Rapido Trains Visit to Central Hobbies June 28, 2011

Tuesday June 28, 5PM to 9PM Jason Schron and Dan Garcia of Rapido visited Central Hobbies.
It was a great evening. Upwards of 60 people came over the course of the evening.
Test shots of Set One of the Rapido Canadian were shown. Great models!
Anecdotes about production problems were shared. News of upcoming projects was spread. Pins were sold. And in response to Jason's comment about no good Single Malt being available on VIA, 18 year old Glenfiddich was supplied to Jason..

Sixteen feet of my modules (three four foot modules and two two-foot modules) were set up in the middle of the store to make a display for the CANADIAN.

It was a Great evening!

Announcements and notes:

• There will be a dining car for the CN Supercontinetal.
• Rapido will not be producing a U Series sleeper for The Canadian as it will be too expensive a project for the projected sales figures. Would you pay $400 for a single car? Jason does not think so. BGR Group may produce this model.
• The LRC Locomotive will be produced although orders are not currently high enough to make it a profitable project. It was test run on the display layout.
• Even though these were pre production test models they still looked FANTASTIC! The locomotives looked, ran and sounded Great.
• Separate cars from the Canadian may be available in a few years. For now if you want a longer train it is suggested that you buy two different sets, combine them and sell the excess models. Given how limited the supply of these models will be you should be able to make a good buck.
• • Rapido Trains will only produce sets for orders that they have received a deposit for.
  • Orders close August 5, 2011.
  • The drop dead order date is August 22, 2011. If Jason does not have a deposit for the order by then it will not be produced.
  • Let me repeat that: The drop dead order date is August 22, 2011. If Jason does not have a deposit for the order by then it will not be produced.
• We will have a few sets for stock. I emphasize A FEW. If you have not ordered a set and paid your deposit you will not likely get one.

A few pictures of indifferent quality.

	The nose of the F units pulling set One. Each individual locomotive is detailed from pictures of that unit thus every model will be slightly different from each other. The paint colours match paint chips that Rapido has obtained. The look good, sound good (Soundtraxx decoders) and run well.
	The CPR Baggage-Dormitory Car.
	The front of the train.
	The middle of the train. In the background you can see Skyline #516 from the VIA Set. A good looking paint scheme. You can also see a set of restrung (twice!) Rapido "TotallyWired" Telephone Poles. These were set up on the display and then rolled up later for reuse.
	The rear of the train. In the background you can an early Rapido product - The Turbo Train. The black blob in the centre of the image is the unpainted LRC Locomotive that Jason was showing. The Rapido "TotallyWired" Telephone Poles also show well in this picture.
	The Park Car from one of the CP Rail Sets.