Hi all,
Just stepping in for some clarification:
The Canadian FP9 has never been done before in plastic. We are doing both the CP version (with the Canadian) and the CN version (available separately). We were ready to go into production with the CN version but I decided to hold off until after the cross-Canada tour as a lot of people requested to see it in person before a final order deadline.
We will be releasing both the CP FP9 and the Canadian passenger cars separately after the Canadian is delivered. We will not be releasing the CP F9B separately. That is a “thank you” for people who had faith in us and ordered the complete train. Note that it will be more expensive to assemble a 10-car train with two locomotives than it is to buy the complete train. That is another show of appreciation to the guys who ordered the whole set.
There is another F9B in development for a different Canadian railway. That’s all I can say about that. But we will be making powered chassis available separately for people who own the CP F9B and want to power it.
Regarding the deposits, a lot of people don’t realize that Rapido is a really tiny company. We only have three full-time employees in North America, and many of the other train manufacturers are many times our size in terms of sales every year. With only about 10,000 serious modellers in Canada, no Canadian train manufacturer is going to be a big company.
Without deposits on The Canadian, we simply don’t have the resources to bring it out. Also, because it is a very expensive train to make, we are only making it to order. Some people will, I am sure, be very vocally opposed to the idea of paying a deposit for something. All I can tell you guys is: nobody is forcing you to buy a Canadian.
Thanks and regards,
Jason
Jason,
First let me commend you for your detication t
Rapido
June 16, 2011, 9:12am
42
Jason,
First let me commend you for your detication to the hobby and compliment you on your products, it does appear you are making every effort to offer top notch products.
Second I hope the message intended in you post is correctly received by most modelers, especially those interested in your products. As someone who has worked previously in this business, I understand what you are up against. Unfortunately many of todays modelers have no idea how this business works and think every company is some big “corporation” with billions of dollars to spend.
No offense intended, but to this date none of your products fit into my modeling needs, I’m not in or from Canada, and I don’t model, or have any interest in modeling Canada, but then again Athearn or BLI are not selling me anything that says PRR or Union Pacific either. And, I’m not a “collector”, I only buy models that run on my layout and fit its theme.
Hi Sheldon,
Thanks for your kind words, and of course I am not offended if you have no need for our stuff yet. The majority of our products to date have been based on Canadian prototypes, so a prototypical modeller in the US has a limited selection of applicable Rapido products to choose from.
One loyal customer from the States emailed the other day and was wondering why most of our PR lately has been about Canadian stuff. The reality is that Canadian stuff is still most of what we do, though we have been dipping our toes into US prototypes with recent releases and announcements. That’s largely Bill’s doing. He’s an avid NYO&W modeller and he’s very knowledgeable about US prototypes. So we will likely be doing more US prototypes in future.
Best regards,
Jason