Has anyone bought one or more of the new Rapido passenger cars. I've seen them in stores and the quality looks almost too good to be real. :shock:Are they worth the price? How smoothly do they run?
Rapido Passenger Cars
- Thread starter Kanawha
- Start date
I worked on a couple of them for a friend, and found the paint, lettering, and detail excellent, but both were poorly put together. The fit of the parts was good, but the cars were not very solidly assembled. These were very early in the run, so that problem may have been corrected. Taking the roof off one to install the lighting batteries more or less disassembled the car, and it appeared as if none of it was actually glued together. For the most part, it was easily repaired, and I was a little more careful with the second car: I ended up purposely partially dismantling it in order to glue some assemblies together.
I don't recall the minimum recommended radius, but like any full-length passenger car, the wider, the better. They're a very good representation of their prototype, and the price is not unreasonable for the level of detail offered.
Wayne
I don't recall the minimum recommended radius, but like any full-length passenger car, the wider, the better. They're a very good representation of their prototype, and the price is not unreasonable for the level of detail offered.
Wayne
I have one and it is a beautiful car. Check the wheel gauge though. My car kept bumping over the frog of a turnout. All four axles were out of gauge.
Wayne,
Did you have any problems with the diaphragm's?
I have the duplex sleeper and I found that the diaphragm moved at the top but not at the bottom, so that when the car went around the corner the diaphragm "pushed" the leading car up on two wheels. I had a look at the lead car and found the diaphragm moved on the top as well as the bottom. Checked the sleeper and it only pivoted on the top but not on the bottom.
Flashing? or something else?
How difficult is it to take apart the interior? Anything I should pay strict attention to when disassembling?
Thanks,
Heath
Did you have any problems with the diaphragm's?
I have the duplex sleeper and I found that the diaphragm moved at the top but not at the bottom, so that when the car went around the corner the diaphragm "pushed" the leading car up on two wheels. I had a look at the lead car and found the diaphragm moved on the top as well as the bottom. Checked the sleeper and it only pivoted on the top but not on the bottom.
Flashing? or something else?
How difficult is it to take apart the interior? Anything I should pay strict attention to when disassembling?
Thanks,
Heath
I don't recall any particular problems with the diaphrams, but it's been a while since I've seen them, so it's difficult to recall too much of anything about those cars. It sounds like flash would be the most likely cause of your problem. I didn't disassemble the interior: the sides disassembled themselves from the car 
, but were easily snapped back into place. Some of the underbody detail fell off, too, but that was ca'd back in place, although the manufacturer's use of engineering plastic for these detail parts is, in my opinion, not the proper use of this material. The step-trap covers in the vestibule are also made of this material, and I had some difficulty getting them attached, as the fit was not the best.
While I'm at it, am I the only one dismayed by the persistent misuse of engineering plastics, such as Delrin, Celcon, etc., by manufacturers? While I can appreciate the rolling qualities imparted by Delrin trucks, they don't hold weathering paint all that well. And handrails on diesels? I know that there is paint that will adhere to this stuff, but really!
We also get detail parts moulded in this material (Proto is a big culprit here), giving us grabirons more than a scale 2" in diameter, and various other parts that don't match the colour of the model that they're applied to (make sure to buy some more of that special paint), not to mention that if the mounting holes are sloppy, require a special glue (cyano-epoxy) to secure them. We modellers are partially to blame for this situation, as we clamoured for more detail, with no more cast-on grabirons etc., but the manufacturers dropped the ball on this one: I have been impressed to tears with the skill of the diemakers responsible for these "gems", but one of the keys to doing a task well is choosing the proper materials. Now, back to our regularily scheduled programming. 
:-D:-D
Wayne
, but were easily snapped back into place. Some of the underbody detail fell off, too, but that was ca'd back in place, although the manufacturer's use of engineering plastic for these detail parts is, in my opinion, not the proper use of this material. The step-trap covers in the vestibule are also made of this material, and I had some difficulty getting them attached, as the fit was not the best. While I'm at it, am I the only one dismayed by the persistent misuse of engineering plastics, such as Delrin, Celcon, etc., by manufacturers? While I can appreciate the rolling qualities imparted by Delrin trucks, they don't hold weathering paint all that well. And handrails on diesels? I know that there is paint that will adhere to this stuff, but really!
We also get detail parts moulded in this material (Proto is a big culprit here), giving us grabirons more than a scale 2" in diameter, and various other parts that don't match the colour of the model that they're applied to (make sure to buy some more of that special paint), not to mention that if the mounting holes are sloppy, require a special glue (cyano-epoxy) to secure them. We modellers are partially to blame for this situation, as we clamoured for more detail, with no more cast-on grabirons etc., but the manufacturers dropped the ball on this one: I have been impressed to tears with the skill of the diemakers responsible for these "gems", but one of the keys to doing a task well is choosing the proper materials. Now, back to our regularily scheduled programming. :-D:-DWayne
what IS engineering plastic? is it that real crappy bendy stuff that comes seperate in el'cheapo cars in such?
an another thing,i thought of this question looking a rapidos AD in MRR,would commuter service for a road like C&O use full size passenger cars in the fifties or did they still use "shorties" for this work? i've seen RDC's on C&O tracks but the pics never showed the cars behind'em.there isnt much on C&O passenger ops on branchlines.--josh
an another thing,i thought of this question looking a rapidos AD in MRR,would commuter service for a road like C&O use full size passenger cars in the fifties or did they still use "shorties" for this work? i've seen RDC's on C&O tracks but the pics never showed the cars behind'em.there isnt much on C&O passenger ops on branchlines.--josh
There isn't much online about C&O passenger equipment period. 
Do you know what paint schemes were used and when? When did they switch from the old pullman green to the blue and yellow?
Do you know what paint schemes were used and when? When did they switch from the old pullman green to the blue and yellow?id say they ould still be using pullman green in the midfifties on a rural branchline.no sense in using a brand new car for the "wrong side of the tracks" 
--josh
--josha small C&O book i have has Pullman green cars in 49 AND 57 but it also has the new scheme in 55 or possibly earlier.thats the best i can come up with now but i gots to got to bed.I'm gettin to old to stay up :mrgreen: --josh
Well, I think that there a number of types and each has a tradename and I suppose a purpose for which it was originally made. An engineering plastic that most of us are familiar with is that used to make gears for our locomotives. And the gear boxes for many locos are also made from a similar type of plastic. This takes advantage of the fact that this type of plastic can be machined. Other examples are those plastic wheels that seem to alarm so many people, the axles in Kadee wheelsets, and non-metallic couplers by Kadee, McHenry, et al. These plastics stand up to wear better than styrene, and are considered self-lubricating, although NorthWest Short Line recommends that you use a suitable oil with any of their gears/gearboxes made from these materials.
Many current models of diesels have handrails made from some type of this plastic: while great strides have been made towards scale sizes, most paints will not adhere to these plastics. It is used because it is quite durable, bending instead of breaking like older-style styrene railings. And, unlike built-up metal railings, requires no assembly by the modeller.
Another misuse that springs to mind are the handrail stanchions that came with the Athearn Genesis Mikado and Pacific: very finely cast, but soft enough to distort if you needed to force them into their precast holes in the boiler. And, of course, ca won't stick to them, so the fit had to be snug. Wayne
so it is that crappy plastic they make handrails out of that bend every time you put them in a hole.thanks for the explanation doc!--josh