Rapido Announces the GARX 37' Meat Reefer in N scale

[wcfn100]

Where in PA?  You tell me what measurements you need and I might be able to get up there.

The Lakeshore Railroad Museum has three GA 40' Mechanical Reefers on property all ex-HFPX (Hygrade).  One they restored or were restoring and I think the other two are for sale.  So far I've found HFPX (Hygrade), SRLX (Swift), and  URTX reporting marks.  Empty Swift cars were a constant through Waterloo, but I haven't figured out exactly were they were going, but I assume to the IC and then to a packing plant.



As for measurements, I'm torn.  If I can kitbash the roof and ends close enough, then I think if I had at least the rib spacing on the sides ad some measurements off the mechanical end, I could get the rest close enough for a kitbash.  I would just need some pictures of the underbody.  If for some reason this became a full project, I'd then try for as many measurements as possible.  I've emailed the museum a few times about these cars and never heard anything back.  One of these days I'll have to call until I get a hold of someone.  I've also asked around if there's a library for General American cars like there is for Pullman, but so far nothing.

Jason

[OldEastRR]

Puddington- is there a misprint on the Rapido web page for these cars? The single Swift all-red car's item number is only 5 digits (52104) while all other numbers are six.

[thomasjmdavis]

Puddington and Jason- I am sure that the web methods of product introduction are sometimes frustrating- we all want to know everything 2 years in advance, complain if the 2 years turns into 2 years and 6 months, and we try to measure board spacing from photos of product samples.  But I hope you take two positives away after reading this thread.
1) You are going to be producing a car that a lot of people want.
2) The quality and fidelity of your product line is so good, that everyone just expects your releases to be better than other manufacturers.  I was figuring if this thread went to 14 pages, the one on the diner just released by that other company would have been 25.  I have yet to read one complaint about the fact that ATSF never had a diner remotely close, model paint schemes notwithstanding (OK- ATSF did pick up a couple diners during WWII that were remotely close, in that they came from the Northeast part of the country).

Speking for myself, I have so many stock cars I am pretty much obligated to build a meat packing plant.  And I have so many A&P trucks, that I am also obligated to model a grocery distribution warehouse.  So I can't see how I avoid buying a fleet of these reefers.

[Rapidobill]

Puddington- is there a misprint on the Rapido web page for these cars? The single Swift all-red car's item number is only 5 digits (52104) while all other numbers are six.

Thanks for spotting that! It should be 521034. I just fixed teh web page.

Sorry for any confusion.

Bill Schneider
Rapido Trains

[sirenwerks]

The Lakeshore Railroad Museum has three GA 40' Mechanical Reefers on property all ex-HFPX (Hygrade). 

Erie's a drive (I live near DC) but I could do it, as long as you don't need it right away...  I need to replace my camera, which I destroyed in Oregon on my recent x-country vacay but I'd like to check out the URTX car too.  I think it is a meat reefer.  Get your list of measurements together and PM me with them, and if you can get ahold of museum staff get me a name and number of someone I can contact to arrange for permission to monkey around on the cars.  When I can do it will be weather dependent since the Lake Erie snow season is creeping up fast but I am always up for an adventure and I have been meaning to visit my Aunt Jeannie in Cleveland.  Of course, this will also cost you three or four of the final product too.

[wcfn100]

Bryan that's a nice offer and one that I may take you up on but I don't need anything this year.  The rest of 2014 is me trying to sell 200 Micro-trains cars and 60 various locomotives, getting back to work on the 19,000 CGW tank if I can get my machinist away from his other projects and with the 6' door Atlas PS-1s coming, I'm making an "everything you could want for CGW 40' box cars" decal sheet to have custom run by MS.

We could see where everything is at next spring when the museum gets back to regular hours.  I'll make contact with the museum to make sure I can do what I want and I'll draw up a large scale drawing with a fill-in-the-blanks format for any measurements I could really use.

Jason

[Sokramiketes]

Bill's hand-painted sample photos use MUCH thinner paint than what is used at the factory in China. 

I'll throw some cold water on this "those grooves are 27 microns too wide" discussion.  If this reefer doesn't sell well, then it will not only be our first N scale freight car, but it will also be our last N scale freight car.  Our models have to make money, or we simply don't make them. 

We'll have painted samples at Springfield and we'll see how the general public responds to them.  That will help determine whether the car is a success or failure.  I'm not too bothered by online criticisms of pre-production photos blown up to 10 times the real size of the car.  If anyone here can see that level of detail when the train is on your layout, I am coming to your place with a scalpel and stealing your eyes.

I am frankly amazed by the depth of analysis these pre-production photos are generating.  It reminds me of the guys over on the Doctor Who forum who dissect the 30-second new season preview shot by shot and then determine from that how much they will love or hate it.  Yes, there are guys who write off an entire season of Doctor Who as being "pants" based on the 30-second preview.

"Pants" - now that is an awesome word.  In the UK, pants means "underpants."  There is no real North American translation for saying something is "pants."

If someone truly thinks our reefer is "pants," I may just have to put that in our next advertisement...

RAPIDO'S NEW MEAT REEFER - COMPLETELY PANTS!   

-Jason

The final production models matched the preproduction photos in regards to board gaps and ladder protrusions, as expected. I was able to inspect them at the local hobby shop last night.

I hope they do well for you. Please consider the rational comments made here about tooling improvements if you choose to tool another N scale car.

[arbomambo]

I received my Kingan cars last week!
Beautiful cars and outstanding performers!
Bruce

[peteski]

I'll throw some cold water on this "those grooves are 27 microns too wide" discussion.  If this reefer doesn't sell well, then it will not only be our first N scale freight car, but it will also be our last N scale freight car.  Our models have to make money, or we simply don't make them.

We'll have painted samples at Springfield and we'll see how the general public responds to them.  That will help determine whether the car is a success or failure.  I'm not too bothered by online criticisms of pre-production photos blown up to 10 times the real size of the car.  If anyone here can see that level of detail when the train is on your layout, I am coming to your place with a scalpel and stealing your eyes.

I'm sure that even with the oversize grooves the pre-production models were well received by most, and will sell quite well (since majority of modelers doesn't sweat those details).  ON the contrary - many modelers pine for separately-molded ladders and such which are usually molded way out of scale (too thick).

My point was that with a very little additional effort these models could have looked much better. We now have a $30 toy with exaggerated engraved and molded-on details, rather than a high-fidelity scale model.  Even 40-year-old Micro-Trains reefer models have more delicately engraved details which is what makes them look like scale models, not toys.

I guess most modelers just don't get this (or don't care). I have to conclude that I simply belong to a small minority of modelers who see the difference.

[Philip H]

What most modelers get @peteski - which you seem to have a very hard time letting go - is that what you say are minor improvements would probably be the thing that killed preproduction. This means that if you push too hard and to far for fidelity from the factory you aren't going to see the model. With these reefers Rapido is filling in some needed schemes on a design that's really lacking for steam and transition era model era. Since TRW is "a forum for modelers" we'd much rather read how you modified the product to increase fidelity then read why you consider Rapido "pants" for not doing it themselves.

[peteski]

What most modelers get @peteski - which you seem to have a very hard time letting go - is that what you say are minor improvements would probably be the thing that killed preproduction. This means that if you push too hard and to far for fidelity from the factory you aren't going to see the model. With these reefers Rapido is filling in some needed schemes on a design that's really lacking for steam and transition era model era. Since TRW is "a forum for modelers" we'd much rather read how you modified the product to increase fidelity then read why you consider Rapido "pants" for not doing it themselves.

So you are saying that basically the manufacturer of the car is kept hostage by the factory and the tool & die makers who produce the molds?  That would really be sad - it doesn't seem right to me.  But maybe this is acceptable in the times we live in...

There are examples of existing cars (like the MT reefers) which could have been closely examined by the people who did the initial CAD design of the molds to see how other companies successfully made their models to look good.  But I guess since the CAD designers are most likely in a far away country and probably with no intimate knowledge or contact with a wide range of U.S. N scale models (or even with the U.S. prototype cars), they can only work from their experience and from photos or 1:1 blueprints.  Or it couple be their personal preference (or work experience) that deeper engraving and exaggerated details are the right way to make an N scale model. But we will never know the actual story of what goes on inside the model company.

I guess what bugs me is this "good enough" mentality, instead of striving for perfection (within reason).  I guess my expectations are just a bit higher than average.

[wazzou]

I've said nary a word on this topic, but even Evergreen Car Siding has better board to board groove proportions. 
For the cost of these cars, they can't be viewed by most as state of the art.

[Philip H]

As I understand it the perfection you seek to strive for makes many models unprofitable in the quantities they are sold. As one who had to live with many foobies for KCS - when it was offered as a paint scheme at all - I'm quite happy with a basically correct body style even if the molded grabs ladders and footballs are course. Sure I'd pay for all free standing etched but if t really bugs me I'll roll my own.

[peteski]

As I understand it the perfection you seek to strive for makes many models unprofitable in the quantities they are sold. As one who had to live with many foobies for KCS - when it was offered as a paint scheme at all - I'm quite happy with a basically correct body style even if the molded grabs ladders and footballs are course. Sure I'd pay for all free standing etched but if t really bugs me I'll roll my own.

Once again you seem to totally miss my point - we'll have to agree to disagree.

Those better-executed reefers (as far as the delicate engraving goes) I was referring to have been around for 40 years and have been produced in 100s of different pain schemes. They have been very profitable.  There is a parallel discussion as to authenticity of that model and I also know that many of its 100s of paint schemes are foobs. But I still like the looks of the delicately engraved details. To me that is very important (even on a foob paint job).  I actually prefer (well-executed) molded-on details over added-on details in N scale.

My point was that since we know what kind of engraving can be achieved in 40-year-old molds should be easily achievable in a brand new mold made in 2014.  When the modeling community was offered a glimpse of pre-production test-shots, their level of engraving was not as well done as those old reefers. Certain modelers who noticed this pointed that out to the manufacturer. But that made no difference in the end product (for whatever reasons). It is too bad that a brand new car's level of engraving can't even match the level of engraving done on a 40-year-old model.  That's all.

It is what it is. They will sell well even when few modelers are disappointed in the final version of the model.  Sure, I can roll my own. But it pains me that there is a brand new model just produced which I would have bought dozens of, if it was made slightly less heavy-handed.  As things are now, I won't be scratchbuilding this type of reefer. I can live without it.  You have to consider that I'm more of an accumulator of models rather than being a rabid modeler who is bent on modeling specific prototype in some specific time period.  I simply like to collect billboard reefers in general. But I have to like the model in order to buy it.  If I don't like it, I vote with my wallet.

[Chris333]

The board gaps don't bother me as much. But the way the printing lays on those boards doesn't looks so good. I can see the printing is readable, but the way it bends around each board makes it not so clear. I think the printing would be much better if the boards were nice a flat to accept the printing.