That’s it, time's almost up! We will be closing the order book for the OO Gauge Ammonium Nitrate / Chemical Tank Wagon and GCR 15T Brake Van this evening. You aren’t going to want to miss out on these, so get your pre-orders in while you still can!

Tomorrow, we close the order books on 2 massive OO gauge wagon projects. So, if you want to be guaranteed either the Ammonium Nitrate / Chemical Tank Wagon or GCR 15T Brake Van, get your pre-orders in right away! You can pre-order yours either via our website or from any of our Official Retailers.

Missed Railex, but still want to see our latest prototypes? Head to the Stafford Model Railway Show at Bingley Hall this weekend. Our friends from The Wagon Yard will be bringing our 009 Layout ‘Bryn Stwffwl’ and a selection of our latest samples for you to enjoy. You can find them at Stand No. 59.

J52/2 Production Progress and a look inside the Rapido Factory! Our benevolent CEO Jason Shron recently took a tour around the production facilities in China and did his best not to mess with the production of the upcoming LNER J52/2 locomotives. buff.ly/b8boYqP

A handy guide for anyone who was confused about our latest announcements. Pre-order a U or 2: buff.ly/DF6rYa6 D40: buff.ly/i0wsQFO

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to Rapido Railex 2025, exhibitors, traders, helpers and visitors. You all made it a wonderful 2 days and we enjoyed it immensely. Now, time to pack everything away and get back to work!

We do a lot of Scottish stuff, but people keep asking us about blue Scottish engines, so here's one the designers dreamed up.... This month's 'rejected' livery, perhaps?

Tackling the bank! One of the early engineering prototypes of our upcoming 009 Kerr Stuart 0-4-0Ts takes a long train of Narrow Lines wagons up the steep incline on the wonderful Clyre Valley Railway. Come and see this layout, these samples and more at Rapido Railex on Saturday!

Railex is open! Lots of people have already been raiding the spares and seconds stand. All money raised from this stall goes towards the continued upkeep of Peckett 0-4-0T 'Marcia'. There's still some bargains to be had as well as a variety of layouts and trade stands. Come on down!

There's only 1 day left to pre-book your Rapido Railex ticket at the lower price of £7.50, saving on the on-the-door price of £10. Come on down to Maidstone and see a variety of wonderful layouts as well as some of our latest samples! buff.ly/fd7HqFs

Rapido LMS van weathered by ⁦‪The Model Centre‬⁩. Stunning. #bsmrguk @rapidotrains.co.uk

Not long now until RAPIDO RAILEX, our exhibition of model railways in Maidstone. Join us this coming Friday and Saturday from 10am-4.30pm at The Market Hall (near Maidstone West Station). Tickets are £7.50 in advance or £10 on the door. Book your tickets here: buff.ly/fd7HqFs

What a line-up of loco launches! We hope you like the new releases, now available to pre-order. Out of the Loch, D40, U Class and Kerr Stuart 'what if', which is your favourite?

HEY U! It's Maunsell's Mogul, the SR U Class in OO Gauge! 10 variants are available from SR lined green to BR late crest, covering the working life of the class. Check out our website or any of our Official Retailers for more: buff.ly/8419XbP

THE LAST LEGEND. RoUnding out our trio of Scottish Legends is the LNER D40, previously the Great North of Scotland Railway V and F Classes, including the legend itself, 'Gordon Highlander'. Browse the main range here: buff.ly/thPax2G

EVOLUTION III! As the orderbooks come to a close on Evolution II next month, we are launching the third batch, with 11 new liveries, plus 3 exclusives. All of the main range can be ordered directly from us or from any of our Official Retailers: buff.ly/uzs9prO

Och aye, it's the Loch! Following up on our Highland Railway 'Big Goods' 4-6-0 is the last of David Jones' designs, the Loch Class 4-4-0. 15 of these handsome locos were built in 1896, with a further 3 in 1917. The last was withdrawn in 1950. buff.ly/oFjAkUG

NEW 009 Locomotive! Kicking off our week of product announcements in the run-up to Rapido Railex is this quirky engine, a 'what-if' short tank version of the Kerr Stuart 'Sirdar'. This neat freelance loco comes in a variety of liveries and lining combinations. buff.ly/ehIsRNO

Rapido Railex is approaching, which means the next week will be jam-packed with new product announcements and updates. Here's a sneak preview of the new samples you will be able to see if you come to the show. Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest info! buff.ly/MzGB0By

Rapido Railex is approaching and we have a lot of new product announcements planned for next week! Sadly for some of you, this will not include a giraffe wagon... (Thanks to BlueMesh for the livestock)

NEW EXCLUSIVE PRODUCT! We are delighted to announce that we are producing 4-wheel and 6-wheel LBSC brake vans in OO gauge. This production run is exclusive to Rails of Sheffield. Browse the range and place your pre-order on the Rails website: buff.ly/WNZhvRz

RAPIDO RECOMMENDS With the new Hornby 'Saint' not far away, what better accompaniment than some Rapido 'Evolution' bogie stock, or what about a train of suitable GWR O11s, O15s, V14s and V16s? Some of these are sold out directly but can still be obtained from our official retailers.

ORDERBOOK DEADLINE AHOY! Monday 1st September is the closing date for our orderbook on the LMS D1832A and D1663 vans. These exquisitely-detailed workhorses come in a variety of detail and livery variations. Order yours via our website or any of our retailers: buff.ly/mMGc8sv

NEW Private Owner Wagons! We are doing another run of the popular RCH 1907 side and end-door 7-plank wagons, featuring a range of colourful and interesting liveries. Pre-order yours today via our website or any of our official retailers: buff.ly/Nrl48TG

Robin has customised his LMS 'Lowmac' with an interesting load - a US Army Ambulance, perhaps returning to storage after war service. We particularly like the addition of chains to the tie-down rings. The wagon has also been suitably weathered, which makes it look spot-on.

It's not long now until our SECR O1 locomotives arrive in the UK. What are you going to be running with yours? One of our earliest wagon projects was the SECR wagon collection, these will definitely be trundling around behind this Chatham 0-6-0!

RAPIDO RAILEX 2025 Have you booked your tickets yet? We're returning to the Market Hall in Maidstone on 19th and 20th September with a host of excellent layouts, samples and traders! Book your tickets here: buff.ly/xs6yLcQ

GWR pannier tank 1638 waits to depart with the b-set. ⁦‬⁩ #westhaven #bsmrguk @rapidotrains.co.uk

RAPIDO RECOMMENDS - LNWR Passenger Train. If you have a Bachmann 'Improved Precedent' 2-4-0 in the stunning LNWR livery, then why not pair it with a triple pack of 'Evolution' coaches to represent a stopping or suburban service on the 'Premier Line'? Order your 'Evolutions' here: buff.ly/4bfi4CF

Are you signed up to our email newsletter yet? Well, if you want all the latest Rapido Train UK news, product updates and announcements, all wrapped up in a pun-laden and easy-reading email, then you are going to want to sign now! Sign up here: buff.ly/ILdXHwc

A few months ago, we announced Leeds Forge Ammonium Nitrate/Chemical Tank Wagon but hadn’t shared shots of the engineering samples yet. Here they are, in all their explosive glory! The range includes loads of interesting details depending on the version. What do you think?

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! buff.ly/lnXSDf2 buff.ly/rGhC2AG

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. buff.ly/5Jy4dHI

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. buff.ly/X2vqF0w

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. buff.ly/0VriJgu

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. buff.ly/H8B9tjR

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!

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

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!