Here’s an update on Rapido’s passenger cars. Things are going pretty well and the new cars are still on track for the spring. The lighting sets and trucks should be arriving in March. Thank you to everyone who has bought our cars.
We brought in our last batch of cars by air in order to beat the Christmas deadline. This was a MISTAKE. The boxes got thrown around so much that some of the cars got damaged.
In future, we are wrapping all of our cars in clear plastic and only sending them by boat, so we will avoid the problems associated with rough handling. For the cafe-bar-lounge and 10-5 sleeper, we are also redesigning the styrofoam and the blister cover to hold the cars more securely.
As well, we have sat down with the factory employees and gone over the entire production process. It seems that about 3% of the cars left the factory with QC problems. 3% is not a large proportion, but it is actually quite a large number of cars. We’re improving our quality control and making sure that the painting, lettering and assembly are all top notch. I am aiming for a return rate of 0%.
We are a brand new company with a brand new factory, and we are learning and improving all the time.
The low coupler problem on the first batch of cars has been eliminated, as has the loose roof weight issue (though some cars sent by air had the reinforced weights knocked out - they really were tossed around like footballs).
We’re also making design improvements to the cars for future runs and for the new cafe-bar-lounge and 10-5 sleeper. These include:
grab irons painted where appropriate
a separate interior handrail for each window which requires one
redesigned roof to avoid warping and light leaks
stronger clips to hold the sides to the floor
improved orange on the Illinois Central cars
We are doing a mini second run of the coaches and sleepers to meet the current demand. These include the Ca
It’s good to see you making more posts. Here in the Tampa area one of the most popular LHSs is Happy Hobo Trains. So far, Kevin has shared that the response on the Rapido passenger cars has been very positive.
I hope you’ve been reading the Rapido related threads on this forum and find the input (positive and negative ) useful.
Ditto to what Antonio said. We ship cars and parts by air all over the world as part of our racing business and have had little trouble though sometimes… The key when you’ve gotta do it is to talk with your shipper/broker and mostly we’ve found ship the goods on a pallet. Most airfreight companies do that and offer standby service with a two week guarantee on delivery. No throwing those pallets around though we did have a transfer facility drive a forklift through the wooden crate holding a new monococque chassis, but that’s another story. Good luck with your business and I look forward to the New Haven stuff in the future. J.R.Mitchell
I’m very happy with the 3 cars I got so far (in VIA colors) and I’m waiting for one each of the new sleeper and cafe-bar cars. Are you planning some baggage car that will match those cars ?
Thanks for posting. Do you have an update on when your lighting kits will ship?
–
They should be leaving China at the beginning of next month, which means that they will be here at the beginning of March and in hobby shops by the end of March.
That being said, with the current weather patterns on the west coast, all delivery dates are pretty much guesswork… The latest shipment of cars was delayed over a week in Vancouver because the weather was so bad.
We are very quickly selling out of the first batch. We will definitely make more, but if you want your lighting kits from the first batch I would recommend getting your order in sooner rather than later.