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Rapido Trains Inc. - HO Scale - Bilevel Commuter Passenger Car - 3-Pack - Trinity Rail Express (TRE) (Dallas/Ft Worth), Series IV, Set Includes 2 Coach: 1061, 1064 & 1 Cab Coach: 1007 - White/Blue/Red/Black With Blue Lettering (SKU 224-146012)
Available On: July 1, 2022
The current Bilevel design, although largely originating in Europe, found its ways to North American rails in the 1970s and has since been put to use by dozens of commuter agencies all across Canada and the United States. Originally designed by Hawker Siddeley Canada, the cars have been manufactured over the years by Hawker Siddeley, Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC), SNC-Lavalin, and today, Bombardier. The cars have always been built at the original Canadian Car & Foundry (CanCar) factory in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The Bilevel Commuter Car was originally designed in the mid-1970s at the request of the Government of Ontario (Canada) to develop a higher-capacity solution for their GO Transit commuter trains in the Greater Toronto Area. The commuter trains had grown to 10-car single-level trains during peak times and it was felt that the ideal solution was to increase the height rather than length of the trains. Designed by Hawker Siddeley Canada and Dofasco with input from GO Transit, the first coach models entered service in 1976, while the first cab cars entered service in 1983.
In 1989, the first Bilevel cars were introduced to the United States by Tri-Rail in the Miami area. In 1992, Metrolink in the Los Angeles area introduced the design to the West Coast. This spurred further orders in California including Coaster of San Diego, and Altamont Commuter Express (now Altamont Corridor Express) of San Jose. By the 2000s, more agencies across North America began using the Bilevel Commuter Cars for start-up commuter operations, such as Sounder in Seattle, FrontRunner in Salt Lake City, RailRunner in Albuquerque and West Coast Express in Vancouver, just to name a few. As of late 2020, 14 agencies across North America operate fleets totaling almost 1500 Bilevel Commuter Cars.
The Rapido model aims to finally bring museum-quality details, improved operations and prototypical accuracy to this long loved and under-appreciated mode of (commuter) transportation.
We are working on a Master Class for the Bilevel cars. Once ready, you will be able to find a link to it here.
Model Features
- Accurate body shell designs with or without rivet details
- Five windows or four windows on the lower level, as appropriate
- Free-rolling, highly-detailed inside-bearing trucks with roller-bearing axles and metal wheelsets
- Minimum 22” radius curves
- Full underbody and unrivaled interior detail
- Accurate painting and lettering, both inside and out.
- Tinted windows
- Metal side grab irons
- Constant interior lighting in DC and DCC
- Controllable cab car lighting in both DC and DCC
Available Paint Schemes
- Agence Métropolitaine de Transport (AMT, Montréal)
- GO Transit (Toronto) - Original scheme
- Metrolink (Los Angeles)
- Trinity Railway Express (TRE, Dallas/Fort Worth)
- Tri-Rail (Miami) - Original scheme
- West Coast Express (Vancouver)
- Undecorated
BILEVEL COMMUTER CAR - DESIGNS
The Bilevel Commuter Car, having been in production since 1976, has gone through a number of changes over the years, but the general design and appearance has remained unchanged. It has colloquially become known as the “Lozenge” design, with GO Transit even using the outline of the design on some signage. The Bilevel Commuter Car design can be broken down into 5 distinct designs or “series”. Most commuter agencies have more than one series of car, so having a variety of car designs goes a long way to having a truly realistic commuter train.
Please note: These series are based on the general designs and are not the same as the “series” numbers applied by GO Transit or Metrolink.
Series I
- 5-windows on the lower level
- Riveted-side body
- Small windows
- Intermediate-level washroom on the A-end
- Cab Coaches - Small cab with single window
- No Conductors window
- Many later retrofitted to include larger cab and conductors window.
Series II
- 4-windows on the lower level
- Riveted-side body
- Small windows
- Lower-level washroom on the B-end
- Cab Coaches - Small cab with single window (early)
- Full-width cab with two windows (later)
Series III
- 4-windows on the lower level
- Welded-side body with a transverse rib
- Small windows
- Lower-level washroom on the B-end
- Cab Coaches - Full-width cab with two windows
- Engineers + Conductors windows
Series IV
- 4-windows on the lower level
- Welded-side body with a transverse rib
- Large windows
- Lower-level washroom on the B-end
- Cab Coaches - Full-width engineers cab
- Engineers + Conductors windows
Series X “CEM” (Crash Energy Management)
- New roof profile and body design
- 4-windows on the lower level
- Fewer windows on intermediate level
- Welded-side design w/ wide transverse rib
- Large windows
- Lower-level washroom on the B-end
- Cab Coaches - Full-width elevated engineers cab
- Streamlined nose w/ large window
Order Due Date: February 15, 2021
Anticipated Delivery Date: December 2021
Looking for more Rapido Trains Inc. HO Scale Passenger cars? Click here!
Looking for more Rapido Trains Inc. HO Scale items? Click here!
$398.95 CDN
Country of Origin: China
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