Rapido News

[ljudice]

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Rapido-News-157---Big-Product-Launch-Email.html?soid=1101318906379&aid=Ds9htNIPKBw

NEW! HO Scale F40PHM-2 Locomotive - The Most Lovable F40!
Re-Run! HO Scale Amtrak NPCUs
NEW! HO Scale "Head End Power" E-units
NEW! HO Scale Budd Gallery Cars - CB&Q/BN/Metra Versions
NEW! N Scale ATSF RR-56/60/61 Reefer
NEW! N Scale Procor 5820 Covered Hopper Car

[amato1969]

Whoa, nice!

[thomasjmdavis]

I have to admit, I was hoping they might do the ATSF reefers in N, when I saw the HO announcement a while back.  Pricey, but look like they will be worth it.  Luckily, with a 1956 timeframe, I can only justify a couple, so the damage to the wallet will be limited. 

What is Rapido's turn around time between pre-order close and delivery on a freight car, nowadays?  Which is to say, in what year is the bill likely to come due? 

[ljudice]

Just wish they did a few more with conspicuity stripes....  a check of rrpicarchives shows plenty of them...

[greenwizard88]

The ATSF reeefers will be expensive, but a string of those would be sharp.

[peteski]

The ATSF reeefers will be expensive, but a string of those would be sharp.

No board gaps to complain about on these. Disappointing.

Joking of course. 

[mu26aeh]

Waiting patiently, well kinda patient but not really, for the N scale sodium chlorate car in N scale

[ljudice]

Waiting patiently, well kinda patient but not really, for the N scale sodium chlorate car in N scale

same here....

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ain't mad about those Procor hoppers.

Not one bit.

[bbussey]

Looks like I'll be in for one of the Rr-56 El Capitan original scheme cars.  The target logo scheme and the other two classes are too late/early for my eras, but a single Rr-56 in the delivered scheme is a definite.

[C855B]

Anybody have any idea about how long these reefers were in active service? Past 1970?

I'm a little surprised in my relative ignorance that Santa Fe was into mech reefers in 1955. I witnessed firsthand icer operation through 1973. They had numerous facilities in the California produce belt devoted to icing operations in the '60s.

[bbussey]

Anybody have any idea about how long these reefers were in active service? Past 1970?

I'm a little surprised in my relative ignorance that Santa Fe was into mech reefers in 1955. I witnessed firsthand icer operation through 1973. They had numerous facilities in the California produce belt devoted to icing operations in the '60s.

FGE was similar.  First 50' mechanicals in 1956 but ice service well into the 1970s.

[C855B]

Digging deep into the vacuous caverns of my mind, I might have answered my own question about longevity. From '72-'74 a buddy and I railfanned in an area with a lot of citrus packing houses, all served by ATSF. The din of mech reefers was considerable. I don't recall seeing any with the classic slogan lettering and especially ladders and roofwalks, so if some of these were in fact older cars, they had been modernized and repainted.

Bottom line is the bottom line. I can save my shekels this round, I think, but if Rapido reissues these cars as they probably appeared ~1970, my wallet is toast. 

[thomasjmdavis]

Anybody have any idea about how long these reefers were in active service? Past 1970?

I'm a little surprised in my relative ignorance that Santa Fe was into mech reefers in 1955. I witnessed firsthand icer operation through 1973. They had numerous facilities in the California produce belt devoted to icing operations in the '60s.

The first ATSF mechanical reefers were the even earlier RR-54 , which, IIRC, were coincidentally, built in 1954.  My understanding is that the primary use for mechanical reefers in their early years on the SF was for frozen juice and frozen food.  Reefer blocks would have 2 or 3 mechanical reefers together on the front end, so they could easily be separated at the destination yard for quick delivery.  Prior to the mid 50s, Santa Fe used some cars with extra insulation for this service.  Iced reefers still made up the bulk of the reefer traffic for several years after the RR-56 appeared.

[thomasjmdavis]

Here's a film made by Santa Fe in the mid 50s about produce/perishable trains and cars.  The then "new" innovations in refrigerator car design begins about 23 minutes in (but the whole thing is quite useful if you model produce trains).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcXUD_44jHc&t=1509s