I don’t normally promote product announcements – there are so many and these days, they’re usually renderings to gauge expressions of interest. So I rarely even get excited by them, to be honest. But Rapido Trains hit me right in the childhood on Christmas morning with this one.
To mark the 70th anniversary of Canada’s first subway, Rapido is planning to release HO scale models of the first equipment ordered by the Toronto Transit Commission. These G Series cars were built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company in the UK between 1953 and 1959, and ran in service on the Yonge Line from its opening on March 30, 1954 until the last of these cars were retired from regular service in 1990. (You can read more about them on Wikipedia.)
I was born and raised in Toronto and after spending my high school years in St. Catharines, I returned to the city for university. My parents had both given up driving before I was born – living in Toronto, near reliable transit, meant owning and driving a car was more expensive and trouble than it was worth. So I rode these cars – a lot.
When I saw Rapido’s announcement today, I was immediately transported back. I could feel the rocking of the cars under my feet, see the ceiling-mounted incandescent lights flickering on and off as the train raced over track switches, hear the entire cacophony of steel wheels on steel rails at speed through tunnels, and smell the brake dust (the cars had opening upper windows to let in “fresh” air).
Here are the 3D renderings of the proposed models that accompanied Rapido’s announcement:
In addition to operating models, Rapido also announced plans to produce static models mounted on a display depicting St. Clair subway station. These will have interior lights powered from the display itself. Smart move for those not into railway modelling, but who still want a model for their shelf:
I have no use for these models. None at all.
I’ve pre-ordered all eight numbers of the initial release, fitted with DCC+Sound and I’m already pondering a suitable, operating diorama. Assuming Rapido gets the numbers it needs to turn these renderings into real models, the hardest choice will be… which station to model?
One of the many underground ones? Eglinton was the north end of the line for most of the time that I was growing up and riding the rocket. (By the time I was in university, the line had extended further north.) It would make a good subject built into a bookcase.
Rosedale is above ground, which could make for a more interesting setting. Plus, one time I was sitting reversed in the front seat (the seat every kid coveted) and as we emerged from the tunnel at Rosedale I had the best seat in the house. The wind picked up a metal garden shed from a nearby store’s parking lot display, blew it over the fence, and I watched as it did its best Dorothy’s House routine. It landed on the tracks right in front of us, where it touched the third rail…
SPARKS! CRASH! MORE SPARKS! NOISE! FUN!
I have plenty of time to think about how to use these models – assuming they get made. I sure hope they do. Meantime – thanks, Rapido!
And if you celebrate… Merry Christmas!
The Model Railway Show 