It was great to see so many of our friends and supporters at the Warley National Model Railway exhibtion at the NEC last weekend.
This was our stand on Friday – before the show opened – and the only time it was quiet until the show ended on Sunday evening!
Revolution Pendolino
The big news is that our stunning Class 390 Pendolino model – made by our friends (and show neighbours) Rapido Trains of Canada – should be leaving the factory within the next 7-10 days. Allowing 4-6 weeks for shipping, and some extra time for customs clearance, the models should be here by Jan/Feb.
Rapido did bring three models to the show – airfreighted to Canada a few days beforehand – and two were loaned to the layouts Kinlet Wharf and Horseley Fields.
The third – in Alstom livery – spent the weekend on our display layout and can be seen whizzing behind the packaging which was also on show and follows the style we created with the TEA tankers last year.
The 9- and 11-car versions will be in book-case style packs with two trays with opening lids surrounded by a card sheath. The top tray contains shaped apertures for the two power cars, the two pantograph cars and the named car, with the remaining four or six cars in the lower tray.
The 5-car pack will simply comprise the top tray in a thinner card sheath.
For those who missed out Rapido have advised us that a small number of surplus models are available and these will be put up for sale via our website once we have an indication of liveries and numbers.
Class B tankers
The Class B tankers are now in production with our alternate factory and are sheduled to be leaving the factory before Chinese New Year in February, with delivery to customers likely in March/April depending on shipping and customs times.
For those who missed out several retailers have taken an allocation – the list can be found elsewhere on our website.
00 tankers
These are also in production by Rapido now, and timings are likely to be similar as the Class B tankers. As with the Class B tankers, some of our partner retailers have pre-ordered an allocation so those who missed the deadline can still obtain models.
Class 92 locomotive
This model is also being produced by Rapido and we are expecting the next sample with finalised motor/drivetrain, PCB and lighting. Once this is approved we will be ready to check liveries and close the order book ready for production. It’s likely this will be in late Spring 2018.
For the show we assembled one of the earlier samples Rapido had sent, and this was put on Kinlet Wharf with their superb – and appropriate – Caledonian Sleeper rake.
Please note this model was handpainted and is not factory-finished. It also lacks some of the metal parts such as the cab door handrails and photo-etched pantograph heads.
In our next post we will update the latest news on our other projects, including first samples of our exciting new IZA Cargowaggon twin vans, the KFA container flat, HOA hopper wagons and Class 321 EMU.