Rapido Trains - 506006 - Passenger Car, NSC, Baggage - Baltimore & Ohio - 664

Specific Item Information: 6-Wheel Trucks, Standard Ends.

Model Information: Rapido first announced this model in August of 2015 and it was delivered in 2017. A 2-year gap may seem like a long wait, but given Rapido's focus on making sure the models were meeting their exacting specifications before shipping requires this kind of delay. Rapido owns its own factory in China, and now that it is staffed up and they have worked out all the kinks in their design->deliver peipeline, we should be able to expect lower wait times in the future.

This model is an excellent example of 3rd generation rolling stock as produced from 2010 forward. It features the three main attributes that separate 3rd generation models from earlier toolings. 1) It uses high-quality body-mounted magnetically-operated couplers. 2) It features chemically-blackened, low-profile metal wheels. 3) It has a range of separately applied detail parts such as grab-irons, underbody elements and brake details. Apart from one stirrup that was sloppily glued on, these details are of exceptional quality. These cars do not have a lot of print detail but what there is, is well executed.

The following is a list of features as supplied by Rapido:

• Super-detailed underbody
• Body-mounted Micro-Trains(C) couplers
• All air, steam and electrical lines represented
• Insulated 36 inch metal wheelsets (no pizza cutters!)
• Diaphragms and safety bars
• Painted grab irons applied at the factory.
• Four numbers plus unnumbered available in each scheme
• Will operate smoothly on curves down to 9-3/4 inch radius
• Standard End or End Doors as appropriate
• Super-detailled Commonwealth Cast Pedestal tri-axle, 41-N-11 Inside
• Swinghanger or 41-BNO-11 Outside Swinghanger trucks as appropriate for each roadname and car type.

Road Name History: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (reporting marks B&O, BO) is one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal (which served New York City) and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which would have connected Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. At first this railroad was located entirely in the state of Maryland with an original line from the port of Baltimore west to Sandy Hook. At this point to continue westward, it had to cross into Virginia (now West Virginia) over the Potomac River, adjacent to the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. From there it passed through Virginia from Harpers Ferry to a point just west of the junction of Patterson Creek and the North Branch Potomac River where it crossed back into Maryland to reach Cumberland. From there it was extended to the Ohio River at Wheeling and a few years later also to Parkersburg, West Virginia.

It is now part of the CSX Transportation (CSX) network, and includes the oldest operational railroad bridge in the USA. The B&O also included the Leiper Railroad, the first permanent horse-drawn railroad in the U.S. In later years, B&O advertising carried the motto: "Linking 13 Great States with the Nation." Part of the B&O Railroad's immortality has come from being one of the four featured railroads on the U.S. version of the board game Monopoly, but it is the only railroad on the board which did not serve Atlantic City, New Jersey, directly.

When CSX established the B&O Railroad Museum as a separate entity from the corporation, some of the former B&O Mount Clare Shops in Baltimore, including the Mt. Clare roundhouse, were donated to the museum while the rest of the property was sold. The B&O Warehouse at the Camden Yards rail junction in Baltimore now dominates the view over the right-field wall at the Baltimore Orioles' current home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

At the end of 1970 B&O operated 5552 miles of road and 10449 miles of track, not including the Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT) or the Reading and its subsidiaries.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: Rapido Trains Inc. is a high-end manufacturer of model trains and accessories in HO, OO and N (North American 1:160 and British 1:148) scales. The firm's mission is to recreate the entire rail travel experience, from fully-detailed interiors and under-frames on models to fully-wired telephone poles for model railroads.

The name RAPIDO was introduced by Canadian National in 1965 to headline the railway's high-speed intercity passenger services. Until the mid-1980s, RAPIDO stood for fast schedules, frequent trains, and superb service.

Today, Rapido Trains continues the RAPIDO concept with state-of-the-art models and attention to fine detail. This company is not related to the venerable (and now defunct) German manufacturer Arnold Rapido, nor the present-day Arnold (which is owned by the United Kingdom's Hornby), Canadian based Rapido Trains was founded in 2003.