Rapido IC baggage car recall

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi all,

I just discovered that our Illinois Central baggage cars have the wrong lettering on one side. I did some checking and I discovered that I screwed up on the painting diagram. The way painting diagrams are usually done is to do one side, then copy the artwork from one side to the other, making any changes necessary. I forgot to switch the ILLINOIS and CENTRAL after I flipped it to the other side of the car, so one side says “CENTRAL ILLINOIS.” And neither Dan nor I caught this on the two samples we approved. We must be getting old…

Here is how we are going to rectify the situation:

We are going to remake the cars. We don’t require the wrong cars sent back to us. Your dealer will be informed about this by his distributor next week, and I’ll include this info in our next newsletter.

If you’ve ordered the IC baggage cars from a mail-order establishment and you get a wrong car in the mail, just hold on to it and send us an email. When the replacement cars arrive, you just have to send us the UPC codes from the ends of the box and we’ll send you a replacement.

We will cover the postage costs for sending you the replacements.

You are welcome to cannibalize the old cars for the trucks, detail parts, lighting sets, etc., or if you are handy at removing factory lettering you can re-letter the wrong cars and have two good cars for the price of one.

Because of the production schedule at our factory, the replacements won’t be here until January at the earliest.

Thanks for your understanding. Mistakes do happen… it just seems that more of them happen when we paint our cars in IC colors!

If you have any questions, please contact me through the “CONTACT US” page on our web site:

http://www.rapidotrains.com/contact.html

Thanks and regards,

Jason

P.S. If you have friends who are not online and may have ordered the cars, please let them know about this.

2

Rapido is FIRST class, and I am proud to say that they are Canadian!

David B

3

I agree, first class all the way!

Michael

4

I have seven and will be buying more. The detail is great on these things. My only complaint is that I have to keep a box of Q-TIPS by the layout because someone always flushes those little Rapido toilets in the station.

Brent

5

Unless you’re modeling a freelanced railroad named the Central Illinois… [swg]

6

Jason, you are a rare class act! [4:-)][tup]

Guys, one interesting scenario that we could ponder…

Have you all (you too Jason) considered that these cars, with the mistaken lettering, may possibly become collector’s items in a few years? This is a boo-boo that occured on the factory level. Didn’t something similar happen to a post office stamp back in the early part of the 20th century?

Of course it won’t gain the attention that a post office stamp would, but still this might not be worth a million dollars, but could be deemed a worthwhile collector’s item 5 or 10 years from now. If a cruddy Tyco boxcar can fetch $100 on ebay, this unique Rapido occurence might not be something to easily dismiss. Especially considering that Jason going to work to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Hence, the collector’s potential.

If I had one of these “Central Illinois” cars, I’d put it in a display case and leave it there for a few years.[;)]

Just a thought

7

[bow][bow][bow]

I had to take a Baggage car back because of a missing door. Maritime Hobbies asked no questions and gave me a replacement.

I can’t speak highly enough of Rapido, there service, especially their integrity!

Hopefully the industry will take notice.

Antonio might have something here!

Fergie

8

I need to get a few CPR cars for my Royal Hudson to haul. After seeing some Rapido cars in action, they are top notch. My Royal Hudson would not look right with lesser cars in tow.

As to a recall, excellent way to handle a problem. The customer doesn’t have to jump through hoops to get a replacement. Or spend a lot of money on shipping.

I may even go out to see Jason Shron reading from his Turbotrain book. He is coming to the capital for a reading at the public library later this week.
http://www.bytownrailwaysociety.ca/meetings.htm

9

What a fine example of class.

I dont know of any other train hobby maker even taking a few moments to update to the world what the real story is.

Another item, run the cars past the visitors, make sure they see both sides. See how long it takes for them to understand the error LOL.

10

Thats cool, an ingenious person can paintout and re-decal. However I wont be bashing my brass semi-combine CSS&SB car (not your product), looks like a coach on one side and combine on the other side. I will number it a fantasy number and call it a half-combine.

11

The Rapido passenger cars are top drawer in all respects. I have several and they are great performers. The “Magic Wand” lighting system is fun too.

Never had heard of a manufacturer recalling let alone replacing a model passenger car. I don’t have the IC baggage but is is great to know Rapido stands behind their products.

12

Mr. Shron,

Thank you - and your Company - for doing the right thing!!! Its folks like you that make our hobby as great as it is!!!

Your story really impacted me, and I had to laugh (more fun than crying)… May I explain?

I have been an IC nut since the 1950s. Last year, I finally was able to upgrade my IC passenger cars from Rivorossi to the new Walthers - both the heavyweights and the lightweights. Sadly however, Walthers did not produce any IC baggage cars or RPOs. This was really frustrating, but then I saw your ads for the upcoming IC baggage cars, and that really made me happy.

Well, I waited and waited and finally the delivery time (according to Walthers) was now - which of course coincides with your posting about the mis-print and subsequent further delay. How ironic (for me), as your IC baggage cars (I wanted two or three) have been the ONLY model railroad rolling stock I have “lusted” for this entire year!!!

And now, it looks like I will have to wait some more…

Hey, if only you would put out some IC RPO cars, that would sort of “make up” for the error!!!

Thank you!!

Mobilman44