Rapido Newsletter Vol. 106 ©2018 Rapido Trains Inc.

Dear Rapido Customer, It's been a busy couple of weeks here at Rapido. We've worked hard to get this newsletter out to you before the huge order deadline next week. In this issue: New! VIA Rail Canada EXCLUSIVE HO Scale F40 Locomotives! New! N Scale Osgood Bradley Coaches IN STOCK NOW! New! Lehigh Valley EXCLUSIVE HO Scale RS-11 Locomotives! New Videos: RS-11, RS-18 & Tempo RS-11 Cab Redux Huge Order Deadline: November 19th HO scale RS-11, RS-18, Tempo; N scale Dash 8-40CM Slowing Down The Product Launches... Finding Mindfulness in Model Railroading

New! VIA Rail Canada EXCLUSIVE HO Scale F40 Locomotives! In October 1978, new crown corporation VIA Rail Canada took over the ownership and operations of the majority of Canada's passenger trains. Despite numerous obstacles over the last four decades, Canada's national passenger railway is still going strong and is on the cusp of receiving an all-new fleet for its busy Ontario and Quebec services. To celebrate VIA's 40th birthday, Rapido Trains Inc. and VIA Rail Canada are delighted to announce three all-new exclusive HO scale F40PH-2D models. These are AVAILABLE NOW!

VIA Rail Canada 40th Anniversary F40PH-2D

We have produced two different locomotives in the "VIA 40" paint scheme. Each one is slightly different in its logo placement and arrangement, to match the artwork provided by VIA as well as prototype photos. In addition, we were inundated with requests for more "Canada 150" locomotives so we have produced one more unique model. We have only produced 150 pieces of each locomotive. This is the last time we will ever produce either of these F40 paint schemes in HO scale, so get them while you can! Don't wait for the inflated prices on eBay. Click here to order.

One last Canada 150 F40PH-2D Locomotive

Each locomotive comes equipped with DCC and sound, along with an attractive wood and plastic display case. The price remains unchanged from last year, and is still $399.95 CAD plus tax and shipping. These models are exclusively available from Rapido Trains Inc. You can order them by clicking here. Last time we announced exclusive VIA models we sold out in less than a week. We expect the same to be the case now. These locomotives are in stock and ready to ship. They will make an excellent Christmas present. All aboard!

Isn't that Daylight scheme just gorgeous? Wow!

New! N Scale Osgood Bradley Coaches IN STOCK NOW! We haven't forgotten our N scale customers. Now that you have been enjoying your TurboTrains and New Haven 8600 Coaches, we are pleased to announce a new run of N scale Osgood Bradley Coaches. These are in stock and ready to ship before Christmas. You can order them from your local hobby shop or directly from us by clicking here.

Yes, these gorgeous models are N scale!

In 1934 Pullman-Standard’s Osgood Bradley plant in Worcester, Massachusetts began construction of one of the first true lightweight coaches for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. These iconic cars were used on both long distance and local trains and served well into the 1970s. Several other railroads - especially Southern Pacific and Canadian National - soon purchased their own copies of these distinctive lightweight cars, and some of these lasted even later.

Including Cotton Belt, we're doing THREE Southern Pacific schemes. (Well, Cotton Belt is basically Southern Pacific, isn't it?)

In this production run of N scale Osgood Bradley Coaches, we include many railroads which were "pretty darn close" to the New Haven prototypes, including Southern Pacific, Delaware and Hudson, and Canadian National. All cars feature the usual Rapido level of detail, metal wheels, battery-powered "Easy-Peasy" lighting, and etched-metal end gates. We only have a handful of each road number available, and they are being sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Dealers please take note that full wholesale discounts apply. The MSRP is $64.95 (US) or $74.95 (CAD) per car. Your hobby shop may sell for less. Here's that order link again: That Order Link Again. Get yours before they are gone!

New! Lehigh Valley EXCLUSIVE HO Scale RS-11 Locomotives! Rapido and the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society are working together to bring you Lehigh Valley RS-11 locomotives in the bright red scheme. We are producing two different numbers, each with a unique striping variation on the long hood. If you order direct, we will donate 20% of the total selling price to the ARHS. If you order from your local hobby shop, we will donate 10% of the selling price to the ARHS. Click here to order your exclusive RS-11 now and help support this much-valued historical organization. Dealers please note that in order to provide the donation to ARHS, these locomotives are not available through third-party distributors. You must order them from Rapido directly.

New Videos: HO Scale RS-11, RS-18 & Tempo We feel it is important for you to see our models in action before the order deadline. In this case the deadline is next week, by the way! Dan Darnell and our friend Mark Kaluza (of the famed Kaluza-Mueller Collection) have been furiously painting up our pre-production samples of the HO scale RS-11, RS-18 and Tempo train and we've made a couple of informative videos for you. Click here or on the image below to watch the RS-11 video. It shows many of the detail variations and allows you to hear the beautiful Alco 251 prime mover in action.

For our RS-18 and Tempo video, we have finally given in to public pressure and included more Janet. It seems to be working, as the Janet-equipped RS-18 video has received more views than non-Janet-equipped RS-11 video.

We've incorporated some special features in our new Tempo passenger cars. When you take the cars off the track, the track-powered lighting stays on for several seconds! You can see this for yourself in the video. Please click here or on the image below to watch it.

If you haven't done so already, please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel so you are informed of new videos as they are released. To subscribe, click on that little "subscribe" bottom in the bottom right corner of any video.

RS-11 Cab: Comparing our model with the prototype. WHOOPS!

RS-11 Cab Redux If you think there is something a bit off in the PRR RS-11 cab shown in the model photo above, you are right. If you compare it with the prototype photo, you will see that the cab is three or four inches too high. At some point between doing the 3D scan of the real RS-11 and finishing the design of the model, the taller RS-18 cab got put onto the RS-11 body and we didn't notice. When we make a mistake, we don't believe in doubling down and hoping you won't notice. We have informed the factory that we will be cutting a new RS-11 cab that is the correct height. We are heading out to re-measure the prototype in the next couple of days, but if you have any RS-11 cab drawings we could use as additional reference, please get in touch with us ASAP. You can order your RS-11 model by clicking here.

Huge Order Deadline: November 19th We have a huge order deadline coming up November 19th - that's on MONDAY! Please make sure you have your orders in to your dealers by end of day Monday. Dealers and distributors have until Wednesday to get their orders in to Rapido to guarantee delivery. If you are reading this after the deadline, don't worry. We can accept late orders until November 29th. The LRC factory starts production on December 1st. The first deliveries will be in the spring. You can order Rapido products from your local hobby shop or directly from us.

HO scale Alco RS-11 Our RS-11 features a huge number of prototype-specific details, including the PRR Trainphone antenna system, the wild-and-crazy SP light package, and the wacky New Haven handrail stanchions. They also feature accurate sounds and illuminated control stand(s) in the cab. First-run paint schemes are: Conrail (blue)    Conrail (ex-PC patch) Lehigh Valley    Lehigh Valley (Bright Red) New Haven (McGinnis) Norfolk & Western (As Delivered)    Norfolk & Western (Blue w/Hamburger Logo) Pennsylvania RR (As Delivered)    Penn Central Southern Pacific (Black Widow)    Southern Pacific (Bloody Nose) Alco Demonstrator Scheme    Undecorated Please click here for more information or to order direct.

HO scale MLW RS-18 Our RS-18 finally gives this Canadian icon the attention it deserves as well as the full Rapido treatment. It is the correct height (an improvement on previous efforts which were too squat) and features a plethora of prototype-specific details including three different styles of trucks, lightweight and standard fuel tanks, ditch lights, inspection lights, illuminated control stands, you name it. First-run paint schemes are: Canadian National (Green) Canadian National (Noodle) Canadian National (Stripes) Canadian National (Tempo, no HEP) Canadian Pacific (Block) Canadian Pacific (Script) CP Action Red (5" Stripes) CP Action Red (8" Stripes) Undecorated Two of the Tempo RS-18s had their HEP alternators removed in the early 1970s, but they still operated as second power on Tempo trains and as lead power on conventional (steam-heated) trains. For that reason, it was very common to see these two units on any type of train. Below are just two of many examples.

3151 hauls a Steam Generator Unit and two cars on this pike-sized train in Richmond Hill, not far from my not-yet-built house! Photo courtesy Don Jaworski.

Here 3153 hauls another pike-sized train, likely on an RDC-replacement service. Photo courtesy Kaluza-Mueller Collection.

3151 and 3153 are available singly with the other RS-18 locomotives. The remaining four Tempo locomotives are only available in the Tempo box set, below. More information on our extensive line of RS-18 locomotives can be found here.

HO Scale Tempo Train (In a box! With Stuff!) The Tempo train passenger train features our current state-of-the-art passenger car model design, including roller bearing wheelsets, full multi-colour interior with each seat a separate part (including seatback tray tables!), full underbody equipment, track-powered interior lights and working marker lights on both ends. And the best part of all? Each Tempo comes in a big box with Tempo wine glasses, Tempo cocktail napkins, and a Tempo photo book. We're celebrating 50 years of the Tempo with style. The Tempo models include: Tempo Box CN (RS-18, Club, Cafe-Bar-Lounge, Coach) - 2 sets Tempo Box VIA (RS-18, Club, Cafe-Bar-Lounge, Coach) - 2 sets Tempo Coach: CN, VIA, ACR - several numbers of each Please click here for more information or to order direct.

N Scale Dash 8-40CM Our N scale Dash 8 definitely contains the most detail we have ever tried to squeeze into an N scale model. It features accurate spotting differences for CN early, CN late and BCR versions. The ditch lights work and, on BCR, the rock lights work as well! It is available with or without an ESU sound decoder. The first run paint schemes are: Canadian National (Stripes)    Canadian National (North America) Canadian National (No Stripes)    Canadian National (Website) British Columbia Railway (As Delivered)    British Columbia Railway (Post-2010) British Columbia Railway (CN Website)    Quebec North Shore & Labrador Undecorated Please click here for more information or to order direct. You can watch the video here. QNSL On The Rocks... If you're a big fan of the Quebec North Shore and Labrador railway, you'd better get all your friends to order these. So far, we have had fewer than 100 QNSL units ordered. We need orders of about 300 to make these. If we don't get the orders by the end of the month, we'll have to cancel this conditional announcement.

Hold your horses there, buddy! Photo by our own Jordan Smith.

Slowing Down The Product Launches... You may recall in the last newsletter I mentioned we would be sending out two newsletters this month, each with new product launches. We actually still have three new products to launch, one of which we leaked at Trainfest. A photo from our booth is below.

The guys and I had a meeting this week and decided that we would be too rushed if we were to launch all three projects this month, especially as Bill, Gareth and I are all going to the UK next week for the big Warley model train show in Birmingham. (I will be there on the Sunday. Hope all you Brits can join us!) So as much as we know you were looking to commit even more of your money this month to Rapido products, we're going to have to ask you to be patient for just a little longer. I will be in touch in December with those three product launches. I'll have just returned from China as well, so that's going to be one fat newsletter. Make it a part of your Christmas lunch. Print it out and stuff it in the Christmas crackers...

Josh works intently on the helix on my HO scale Kingston Subdivision. He really gets into a groove in there.

Finding Mindfulness in Model Railroading My Uncle Michael said something interesting to me a few months back. He said, "I'm impressed that you have found your own form of mindfulness meditation by spending 15 minutes a day on your layout." After that I spent about six months on my layout doing nothing but installing and wiring switch machines. I really did try to get down there 15 minutes a day. Sometimes I missed a day. Other times I spent half an hour. I found the act of installing the machines and soldering the connections to be extremely calming. (You can visit the Facebook Page for the Kingston Sub by clicking here. Actually, the best part is the 2018 progress photo album, which can be reached directly by clicking here.) I've thought a lot about what Uncle Michael said, and I realize that he was right. Mindful meditation is loosely defined as being attuned to what is around you. It's letting go of the pressures, anxieties and distractions that bog down the rest of your day and just... living. The mental space I was in while doing those switch machine installations certainly fit the "mindfulness" bill.

Testing the switch machine installations at Phillips Cable in Brockville.

Recently I completed all of the switch machine installations on the top deck of the layout and I found myself floundering. Scenery was the next logical step but I was afraid that I would do something wrong that would take days or weeks to fix in the future. I became paralyzed by my lack of confidence and I barely went down to the layout room for several weeks. Then I thought back to what Uncle Michael had said. My model railroad is my opportunity to meditate. I had to get back down there, and if the prospect of scenery was freaking me out I had to find something else to do in the meantime that was less scary. So I found another task I could lose myself in. This time it was making trees.

Glycerin-soaked Super Trees dry on a clothes line. I have temporarily installed a retractable clothes line in the layout room in anticipation of the thousands of trees I have to make!

Getting back into a groove, I was able to find that mindful place. But making trees was not as engaging as installing switch machines so I found myself looking to enhance my meditation. I found some lectures that really connected with my ongoing search for spiritual identity, and I began listening to them while I worked. On the internet you can find thousands and thousands of lectures about life, the universe and everything. A lot of it is dross, but a lot of it is really powerful stuff, and it's amazing how much your brain can absorb when you are working on relaxing layout activities. If you are religious you will find meaning in religious teaching. But if you are not religious there is still so much wisdom to be shared. I take great comfort in knowing that there are a lot of people out there who are a heck of a lot smarter than I am, and through the sharing of their insights I can gain a greater understanding of my own journey. Personally I am listening to classes on Chassidus (an aspect of Jewish thought), but each of us will find something different that engages us, enriches us, and gives us comfort.

Here are some Super Trees painted and photographed in front of the layout backdrop. They aren't installed yet and are just planted in some scrap foam, but it gives you a feel for the November/December layout time period. I need lots of bare trees!

Listening to the lectures while I work has given me renewed impetus to get into the layout room. This encouraged me to tackle the scenery that scared me so much just a couple of weeks ago. I've finally taken the plunge and you can see my first landscape start to take shape in the photo below. Now at the beginning of each work session I lay out a plan of what I am going to do, and then I put on a lecture and I get to work. I'm having fun, I'm broadening my knowledge and understanding, and I'm progressing on my layout all at once. If the job requires too much concentration, the lecture is turned off and out comes the Beatles or Simon & Garfunkel or even Alanis Morissette - anything that will help me forget about my outside stresses and focus on the layout-building task.

The first scenery on my Kingston Sub starts to take shape. This is the wye in Brockville with Butlers Creek running through it. I am using the tried-and-true method of window screen and Sculptamold.

If you have been putting off building a layout or working on your models until your life is less busy or less stressful, I hope this essay helps you to understand that a stressful and busy time is probably the best time to get down to your trains. It is a chance to get away from your stress and get yourself into a positive, calming space. And it may also be a chance for you to broaden your horizons and understanding through online lectures. This is a great hobby. Until next time, Jason Jason Shron President Rapido Trains Inc.

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