I have several sets of Rapido passenger cars, but I have never owned a Rapido locomotive. Rapido is about to release a series of EMD E8A and E8B passenger locomotives, pre-order required.
Interested to learn others experience with Rapido locomotives.
Rich
They had motor problems with the RS18 which overheated the decoder, I think. There was also an issue with one of their steam engines and decoder problems.
However they stood behind their products and solved those problems.
Yikes, not what I wanted to hear. Thanks for that response, Henry. Let’s see what others have to say.
Rich
I have a Royal Hudson, an FA2 and FA2B pair, a FP7A, F7B, FP7A consist and a “Canadian” which is a pair of FP9A and an F9B dummy with I think 12(??) cars.
I have an RDC3. A radiator grille fell off that but was easily re-attached. Several rolling stock passenger and freight cars.
Rapido makes quality stuff. All manufacturers have QA issues from their Chinese factories and shipping problems.
Yes it was the Royal Hudson. But they fixed the problems, in both engines. How many people are still battling problems from another prominent loco manufacturer that uses proprietary decoders?
Granted, most locomotive manufacturers have quality control problems from time to time. But, I have been generally satisfied with the passenger diesels coming out of BLI, Life Like, Walthers Proto, Intermountain and Athearn Genesis. I have never owned a Rapido locomotive so I have to rely on the experience of others. Not sure how long Rapido has been producing locomotives. Anyone know?
Rich
I believe the Turbo Train was their first “locomotive”, introduced in 2008. The company started in 2003.
I finally managed to get a few Rapido freight cars. I tried to order PA1’s, but they canceled the undecorated ones.
I just preordered some Boswer RS-3’s… in C&O and WESTERN MARYLAND.
I might be interested in a couple more E8’s, undecorated or B&O… Not on the current list from Rapido.
Sheldon
I only have their straight DC locomotives and they all run fine. I have FA-2’s for the PRR, Wabash and Ann Arbor, CP FP7 A’s and FB, NH FL9’s, PRR RS-11’s and NKP RS-11’s and PRR PA’s on order.
Rick Jesionowski
Both my Hudsons had issues and Rapido replaced the decoder and motors in both and they have been flawless ever since. The others run great.
I’ve got a pair of their Turbotrains. These have the “new and improved” gearing. The very first runs had gear issues that necessitated a tricky replacement procedure.
Turbo_PC52-Amtrak50 by Edmund, on Flickr
These have custom MRC decoders in them and seem to be OK.
I’ve got a pair of their F40PH EMD engines and these have never given me any trouble. A pair of RDCs that run just fine although these came with a warning to not tow any additional cars with them as the drive shafts are fragile.
Also a pair of the FL9s. The light boards needed to be replaced on these as the shell would crunch the LEDs on them. Rapido sent me the parts and I electrd to make the repair myself.
My Royal Hudson had an eccentric rod problem which required a return trip to Markham, ON for the repair:
eccentric_1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Mailing the loco back to them set me back $65
Both my RS-11s exhibited bad motor/decoder problems. They also went back to Markham at a postage cost of $80. Rapido has since opened a U.S. service address.
IMG_7998_edited-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
I’ve got six of the FA-FB locos with no troubles at all with these:
To me, that is somewhat of a scary report, Ed. I am losing my initial enthusiasm.
The pre-order supposedly would be a short time frame. Expected delivery was scheduled to begin on February 15th.
Rich
Off hand I’d say I’ve already got about 2 dozen E8s plus a bunch of E7 and E6s already on my roster. Just finished up a pair of Conrail Executive Es last week.
The original Life-Likes were good and Walthers made improvements to them. I’ll buy one E-L E8 from Rapido to evaluate it but I really don’t expect it to be head and shoulders above the previous Proto runs. I’ve also got a shoebox full of spare motors, wheels, trucks, gears and all that stuff for the Life-Like/Proto?Walthers Es so I’m sure I can keep my fleet running for a while longer.
Regards, Ed
not one manufacturer can be 100% flawless, infact thats life
they make a GREAT product & stand behind it way better then most
so ordering one should not be an issue if you want quality.
I am wrong about the expected delivery date. February 15th was the deadline for pre-orders. Nuts, there is no expected delivery date at this time.
[^o)]
Rich
If you are interested, you should contact some of the major online retailers and see if they are still taking preorders for these. Many of them order extras and will take preorders after the deadline.
Contact me directly if you want some specific suggestions.
Sheldon
Sheldon, you are correct. Pre-orders are still being taken by retailers. I mistakenly thought that the expected delivery date was February 15th. But, there is no expected delivery date at this time. For all I know, it may still be a year or more away.
Rich
The Boswer RS-3’s I just preordered are a roughly a year out. Typical these days.
I have been busy putting up lights and ceiling in between work and grandkids - pictures soon. The LED lights and the flust to the joists ceiling system are working nicely.
Sheldon
richhotrain,
Speaking as an Rapido employee (but not as a representive, if that makes any sense), I can say that pre-orders are not required. Rapido tends to make a few extras for each unit for warranty replacements, and various hobby shops tend to order on speculation. You can probably get a model after they come out. However, quantities are limited. So while pre-orders are not required, a pre-order should guarantee that you get what you want; you take a risk by not pre-ordering. For conditional releases (like P&W M-420R’s), if enough pre-orders don’t come in they won’t get made.
BigDaddy,
Yes, the RS-11 & RS-18 motors were from a bad batch. These 3rd party motors were sourced from the same factory that had previously made thousands of motors for Rapido for years without any trouble at all. To suddenly have a batch of motors start melting down is inexplicable. Still, procedures have been changed to make such a re-occurance unlikely; it was a painful learning experience.
Lastspikemike,
Yes, parts popping off in shipment is a common problem in the industry, mostly due to all the parts models have these days. [:D] At this time of year, as packages go from heated warehouses and unheated trucks to subzero porch stoops, differential movement of metal and plastic due to changing temps can cause CA joints to shear.
richhotrain,
Rapido has been making HO locomotives for a while now. Released so far:
TurboTrain
FP9
F9B
LRC
FL9
F40PH-2D
F40PH-2D Rebuild
FPA-4
GMD-1
FP7
F7B
F40PH
F40PH NPCU (“Cabbage”)
RDC-1
RDC-2
RDC-3
RDC (ATSF set)
Dash 8-40CM
FA-2
FB-2
FPA-2
FPB-2
SW1200RS
SW1200
4-6-4 CP Royal Hudson
B36-7
RS-11
RS-18
M-420
I think I listed them all…
I own 5 FL9s, 2 RS
Jason stated that due to issues with the website they are still taking pre-orders for the E8 and Turboliners. They are not sending the numbers in until next month (Rapdio News, Email dated Feb 23).
He also stated that they always make a few extra DCC models, so not an issue to add a few more onto the factory order.
Paul, thanks for that update. I have lots of Rapido passenger cars, but I have never purchased a Rapido locomotive. That’s why I started this thread.
By the way, years ago I encouraged Jason to make a line of Monon streamlined passenger cars. Then, I balked at the price and didn’t purchase them when they were released. So, do me favor and lean on Jason to make another run. And, while you are at it, see if you can find five of those Monon cars in a closet or back room. [swg]
Rich
