Rapido UK Newsletter No. 35
©2023 Rapido Trains Ltd
Dear Rapido Customer,

Wow, that was a warmer month than expected.

It’s also been a chaotic month, with several deliveries of exciting new products, the first show of the season for us and significant progress made on numerous projects. The heat certainly hasn’t helped! It’s fair to say that both the office and factory have been working tirelessly to put new models in your hands as soon as possible.

The 15XXs have arrived and are now with customers, as are the LMS D1666 open wagons, which is awesome! We can’t wait to see more pictures of everyone enjoying their new models.

With the warehouse full to the brim, some of the team headed to The International N Gauge Show and had a lovely time. More on that later.

Out of the blue (other colours also arrived), we received an incredible parcel from our factory. Full-colour production samples of the W & U tram packs, W & U coaches, and Not-Quite-Minks.
A wonderful selection of liveries arrived in our recent package from the factory.
With plenty of black locos, grey and brown wagons, and single-colour coaches from across the eras of railway history (which we also think are lovely), there are quite a lot of unassuming liveries within the railway world. This parcel blew any monotone conventions out the window, as it was full of more brightly coloured samples than the paint aisle of your favourite hardware store.

It was quite nice to be inundated with so many striking samples in one go, so without further ado, let's take a look at these colourful curiosities.
What’s Arrived!

The hefty 15XX has arrived and been shipped. 
One of the very first locomotives that was announced by Rapido Trains UK has arrived and hit the shelves! This powerful little model reflects its real-world counterpart perfectly with an impressive load capability, significant weight for its size and a functional design. Thanks to its residency at the Severn Valley Railway, its work in and out of one of the capital's busiest stations, and its ability to belch smoke at the drop of a hat, it’s fair to say it's quite a popular loco with enthusiasts and spotters.

This popularity has been evident at Rapido too, as we've almost sold out of all of them, with only a handful of Unlined Plain Black and NCB Maroon versions left in stock directly with us. Make sure to get your order in quickly if you don’t want to miss out. Of course, if you are keen to get your hands on one of the other variants, many of our lovely Official Retailers have ordered stock of each, so grab them while you can. 
Whilst most 15XX locos were black we couldn't resist a genuine NCB livery and a 'what if' GWR variant to add a splash of colour.
A number of customers have already received their models and unfortunately some customers have had some issues with them. We pride ourselves on the quality of our models, and we deal with any problems we have head-on and with the utmost honesty. We are really disappointed that not every model in this release has been up to our usual standard of quality, and we want to be able to resolve any issues for our customers as quickly as possible. We want everyone to have the same great experience and love their new model, so if you have any concerns with your 15XX please complete the warranty form by clicking on the link below and we will be in touch with you as quickly as possible. 
D1666 LMS open wagon has arrived.
Hot on the heels of the 15XX arriving were our LMS D1666 5-plank opens! These rather mundane wagons have been less popular than our other similar wagons for other regions but that does not mean they have not been well received.
 
These little wagons were once the most numerous design on the UK network and could be found everywhere. Like their full-size counterparts, our models have now been dispatched and sent out all across the country and abroad. 
Fifteen wagons make up this batch and no two are the same - with more than just a number change.
We have a very limited number available in our warehouse, but we expect these to disappear in the coming weeks. If you like what you see, get your order in quickly either direct with us or from your chosen Official Retailer.
Colourful Samples!

Wisbech and Upwell Train Packs
Wow! These samples are something else. We were in awe when the first painted samples for the Wisbech and Upwell Train Packs arrived last week, and all of the Rapido team has been excitedly playing with testing them. 
A C53 and tramcar in the rather striking Great Eastern livery of Crimson and Grey.
The packs are available in two different versions, each containing one Class C53 tram locomotive and two coaches, the two versions cover either pre- or post-1919 Great Eastern Railway liveries. The Class C53 tram locomotive is a refined and reproduced version of the popular J70 model, which we made for Model Rail several years ago. The two bogie coaches are highly detailed renditions of coach No. 7 (built to Dia.602) and coach No. 8 (built to Dia. 603) that were delivered to the Wisbech and Upwell in 1884.

These wonderful trams and their beautifully baroque coaches highlight the unconventional nature of the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway perfectly. With incredible detail, two completely different eye-popping liveries and quite literally all the bells and whistles a model can have, we think the hardest decision will be choosing which one to get! 
Thanks to a team of external experts we believe the livery to be the closest match to the full-size prototypes as possible.
If these delightful train packs have caught your eye, you will be pleased to hear we have a limited number of them still available to pre-order directly from our website, they are available in DCC Ready (£269.95 RRP) and DCC Sound Fitted (£369.95 RRP) versions. Of course, many of our Official Retailers have these on order too, so get your orders in with your retailer of choice before they are gone
Wisbech & Upwell Bogie Tramcars

It would have been silly to make the pack above without also doing the liveries to go alongside the aforementioned Model Rail J70 model, wouldn’t it? Thankfully we didn’t forget them, and here they are in all their glory!
Not only do our W&U tramcars feature a variety of liveries - but also a number of physical variants.
Eight individual coaches that cover LNER and BR liveries, along with two rather special variants, are now available for you to add to your collection. The first of the special liveries is W&U Bogie Tramcar – GER No.7, as preserved. Well known to those who have visited the North Norfolk Railway, preservation fans, and anyone who has an affinity for somewhat obscure railway rolling stock.
The rather special Titfield Buffet Car sample has also arrived - complete with Mr Valentine's bar!
Finally, we have the greatest legal loophole in (fictional) railway history, Mr. Valentine’s favourite mobile bar - The Titfield Thunderbolt Buffet Car. This striking blue coach was an integral part in saving the line from Titfield to Mallingford, and so long as it’s moving, you no longer have to wait for the day to dawn to enjoy a Gin and Tonic.
Delivered with our Not-Quite-Mink samples was the first wagon for our Titfield Wagon Packs - the Valentine & Taylor wines and spirts wagon.
With limited stock available, we recommend any Titfield Thunderbolt fan gets their pre-order for this famous Buffet Car as soon as possible. A replacement bus service just wouldn’t be the same!
As usual our coaches are packed with details inside, outside and underneath!
Not-Quite-Mink Production Samples
Our 'Not-Quite-Minks' have arrived and have a vast number of liveries - including a selection of Northern liveries....
The Not-Quite-Minks are not quite ready. However, we were very pleased to receive some incredible production samples. As we started unboxing these the office was filled with numerous ooh and aahs as bold livery after bold livery was unboxed. They are gorgeous, and we simply can't wait to put them in your hands. 
...Welsh and Western liveries...
Heading to the capital is one Not-Quite-Mink that we expect to go off with a bang. Transporting 36 barrels of gunpowder to the city for an undisclosed reason, It's the perfect addition to any basement model railway... just don’t get caught! 
...private owner and 'what if' liveries
Sales for the Not-Quite-Mink have been explosive, and some versions have started to sell out already. If you fancy adding one of these incandescent iron wagons to your collection, a limited stock is still available to pre-order directly from our website (£32.95 RRP). Many of our Official Retailers have also added these to their armoury, so get your pre-orders with your retailer of choice before they are loaded into someone else's cannon cart.
There really is something for everyone!
You wait for a bus…
 
Whilst we know that many have been disappointed with the news that we will not be producing further bus models in the near future, we hope that the news of progress on our 2nd run of Fleetline models will go some way to improving the situation.
Guess the operator!
The factory has injected all the parts and now starts the process of spraying and tampo printing the livery and colours required onto each part. As part of this process, the factory has sent us samples of the bare bodyshells painted in our specified colours so that we sign off on the base livery colours prior to further work. In this run, there are many colourful liveries giving us a somewhat vibrant selection of bodies to look over.
A fan of colour all approved and ready for production.
Overall, we are extremely pleased and can report that the models will now enter the next stage of the decoration process before final assembly and delivery in Q1 next year.
TINGS Recap

Early this month we attended and gradually roasted at the International N Gauge show at Leamington Spa. We had an awesome time and thoroughly enjoyed speaking to as many of you as possible, despite it being an unprecedently hot weekend.

So, if you made it to the show and came to say hi instead of grabbing your bucket and spade and heading to the beach, thank you from all of us. You have given us some great feedback and product suggestions, and it was really nice to hear how excited many of you were for the upcoming N scale BR Class 44.
Dan looks pleased that he has set up our TINGS stand in record time - on our very first visit.
In case you missed the show, here's what we had to share on the upcoming N Gauge projects while we were there.

  • BR Class 44 – this project is having the final stages of its design and art tweaked, and we had 3D printed samples to show, which received an immensely positive response at TINGS.

  • SECR Wagon Packs – These are in tooling and we hope to have samples in the coming months.



See you at the next show (Warley)!
Save the dates!
 
After forging a relationship with Warners Magazines by producing their World of Railways exclusive NCB PO wagons (see here) we are pleased to announce they have given us the opportunity to sponsor the 2024 British Railway Modelling calendar. This will be available with the November issue of BRM - on sale 5th October.
 
Despite our suggestions to create a Calendar Girls-style version called “The Staff of Rapido Trains UK”, for some reason Warners Magazine wasn’t interested in a calendar featuring an APT-E tastefully obscuring our unmentionables. So, we have decided to pack it with a combination of submissions from you, our lovely customers, as well as our own photographs. Each month showcases production models in their natural environment, on a layout. We’ve also thrown in a few titillating shots of our production samples for projects that will be delivered in 2024.
 
Be sure to grab your copy!
Time to announce an announcement…
 
We think that it’s fair to say, that as a company, we like to do things a little differently. Over the last few years, we have taken a somewhat unusual approach to our releases and announcements with some being tied into shows and events whilst others are dropped as and when.
 
This resulted in roughly one announcement per month in 2022. However, supply issues with electronic components and other supply chain challenges resulted in a slower pace of deliveries and subsequently caused a backlog of projects. We have continued to work through this and have better systems in place, but as a result, we have had very few new announcements in 2023.
 
However, throughout this publicly quiet period, work has continued on many new projects and we are pleased to say that many of them are close to being announced and made available to pre-order. Several of these projects are already in tooling and we are planning to have samples to display during the upcoming shows.
 
To carry on the tradition of doing things differently we have decided to combine several of our announcements into a ‘Winter Announcement’ to coincide with the Warley Model Railway Show. If all of these projects continue to progress as planned, we hope to have a number of exciting new locomotives and rolling stock projects to shout about.
What do you think we will produce? That is the burning question I am sure many of you are asking. We think we have already said to much so will leave it for you to guess....
Rapido Recommends
 
Once again our friends at ModelU have been busy creating a pack of footplate figures to fit into the Model Rail J70. It has come at a perfect time for our W&U train packs! You can find these packs on the ModelU website by clicking HERE.
Thought of the Month
 
COST VS VALUE
 
Of late, there has been great debate amongst the community regarding the cost vs. value of model railway products, so we thought it would be an interesting thing to cover for the thought of the month and give some insight into what goes on behind the scenes. As that’s something we have a bit of experience with!
The humble 4-wheel open wagon - should it cost less than the same length covered van?
Objectively an RRP of £32.95 can seem like a lot of money for a 4 wheel wagon, especially if you are as old as some of us at Rapido and remember the days when you could buy a whole rake of wagons for the price of a lump of coal or whatever the comparison was back then.
 
‘Why can’t you take some of the detail off and sell it cheaper?’ is sometimes heard in these conversations.
 
We aim to make the best quality and most accurate models that we can, which precludes the budget end of the market, although we do consider it when designing models. In the past, we have redesigned models to bring the cost of the final product down to a more realistic amount.
Many of our products have 'hidden' costs including license fees - all of which require building into finances for a product.
The RRP we settle on is a mid-point between customer affordability and the best quality, most detailed, accurate model that we can make, in order to continue to run the business. This intersection point will differ from company to company, and is just our point of view.
 
In our experience (this may surprise you), a 4-wheel open wagon costs just as much to make if not more than a 4-wheel covered van. This is partially down to having the extra detail moulded on the inside, plus the need to paint the inside, among other factors. Then take into account something like a well wagon, which is much smaller but commands a higher price because it’s highly detailed from every angle.
 
Now, from what we have seen, vans sell better than open wagons. Should this affect the price of opens? Or are we only able to justify producing open wagons because we are able to offset the cost on box vans?
 
The same thought process applies to loco models, just because something is a tiny loco doesn’t mean it commands a substantially lower price point, unfortunately. The same research, time, art creation, manufacturing slot, marketing assets and due diligence go into a making diminutive shunter that fits in the palm of your hand as a multiple unit or mainline loco. Yes, there are fewer raw materials, but just by taking a look at how many components are in our newly released 15XX you quickly realise how many moulds a relatively small loco takes to produce.
A tank engine with over 360 parts - a far cry from another manufacturers Merchant Navy which when advertised new in 2000 had 64 separately fitted parts and was seen as a game-changer. How far things have come...
One thing that we do see a lot is the inference that model railway manufacturers are simply being greedy by putting prices up. Looking back at open wagons, our prices have remained the same since we started the company. However, just like everyone else in the industry, we have seen a huge rise in the cost of production and shipping.
 
We have around 6 full-time and 3 part-time staff in the UK, and when we last checked none of them were millionaires. We do it because we love it; most of us are modellers and enthusiasts ourselves and we all want to contribute to the hobby.
 
As a company, we are well aware of our pricing and we have done our best to keep that pricing stable whilst continuing to run the business. Our business model means we can react to market prices and will always do our best to honour the originally advertised prices rather than hike them during development.

We can't be more fair than that can we?
STOP PRESS!
 
As is always the way - our LNER Y7 engineering samples have arrived the day before this newsletter was published.

We will be reviewing these over the next few weeks and will have more to show in our next newsletter. Until then we thought we would leave you with one sneak peek photo...
Well, that’s the summer over and done with; time to get our heads down for show season and get that exciting Winter Announcement ready.

Best wishes,

The Rapido Trains UK Team
We couldn't resist a final image of a Model Rail BR livery J70 hauling our two 'what if' W&U tramcars.
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