Latest Rapido reefer shots

[rapidotrains]

Is that body mount 1015 couplers?

Those are indeed body-mounted 1015s.

-Jason

[Chris333]

Wait. Is this like that Kim Kardashian thing where you're trying to break the internet?

[John]

Wait. Is this like that Kim Kardashian thing where you're trying to break the internet?

Scary thought .. Pud balancing a champagne glass on his a$$ caboose while standing up

[Philip H]

Scary thought .. Pud balancing a champagne glass on his a$$ while standing up

John FTW. 

Jason,
These look good. I think you will do very well with them. That said I'm not buying cause trey aren't in or near my era.

[Bob Bufkin]

They indeed do look good.  Got a question.  I basically know where these cars would run to and where they were loaded.  But, did any reefers make it to a railroad commissary building where the meat would be prepared for loading onto dining cars.  Never though of this before and was just wondering.

[OldEastRR]

Those look nice but I've heard some rumors that bother me. Like, Rapido has cut the dealer discount on these cars compared to their  other releases.  And I don't know what kind of info pipeline you've got to the stores but one told me they don't think these cars will ever be produced. Obviously that's not the case as I can see. I'm not flaming anybody, just worried because I like Rapido cars and I'd hate to see their availability limited because of misinformation.

[up1950s]

Groovy man ! I wonder if a heavy wash of thinned out grimy black while each side and end is facing away from the earth till it dries would knock down the visible groove internal paint ?  Might seem counter intuitive  but it may satisfy the eye and fill in the channels some .

[rapidotrains]

Those look nice but I've heard some rumors that bother me. Like, Rapido has cut the dealer discount on these cars compared to their  other releases.  And I don't know what kind of info pipeline you've got to the stores but one told me they don't think these cars will ever be produced. Obviously that's not the case as I can see. I'm not flaming anybody, just worried because I like Rapido cars and I'd hate to see their availability limited because of misinformation.

Gotta love the rumour mill.

The exact opposite is true about the discount.  These cars are the first in a long time that have the full dealer discount, hence the higher price point.  Our N scale passenger cars also have the full discount.  Our HO cars don't.

Dealers should know this.  All they have to do is ask their distributor or ask us. 

We're going to be giving full discounts on any freight cars we do, but it will jack the prices up a bit.  Dealers prefer to get full points off so they can offer a bigger discount to their customers, even though the end price the customer pays is the same.  You can't blame them - most of us consumers prefer to buy a $50 model at 30% off than $43.75 model at 20% off. 

With locomotives it is much harder to give the full dealer discount as our costs are higher than those of most other manufacturers.  That is the price you pay for doing oddballs like the GMD-1.

What dealer told you he doesn't think these will be produced?  Tell him to give me a call.  905-474-3314.

-Jason

[Kisatchie]

...You can't blame them - most of us consumers prefer to buy a $50 model at 30% off than $43.75 model at 20% off. 

Hmm... I'd rather pay
50 bananas than 500
termites...

[JanesCustomTrain]

I didn't know that shapeways is offering blue FUD. 

Jane

[Cajonpassfan]

Looks good, and a great prototype.
Out west, they were prominent at head end of trains, or just ahead of the caboose, for quick switching and ice service. I'm in for a half dozen or so, and no, the won't be blue?..
Thanks for doing cars from this era, and ones that actually lasted longer than one would think...
Otto K.

[Jesse6669]

I dunno. I figured, to be fair, I put an N scale car next to the screen, and reduced the photos to the correct proportion, and then put my eye 18" away.

First off, to the Rapido guys--I like the model and thank you for your efforts.  It's not my era, so no horse in this race..

But, at the risk of opening up an old can o' worms.. . the distinction between what looks good as a model, and what is closer to exact scale will probably always cause debate as to what is "better".   To each his/her own I suppose..

When blown up, it's true the grooves on the model make the sheathing spacing look too wide-- but if you look at the model, from normal viewing distance, it will give the appearance of the sheathing being individual boards.  Many people -want- to feel there are individual boards even though they probably couldn't really see them if the real thing was magically squished to N scale. 

See this pic of a reefer, it has boards-- [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Look at it at N-scale and the "grooves" are barely visible, just super thin lines with no real depth discernible.  So, if you want this, you can recreate it with a flat sided model, painted in the proper scheme, with no grooves but very thin lines printed.  I may try this as an experiment with a decal on a flat-sided model just to see how it looks. 

Now door hinges/latches are another matter.  And ladders oh-boy.. much more relief so they are needed, but there's the delicacy vs. robustness for handling debate, not to mention that separate bits will cost more to manufacture and assemble.

I hope I have not stirred the pot, but I do find it interesting.   

 

[packers#1]

Man I hope you guys do a modern car soon; I dig the service and commitment behind the product, but the only N scale product I could realistically fudge the truth to have is a GMD-1, and Lord knows I don't have the money for that right now! 

[Catt]

Well I for one won't be buying your reefer. It would look just plain silly being pulled by a SD90 in 2014/5.

[BCR 570]

This is not a car I can use, but I commend and welcome your entry into the N Scale freight car market.

Tim