By Railroad Model Craftsman Staff
Rapido Trains, Inc., announced last Friday that it will be producing two all-new HO scale freight cars – the iconic Northeastern-style Steel Caboose and the Santa Fe Rr-56/60/61 Mechanical Reefer.
Though other manufacturers have produced replicas of this caboose in the past, Rapido is promising to produce the most accurate and highly detailed replicas of the classic Northeastern-style Steel Caboose yet. The prototype design was first built by the Reading Railroad and the design soon became popular with other carriers.
“Rapido’s all-new HO scale model has been developed from original blueprints, photos and field measurements,” the company writes. “We have included several variations and additional details to accurately model these cabooses from the beginning to the end of their service lives.”
Rapido’s first production will cover eleven different paint schemes for seven different roads, including Reading, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Lehigh Valley, Lehigh & New England, Western Maryland, Chessie System (WM reporting marks), and Conrail. The models will be offered in multiple versions, with tooling variations that cover two different cupola roofs, two different car sides, three different end walls, two running board styles and more. Each car offers full underbody detail, 33” turned metal wheelsets and operating interior lights. The cars will come with factory-installed Kadee #158 couplers. MSRP $99.95 per car. Visit Rapidotrains.com for further information.
Drawings of the new Santa Fe’s Rr-56/60/61 mechanical reefers.
As the second of the two Rapido announcements, the company has declared their intention to produce HO scale replicas of Santa Fe’s Rr-56/60/61 mechanical reefers. Introduced in 1955, the 200 Rr-56 50-foot cars were the first large group of mechanical reefers owned by the Santa Fe. The design proved successful, and additional cars designated as Rr-60 and Rr-61 class reefers soon followed in 1958. Rapido will offer 20 different versions of the car, each decorated with different advertising slogans of the period highlighting Santa Fe’s exemplary passenger trains and freight services. Each model will offer separately applied door posts, door latches, full underbody detail with simulated cushion underframe and up top, a positionable roof hatch and etched running boards. Metal wheels and Kadee scale-head #158 couplers complete the running gear. MSRP $59.95 each. An optional plug-and-play sound system with authentic reefer sounds for this car will also be offered for $14.95 each. Visit RapidoTrains.com for more information.
