I finally got around to taking a few close-up shots of the new cars. I tried to show some of the details that set these apart from the rest.
Those are very nice cars Jeff. I picked up a set as well. Rapido did an excellent job with the detailing.
Like I said earier, I love mine so much,I ordered 2 more EL coach that are now in. Plus I ordered(pre-ordered) 2 Erie coaches & a Lackawanna sleeper.
Did anyone notice the car number in the window in the top picture? All cars have the car number and if you have a POWERFUL magnifying glass or young eyesight you can read it. The numbers are clearly there, but tiny tiny...
They are sooo nice that I decided to put my layout on hold to buy a Southern Pacific set for myself, but they are sold out already. I may have to change railroads so that I can have a set too. :tb-biggrin:
That's a bit of a loaded question; the differences are plenty; but if you mean; are they prototypically accurate for all roads offered the answer; like with the Kato's is "no".... The Rapido cars are miles and miles ahead of any n scale passenger car I've seen or own (and that's a lot) for detail and prototypical accuracy. They are "dead ringers" for CN cars; very close to others. Their detail is amazing; right down to separately applied underside details and car number boards in vestibule windows. Kato made a good model; and for it's day it was the gold standard. They knew they had a winner and slapped the paint on for a large number of roads ...... their models were, in some cases 100% accurate to the prototype; but in most cases; they were way, way off..... no fault of anyone's just the facts....you can't make one car for 10 roads.... Rapido made a better model.... 15 year later; new technology; new expectations; and a crazy and prototypically driven owner (Yep Jason; I said crazy... you crawl under locomotives with a camera and sketch pad..........) Great cars, but are they 100% accurate for each livery offered....NO. The minor variations by mfg's and roads make it impossible for anyone to make 100% accurate cars for 10-12 roads in one mold..... so you get one or two roads 100% and the rest are in the "close but no cigar" category.....I don't care if they are perfect; I bought Kato's...... The Rapido cars are, IMHO, the new gold standard for passenger car and they will get better; this is the first release. Are they perfect - no... MT coupler issues and livery fidelity are always going to crop up on first runs; they will fix these issues but these are the new "bar setter" in my mind for passenger equipment.
i was just wondering, i jumped over to The Rapido website and they want $47.95 for one U.P. car. I just bought two kato 4 car sets sealed for under $100. i know i'm cheap but wow!!
I have never seen N scale passenger rolling stock that has as much prototype detail as the Rapido cars. Even the lighting is tinted (due to the "Solex" coach windows). I originally ordered five cars for my layout, but when they arrived and I had a look at them and ran then, I turned around and ordered another eleven. I found they have good customer service - my emails were all answered the same day I sent them. I have nothing bad to say about Rapido products. :thumbs_up:
Has it really been that long? No wonder the original Kato smoothsides are starting to look so dated these days, although being Kato they are still not bad. At least Rapido are only doing roadnames that are passable for the particular cars and not slapping every conceivable, and a few inconcievable, paint schemes on them like Con Cor did with their smoothside cars. I'm looking forward to the UP ones I've ordered arriving after seeing the photos. Anyone know when the lighting kits are coming?
i recently picked up all of the currently available via rail cars as well as all cars of the british columbia railway. excellent cars. never saw such detailed passenger cars before. unfortunately they all seem to have some issues with their couplers. they don't couple easily and once coupled they tend to uncouple with the slightest move. it will take some further investigation to find the cause. probably just the screw a tad too tight.
Nice looking cars. I just hope that I get the ones that I ordered. The roadname that I ordered may be getting cut according to the list they sent out about 2 weeks ago.
I've got a couple of the N&W coaches on order. Based on the HO versions I've seen in N&W, these could be the 1st N&W passenger cars in N scale that come close in terms of color and lettering. Mark
