I have 6 of these Rapido -8’s, 3 from the first run and 3 from the 2nd run. I have a soft spot for the prototype, being able to catch their last days on the mainline.
The poorly functioning lights definitely was an issue in the first run too, but the 2nd run seems even worse in my sample set.
Of my 6, only 1 example from the first run has what I would describe as correctly functioning ditch lights (marginally). The quality of the light pipes appears to be very spotty. I have one example from the second run that really doesn’t work at all, but the actual LED’s themselves are fully functional.
My fix is to remove the light pipes entirely, and relocate the LED’s from the light board into the ditch lights themselves with some magnet wire run back to their original positions (the space cleared from the light pipe removal leaves enough room for the OEM SMT led to be located directly in the housing). Same for the rock lights on the BCR units, the light pipes all live under the front porch walkway, which comes off as a separate part. I modified two first run units, not had time to dig into the 2nd run examples yet.
By no means a how-to, but I have a couple of pictures of the surgery that is at least partially indicative of how these come apart. No doubt, its not exactly trivial to dissemble these at all. The plastic light pipe for one ditch light is seen in the top of the picture.
More commentary on the 2nd run: The 2nd run CN orange is not quite the same as the first run. The 2nd run comes without traction tire wheelsets, but still with only 8 wheel drive in an A1A form identical to the first run. Non DCC sound equipped units come with a speaker installed.