Rapido Trains - 517030 - Passenger Car, Lightweight, Osgood Bradley 8600 - MBTA - 2598

Specific Item Information: Rapido N 517030 8600-Series Coach, New Haven (MBTA Commuter Scheme) #2598

Model Information: Rapido Trains first released this model in October of 2018.

Prototype History: In order to attract customers back to the rails after the end of WWII, the New Haven decided to modernize the fleet with new lightweight passenger cars. In December 1945 a large order was placed with Pullman-Standard for a variety of car styles, including 103 coaches, 25 parlor cars, diners, grill diners, combination baggage buffet lounge/parlors, and two tavern lounge observation cars. These were produced in the old Osgood Bradley factory in Worcester, MA, so they bear more than a passing resemblance to the Osgood Bradley Lightweights delivered in the 1930s.

The New Haven’s stainless cars were not built entirely from stainless steel like the cars produced by Budd in Philadelphia. Instead, they were constructed from Cor-Ten steel and sheathed with stainless steel fluting panels. The New Haven touted the 8600s as “the newest of the new in coach equipment – gleaming stainless steel on the outside, the last word in attractive decoration and design on the inside.”

The 8600-series coaches were ubiquitous, used on trains system-wide from delivery until the Penn Central years. Penn Central later sold 74 of the 8600s to MBTA and they remained in service in the Boston area until 1988!

Road Name History: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Earlier modes of public transportation in Boston were independently owned and operated; many were first folded into a single agency with the formation of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947. The MTA was replaced in 1964 with the present-day MBTA, which was established as an individual department within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before becoming a division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in 2009.

The MBTA and Philadelphia's Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) are the only U.S. transit agencies that operate all five major types of terrestrial mass transit vehicles: light rail vehicles (the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed and Green Lines); heavy rail trains (the Blue, Orange, and Red Lines); regional rail trains (the Commuter Rail); electric trolleybuses (the Silver Line); and motor buses (MBTA Bus).[ In 2016, the system averaged 1,277,200 passengers per weekday, of which the subway averaged 552,500 and the light-rail lines 226,500, making it the fourth-busiest subway system and the busiest light rail system in the United States.

The MBTA is the largest consumer of electricity in Massachusetts, and the second-largest land owner (after the Department of Conservation and Recreation). In 2007, its CNG bus fleet was the largest consumer of alternative fuels in the state. The MBTA operates an independent law enforcement agency, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police.

From 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.