Model Railroading > Rapido E8A; anyone have an opinion/review of the newly-arrived?

Just wondering if I should get one, has anyone received a Rapido E8A and offer up a review or opinion?  They sure look good....

Thanks,
Dan

Just don't look too hard at them..

Reading comments from other sites, they have issue's.
The front port hole, the top headlight are two that come to mind.
One poster Rapido and in the reply was told, send it back, get a refund, we will sell it to someone else.
The Santa Fe reefer also has the worst modeled trucks I have seen. Tyco and Life Like did better.

Posted from Android

Another concern is the sound value. I have 4 UP and 3 IC along with the AMTK 4316 and the sound is very low. Tried to raise souinds thru Lpk programmer and no luck, very quiet. 

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

On my UP version the snow shields are convex.
I emailed Rapido about sending me replacements and they said they were all made that way.
I agree about the sound volume. I might try changing the speakers.
I'm beginning to lose faith in Rapido.

Luke

Posted from Android

needles_sub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Reading comments from other sites, they have
> issue's.
> The front port hole, the top headlight are two
> that come to mind.
> One poster Rapido and in the reply was told, send
> it back, get a refund, we will sell it to someone
> else.
> The Santa Fe reefer also has the worst modeled
> trucks I have seen. Tyco and Life Like did better.
>
>
> Posted from Android


What is the issue with the front porthole and front headlight?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/22 11:30 by NYSWSD70M.

I was excited to get the Santa Fe reefers, but the trucks are terrible, so I passed. I am kind of questiniong my preorder of 3 sets of the BCR M420 A/Bs now. We go from really great products, like the PROCOR tank car to the oposite end of the spectrum randomly.

AMTRUK Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On my UP version the snow shields are convex.
> I emailed Rapido about sending me replacements and
> they said they were all made that way.
> I agree about the sound volume. I might try
> changing the speakers.
> I'm beginning to lose faith in Rapido.
>
> Luke
>
> Posted from Android

There's always the brass UP snow shields from Utah Pacific.

That's just great, thanks for the feedback on the E units but I already purchased four of the reefers; with all of the Santa Fe powerhouses that assisted in their creation I was certain that they would be great.  No fault to those guys in the poor execution of the trucks though, and beings as the reefers were built here in Wichita back in the day I guess I still want them, what is the issue with the trucks?  At $50+ for the reefer you would think that they would be nice.

Dan

Here's the Rapido SFRD reefer and what the roof should look like. The prototype roofs were painted with a gritty reddish paint. Rapido painted it a gunmetal gray and left the running boards stainless steel. The trucks need to go for sure, I'll use Athearn's 70-T RB's for now. Tom Bacarella model.

---

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needles_sub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Reading comments from other sites, they have
> issue's.
> The front port hole, the top headlight are two
> that come to mind.

 What's wrong for the front porthole (both front portholes?) and the top headlight?  

Already ordered 2 sets. It's just that at almost $700.00 for an A/B set I still have to correct them. I guess these days RTR means "Ready To Rebuild".

Luke

Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> AMTRUK Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > On my UP version the snow shields are convex.
> > I emailed Rapido about sending me replacements
> and
> > they said they were all made that way.
> > I agree about the sound volume. I might try
> > changing the speakers.
> > I'm beginning to lose faith in Rapido.
> >
> > Luke
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> There's always the brass UP snow shields from Utah
> Pacific.

needles_sub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One poster Rapido and in the reply was told, send
> it back, get a refund, we will sell it to someone
> else.

A very un-Canadian-like arrogant reply...is it a sign that Rapido's high-end biz-model is on shaky ground given the advancing age of "$eriou$" model railroaders? Or is it just a matter of promising everything to keep competitors at bay? I too am waiting for their BN--lettered Slumbercoaches for my model of Amtrak's unique two-summer-seasons "Chiefs", but there are options if they take too long to show up.  



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/22 10:29 by RRBMail.

The responses from the Rapido employee to several customers on another modeling page were downright rude and arrogant.  

I'm curious as to where you found the information that they should be red? This seems to contradict the information that we were provided.

According to the Santa Fe Historical Society, and published in their reefer compendium and their magazine articles on these cars as well as information provided to us, standard painting 1955-58 is:

"Black - underbody and trucks, roof, lettering on sides.
ATSF Refrigerator yellow -  sides and ends
Blue - Door
White - lettering on door and roof"

The roofs were coated with slate granules (I assume for a non-skid surface) which gave them a dark gray appearance. Car numbers were stencilled near the middle of the roof to be visible from icing platforms. 

Have you found information that shows otherwise?

Bill Schneider
Rapido Trains

RRBMail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> needles_sub Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > One poster Rapido and in the reply was told,
> send
> > it back, get a refund, we will sell it to
> someone
> > else.
>

I've talked to Josh about that, and I apologize for his tone. He was chatting informally on a Facebook group that he moderates and he should have been more understanding in his reply. As we become a larger company, our employees are coming to recognize that they are seen to speak for us even if that was not their intention. Josh's deadpan often comes across better in person than online. He really is a great person and has been a good friend of mine for many years. A lot of Rapido products that people have loved are all Josh, most notably the Bombardier bi-levels.

The issue he was discussing was a slight discolouration observed on the roof of some of our stainless steel passenger cars. That discolouration is where the injection gate is and it's been there since 2012, but this is the first time it has become a significant issue on some models. I think Josh's response unfortunately inflamed the situation whereas he should have reached out to the customer privately rather than publicly. The team is studying the models and seeing if there is a solution possible. I'm currently at Heathrow Airport so I'm not involved in the model review. 

They are working on a formal statement about this right now, actually. But with everyone running off for holidays and me away until January I don't know if we'll be able to solve it so quickly.

Regards from Terminal 3,

Jason

Jason, 

No comments on any of the other E8 issues that were brought up in several forums?  You guys stopped posting on the Atlas forum supposedly because you did not like the tone people were talking to you guys with over there, yet one of your employees can totally belittle a customer on Facebook with uncalled for remarks, not to mention you guys have no issues calling out other manufacturers in print?

This is an absolute ridiculous way to be treating customers, and speaks volumes about the company and how it handles situations now.  
 

sixaxlecentury Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jason, 
>
> No comments on any of the other E8 issues that
> were brought up in several forums?  You guys
> stopped posting on the Atlas forum supposedly
> because you did not like the tone people were
> talking to you guys with over there,

It was more than that.  There were a number of topics that went to 10 or 12 or more pages that were down right abusive and toxic.  Some of the worst topics were removed, and I did have a chat with Jason about it privately and do understand at that time why Rapdio left Atlas Rescue Forum.  

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> sixaxlecentury Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Jason, 
> >
> > No comments on any of the other E8 issues that
> > were brought up in several forums?  You guys
> > stopped posting on the Atlas forum supposedly
> > because you did not like the tone people were
> > talking to you guys with over there,
>
> It was more than that.  There were a number of
> topics that went to 10 or 12 or more pages that
> were down right abusive and toxic.  Some of the
> worst topics were removed, and I did have a chat
> with Jason about it privately and do understand at
> that time why Rapdio left Atlas Rescue Forum.  

And certain posters continue that toxicity on that site to this day.

Wow, that's 15 pages of good news...bad news...good news... bad news. Even the photos of the models are not convincing, change the angle and everything looks different. Certainly not the kind of publicity anybody wants.

The Budd car posts are pretty ugly. One way to look at it all is how the new stuff compares with the previous runs or previous builds by other manufacturers. Trying to compare with a theoretcally perfect model is going to be disappointing either way and never seems to justify whatever the price is.