I don't have any experience with Rapido other than their automobiles. I want to get a number of boxcars and see that Rapido sells 6 packs. I am specifically looking at the HO Evans X72A.
Any opinions on these?
Rick
I have multiple Rapido engines, passenger cars and Rolling Stock, though there were issues with their first offerings years ago with glue and pieces falling off, they are now of excellent quality and detail.
Fergus
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
hbgatsfAny opinions on these?
I've been buying some Rapido freight cars as they come along which fit my "main" era.
Overall they are well detailed and solidly assembled. Unlike a Tangent, Kadee, Exactrail, Moloco or others in this price level I do expect that the Rapido cars I get will require some degree of "messing with" in order to get them road-worthy.
Their Macdonald-Cartier couplers are junk. I've seen some reviews that say the cars come equipped with Kadee couplers but I haven't found any with genuine Kadee. Their coupler has to be replaced.
Generally the paint finish seems to be just a tad on the heavy side especially compared to models from the aforementioned manufacturers. Quite glossy, too. After a little weathering they look just fine. Some details tend to come loose in shipping but this is usually a quick fix.
The trucks and wheelsets may require "tuning" right out of the box. I had to ream all of the journals on all the X31a box cars I got, about 2 dozen, and some of the wheelsets had a pronounced wobble.
PRR_X31A-end by Edmund, on Flickr
PRR_GLa_701626 by Edmund, on Flickr
F30D_REA-TOFC by Edmund, on Flickr
F30a_ends by Edmund, on Flickr
I didn't get a photo of the recent USRA single-sheathed box cars yet but one disappointment for me was the fact that they chose to use the New York Central System oval in stead of NYC Lines which should have been correct for pre-1929 cars.
Good Luck, Ed
Jason fully admits that his first offerings were not his best work. I have 13 Super Continental Line cars that took years and a lot of butchery to stay on the rails. However, they will now run all day without incident.
I have been buying their stuff, including a couple of the Dome cars and have 6 Budd Manor Sleepers and 1 Budd Baggage Dorm coming this month.
It has been a long time since those early Super Continental Line cars came out and things just seem to be getting better and better as the years go by. Other than the SCL cars everything else has been great. But my eye for MRR detail is not on the level of most.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
It seems for N&W, the selection is quite limited for rolling stock on the webpage. I saw only one six-pack of boxcars for $300. Nope.
The only Rapido car that I have "on the rails" is a meat reefer, an older kit.
Since mine was undecorated, I cannot speak to the finish. Also, I install Kadee trucks and couplers on all my rolling stock, so I have no experience with those.
I will say that I was not fully satisfied with the details. For being twice as expensive as an Intermountain kit, the detail was not as good.
I have three X-31 boxcars that I have not assembled yet.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190The only Rapido car that I have "on the rails" is a meat reefer, an older kit.
Same for me, Kevin. I bought an undecorated Rapido kit for a meat reefer. It was okay, but nothing special. A lot of Rapido's rolling stock is either too modern for my layout, set in the late '30s, or too expensive...I can buy affordable Accurail cars suitable for my chosen era, and detail them at least as well as Rapido's versions.
Here's the meat reefer...
...but I also made four somewhat similar cars, using cheap reefers off the "used table" from a now long-gone hobbyshop...
Here's one of those 40' el-cheapo reefers....
...and one of four such cars, shortened, and given arched roofs, full brake detail, and underbody truss rods...
Total cost for creating four cars was less than $20.00...here's one in-service, and slightly weathered...
I won't claim that they're better than Rapido's offerings, but they're definitely more affordable and likely more durable, too.
Wayne
doctorwayneA lot of Rapido's rolling stock is either too modern for my layout..<snip>.. or too expensive.
As far as these cars being too expensive everything is relative. They can be had on sale for just north of $33 per car. Not in the Blue Box of old price range but competitive in today's market for RTR.
chutton01What was that silly thing from a few years ago...oh yes, their "Railcrew" uncoupler. Well, I guess someone must have liked it...
I did pick-up four of Rapido's Rail Crew turnout motors, at a good price, and am quite satisfied with their performance, despite the mess created when I was installing them...
I have a couple of their Northern Pacific boxcars, and think they were very well done, with details and decoration that's correct for a specific period of time.
chutton01Rapidio (at least in freight rolling stock) seems sort of stuck in the 1970s-1980s era for many of their offerings
Jason Shron's "Kingston Subdivision" home layout is set in 1980, and he has said many of the products Rapido has made are things that he needed for his layout.
https://www.trains.com/mrr/videos-photos/videos/layouts/layout-visits/jason-shrons-kingston-subdivision-in-ho-scale/
hbgatsfHO Evans X72A
Recently acquired a Rapido Evans X72A in the WP flavor. The car is nicely painted, lettered and detailed, also appears sturdy. No missing or loose parts. Wheel-sets free wheeling and in gauge.
Car weighs in light at 3.5oz. Personally, I wish the roof was removable for ease of adding weight and weathering.
The couplers are kinda stinky, nothing a pair of Kadee 148 whiskers can't fix.
Low hanging glad-hands catching on code 83 track work and frogs. A bit of truck swing interference with brake piping on 18-20"R curves. Nothing a pair of sharp nippers can't fix.
Good looking model, but unlike a potato chip, glad I bought just one.
Regards, Peter
HO-Velo hbgatsf HO Evans X72A Recently acquired a Rapido Evans X72A in the WP flavor. The car is nicely painted, lettered and detailed, also appears sturdy. No missing or loose parts. Wheel-sets free wheeling and in gauge. Car weighs in light at 3.5oz. Personally, I wish the roof was removable for ease of adding weight and weathering. The couplers are kinda stinky, nothing a pair of Kadee 148 whiskers can't fix. Low hanging glad-hands catching on code 83 track work and frogs. A bit of truck swing interference with brake piping on 18-20"R curves. Nothing a pair of sharp nippers can't fix. Good looking model, but unlike a potato chip, glad I bought just one. Regards, Peter
hbgatsf HO Evans X72A
Thanks. I find the weight to be the biggest issue of those that you pointed out. Have you figured out a way to add more? If not I will probably pass on them.
hbgatsfadd more
Rick,
A judicious application of lead up in the under-frame might bring the car to NMRA recommended weight (attached pic is a flat car that I lead weighted the under-frame).
If marring the under frame is not an option, or overweighting is desired the frame can be removed from the shell without damage. After removing the trucks and coupler boxes a careful spreading of the shell and a wee-bit of prying. Tricky part is removing the coupler boxes without tweaking the cut-bars.
Btw, really like Rapido's Procor GP20 tank cars, well done and sturdy. They weigh in at 4oz., adding weight to a tank car is a challenge. Oddly enough the couplers appear the same as the ones on the X72A, yet a bit more Kadee friendly, but not as smooth as Kadee to Kadee.
HO-VeloCar weighs in light at 3.5oz. Personally, I wish the roof was removable for ease of adding weight and weathering.
I'm not at all familiar with that car, but I'd think that it would be more likely that the underbody/floor assembly would be removeable.
I bought some of their F30 flat cars and they do run well. Only thing I did was to change the couplers to Kadee #148 standard heads. Very happy with them. Also bought their Commuter cars and those run very well. A big change in running quality since they produced their first passenger car.
Neal
nealknows I bought some of their F30 flat cars and they do run well. Only thing I did was to change the couplers to Kadee #148 standard heads. Very happy with them. Also bought their Commuter cars and those run very well. A big change in running quality since they produced their first passenger car. Neal
What were they factory equipped with? I've heard Rapido has used kadee's on some but an inhouse coupler on others that many don't like.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
riogrande5761 I've heard Rapido has used kadee's on some but an inhouse coupler on others that many don't like.
I don't recall ever getting a new Rapido car or locomotive with anything other than their MacDonald-Cartier coupler. Sometimes painted chocolate brown and other times with a polished "platinum" look.
Their earliest design had a rather large boss cast into the knuckle that interfered with smooth reliable coupling. Lately it seems to be their lack of QC and finish work on the couplers. I've had several with parting flash inside the knuckle and others with bent or deformed shanks. They all go into the scrap bin.
Middle-left here is a Kadee whisker scale head with Rapido couplers around it:
Kadee_Rapido_trio by Edmund, on Flickr
Note the nicely-formed cores on the Kadee.
Macdonald-Rapido by Edmund, on Flickr
Whatever material they use for the trip pin it is extremely hard compared to the soft annealed wire Kadee uses.
Jason mentioned in one of his newsletters how complicated and costly it was to even think of sending Kadee couplers to their factory for assembly into rolling stock. Tariffs entered into it plus I guess the cost-margin isn't that great when buying wholesale Kadees.
I have the X72 boxcars. I replaced the Rapido trucks on them because they did not roll very well. I found some Athearn trucks that were drop in replacements.
Also I routinely replace the Rapido couplers because most have a tab on the inside of the knuckle that just gets in the way of uncoupling.
I can note that the couplers installed on the Rapido limited edition Amtrak E8 are indeed much better. However that is to date the only Rapido product I have received that has acceptable functioning couplers imo.
The X72 boxcars are nice looking boxcars.
John
hbgatsf As far as these cars being too expensive everything is relative. They can be had on sale for just north of $33 per car. Not in the Blue Box of old price range but competitive in today's market for RTR.
I completely agree. They are priced in line with that end of the market.
An "expensive model collector"
I like it.
I ran some tests with one and it worked very well.
Unfortunately they are nearly unobtainable, and Rapido does not seem to want to make more.
riogrande5761 What were they factory equipped with? I've heard Rapido has used kadee's on some but an inhouse coupler on others that many don't like.
They had a scale head type coupler on it similar to Kadee couplers. However, I use the standard head couplers on my freight cars.
X72's have the typical Rapido coupler. I am not aware of Rapido ever actually applying real Kadee couplers to their products.
Their "clone" coupler may appear to be a Kadee coupler to some less knowledgable eyes, BUT it is clearly not, and it does not function as well as an actual Kadee coupler.
The apparently revised Rapido coupler that is on the Amtrak Special Edition E-8's does function much better than the others.