Rapido Trains UK

Rapido designer, Jamie, has had a crack at weathering one of our Y7s and we think he’s done a fantastic job. He’s made a few tweaks to personalise it, such as changing the chimney and whistle. We would love to see your personalised Rapido Models too. Post a picture of your work in the comments.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the experimental APT-E setting a new British Railway speed record. This futuristic train achieved 152.3MPH between Swindon and Reading, which stands as the fastest non-electrified speed run to this day! We would love to see some pictures of it on your layout!

The Blue Train!
The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway's distinctive livery is soon to be represented in the Rapido range with the upcoming 483 Class 4-4-0 No. 70 (still available to pre-order) and Evolution coaches. You can make a whole train!
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The majority of the UK's salt production centred around Cheshire, as this was the heart of LNWR territory, their rolling stock would have been seen alongside the Salt Vans. If you are looking for the ideal brake van to go with them, you can’t go wrong with the LNWR D17b brake van.
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On this day in 1999, SECR O1 No.65 made her debut following a full restoration. This coincided with the SE&CR Centenary celebrations that were being held at the Bluebell Railway.
Our model of No.65 and the other O1’s will be arriving soon; they are currently on the high seas.

We have received some rather lovely painted production samples of the upcoming GWR 44xx, better known to many as the ‘Small Prairie’. Isn't it gorgeous!
We will be reviewing these samples over the next few weeks, and once they are signed off, the production models will be shipped.

It's the Sunday of The Greatest Gathering, we couldn't decide which photo of our own 'Greatest Gathering' to show, so we thought we'd post two over the weekend!

This weekend is The Greatest Gathering, an event celebrating 200 years of the railways. We hope everyone who attends enjoys the festivities. As we couldn’t make it, we thought we would put together our own shed bash and include as many of the most famous locomotives we have made as RTR models.

Today marks the 5th Anniversary of Rapido Trains UK!
Thank you to all of you who supported us, shared our posts, came and spoke to us at shows, sang our praises and of course bought our models. We are genuinely humbled by your ongoing loyalty and encouragement.
Keep modelling.
The Rapido Team.

If you didn’t see our newsletter, you missed the awesome new engineering prototypes for the GWR County. We have put together a Rapido Recommends that highlights the kind of train regularly seen behind these massive locos and included a shot of our sample for you to enjoy.
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GREAT NEWS! The BR Class 45 and 46 achieved the order quantity needed for production to go ahead. Our factory will commence injection and casting soon with delivery estimated Q2 2026

Today’s the biggest order book closing date Rapido has seen in a long time, with 3 huge projects having their order books closed and moving to production. Order your OO Gauge Ivor the Engine sets, Manning Wardle L Class, and N Gauge Class 45 and 46 ‘Peaks’ before the end of the day!

Following the popularity of the Class 44 diesels and the excellent progress we have made on the models, we have decided to close the order books on the other N Gauge ‘Peaks’, the Class 45 and 46. You have until Monday to place your pre-orders.

Both the Ivor the Engine Train Pack and Rolling Stock Pack are neatly packaged in these eye-catching special presentation boxes. Of course, you are going to want to know what's in each set, so we put together this handy video that talks you through their contents.
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The L Class was favoured by civil engineering contractors, and worked on several light railways, with two versions surviving into preservation.
Order books close for MW L Class next Monday.
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Over the weekend, our new Ivor-themed layout got its public debut at the Chatham Model Railway Show. How are you planning on displaying your Ivor the Engine models? Have you got a cool layout or diorama planned?
You’ve only got until Monday to place your pre-order, so get your orders in fast!

production samples of the fireless locomotives

The pressure is building, and the OO Gauge ‘Caledonia’ 0-4-0 Fireless is nearing completion. The factory has sent us a handful of painted prototypes, and we think they look fantastic. These will be ready to ship very soon, which one have you pre-ordered?

These painted O1 samples were so pretty we couldn’t hold them back for this Friday's newsletter, we simply had to share them.
As you can see, the grey areas of our previous samples have been replaced with correct matt black.
It's not long to wait now, as they are on the high seas heading to the UK

models of Ivor the Engine, the Peaks and the Manning Wardle

At the end of this month, we have some very exciting order books that are closing. All of these projects have order books that close on Monday the 28th So, if you want to guarantee that you get your hands on these lovely models, make sure you place your pre-orders before Monday!

Well, yesterday was a blast, as we showed tons of you how to Marcia.
Missed out on the fun?
She will still be at the Chatham Dockyard today, and you can learn to drive her for just £10. Come on down and join us!

Marcia is spending the next 2 days entertaining crowds of people at the Model railway show in the spectacular Chatham Dockyard.
Oh, and you can drive her too! All proceeds are going to the upkeep of the lovely Chatham Dockyard Railway, so pop down and learn how to drive a steam loco.

Take a peek at the 'Peaks' in the latest video on our channel
Don't forget the orderbooks for the Class 45 and 46 in N Gauge close on 28th July 2025.
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That’s the way to do it!
We have received some titchy painted prototypes of something that is well under par. The delightful OO Gauge Port of Par Bagnall twins.
You’ll be pleased to hear these are due to arrive in Q3 of this year, and production is steaming ahead.

The Highland Games are on in Inverness today! Inverness was a key location on the Highland Railway, so we thought of an appropriate Rapido Recommends combination to transport all those sporty Scots to the games!
HR ‘Jones Goods’ 4-6-0
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HR ‘Evolution’ Coach triple-pack
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YouTube video by Rapido Trains UK Ivor the Engine - What's in the Box?

Ivor the Engine - What's in the Box?
In this video we take you through everything that comes included with both the Ivor the Engine pack and the Rolling Stock Pack!
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We have some big N Gauge news! Painted samples of the BR Class 45 and 46 Diesels have arrived, and we think they look awesome. As such, we have decided to close the order books on them shortly. Make sure you get your pre-orders in by Monday 28th of July!
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We would like to introduce you to Lilli. Her human, Bob, received his brand-new E1 last week. Lilli took a shine to Bob's new toy and made short work of shredding the box's foam insert.
We’ve sent Bob a replacement, and Ernie, our office hound, has sent Lilli a few treats too.

Look at these Lovely L Class Samples!
Our factory has sent us a painted prototype of both the closed and weatherboard cab styles, and we will be checking these thoroughly over the next few weeks.
What do you think?

We have managed to get our hands on an engineering prototype of the Caledonian Railway ‘Single’ No.123.
What do you think of the sleek lines and wonderful details?
We’ve even convinced the factory to add the iconic thistle patterns to its front buffers!
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Well now you can!