Rapido Launch "Evolution" Range of 48 Foot Generic Bogie Coaches

[Horsetan]

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

Over on RMWeb, Rapido are asking for suggestions on liveries for the next batch of Evolution coaches:

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/188351-evolution-coaches-48-non-corridor-rolling-stock/?do=findComment&comment=5724666

Now's your chance to put in a vote for some CIE (or earlier) liveries.

This lovely photo posted recently by Ernie isn't far off in styling, but the Rapido coaches are non-corridor, non-gangwayed.

Were there suitable prototypes in Ireland? A quick scan at the IRRS archives indicates that the CBSCR had some carriages of about the right length and styling.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509091095/in/album-72157662268090968

So did the GSWR:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508744101

Possibly the DSER:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508837918

Possibly a negative point is that, so far, Rapido have insisted on all making all coach types in all liveries. I'm not sure all their coach types are similar to Irish prototypes, and it would be much harder to see a production batch of 5 different types, than 1 or 2 types. I could see a fair number of people adding a couple of 8-compartment bogie thirds to their trains of Genesis 6-wheelers.

 

 

As I've said before, were these somewhat cheaper, I think there'd be a bit of mileage in cutting and shutting the Generics to make them more like the common Irish carriage designs.

However, it's not in Rapido's nature to be truly helpful (their RTR locos are notoriously difficult to convert to P4 and I suspect they are deliberately designed that way to prevent tampering), so it is what it is.

[DJ Dangerous]

Has anybody on here actually bought any of the Evolution coaches?

[Flying Snail]

Haven't pulled the trigger and put down money yet, but I plan on picking up the LNWR 3-pack to go behind my Improved Precedent ... was tempted by Bachman's 50ft coaches but couldn't justify their price tag (£93.45 in Rails ..eek!) for whats really only a secondary interest for me. The Evolutions look like a nice coach for the price.

Edited September 22 by Flying Snail

[Horsetan]

5 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Has anybody on here actually bought any of the Evolution coaches?

Thing that grabs me is that it's a lot of money to be paying for something that's (deliberately) designed to be wrong....

They're not even cheap enough to cut-and-shut with other things in the hope of getting closer to what's actually wanted.

[DJ Dangerous]

17 minutes ago, Horsetan said:

Thing that grabs me is that it's a lot of money to be paying for something that's (deliberately) designed to be wrong....

They're not even cheap enough to cut-and-shut with other things in the hope of getting closer to what's actually wanted.

In fairness, the Hatton’s Genesis coaches were also designed this way, and once done in an Irish livery, they flew out the door.

Hint, hint, Accurascale!

[jhb171achill]

The Genesis coaches were, even within Britain, an "approximation" to many designs of a number of British companies.

As mentioned before frequently, British coach design - on any line - was totally unlike anything on ANY Irish line, with very very few exceptions - the most notable of which was an obvious family resemblance between many NCC designs and LMS ones. The Bachmann "CIE" coaches sold with the "Woolwich" loco, for example, are no more like anything that CIE or its constituents ever had, than an ICR is lime Stephenson's Rocket. However, like early Lima BR class 33s sold in orantge and black as a "supertrain", livery decieves the eye, and in the absence of anything else, these thnigs have had to do.

However, when the Genesis 6-wheelers came out, by lucky coincidence, this GENERIC British design happened to closely resemble several batches of GSWR stock built largely in the 1890s, but with examples stil;l in traffic into the 1960s. This was when I suggested to them they do a run in Irish colours and supplied them with all the details. I was already supplying them with details for GSR liveries when Hattons shut down. Two of the three GSR liveries would have been appropriate. 

But that's by the by. The Rapido stuff that's coming out is all non-corridor, thus branch line use. Having examined each model in detail, none are close to anything Irish, but several types give a reasonable family similarity to some Irish coaches, particularly ex-GSWR, and again in the absence of exact scale models, will suit as a convincingly LOOKING Irish vehicle if in suitable livery. One or two even are reminiscent of some of the few wooden-bodied coaches which survived into the black'n'tan era, and by 1972 or so when the last were withdrawn, were largely confined to Youghal summer excursions, Dublin suburban peak hours, Dun Laoghaire boat trains, and northern suburban summer excursions (Donabate, etc).

So, one might expect to see both green liveries (1945-55 and 1955-62) plus orange and black. Possibly some in GSR livery?  The release of the model of 800 "Maedb" would be well accompanied by some stock - while Maedb is unlikely to ever have hauled anything six-wheeled or non-corridor, given a three-foot rule a train of these Rapido yokes behind one might look nice, especially if interspersed with SSM brass kit "Bredins" or at the very least LMS corridor stock of the 1930s with livery slightly amended to GSR era. Either way, any of these in Irish liveries are certainly likely to be seen at Dugort Harbour! And if Rapido, IRM, or anyone else bring out something like this, all credit to them. I will be certainly supporting the venture.

Edited September 22 by jhb171achill

[Flying Snail]

1 hour ago, Horsetan said:

Thing that grabs me is that it's a lot of money to be paying for something that's (deliberately) designed to be wrong....

They're not even cheap enough to cut-and-shut with other things in the hope of getting closer to what's actually wanted.

True, but railway modelling is a broad church - many modellers don’t want or need exact prototype fidelity. There's the  freelance/“might-have-been” layouts for instance.  You've also got the modellers who are modelling a specific company or region, and because this is an era thats faded from living memory and where photographic records and drawings can be sparse, they're happy with something plausible that captures the feel. 

 

Edited September 22 by Flying Snail

[jhb171achill]

29 minutes ago, Flying Snail said:

True, but railway modelling is a broad church - many modellers don’t want or need exact prototype fidelity. There's the  freelance/“might-have-been” layouts for instance.  You've also got the modellers who are modelling a specific company or region, and because this is an era thats faded from living memory and where photographic records and drawings can be sparse, they're happy with something plausible that captures the feel. 

 

Indeed, and while I prefer accuracy myslef, I have a full range of the Hattons yokes, and would be getting any Rapido / IRM ones too - as you say, they give the "feel" of it.