directly from www.rapidotrains.co.uk today or from any of our Official Retailers.
| |
Want to learn and see more? Why not watch our GWR County launch video: | |
GCR 15t Brake Van (OO Gauge) | |
This exciting new announcement expands our pre-grouping freight stock with our first OO Gauge Great Central Railway-designed prototype. The GCR 15t 6-Wheeled Brake Van was an immensely well-travelled vehicle and perfectly sums up why the LNER has been known as the ‘London & Nearly Everywhere Railway’. | |
|
Sometimes designers absolutely nail their brief, and it would be fair to say the design for the Great Central Railway 15t 6-wheeled brake van falls into that category.
Built over a 20-year period by a combination of the Great Central Railway's Dukinfield Works and outside contractors, a significant number of these sturdy 6-wheeled vans could be seen across the GCR network from as early as 1903.
The 15t brake vans featured a built-in stove and desk, covered verandas that offered a good line of sight in both directions and a delightful 2-plank hatch-type door on either end. These were fitted so that the guard could easily change tail lamps without leaving his van. Many of the vans were fitted with automatic vacuum brake gear, meaning they could be used on fitted freights such as the express fish traffic from the East Coast.
| |
|
In 1915 the Great Central Railway provided the Cheshire Lines Committee with 10 of these 15t Brake Vans, furthering the design's reach to the North West of England and Wales.
Upon the grouping of the railways in 1923 the LNER inherited hundreds of Great Central brake vans, including a significant quantity of this 15t variant. Many would replace the smaller GNR brake vans on East Coast mainline services. This design clearly struck a chord with the LNER as production continued throughout 1923, further bolstering their stock with another 24 vans.
With its accessibility, functionality and comfort, it is no wonder the prototype was built in such numbers and ran for such a prolonged period of time.
The LNER trackage was vast, and it wasn’t long before this brake van was used up and down the network, from Glasgow to Kings Cross. They got everywhere and quickly became a regular feature on long-distance cross-country freight and local trains too.
| |
|
Many GCR 6-wheelers survived until nationalisation, with BR examples being spotted everywhere from Wick to the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. Variants even made it into the hands of the National Coal Board and were used by BR as ballast brakes and engineering vehicles.
One example of the prototype was saved in 1975 by the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust and currently resides at Kirkby Stephen East. This example was owned by the NCB and is noticeably different to the majority of the other GCR 6-wheelers, as it features vertical planking that is believed to have been installed by the NCB. This wasn't the only van in colliery use, with another seeing out its final days on the Harton system.
| |
This model will be the first Great Central Railway brake van diagram ever to be produced in OO gauge ready-to-run, and our model will feature the usual wealth of detail seen on our previously-released pre-grouping era brake vans.
You can look forward to many separately fitted parts including highly detailed brake gear, running boards, vacuum pipes, rails, lamp irons and a chimney.
The van's interior contains a guard’s desk, stove, sandboxes and lockers, you will also find side lamps (in 'stowed' and 'deployed' positions) in the detail bag adding to the realism and detail of this model. The model is also fitted with metal bearings to facilitate smooth running, which is perfect if you want to recreate those Eastern Region cross-country freight trains.
| |
The order book is now open, and you can order yours directly from our website or from any of our Official Retailers. | |
Magnificent Midlander - 483 Engineering Prototypes Arrive | |
This month also saw the first engineering prototypes arrive for the OO Gauge Midland 483. The 3D-printed samples that we displayed at shows towards the end of last year were nice, but these prototypes are on another level. | |
|
With the elegance one expects from a Royal locomotive, this prototype highlights the loco's sleek lines perfectly and begins to give an impression of just how detailed the cab will look.
We will be conducting our first review of its details and mechanism over the next few weeks, and we know there is still more work to be done.
| |
|
Our first impressions are very positive, and in general, we are over the moon with the level of detail our designers and the factory have managed to achieve. The public debut for these prototypes was at Model Rail Scotland last weekend, and the feedback we got was also very favourable.
What do the rest of you think?
| |
Remember order books are still open for the Midland 483, you can order yours now directly through our website, or through any of our Official Retailers. | |
Simply Superb Single Sample – CR No.123 3D Print | |
|
Well, that title was quite a mouthful, and it didn’t help that it was already left wide open. Join us in gawping at this lovely-looking 3D print of our upcoming OO Gauge CR No.123.
We started 2025 with a bang and announced one of the UK's prettiest locomotives, and this highly detailed early prototype has already begun to bring this legendary locomotive to life.
| |
As you can see it’ll look great sat next to its single-wheeler cousin, GNR No.1, the Stirling Single. | |
Joining its fellow Scotsman, CR No.123 looks like it is lined up to be the perfect act to follow the highly-regarded ‘Jones Goods’. These arrived with customers just before the festive period and seem to have made a lot of modellers very happy. | |
|
You can come and see this early prototype at all of the upcoming shows we will be attending, and we can’t wait to see what you think when you see it for yourselves.
Order books are open for the OO Gauge CR No.123, and you can order yours directly through our website, or from any of our Official Retailers.
| |
The next order book closing date is a little further off, as we wanted it to coincide nicely with next month's newsletter. The next few weeks are your last opportunity to get your pre-orders in before the following order books close: | |
The end of April has some rather important order books closing (not that the others aren’t important of course). If you don’t want to miss out, we recommend you get your pre-orders in for the following over the next month or two: | |
|
Order books are closing on Monday the 28th of April.
Remember if you want to order any of these models you can do so directly through our website or with any of our Official Retailers.
| |
Our factories have been busy making further progress with our LBSC E1 and 16" Hunslet tank locos. The latest progress can be seen below. | |
Outwardly, yellow stripes may not seem complicated but to get them straight whilst curving round a saddle tank and at an angle has given our colleagues at the factory a few problems to solve. | |
Stroudley 'Improved Engine Green' has been a challenge but the end is now in sight. These examples are nearly ready for assembly. | |
The striking Malachite reen examples are not far behind. | |
It is not only the external details being worked on, the cab interiors are also progressing. | |
The Marsh Umber examples are also nearing completion in the paint shop. | |
Following hot on the heels of the GWR B-Sets we have lots of lovely Western Region wagons. The OO Gauge GWR N19 and O18 Open Wagons have arrived in our warehouse. These have undergone their QC checks and are now being sent to Retailers. If you have pre-ordered yours, keep an eye on your emails for notifications and payment links. | |
Loads of wagons on the way (OO Gauge) | |
|
By the time this newsletter hits your inbox the next wave of wagons will be heading towards the UK, you can expect the arrival of the following 00 Gauge wagon types in April:
| |
These aren’t due to arrive for a good few weeks yet, so we will all have to wait patiently. They are likely to arrive at some point in early Q2 and we will update you if there is any news before then. | |
Rails of Sheffield Takeover | |
|
During the first weekend of the month, we headed oop north to see our friends at Rails of Sheffield and took over their shop for the weekend. We managed to speak to loads of you who came to see us and had plenty of samples on display for everyone to enjoy. This included the first public appearance of our Ivor the Engine engineering prototypes.
Didn’t manage to catch us at the Rails Takeover? Don’t worry, here’s a quick recap video of our visit.
| |
Model Rail Scotland Spectacle | |
|
What was that funny noise?
Oh yes, it’s a queue of gleeful Scotsmen oohing and ayeing at all the Scottish wonders we had in our cabinets at the show!
| |
|
See, we did try and tell you we hadn’t forgotten our friends north of the border.
As much as we would love to say that the ‘Jones Goods’ was an impossible act to follow and was the big talking point of the show, we know that the talking point of the weekend was our announcement of CR No.123 and all those lovely Scottish Evolution liveries in Batch 2. We also had lots of requests and the team even found time to take a walk down the road to see one of them..
| |
We had a wonderful time over the three days of the show, and the huge amount of positive feedback that we got from many of you only reinforced our decision to support Scotland's railway history in such a significant way. Thank you to everyone who came to see us. | |
The show was so good the boss even bought us an ice cream! We hope those of you who were able to attend enjoyed it as much as we did. | |
London Festival of Railway Modelling | |
|
Having barely unpacked the van from Model Rail Scotland, it’s time to repack it and head to a show. Thankfully The London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexander Palace is significantly closer to home for most of us.
We always look forward to the Ally Pally show, and this year is no exception. As much as we enjoy our jaunts north of the border an hour’s drive from the office certainly has its appeal.
Taking place on the weekend of the 15th and 16th of March, BRM’s annual London festival is all things model trains and more.
Those who visited our stand at Model Rail Scotland or the Tonbridge Model Railway Exhibition were very excited by what we had on display, so we know that we have loads to talk to you about. A slew of updated samples has arrived over the last few months, so you are definitely going to want to pop by and see us.
So, come and see us and see what model niceties we have in store this time.
| |
|
We had such a fantastic time at last year's show that we have decided to do it all over again, and Rapido RailEx 2025 will bring the same high level of quality and fun that the 2024 event introduced.
Rapido RailEx 2025 will be held on Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th of September in The Market Hall, Maidstone, Kent.
| |
To make your decision even easier and convince you to join us for this exciting show, we are offering Early Bird tickets. Your Early Bird ticket will not only save you money on your tickets but will also guarantee you entrance on the day of your choice. Of course, we want as many young enthusiasts to join us as possible, so kids go free! | |
We have a nice selection of exquisite layouts, Official Rapido Retailers, and interesting vendors joining us for this year's event, of which the following have confirmed their attendance: | |
|
Layouts
Overlord (OO)
Redbridge Wharf (OO)
Bury, Thorn and Sons (O)
Bryn Stwffwl (OO9)
Leysdown (P4)
| |
|
Traders
MODELU
The Wagon Yard
Tony's Trains of Rugby
Kernow Model Rail Centre
Primo Handcraft Trees
Rails of Sheffield
Costal DCC
| |
We have many more to be announced, so keep an eye on this page and our newsletter for further Rapido RailEx 2025 announcements. | |
A modelling midlife crisis: Adapting our hobby around changes to health and home. | |
|
In our newsletters we often ask you about your hobby, looking into the types of collections you have and the layouts you run them on. We thought it was about time we got in on this fun as a group and sorted out our own Rapido Trains UK layout. So, for this month’s Thought of the Month, we are going to dig into our thought process that led to this being built, and what building a layout offers us both personally and commercially. While we are at it, we might as well show you where we are currently at with it.
Over the last year, a couple of our staff have had a tough time with different health conditions; don’t worry we won’t bore or revolt you with the gory and gruesome details. This deterioration of health initially came as a surprise and initially knocked our team members' personal hobby mojo.
You could sum this up as a kind of hobby midlife crisis, with several of us hurtling towards 40 and worrying about how and when we will ‘play trains’. But rather than dwelling on the cannot dos, we have focused on the can dos instead. Not being the sort of people to wallow in a pool of self-pity, we rallied and put a proverbial rocket up the hobby wazoo!
| |
|
With this new-found impetus, we concluded that building a respectably sized office-based layout was a damn good idea!
The Rapido Railway was born!
The more we mulled it over the more benefits materialised. Building this layout gives us a fun escape from work, a distraction from niggling health concerns, and something we can all work together on that isn’t commercially vital. We love model trains at Rapido and we don’t try to hide this fact. We are very passionate about what we do. This joint venture has already helped enhance our hobby drive, and as we start the ball rolling on this fun project, we are very excited to see it become a reality.
It also felt manageable, and not like your usual midlife crisis. You know the sort we mean; buying a lavish sports car or yacht, or a vintage Canadian transit bus or even a small steam loco to run at the Kent and East Sussex Railway…
Of course, this layout does offer commercial benefits to Rapido too (and in honesty it's one of the principle reasons for the build). With a permanent scenic environment we will have the perfect set-up for capturing even more video content and pretty pictures of all our models.
| |
|
To turn our initial idea into a reality, and make sure it included all of the scenic sections we could want, we drafted in Steve Croucher. Steve is probably best known in the model railway world for his beautiful layout Neville Grove, which has appeared in a variety of model railway publications over the years. With Steve designing the initial layout plan for us, we were in safe hands.
Steve provided us with a wonderful design, incorporating all the towns, rural areas, bridges, turntables, sidings, and tunnels a model railway enthusiast could want. With this ready, we drafted in a few friends and got the baseboards built. Our mad plan was becoming a reality.... Who’d have thought it?
| |
|
We wanted to set to work as soon as we had the baseboards down and asked our local printing firm to take Steve’s plans and print them at 1:1 scale, shown in the photo below.
So, what’s next?
Well, we will need to add the remaining boards and begin the trackwork and wiring over the next few months. We will then have a helping hand on the first scenic section from our friend Dan Evason. He created the beautiful dioramas that we have been using for our product photographs and taking to exhibitions, so we are quietly confident that this is going to look superb.
We also have the lovely folks at JS Models and Modelu to help provide the custom structures and figures, so we will have everything we need to turn this from a simple baseboard full of tracks into a beautifully detailed model.
| |
|
Just looking at the track plan on the baseboard is very exciting for us, as we're sure many of you have felt when you've done the same for a new layout. It's fair to say that we can’t wait to invite all of our kids, family members, friends, and maybe even a few of our particularly dedicated customers over to our gaff for a running session in the future.
We'll be sharing lots of progress updates and we look forward to hearing your feedback and advice!
| |
|
Well, that wraps up February.
We think we have already shown that we aren’t messing around in 2025, with last month’s announcements followed by the ones mentioned earlier, some big project progress and boatloads of models arriving with customers. It's already lining up to be a good year. What do you think we have in store for you for the rest of the year?
I suppose you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t ya!
| |
You can write to us at Rapido Trains UK, Unit 3, Clinton Business Centre, Lodge Road, Staplehurst, Kent TN12 0QF. Alternatively, you can call us on 03304 609496 or you can
e-mail us at customerservice@rapidotrains.co.uk
| |
Check out our YouTube channel, Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter! | | | | |
