Rapido passenger car?

[u18b]

Anybody know when the next Rapido passenger car is due?  Seems like it has been over a year since announced.

CSX/Conrail had one- the Youngstown, so I'm eagerly awaiting it.

[u18b]

I just searched out their website and found the info.

Says late 2013.  Rats.  They still don't have sample pic yet.

Still waiting.
 

[bbussey]

You're referring to the 10-5 sleeper.  I'm waiting on the Americanized version also, an ex-Erie for the Conrail OCS.

[CBQ Fan]

I have pretty much given up on Rapido.  I love their product but in an effort to get my NCL I have gone over the Centralia.  I think I still have a 10-5 and Cafe car on order.  If it shows up than I guess I will pay for it.  Sad...

[jmlaboda]

The troubles over in China with the closing of several plants has hurt a lot of manufacturers, Rapido included, but it was the production of The Canadian that has really been a matter of focus for the company.  HO sales is what funds N-scale developments and releases.  As bad as the delay has been I believe that things will yet be getting a lot better for N-scalers, largely because of the success of their HO line.

[bill pearce]

They just had an ad in N SCale Railroading, I think, that said that their production was disrupted in china but they had arranged to replace the fallen with new factories, and were underway catching up. They also said that they were soon to announce a new extra special N scale car. Let's hope for the best. If we all wern't so cheap, there would be American factories cranking stuff out right now.

[wcfn100]

The troubles over in China with the closing of several plants has hurt a lot of manufacturers, Rapido included

But Rapido has also had their own factory for over two years. 


Jason

[CBQ Fan]

I think their biggest N scale mistake was how much product they came to the market with when they came first came out.  Than it pretty much dried up for several years.

[rogergperkins]

Not passenger, but I notice that they have a lighted n-scale caboose listed in the n magazines.

[bbussey]

They didn't make a mistake.  Their primary market is Canadian HO, so the main focus understandably is there.  They raised the bar with all the intricate detail on the N scale product line, which also raised the MSRP to a price-point that many N scale modelers were unaccustomed to.  This, coupled with printing American fantasy schemes on the models when Kato and InterMountain were releasing prototypically-correct American schemes on less expensive models is what affected their product movement more than anything.  The prototypically-correct Canadian schemes flew off the shelves, so the product itself is fine and has demand.  As Jerry mentioned, we should be thankful that the high-risk HO Canadian sold as well as it did, which generated funding for some of the N scale products.

We will start to see an increase in N scale releases from Rapido as the months progress.  They've also committed to releasing the Pullman-Bradleys in N in 2014, which totally will be new to N scale and should sell extremely well.  That will help tremendously regarding future products.

[Nato]

               What happened to the  promissed N Scale UA Turbo Train,not that I really wanted one. That should be the first item on their catch up schedule, then the 10-5 sleepers and Cafe Cars. Ntae Goodman (Nato). Have several of the CN Cabeese on reserve.

[peteski]

              What happened to the  promissed N Scale UA Turbo Train,not that I really wanted one. That should be the first item on their catch up schedule, then the 10-5 sleepers and Cafe Cars. Ntae Goodman (Nato). Have several of the CN Cabeese on reserve.

I asked them specifically about this at the Springfield show and they said that this Jason's pet project was put on hold til at least after the Osgood-Bradley cars are out.  I'm not holding my breath anymore.

[lock4244]

Patience. All good things come to those who wait. Being primarily an HO outfit, I think we're lucky Jason is dabbling in N scale... he turns out some fantastic products. N scale wise, some attention is diverted to the Pte St Charles van, the CDN gon and the CDN bulkhead flat. The the HO stuff - The Canadian in numerous variants, the FP9A/F9B, the LRC, the O-B cars, the FPA4/FPB4, , and the GMD-1, I'd say delays are inevitable. But at least the N scale stuff is in the que... I sure wish other Mfg's would commit to doing more of their HO releases in N.

I continue to patiently await the PSC vans 

[bbussey]

I'm extremely pleased the Pullman-Bradleys are on the schedule and have a planned availability date of mid/late 2014.  I have no problem waiting the 18 months, and I know the 10-5 will precede the PBLWs at some point.

[elnscale]

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