Rapido UK Newsletter No. 49

©2024 Rapido Trains Ltd

Dear Rapido Customer

With RailEx behind us and the team fully recovered, October swiftly became a month of knuckling down and getting as many projects moving as we could. We have even managed to squeeze in another two new announcements, but more on them later.

As all the projects are progressing nicely, and the news was rolling in from our factories that more models were nearing completion, we thought we would focus the second half of this month's newsletter on giving you all an update on where we are at with as many projects as we possibly can.

Let's tackle the new announcements first as they are quite exciting additions to the range, and then we will go through all the other project updates we have. Sit tight, there is bound to be something in here you will like!

New Announcements!



We're really excited about these, and we hope you will be as well!

First and Full Brake ‘Evolution’ Bogie Coaches (OO Gauge)

This is the example of “you asked and we delivered”!

Following our initial announcement of the OO Gauge 48’ ‘Evolution’ bogie coaches, it took no time at all for us to be inundated with requests asking for an eclectic mix of differently tooled versions to those that we had already announced. Of those, two types came up time and time again - an All-First and Full Brake. It had always been our intention to produce these versions in the future, but the sheer number of requests has meant that we have moved this project forward and will now include them in Batch 1. 

Having listened to your requests, we set our clever bunch of designers to work; our modular tooling design has allowed these to be designed pretty quickly. These additional coach variants will mostly echo the tooling choices, liveries, roof styles, and detailing choices we have made for each of the previously-announced Batch 1 versions. 

With Non-Corridor First and Full Brake coaches now available to order, you have more freedom to create the perfect era-appropriate express, cross-regional, or cross-country train of any length. 

In much the same way as the previously-announced ‘Evolution’ versions, the Non-Corridor First and Full Brake will include fitted internal working lighting, which is controlled by our magnetic magic wand, making it much easier to see these lovely details!    

You can pre-order your OO Gauge 48-foot ‘Evolution’ Bogie Coach Non-Corridor First and Full Brake versions now, these are available directly from our website or any of our Official Retailers.

These will be available in all the liveries from Batch 1 and will be delivered alongside the original models.

Oh, and did we mention that we have already received samples of the first three coach types? Keep reading to find out (and see) more… 

LMS D1832A and D1663 12-Ton Vans (OO Gauge) 

Following the grouping of the railways in 1923, the newly-formed London, Midland and Scottish Railway inherited a whole host of ageing and dilapidated freight stock from their pre-grouping predecessors. 

To remedy this and remain competitive, the LMS undertook a massive modernisation program of its freight stock. Though many of the designs were either adapted or simply copied from pre-grouping companies, a swathe of brand-new prototypes started rolling off the production line in late 1923. The humble box van was no exception.



Production of the newly-conceived 9ft wheelbase Dia.1663 12-Ton Vans began in 1924 and 850 wagons were produced over two years. Standing out amongst a sea of hinged doored and wooden-ended vans, the Dia.1663 vans featured a stylish sliding door, corrugated steel ends and internal steel cross braces at one end to facilitate the clearance of the sliding doors.

The LMS had a habit of applying new diagram numbers to almost identical prototypes that featured only minor differences and the sliding door 12-Ton vans of the 1920s and 30s were no different.



Much like their earlier counterparts, the Dia.1832A 12-ton vans had the same sliding door, 9ft wheelbase, corrugated steel end and cross-brace design, however, they also featured a single ventilator bonnet at either end. Some variants were produced with roof vents for extra ventilation. 

The Dia.1832A were then fitted with different headstocks and buffers. With added ventilation, a greater variety of freight traffic could be transported throughout the LMS network and beyond.



This later diagram clearly refined the design as a whopping 3,450 vans were built between 1929 and 1931. 

Surviving into the late years of Nationalisation, both the LMS D1832A and D1663 12-Ton Vans could be found up and down the country, some still soldiered on in departmental use way into the 1970s.



Our new OO Gauge model of the LMS D1832A and D1663 12-Ton Vans will feature the usual wealth of detail, including tooling variants covering prototypes with and without ventilators, numerous separately-fitted parts, 3-hole disc and spoked wheel varieties, brass bearings for smooth friction-free running, NEM coupling pockets, and a high-quality livery application.

The LMS D1832A and D1663 12-Ton Vans have 23 different liveries for you to choose from and they are available to pre-order now directly from our website or from any of our Official Retailers.

Product update

Rapid Evolution – ‘Evolution’ Coach Samples Arrive!



We could go into lots of detail about every lovely feature these amazing coaches contain, but with these samples we thought images would speak louder than words. So here they are in all their glory, our first OO Gauge ‘Evolution’ Coach engineering prototypes. Enjoy!

Here they are! Three different coach types with three different roof styles - there is something for all pre-grouping fans!

The end views show not only the different roof profiles but also the varying different details the tooling suite enables.

Like our GWR B-Set coaches, Evolution will come with extra windows in the accessory bag allowing modellers to have half- and fully-open droplight windows in their train.

Underframes include all the usual details you would expect from Rapido including fittings for gas (seen above) or electric lighting.

Close-coupling bars are also included - modelled on vacuum hoses!

Each carriage is illuminated in a similar manner to our GWR B-Set and LNER Dynamometer coaches and can be turned on and off using our magic wand. Each type of carriage has its own PCB to ensure the correct placement of lights in each compartment.

Evolution is the perfect accompaniment to many of our forthcoming locomotives. Our Midland / SDJR 4-4-0 looks perfectly at home with a set.

Evolution Livery Updates

In the excitement to get these projects into the wild, we realised our colour CAD renders were not quite perfect. Since the last newsletter, we have corrected these issues and we would like to share these changes with you for each of the affected liveries:

Midland Railway

These coaches have had the distinctive black areas under the roof rainstrip added. 

Great Western Railway



Our livery choice reflects the practice adopted from 1922. During this period the ends of coaches were painted black, which we missed on our renders, but we have now corrected. After consultation with further experts we have decided to produce the roofs completely white as this seems to have been the most prevalent on similar items of rolling stock. 

Great Central Railway



Embarrassingly we picked entirely the wrong colour for the upper body panels. During the 1903 to 1908 period, GCR coaches were painted brown and cream (which had replaced the earlier French Grey). With a number of RTR locomotives available for this period, we thought the brown and cream colour would be the best match – but unfortunately, our initial renders used a greyer colour. This has now been updated to a more prototypically correct cream.

Proper Port of Par Progress!

We thought it was about time we did a progress update on the Port of Par Bagnalls, as the project's development was far from diminutive this month and it felt like the right time to go into a bit more detail. Oh, and we wanted to show you just how special the twin packs will be!

As you can see, in addition to your pretty pair of highly detailed models, you can look forward to a postcard-size exclusive Jonathan Clay print and an illustrated booklet describing the history of both locomotives. This all comes presented to you in a rather stylish box. 

Incredibly, despite their size, we are offering DCC Sound-Fitted versions of these models too. As such, we needed to record their distinctive sounds. Thankfully, the Bodmin and Wenford Railway gave us and our colleagues at ESU (who came all the way from Germany) access to their operational Bagnall ‘Judy’ earlier this month so we could record what we needed. We had a lovely day chuffing up and down and grabbing every sound we needed. We would like to extend our thanks to them and particularly David Nelson-Brown for such wonderful help with this project. 

We don’t doubt you would like to see the models in action yourself and as we suspect they are going to spend a fair bit of time shunting up and down on your layouts we drafted in That Model Railway Guy to put the samples through their paces, have a bit of fun and see how they shunt. What do you think?

The order books for the Port of Par Bagnall Tanks are closing on Monday 4^th of November, so make sure you get your orders in with us directly through our website or with any of our Official Retailers before the deadline if you don’t want to miss out

Order Books Closing

Now that we have managed to get a bit of breathing space after the fun that was RailEx and the announcements that accompanied it, we thought it was a good idea to reveal which projects have their order books closing over the next few months.

Put these in your diary and if you are considering ordering any of these. Make sure you do so directly through our website, or with any of our Official Retailers on or before these dates – otherwise you may miss out! 

A Guide to Delivery Updates

We wanted to give you a full rundown on the delivery schedule. Despite having its own easy-to-use section on our website, we still get regular messages from folks asking where their particular pre-ordered models are. Your enthusiasm and passion are greatly appreciated, so we thought we would do our best to explain what each section means and the level of new information you are likely to receive between or during these stages.

For those of you who may not be aware, our delivery schedule can be found here:

This contains all of our upcoming projects, and if the information is available to us, an estimate of its approximate time of delivery.

So that it's nice and clear, here is a handy table with the status of each project.

We have split the projects in the schedule into the following categories: In Design, In Tooling, Samples received, In Production, and En-route.

“So, what does each section mean?” we hear you ask, well here's a brief guide to each one! These are by no means hard and fast rules, but it does help us prioritise and communicate projects accordingly. 

In design



This is where it all begins! Conducting research, writing specifications and reviewing designs all take time. Sometimes we announce projects during this stage, and you are likely to see lovely CAD renders and the first artwork of liveries. The length of a project sitting in this section can vary quite considerably, and often there is only a limited amount of information we can offer you once the renders have been completed.

In tooling

Once we are confident that we have a design we are happy with we send it over to the factory, they then start making the necessary moulds to mass-produce the model. During the tooling stage, there is often very little for us to say or show, as we have left this part of the project in the capable hands of our factory. Sometimes we may get a lovely 3D-printed sample of the model to give you a snapshot into what you have to look forward to, you’ll notice Ivor, The Midland 483 and several other projects are in this current state.

Samples received

Once the initial moulds are completed, the factory produces a limited number of engineering samples for us. This allows us to test everything, including: the operation of the model and checking the number of rivets it has; ride height; reliability and inter-operability with controllers, track and other rolling stock.

The model railway hobby is tactile; being able to see the model that we have been working on for months first-hand means a lot to us, so we know it means even more to you.

As soon as the samples are in a state where we can share them, you will start to see them on our website, in newsletters, on our social media channels and at the shows we attend.

As you can appreciate this stage is lengthy, so a model may sit in this stage for a while, as we test, tweak and adapt it, which sometimes requires further samples to be produced. As much as we appreciate that everyone wants their new models quickly, we would rather something was up to our standards, instead of being rushed.

With the artwork, cosmetics, mechanical parts and sound file all completed we sign them off and push the proverbial big red button!

In production

With all hands to the pumps, the factory begins work on the mass production of the models. This stage is fundamentally out of our control. We trust our factory to produce the models to the highest standards and in a reasonable time frame, but some projects simply take more time than others, a simple wagon with a limited number of liveries is likely to be much faster than a loco with an eclectic mix of liveries. Funnily enough, applying detailed lining to a pretty pre-grouping loco isn’t the swiftest job and we certainly like our pretty pre-grouping locos.

On occasion the factory will kindly provide us with a photo of an ongoing project that is in production, (see this month's factory updates for examples) however these updates are inconsistent and aren’t always very eye-catching, so we make no promises on how or when we will update you at this stage as it can take some time. This is where the LB&SCR E1 is currently sat, hence the lack of updates for a while on this project.

Once the factory has completed a version of each item, we are sent new samples to see what the final production items will look like. This is the last opportunity for us to review them before production is completed. With the final nod from us, the factory then completes the entire batch, and we sit tight and wait for them to arrive. 

En-route

Once the factory has let us know they are done and have been shipped we update the status to en-route. Despite being a consistent distance from our factory all of the time, the length of time between this status changing and the model arriving in your hand can vary dramatically. Unfortunately, there isn’t a huge amount we can do about geeing up international shipping and, much like yourselves, we have to sit tight. Sadly, with adverse weather and conflicts going on around the globe as we speak there are an awful lot of unavoidable variables. Once they get here we then need a chance to carry out our quality control checks prior to sending them out. Even the packing can take a varying amount of time depending on the size, weight, volume and number of SKUs.

This guide is of course a rough outline and the lines do blur from time to time. Sometimes we may announce a project later in its development, or a project may share something that has already been tooled (like an underframe) which means that processes can be longer or shorter.

We hope that this clears things up a little bit for everyone, and gives you a bit more insight into how our process works and why no news does not mean bad news.

Factory Updates

We usually have a bit of news to share regarding progress and updates, but this month we have been spoilt by the factory and have received a bunch of rather awesome work-in-progress photos from their workbenches. Let’s take a peek at what they have sent us. 

Caledonian Railway Dia.67 10 Ton Vans (OO Gauge).



Following the announcement of Batch 1 of ‘Evolution’ we had an outcry of “What about Scotland?!” from our newsletter readers, so we are rather pleased to be able to share a picture of the upcoming Caledonian Railway Dia.67 Vans.

GWR Dia. N19 Loco Coal and O18 5-Plank Wagons (OO Gauge).



Turning our attention westerly, we have these shots of the upcoming GWR Dia.N19 Loco Coal and Dia. O18 5-Plank Wagons. 

BR Diagram 1/801 Fish and Parcels Vans (OO Gauge).

*SHAMELESS WORDPLAY ALERT!* A little bit further down the line are the BR Diagram 1/801 Fish Vans, a kind sole in the factory cast their net a bit wider and managed to land us a reely early photo of their production. Despite them trying to squeeze these early versions in like sardines, this amount of models is only a drop in the ocean, so there is still a way to go, but at least you can sea progress.

GNR Stirling Single (OO Gauge).

Another product working through the paintshop is our 2nd batch of Stirling Single locomotives. Much of the intricate livery has already been applied and this will be completed in the next few weeks prior to final assembly.

LB&SCR E1 (OO Gauge).

Last but by no means least is the LB&SCR E1, we have been inundated with requests for updates for this one, despite us reassuring you that it was in the capable hands of our factory. So, we thought we could hardly let this opportunity slip by to put your mind at ease. It may not be the most exciting photograph, but these distinctly E1-shaped boilers and tanks show that progress is very much underway. 



Keep an eye on future newsletters for further shipping and factory updates on these projects. They are progressing nicely and we hope to have them in your hands as soon as we can. 

Shipping Updates

Good news! Our NER Y7 / LNER H Class has left the factory. These will be with us very soon and as soon as our QC checks have been carried out we will be shipping them out to our Official Retailers and direct customers.

Hot on the heels of the Y7 is our HR 'Jones Goods'. These are undergoing final testing and packaging and we hope will be leaving the factory within a few days of this newsletter reaching your inbox.

Slightly behind locomotives are the GWR B Set coaches which are now in the final assembly stages. We hope these will leave the factory during November.

Keep an eye on your email and social media for further information in the coming weeks.

The National Festival of Railway Modelling 2024

On the weekend of the 23^rd and 24^th of November, we head to the very first National Festival of Railway Modelling at the NEC in Birmingham. The folks at World of Railways / BRM are hoping to make this inaugural show go off with a bang and as one of the sponsors for the event, we are keen to help them make this happen.

Our contribution won't just be flashy banners and tongue-in-cheek lavatory ads this time. Situated at stand 16 we will not only have our latest samples but we will be designing an all-new product LIVE on site. Can you get much more exciting than that?

Can you guess what it'll be? Drop by and see what’s on show and see if you can work it out!

It wouldn’t be a Rapido show stand if it wasn’t chock-full of awesome samples, painted engineering prototypes and upcoming projects. Oh, and our wonderfully wacky staff of course. Come and see all the new projects and have a chat with us about what you are looking forward to the most. We can't wait to meet you.

Fancy a unique private owner wagon? We will also be bringing along our Customer Wagon Service, which had its maiden run at RailEx in September. We have refined the process a tad, as it proved immensely popular at RailEx and we want to be able to offer it to as many of you as possible, so if you don’t want to miss out on this awesome bespoke service we recommend heading to our stand as early as you can when you get there.

You can find out more about the National Festival of Railway Modelling and grab your tickets by clicking on the button below:

Thought of The Month

For the Greater Good



As we sit comfortably in the middle of planning for an upcoming show and getting back on the horse after RailEx, it's given us a bit of time to reflect, and we couldn’t help but look back and smile. We've been thinking of the people who have helped in making our events andwider business a possibility.

To put it bluntly, we work alongside, in partnership with, and in the same industry as some really awesome people. Much of this doesn’t get seen by the public, so assumptions about the kind of relationships we have are garnered. Let us assure you that the opinion that we are all just big corporations jostling for your money couldn’t be further from the truth, for the most part anyway.

From research, right through to delivery of the final model to our Official Retailers, we involve a plethora of like-minded enthusiasts and hobbyists in the process, and we all have an interest in the greater good of the hobby and its ongoing survival. After all, if you nurture the hobby and promote the positive aspects which it brings to people's lives, then it will still be here for many years to come. 

Standing at RailEx and looking around the hall, it was easy to start putting the pieces of this cryptic puzzle together. We work behind the scenes with experts, such as David Larkin, who kindly give up their time to share their devoted wagon work and research with us. They are instrumental in bringing you the most accurate models possible. It was a great pleasure to give the likes of David, the folks from the Scalefour Society, and ESU the space at the show to be able to share their knowledge with the public.

While we are on the subject of wagons, we can’t forget The Wagon Yard. The Custom Wagon service was only possible thanks to the expertise, experience, and wagon knowledge Mark and Emma provided. The show wouldn’t have been what it was without The Wagon Yard's involvement, and we are very proud to be able to call Mark one of our colleagues. Check out The Wagon Yard’s site here, and you’ll see what we mean. 

Modelu were also in attendance, and it could be assumed that their eye-catching stand, futuristic kit, and cheery disposition were why we invited them, but our friendship with them extends much further. Despite members of our leadership team previously running their own scale figure business, and therefore having the skills and knowledge to produce the figures many of you desire, we choose not to. Alan (Modelu’s Gaffer) and his team have printed some utterly awesome samples for us over the years. In return, we share with them our CAD for new projects weeks before the public has even caught a glimpse of it, so that a lovely figure pack can appear in what appears to be no time at all. We are very pleased to call Alan and the team our partners – and they are not the only ones!

The show also brought together many of our awesome local organisations and clubs, with whom we have established a relationship over the years. The AIMREC lads brought their gorgeous Melton Mowbray layout, several of their junior members and their usual friendly approach to shows. Jonnie, one of the Spa Valley Railway’s managers, strong-armed a team of his best (we hope) crew into running their O Gauge layout for the event – and whose help with our SECR O1 project has not been forgotten.

Oh, and of course, we can't forget our friends from the Tonbridge Model Railway Club, one of whose members attended with their suitably Southern setup. It was nice to finally be able to repay the favour and invite them to our show, rather than the other way around. The Tonbridge Club invited us to their show when Rapido Trains UK was just getting started, and their hospitality hasn’t been forgotten. 

Beyond the show, and this next one may come as more of a shock to you, we do work with other manufacturers too! We have a superb relationship with many of the major and smaller manufacturers. This benefits the hobby in so many ways, but one of the most important things is to ensure the liveries of models match as best as possible. Have you compared our W&U train packs with the GER livery Ex-Hatton’s Genesis coaches that were recently released by Rails of Sheffield? This colour coordination is no coincidence!

This cooperation extends to project selection too, where we try to avoid any unnecessary duplication if possible. Of course, we are still a business, so our ongoing survival and growth are at the forefront of our plans, however, we don’t see the point of this being at the jeopardy of the greater good of the hobby. 

What we are very aware of is this motley crew of like-minded, good-spirited hobbyists is doing its absolute utmost to enhance your hobby, and quite frankly it is awesome to be right in the middle of it. Unfortunately, from an outsider's perspective, it is often perceived or assumed that each of our organisations exists in its own little bubble and without any thought for each other or the wider industry. We relish the opportunity to work alongside any company or organisation that shares our ethical standards and are looking forward to seeing whom we will work alongside next.

From the insights we have given you we hope you have a greater appreciation for all the work that goes on behind the scenes, ensuring your model has the correct number of rivets, is the appropriate shade for the livery, has an accurate running number, and has as many other products as possible from elsewhere to nicely compliment them.

Thanks for reading to the end. We know it’s been a long one this month, but we wanted to give you an update on as many projects as possible. Now, let's get packed up for the National Festival of Railway Modelling and we will catch up with you all once we are back - maybe with a few more surprises!

The Rapido Trains UK Team