Och aye, today’s the day we close the order book for the OO Gauge Loch Class. Make sure you place your pre-orders before the end of the day if you want to be guaranteed yours! There are so many colourful versions in the range, the difficult decision is going to be choosing which ones to get.

Looking for the perfect loco to run alongside your auld ‘Jones Goods’, well, we have the perfect candidate! We will be closing the order book for the OO Gauge HR Loch Class tomorrow. This will be the last day we can guarantee you the ones you want, and you aren’t going to want to miss out!

Well, today's the big day of little things: Narrow Gauge South! We have all of our latest 009 samples with us, along with our very own 009 layout Bryn Stwffwl and a few of our narrow gauge-loving staff. You’ll have to head to the show if you want to be first to find out what we have up our sleeves!

GOOD NEWS, it's our first-ever round-ended OO Gauge wagon announcement! The SER/SECR 5-Plank 10 Ton Open Wagon builds on our SECR range and will include two new diagrams (SR D1340/ D1341) and three different wagon body types. Alongside this is another run of SER/SECR 20-Ton brake vans.

Time's almost up to pre-order the OO Gauge HR Loch Class. We are closing the order book for the spectacular Scottish steamer on Monday. You can pre-order yours via our website or any of our Official Retailers. buff.ly/TLf8HQJ

It wasn’t just Evolution Coaches that arrived in our most recent delivery! Freight fans will be pleased to hear that it also contained both the OO Gauge GNR 8-Ton Vans and LNWR D84 and D90 Open Wagons.

Alexandra Palace once had an incredible GNR station that ran right past the back wall of the building, so whilst we were attending the London Festival of Railway Modelling, we couldn't resist taking one of our samples out and posing it in the old platform! buff.ly/XkajM33

While all things narrow gauge are firmly on our mind, we thought you might like to see a fascinating photo. Our OO Gauge Rectank range features 5 different interesting loads. Of course, they are removable, so you can add something altogether different - how about a miniature locomotive?

This Saturday, we will be heading to our first Narrow Gauge South show. We have leapt into narrow gauge ready-to-run models with both feet first, and it appears to have gone down rather well. So, we are incredibly excited to be attending the show and speaking to all of you about all things 009!

Creating a Highland Railway layout was something only the most dedicated scratch builder would consider for many years. Thankfully, those days are a distant memory. With our growing HR range and lovely lineside kits such as Peco’s HR Signal box, modelling these scenic railways is well within reach

The next train terminates here. We have received the third and final delivery of Evolution Coaches from Batch 1, and they have passed our QC with flying colours. If you have pre-ordered Evolution Coaches in LNWR, GWR, and GCR liveries, our Official Retailers will be receiving their stock shortly!

While visiting Scotland last month, we ran into Jonny AKA @the_62c_workbench. He very kindly took some photos of our Scottish Legends on some of his shed dioramas. Here's the first one of the HR Loch Class and GNoSR V. What do you think?

We don’t call them Scottish Legends for no reason. During the 60s, many of our Scottish Legends completed railtours in pairs, wowing crowds of devoted fans. One such tour in June of 1962 saw ‘Gordon Highlander’ and the ‘Jones Goods’ working in tandem. What a sight and sound this must have been!

Did you know that once the LNER inherited the C12s many were redeployed to sheds that were way beyond the old GNR network? Pre-order yours directly from our website today or from any of our Official Retailers. buff.ly/jsOlwLK

We know that there's been a lot of excitement about the recent announcement for the Railway Children; however, we can reassure you that we haven’t forgotten about our star of the small screen! Ivor is progressing nicely. Here’s a shot of the cheeky little loco in production.

The USATC S160s are approaching the end of the assembly process. As you can imagine, with this many variations and separately-fitted parts, it does take a lot of effort to get them right! In the meantime, please enjoy some photos of the colour samples on the office layout.

It's a glorious BANK holiday and on a related note, did you know that in the LMS era the HR 'Loch' 4-4-0s were often used as banking engines? This is something you will soon be able to replicate on your railway as the orderbook closes at the end of this month! buff.ly/NnZOi0r

We at Rapido Trains UK hope you have a Great Easter! (that's what the GE stands for, right?) For the occasion, we've had a mega delivery of chocolate eggs to the new layout. Have a good'un and play with some toy trains.

Looking to create a train full of landships? Many of these were delivered to Europe by a train ferry that departed from the hidden port of Richborough in Kent. We have the ideal selection of complementary models to complete your wartime train.

Good Friday! Seeing as it's a long weekend and you must be playing with your trains, show us your favourite Rapido model!

Last month, we had another visit from Dan Evason from Tunnel Lane Model Railways. He made some serious headway with the town that surrounds one of our stations. We had picked up these awesome laser cut buildings from In The Greenwood Laser, and Dan has carefully painted lots of brickwork.

DO YOU LIKE TRAINS? WELL NOW YOU CAN SMELL LIKE ONE! Get ready for your next exhibition, where you can wow your friends by whipping off your anorak and releasing the alluring aroma of 'Eau De Loco'. Now YOU can be the one turning heads on your layout — for all the right reasons.

Did you know the SR tried painting one of their U class locos yellow, and it even floated? Driver E. Rigby commented “for some reason, yesterday it was overrun with noisy insects. But I was able to get help! With a little help from my friends, we were able to let them be in some strawberry fields!”

So that’s it, two weekends of superb shows are over. Thank you to all of you who came to see us and to the organisers who made these wonderful weekends possible. We’re going to have a well-earned cuppa, then get back to designing some more models. The Rapido Team

Diana's Day Out! Our little 009 sample of Kerr, Stuart 0-4-0T 'Diana' went for a trip around the show today, with a 'manrider' wagon in tow. youtube.com/shorts/z4o5Q...

Sadly, today is the final day of Model Rail Scotland. We have already spoken to hundreds of you over the weekend about all things Rapido, and it's been very gratifying to see how passionate everyone is about the hobby and what we are making. But we aren’t done yet! You can find us at stand A17!

With all the excitement around our Scottish models, you’d think that was all we bought with us to Model Rail Scotland. Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth. We have ALL of our latest samples with us. So come and visit our stand!

Scotland, we have arrived. Today is the first day of a busy weekend as we have set up camp for the weekend at Scotland's biggest model railway exhibition. Model Rail Scotland. We’ll be at stand A17. Come and introduce yourself!

We've got even more samples for you to enjoy! Just in case you can’t make it to Model Rail Scotland this weekend, here are the latest engineering prototypes of our upcoming OO Gauge Great Central Railway wagons. If you can make the show, come and see us at stand A17.

Last week, we received another enormous delivery of Evolution coaches. This time, it was those of Batch 1 Stage B, which includes those of the Midland, GNR, and S&DJR. If you have pre-ordered yours directly through our website, you should have received an email that contains a payment link.

We’re looking North for our latest pre-grouping loco announcement and bringing an Ironclad favourite of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to life in model form. The famed L&Y Class 25 ‘Ironclad’ 0-6-0. buff.ly/hnyHG1j

Shhhh, it’s a secret! We are aiding in the deployment of a top-secret new project. These so-called ‘Tanks’ will arrive loaded on specially designed new wagons. We are pleased to announce the brand-new OO Gauge WD 35T Rectank Bogie Wagon! buff.ly/m8BXO7f

We are all set up and ready for the first day of a busy weekend at the London Festival of Railway Modelling. With yesterday’s announcements creating a lot of excitement and a variety of new samples on display for you to see, we know you are going to want to visit our stand.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN TRAIN PACK Rapido Trains UK is whisking you off to the Yorkshire countryside to live in a beautiful cottage overlooking the railway. Join the 3 young heroes of ‘The Railway Children’ with our enchanting new announcement. youtu.be/7vUgRv0sjIQ

Alexandra Palace once had an incredible GNR station that ran right past the back wall of this amazing building. GNR C12 class locos were known to haul trains to and from terminus. Join us at the show and be amongst the first to see the sample first-hand!

We are heading to the historic Alexander Palace this weekend for the annual London Festival of Railway Modelling. We will have all of our latest samples with us, including the lovely 'Diana' shown here, and be on hand to answer any of your questions. Make sure you visit us at stand number 10.

Happy Mother's Day. Out of all the mothers we surveyed*, 100% said their favourite railway company was the Cheshire Lines Committee, so why not treat them and pre-order a set of CLC vans and open wagons? *Sample size of 1 Vans: buff.ly/Diee3TA Opens: buff.ly/sF1zatG

Since the announcement of our Custom Wagon Service, we've seen a shedload of interesting and bespoke models created. Some of you have really let your creativity go wild, which is awesome. We want you to unleash this creativity with a camera, too. Share some photos or videos of your Custom Wagons!

The Port of Par 'Twins' Alfred and Judy are well known for their small stature, allowing them to shunt 5-plank 'clayhood' wagons under a particularly low bridge. But did you know that the locomotives often shunted goods vans, too? Bagged clay was shipped out from Par docks in Palvans and similar.

Our range's gradual expansion of accurate pre-grouping wagon prototypes has been enhanced with some eastbound freight! Our factory has sent us painted prototypes of the upcoming OO Gauge Great Eastern 5 & 7-Plank Open Wagons. We expect them to arrive at the start of Q2.

The OO Gauge USATC S160 will be taking a voyage soon, so we have got one of our staff members to have a crack at weathering a painted sample. He’s matched the only colour wartime reference photo that we had, and we think it looks incredible. What do you think? Will you be weathering yours?

To coincide with the announcement of the OO Gauge GWR 45xx ‘Small Prairie’, we thought it would be fitting to do some era-appropriate coaching stock to go alongside it. The new GWR Lined Crimson Lake versions represent coaching stock that would have been seen between 1912 and 1922.

Everyone knows GWR locos are supposed to be green, so we’ve had a bit of fun and put a different shade of green on the new 45xx to see how it looked. We think we’ll stick with liveries that Churchward would approve of going forward…

Happy World Book Day! Over the years, we have produced numerous books to complement our models. Our next publication will be a brand-new Ivor the Engine story written by Daniel Postgate, which will be included as part of the OO Gauge Ivor the Engine Train Packs.

Your new GWR 45xx in the delightful pre-grouping lined green needs some suitable stock! The GWR red livery for goods wagons was discontinued in 1904 but was seen in service well into The Great War, so why not add a bit of colour to your bucolic branch line with these?

It’s been a good week for our Scottish railway fans. As if the Loch wasn’t good enough, we’ve got our hands on something that made us all say "Aye!" Gordon Highlander has marched into Rapido HQ, and you don’t have to be a resident of the Highlands to appreciate these engineering prototypes.

Well, that’s it, time's almost up. At the end of the day today, we will be closing the order books for the OO Gauge Not-Quite-Minks, GWR Four-Plank Opens and ‘Iron Minks’. The early GWR versions are a perfect match for our new 45xx 'Small Prairie' tank locomotives! buff.ly/2UC2urd buff.ly/xXSMuhu

Still looking for that elusive G. Fawkes Iron Mink? Well, we have you covered, as we have included two versions of this ever popular banging livery in our Not-Quite-Mink 2025 range. The order books are closing for the OO Gauge Not-Quite-Minks tomorrow. buff.ly/KXTf5z6

We’re heading back to the West Country for an exciting new OO Gauge announcement of a prominent branch line loco. The beloved GWR 45xx ‘Small Prairie’ 2-6-2T! You can pre-order your now from our website or any of our Official Retailers. rapidotrains.co.uk/gwr-45xx-sma...