Rapido Newsletter-But is it in N scale?

[lock4244]

Jeremy and 1 other person on staff are N scalers, but escapes my mind who it is.

Dave O'Neil and Mohan are N scalers according to their bio on the Rapido team page.

[squirrelhunter]

Lock4244, that's the killer- Rapido makes the SP B50 in N, a car that I think ran from the 20's to the 60's.

[thomasjmdavis]

My feeling is there's a correlation between quality of past product and the success of future product. Once burned some will take a wait and see approach, check out the product after it's delivered to the LHS. I have to imagine one of the chief problems with the built to order model is the lack of trust, either with a new manufacturer or one with a history of missteps... especially when you're talking cars with a street price of $35-40.

This. At least for me.
I would think this is particularly important for a company like Rapido, which has an "eclectic" (to say the least) collection of freight cars. Spookshow's list shows 6 freight car body styles produced in N Scale by Rapido. Of the six, only one was a prototype produced before 1964. Therefore, for many modelers who model time periods prior to 1964, the only Rapido car in their collections (if they have any) is the 1937 meat reefer. The model known for its big promotional build up on quality and detail, and its $37 price tag (which was big bucks for a freight car when they were released 8 years ago). Unfortunately, they are best know for the atrocious board gaps. So, no doubt, with that as their only experience with Rapido, a lot of late-steam/transition era modelers were leery of ordering $45 ATSF reefers from Rapido, without seeing one first.

Just to be clear, I did pre-order the Rr-56 refrigerator cars, but...I had my fingers crossed that they would be radically better quality than the set of Swift meat reefers I have (which I bought at a huge discount- the Barber trucks are worth half what I paid for it).

[lock4244]

Lock4244, that's the killer- Rapido makes the SP B50 in N, a car that I think ran from the 20's to the 60's.

Would the B70/71/75 boxcar Rapido does in HO have been a better choice for N scale (more common car)? Not an SP guy so not sure what would've been a more common car.

[James Costello]

My beef is with thinking that the SP waffle side boxcar or the aATSF mechanical reefer were better mass market ideas than the SP B50 boxcars.

Yes the SP waffle boxes had a ton of schemes, but they are such an uncommon car that even if you model SP in Oregon in the 70's or 80's you probably only need a couple. ATSF was out of the reefer business by the 80's, so anyone from then on can only use them as sheds bought by farmers after they were retired.

I wasn't surprised to read that based on pre-orders, the ATSF reefer wasn't viable and for the same reason - the era. I'd have similar concerns about the SP B-50 OB Wood Boxcar for the same reason, SP was long out of the wood boxcar era by the 80s too.

The 50s and 60s were a very, very long time ago and that modelling market is not expanding. I'd guess the transition era (and earlier) makes up a small portion of new entrants to the hobby. We hear all the time that people want to model what they can see on the rails today or what they remember from their childhood. Well, most new entrants to the hobby now are most likely going to be 20-40 years old with a bit of disposable cash and maybe looking something for their kids (and themselves) - their childhood was the 80s and 90s. The center-beams fall into both these categories, not to mention the gap in the market left by Red Caboose.

Maybe there is still enough transition modelers to make enough purchases of old reefers (or even older boxcars) successful, however the same buying in bulk quantities exists for nearly all releases in N due to the NTrak crowd or the fact it's taken so long to reach saturation for some product types in N. A visually unique boxcar good for SP, UP and Amtrak ticks a few boxes.

For what it's worth, I have more than 12 of the "unique" B-100-40 in the various schemes and I would say the 1st release were a success - they don't appear be sitting in stock at a lot of retailers and you have to really search around if you're looking for a specific scheme or numbers - like some of the Amtrak schemes and even the plain jane SP release.

I have zero interest in a B-50 wood boxcar. YMMV but the modelling world moves on....

 

[James Costello]

Would the B70/71/75 boxcar Rapido does in HO have been a better choice for N scale (more common car)? Not an SP guy so not sure what would've been a more common car.

Problem with the B-70-69/71/75 in N, for us that hoped we would see it one day, is that being a PC&F 5258 double door boxcar, it's very very similar to the Fox Valley FMC 5258 which was released en masse between 2008 and 2012 and ~12 numbers each in SP, SSW and another bunch in Golden West, UP and many more.

Even if the Rapido model was going to be an upgrade in details, I don't think I'd be up for a fleet's worth when I stocked up on FVMs ten years ago. Maybe only a couple to support the cause because who knows when or if we'll see the FVM boxcars again?

A "better choice" is a risky proposition.

Side note - I'd love a bunch of 3D printed Superior doors to replace some of the FVMs 

[bbussey]

Speaking of "better choices", it's always better to release models of prototypes that haven't been made previously and relatively recently (as within the past 25 years), especially if the earlier models were quality models and still hold up today.  It makes no sense to release a B-70-xx when the FVM model remains viable and is now under the Scale Trains stable of rolling stock.

The centerbeam flatcar, even with its flaws, was a relatively good choice because the Red Caboose model is out of circulation and the Rapido model is an improvement over the Red Caboose model.

It is true that the "sweet spot" of eras currently is the 1980s/1990s.  But the Transition Era rolling stock still has an audience.  Yes, the 40 year olds have disposable income to spend on the hobby with their children.  But the 50-70 year olds that are established in the hobby also have disposable income and arguably more disposable income to invest in the hobby, so the earlier eras still have appeal.  Otherwise the major manufacturers wouldn't still be releasing new models of prototypes from the earlier eras, such as the last two new models released by Micro-Trains — the PS2 covered hopper and the 65' mill gondola.

[JMaurer1]

Lock4244, that's the killer- Rapido makes the SP B50 in N, a car that I think ran from the 20's to the 60's.

I think you meant HO and not N.

Three different variations, seven different paint schemes (eight if you count both overnight schemes) with a $55 price tag. Free standing ladders and grab irons. Some minor inaccuracies were done (B-50-16 should have the bolster 6" closer to the ends and both the 15 and 16 should have 32 boards instead of the modeled 21 boards), but in N scale, these two things are practically unnoticeable and I would gladly buy a dozen (especially the original overnight scheme)...but Rapido is sad that they can't sell N scale freight cars so they won't ever make this in N.

Somebody needs to send this thread to Rapido...

[dem34]

I think you meant HO and not N.

Three different variations, seven different paint schemes (eight if you count both overnight schemes) with a $55 price tag. Free standing ladders and grab irons. Some minor inaccuracies were done (B-50-16 should have the bolster 6" closer to the ends and both the 15 and 16 should have 32 boards instead of the modeled 21 boards), but in N scale, these two things are practically unnoticeable and I would gladly buy a dozen (especially the original overnight scheme)...but Rapido is sad that they can't sell N scale freight cars so they won't ever make this in N.

Somebody needs to send this thread to Rapido...

Well, back in the day. They used to post here.But I think we scared them off, probably have our forum on the ignore list.

[peteski]

Well, back in the day. They used to post here.But I think we scared them off, probably have our forum on the ignore list.

Looking at their profiles, Jason has not logged in since 2019, Bill since  May 2023, and rapidomike (not "our" Mike) since 2020.
Although there are some interesting and even useful info here, they probably have better tings to do than reading customer's opinions and suggestions on the forums.  They already have a handful on FB.

[chessie system fan]

The SP boxcar they made was also used by Amtrak. So Rapido being Rapido, the car being SP or similar to other models conceivably may not have mattered as much as accurate Amtrak trains.   

[ridinshotgun]

The SP boxcar they made was also used by Amtrak. So Rapido being Rapido, the car being SP or similar to other models conceivably may not have mattered as much as accurate Amtrak trains.   

You’re probably not wrong. I model SP and I was happy on that and bought a handful of cars. They run great with ESM wheels and I didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth with that car. But as someone said it is almost unavailable on the open market so I don’t know how they reason that car as not a money maker. The tank cars in the other hand are still all over.

[mu26aeh]

Which road are you speaking of, SP or Amtrak ?  If it's the SP car, we still have 6 on the shelf where I work.  Sadly, they aren't listed on the website 

And yeah, we still have at least a dozen of the tank cars

[lock4244]

Which road are you speaking of, SP or Amtrak ?  If it's the SP car, we still have 6 on the shelf where I work.  Sadly, they aren't listed on the website 

And yeah, we still have at least a dozen of the tank cars

I just picked up ten (tankcars) seeing as the odds of them being rerun just got a little less likely.

[James Costello]

Speaking of "better choices", it's always better to release models of prototypes that haven't been made previously and relatively recently (as within the past 25 years), especially if the earlier models were quality models and still hold up today.  It makes no sense to release a B-70-xx when the FVM model remains viable and is now under the Scale Trains stable of rolling stock.

The centerbeam flatcar, even with its flaws, was a relatively good choice because the Red Caboose model is out of circulation and the Rapido model is an improvement over the Red Caboose model.

It is true that the "sweet spot" of eras currently is the 1980s/1990s.  But the Transition Era rolling stock still has an audience.  Yes, the 40 year olds have disposable income to spend on the hobby with their children.  But the 50-70 year olds that are established in the hobby also have disposable income and arguably more disposable income to invest in the hobby, so the earlier eras still have appeal.  Otherwise the major manufacturers wouldn't still be releasing new models of prototypes from the earlier eras, such as the last two new models released by Micro-Trains — the PS2 covered hopper and the 65' mill gondola.

All this is true IMO @bbussey and some good points as usual.

It would be interesting to know:

• For MTL, how reception/demand/sales have been for the 65' gon and the PS2 vs the TBOXs released just before them?
• if ESM produced a modern era freight car to their usual high standards how that would compare to their transition era cars?

Maybe one day we'll find out