Model Railroading > Latest Rapido News is online

Hi all,

The latest Rapido News is online. This one contains updates on various projects and thoughts on the industry now, especially given the recent factory closure in China.

You can view it here:

https://conta.cc/2P322ye

Thanks for reading,

Jason
 

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You are to be commended for your dedication to the Canadian modeler and for your
committment to our hobby.  Perhaps one day you shall be knighted.  Those products 
look fantastic.  I only wish I could be a dedicated customer, to date have only purchased
an undec FA2 from my store, Harris Hobbies of Athens, Tex. ( www.harrishobbies.com ).

The Katy had exactly one FA2 - No. 331 replaced a wrecked FA1 after the FA1 production ended.
(Yikes - I just noticed from this photo I just took, I have yet to put 331 in the lighted numberboards!)

The Katy also had just one RDC, but i am not a big RDC fan - i prefer the older Brill motorcars.

That Royal Whatever steam engine looks great too.  I'd bet you sell out of those in a New York minute.

Shane Murphy
Tyler, Tex

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WrongWayMurphy Wrote:
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> You are to be commended for your dedication to the
> Canadian modeler and for your
> committment to our hobby.  Perhaps one day you
> shall be knighted.  Those products 
> look fantastic.  I only wish I could be a
> dedicated customer, to date have only purchased
> an undec FA2 from my store, Harris Hobbies of
> Athens, Tex. ( www.harrishobbies.com ).
>

Thanks!

Hey - we can't bring out everything for everyone, so no worries there. I hope we will have more models in future that will fit your modelling era/locale.

-Jason

Still hoping for MBTA F40’s to go with my Atlas MBTA cars.....

That is absolutely fantastic and a totally class act that you guys reached out to other manufactures to offer help in the light of the Affa closure.

 

Okay. I'm just moving along and asking...  LOL...  What Canadian railroads had those Flexi-Flow covered hoppers?
Down here in US NYC/PC/CR and MDTX had them



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/18 16:06 by CSX602.

They are called Royal Hudsons!
----------------------------------
>
>
> That Royal Whatever steam engine looks great
> too.  I'd bet you sell out of those in a New York
> minute.
>
> Shane Murphy
> Tyler, Tex

I do know Penn Central and Conrail had the flexi flow hoppers
Cheers
Charlie
MP 52.8 on the BNSF Topeka Sub

CSX602 Wrote:
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> Okay. I'm just moving along and asking... 
> LOL...  What Canadian railroads had those
> Flexi-Flow covered hoppers?
> Down here in US NYC/PC/CR and MDTX had them

It's not my project, but I'm pretty sure nobody up here had them.

Right now I'd say only about 30% - 40% of our product line is Canadian. The rest is American and British.

But we have plenty of Canadian stuff still to do. My layout needs more switchers......

-Jason
 

rapidotrains Wrote:
> Right now I'd say only about 30% - 40% of our
> product line is Canadian. The rest is American and
> British.
>
> But we have plenty of Canadian stuff still to do.
> My layout needs more switchers......
>
> -Jason

Thanks Jason...   Hope you are able to do those...  (Psst, I bet a lot of northeastern modelers would like a SW1001 while your at it)

I guess my association with most of your products being Canadian is from your 1980 and later era stuff (including those excellent NSC/MI "iconic Canuck freight cars" as one of your announcements called them and soon to be Trenton Nova Scotia well cars).

Even though I'm not a PC/Conrail modeler I'd like to say "Thanks" for including the Flexi-Flows in your company offerings...   (I can say goodbye to that AHM kitbash I was going to do someday after I retire)
 

The whole thing made for good after-work reading, but this bit was by far my favorite/favourite:

"...our dashing English project manager, Gareth Bayer. He talks with an English accent. If you can't understand a word he is saying, you should be watching more Monty Python"

Jason and all the Rapido Crew

thanks for the update on the NEW HAVEN N scale coaches.

And, as usual, I will ask how soon can we see an N scale EP 5 to haul the wonderful coaches
you have supplied us with between New York and New Haven?  

Keep up the good works and good spirits

kpcm

kpcmcpkva@cox.net 

Canada Cement LaFarge operated them out of Calgary. I'll see if I can post a photo.

rapidotrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CSX602 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Okay. I'm just moving along and asking... 
> > LOL...  What Canadian railroads had those
> > Flexi-Flow covered hoppers?
> > Down here in US NYC/PC/CR and MDTX had them
>
> It's not my project, but I'm pretty sure nobody up
> here had them.
>
> Right now I'd say only about 30% - 40% of our
> product line is Canadian. The rest is American and
> British.
>
> But we have plenty of Canadian stuff still to do.
> My layout needs more switchers......
>
> -Jason
>  

Photo's as promised in my previous post.

rapidotrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CSX602 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Okay. I'm just moving along and asking... 
> > LOL...  What Canadian railroads had those
> > Flexi-Flow covered hoppers?
> > Down here in US NYC/PC/CR and MDTX had them
>
> It's not my project, but I'm pretty sure nobody up
> here had them.
>
> Right now I'd say only about 30% - 40% of our
> product line is Canadian. The rest is American and
> British.
>
> But we have plenty of Canadian stuff still to do.
> My layout needs more switchers......
>
> -Jason
>  

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I was surprised to not find you at the National Train Show, though perhaps I missed you guys.  I was looking forward to meeting you all in real life.

Regardless, keep up the good work!
- Jeff Carlson

Hi Shane,

Looking good, there is at least one Katy fan at Rapido (me) but I've never been able to find a photo of the real M-K-T FA-2. Do you have any? I'd love to see a shot of the real thing.

-Rapido Gareth



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/18 08:37 by CatcliffeDemon.

rapidotrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CSX602 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Okay. I'm just moving along and asking... 
> > LOL...  What Canadian railroads had those
> > Flexi-Flow covered hoppers?
> > Down here in US NYC/PC/CR and MDTX had them
>
> It's not my project, but I'm pretty sure nobody up
> here had them.

There are no original Canadian owners of Flexi-Flo cars but they did operate into Canada. As well as the NAHX examples pictured above (awesome pictures by the way) the DPCX (ex-NYC/PC/CR/MDTX) cars were regulary spotted in southern Ontario around the London-Woodstock area. DPCX is Dragon Phosphate Cement.

-Rapido Gareth



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/18 08:36 by CatcliffeDemon.

bnsfsd70 Wrote:
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> I was surprised to not find you at the National
> Train Show, though perhaps I missed you guys.  I
> was looking forward to meeting you all in real
> life.
>
> Regardless, keep up the good work!
> - Jeff Carlson

We were hoping to do the National but then we looked at the finances.

It costs the same to do one National as it does to do Trainfest and Springfield combined. Between Trainfest and Springfield, we reach between 30,000 and 40,000 model railroaders. The National rarely gets above 10,000 and is often just a small fraction of that.

I think for the long-term health of the National Train Show, our friends at the NMRA need to consider the following:

1. Move away from expensive hotels and flashy convention centers. In Portland 2015, it cost more to move our booth from the loading dock to the floor than it did to move it from Connecticut to the loading dock. That's just dumb. 

2. Move the National to sometime between October and April, when model railroaders are more active. The argument that the convention should be in the summer as that is when people take vacations may have worked in the 1970s when the average NMRA member was in his 40s. But today almost everyone going to the convention is retired and you can hold it any time of the year. 

What I'm saying isn't new. Many exhibitors and potential exhibitors feel exactly the same way and have expressed these views. Hopefully those views are being heard.

-Jason
 

I may have to dig really deep to find a photo of the FA2, and it may be in black & white.
In the mean time here are a couple FA1's - the lone FA2 was painted just like these



CatcliffeDemon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Shane,
>
> Looking good, there is at least one Katy fan at
> Rapido (me) but I've never been able to find a
> photo of the real M-K-T FA-2. Do you have any? I'd
> love to see a shot of the real thing.
>
> -Rapido Gareth

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Is 87A the old 331? It had a different panel arrangement after getting EMD'ed.

Brian Ehni

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