The Rapido NSC Centerbeam Cars Have Arrived

[Glenn Poole]

Do these ride at the proper ride height above the wheels? 

[Scottl]

They use 562xxx for all 6 cars as a six pack, A signifies you only want a single car.  All 6 cars in that pack will be 562xxxA on the label.  Very confusing and also aggrevating, I wanted 1 SP boxcar and ended up with a 6 pack instead

The price might have been a giveaway 

[mu26aeh]

The price might have been a giveaway 

I should have added it was the LHS that had an ordering mistake. 

Regardless, I don't know why they can't just put 6 different skus in a pack.  But then it is Rapido....

[ljudice]

Do these ride at the proper ride height above the wheels?

they look right to me - also they look like plate c cars next to a plate c boxcar...

[Scottl]

They are definitely lower than the RC models.

[GaryHinshaw]

I received my initial order yesterday and I'm very pleased with them.   I think Rapido did a great job with their design choices: good hefty weight with a low centre of gravity, body-mount couplers, and just the right amount of (not overly fragile) detail.  I haven't had a chance to take them out to the layout yet, but I'll take & post some photos when I do.  I expect they'll be much better runners than the RC cars.

I hope Rapido runs more of these soon.  A lot of their stock is already sold out.

[Englewood]

I really like these cars. They come with screw mounted couplers and trucks. This is the way forward!

[ednadolski]

I  presume the JTC/VRK coupler should fit these, as well as the N-possible.  Hopefully we will find out soon.

Ed

[lock4244]

I really like these cars. They come with screw mounted couplers and trucks. This is the way forward!

I think that's pretty much standard on Rapido cars. Their first N scale freight cars manufactured for Prairie Shadows (Pointe Ste Charles van caboose, HS bulkhead flat, ECC gondola are all screw mounted trucks.

[turbowhiz]

I  presume the JTC/VRK coupler should fit these, as well as the N-possible.  Hopefully we will find out soon.

Ed

For coupler nerds, although that looks like a standard MTL 1015 type box, it’s not! The pivot post is part of the underframe, not the box. So, despite appearances, a box replacement coupler swap isn’t nearly as easily accomplished as it looks. Its a strange design but I get how they got there.

Since the upcoming production N-Possible couplers will fit in 1015 type boxes, you can easily convert these cars keeping the Rapido factory box (tested to 11” corners as well, all good!). However, if you want to use a replacement box assembly, it’s going to be a whole lot more work to remove the cast post. You will also need to replace the stock box screw with a replacement to a precise length. Doable, but not exactly easy. (I did one end of one car to put on a better looking box. Should have just designed/printed a bespoke box for the car instead!)

The wheels are too small and appearance wise aren’t the best (like the PD3500 cars). But I expect some ESM 36” .553 wheels will wonderfully solve this issue, but I don’t have any on hand to test. It’s annoying to need to replace wheels on models like this, but I just assume that wheels always need to be replaced and move on. I will say though they run true, which can’t be said of some other manufactures metal wheels.

Couplers are subtly too low too, but correct wheelsets should fix that too.

From casual testing they seem to operate well, although people with tight corners will encounter that the wheels bind against the brake hose detail. You can easily trim/remove that if it’s causing you grief, but if you want to run on tight corners (i.e. the minimum recommended 11”) be aware of that.

But I will echo Gary's comments, they're robust and nicely detailed, with several component variations including the deck itself. One of their better (best?) recent N scale freight cars. Good stuff Rapido!

Andrew

[peteski]

The wheels are too small and appearance wise aren’t the best (like the PD3500 cars). But I expect some ESM 36” .553 wheels will wonderfully solve this issue, but I don’t have any on hand to test. It’s annoying to need to replace wheels on models like this, but I just assume that wheels always need to be replaced and move on. I will say though they run true, which can’t be said of some other manufactures metal wheels.

But why should we just accept this from manufacturers?!
We pay top dollar for a new model,  why should we spend more money just to install correct wheels?  Like I recently mentioned elsewhere, why do manufacturers do this to us?  I don't think making correct wheels costs more than the wrong size wheels they use.  If companies like ESM or FVM can produce and sell wheels which are more accurate, why can't model manufacturers do the same?

Heck, even if correct wheels would add $4 more ($1 per wheel set) to the cost, I'm sure most buyers would not blink an eye (especially since the have to spend that money on add-on wheels anyway.

[lock4244]

On tight curves (15" on my Unitrack 3x6 masterpiece) the trailing axle on the trailing truck derails with surprising reliability to the inside of the curve regardless of which end is facing forward. I feel the issue here is a combination of the tight curve and the very stiff bodymounted coupler. Well, I actually think there's a flaw in the casting of the coupler pocket on the car. On all four of my cars the couplers will not center, rather they lean right and have play to the right, but virtually no play to the left (I'm at work so can't state 100% the direction).

Not surprisingly coupler operation is spotty... they don't want to couple without encouragement (to varying degrees) and when they do couple the connection isn't secure and they will uncouple fairly quickly. I find I have to ensure the connection is good.

[Scottl]

Two of mine need assistance coupling as well.  Haven't run them on larger radius curves yet but concerned   

[turbowhiz]

On tight curves (15" on my Unitrack 3x6 masterpiece) the trailing axle on the trailing truck derails with surprising reliability to the inside of the curve regardless of which end is facing forward. I feel the issue here is a combination of the tight curve and the very stiff bodymounted coupler. Well, I actually think there's a flaw in the casting of the coupler pocket on the car. On all four of my cars the couplers will not center, rather they lean right and have play to the right, but virtually no play to the left (I'm at work so can't state 100% the direction).

Not surprisingly coupler operation is spotty... they don't want to couple without encouragement (to varying degrees) and when they do couple the connection isn't secure and they will uncouple fairly quickly. I find I have to ensure the connection is good.

The outside wheelset of the truck is interfering with the black brake line loop... All of my examples have this issue, in some cases its a bit more pronounced then others. I'm pretty confident that is what is causing your derailment problem. It only interferes with truck movement in one direction.

The couplers, well....The springs are terrible. Too long, too stiff.... But at least from what I could tell, not causing any derailment issues. I tested before installing my couplers to verify the stock configuration.

Andrew

[bbussey]

The wheels are too small and appearance wise aren’t the best (like the PD3500 cars). But I expect some ESM 36” .553 wheels will wonderfully solve this issue, but I don’t have any on hand to test. It’s annoying to need to replace wheels on models like this, but I just assume that wheels always need to be replaced and move on. I will say though they run true, which can’t be said of some other manufactures metal wheels.

Couplers are subtly too low too, but correct wheelsets should fix that too.

Totally agree regarding the wheel in general and the wheel face in particular, not my favorite design.  Interesting that the wheel diameter is undersized on the centerbeam flatcar as they are on the PD3500, and that the coupler height on both models was designed for the proper diameter wheel.  Sounds like a production faux pax in both cases.

I have a CP centerbeam flatcar that arrived yesterday.  I'll confirm that the ESM 36"/.533" fits later today and report back.

On tight curves (15" on my Unitrack 3x6 masterpiece) the trailing axle on the trailing truck derails with surprising reliability to the inside of the curve regardless of which end is facing forward. I feel the issue here is a combination of the tight curve and the very stiff bodymounted coupler. Well, I actually think there's a flaw in the casting of the coupler pocket on the car. On all four of my cars the couplers will not center, rather they lean right and have play to the right, but virtually no play to the left (I'm at work so can't state 100% the direction).

Not surprisingly coupler operation is spotty... they don't want to couple without encouragement (to varying degrees) and when they do couple the connection isn't secure and they will uncouple fairly quickly. I find I have to ensure the connection is good.

Swapping in true MTL couplers and springs (and modifying/removing the black air hose) might resolve those issues.  Regarding the coupler stiffness, might be able to get away with swapping in an MTL replacement spring.  Although I'm not enamored with the 1980s retro non-blackened trip pins either.