Do my DB S-Bahn's count? I have seven sets of Arnold Rapido ET420s, like the ones I rode when I was a kid... I also have an Arnold street-car and some passenger and freight locomotives (all Deutsche Bundesbahn) but everything is in boxes so no pics of those guys. Cheers -Mike
Hi Mike, I guess I don't want to speak for Oldrk, the thread originator, (Gosh, I hope he's OK. He hasn't been on here since Feb, 2018) but I would think anything made by Arnold Rapido would count. That's a neat set in your picture. Doug
Early in my modeling my first Geep was an Arnold GP-9 that ran very well. It was slightly out of scale as compared to other models of the GP-9 that came out later in that it was smaller. Still wasn't bad for the times as far as detail and a good runner.
This is probably one of the ultimate 'sows ear' projects as this is what you could do with a Rapido GP30 if you threw everything at it. Brass handrails, repainted, tuned mechanism, details..... And I sold it a long time ago, even after I'd repowered it with an N Scale of Nevada Atlas GP chassis. This is when it still had the original Arnold drive. Pretty much same deal with the GP7, including trying to block off that huge gap between trucks and the frame. Again, long ago retired and sold and replaced with better power, but at the time there weren't a whole lot of EMD alternatives in the B-B class, and the first-run Atlas Roco GP's didn't run much better unless they were repowered.
Now I went and did it. There was a NIB B&O Pacific (just like Tony's pride and joy, above, albeit without smoke) from the same guy I got the PC GG-1 and it has been ordered. Doug
This is one of two un-painted S2's I bought in the mid 1990's and painted in the SP scarlet and gray scheme. No DCC and not a great runner but heavy will match the pulling power of most of my road switchers.
Found some of my old Arnold Rapido and took some photos. Two steamers, the 0226 0-6-0 in Western & Atlantic and the 0228S 4-6-2 in Southern Railway. Despite being nearly 50 years old, they both run very well.
From my very first N Scale set from a 1968 birthday, Arnold's Baldwin Switcher and Caboose in one of my hometown roads, the C&NW. The Baldwin has the guts from my locomotive and a shell that I was fortunate to find at a train show. I ruined my shell as a kid and also hosed weathering on the caboose. I'm happy to have these.
Rapido large and small in the form of the 0409-P Auto Rack for $4.98 and the li'l 0479 Bobber Caboose at $2.50. Rapido's Auto Racks could be bought with or without autos, the latter priced at a dollar less.
My dad has that loco! I remember it well from when I was a kid (70s) because of its colors and gold smoke stack. If I remember right he has some short old time passenger cars he used to run with it (Bachmann maybe?) It was a surprisingly good runner for its size.
Yes, my 0-6-0 never stalls. Your Dad perhaps has Rapido's matching passenger cars, a Combine and Coach. These are also nice and the set makes a fine sight. Arnold also offered these old time 0-6-0s in UP, with a silver-boilered/red body and tender, and passenger cars too. Rapido's 4-6-2 Pacific was also a sweet runner. It had tender pickup (with metal truck sideframes) and a metal boiler, and combined with traction tires on the rear driver set, it could pull anything coupled behind it. Santa Claus brought me a black AT&SF Rapido 4-6-2 for Christmas in either '70 or '71 and I must have run it for 10,000 hours. I literally wore it out. I still have some pieces of it.
Beauties, all! My 0-6-0 (a plain black one) was the first Rapido locomotive I ever bought (on October 2nd, 2018, my 66th birthday) and I was super impressed by its running qualities. I expected Mehano characteristics for a little loco like that but it is much superior. As Hardcoaler said, it never stalls, even through Treble-O-Lectric switches. Quiet and smooth. I have been in N scale from the beginning so it seems a bit silly that that was the first Rapido loco I ever bought but I guess that's one of life's mysteries. I suppose if my local hobby shop had carried Arnold Rapido back in 1967 instead of Atlas, I would have started with that. Since that little loco, which came without a tender, I have bought others including a Penn Central GG-1, a Soo Line GP30, a B&O Pacific, a Penn Central GP7 and coming, a Pennsylvania (Tuscan) GG-1. and two Penn Central FA-2s. I have already posted pictures of the 0-6-0, Penn Central GG-1 and Soo Line GP30 and will post pictures of the other ones soon. Doug
Looking forward to seeing your photos Doug. Speaking of Rapido vs Atlas, the differences in their track drove me crazy as a kid. Rapido had the staggered rail joints which locked an oval-shaped track together nicely, whereas Atlas had the even rail joints. I began with Rapido's track system and it was aggravating to see Atlas track everywhere and not be able to use it. It was only in downtown Chicago did I commonly see Rapido track and trains. It was such a thrill to visit Hobby Service & Supply and Marshall Field and see Rapido stacked everywhere.
Ah yes, the treasured Arnold catalogs! I still have several of mine as well, some dog-eared from constant page turning as a kid. Those photos really fired up our imaginations didn't they? Inflation was rampant in the '70s and exchange rates made everything SO expensive. I recall that some catalogs had a loose photocopied price sheet inserted within because pricing rose at such a rapid rate. Even spare parts cost a fortune. I needed a new motor for my 'trix U-28CG and it was something near $20 from their importer. That was a month's worth of lawn mowing wages!