Rapido Trains - 509127 - Passenger Car, Lightweight, Osgood Bradley - Delaware & Hudson - 206

Model Information: Available in partially or non-skirted versions, the Rapido Trains Osgood Bradley Lightweight 10-Window Coaches have full under-body detailing, end diaphragms with etched metal gates, newly designed 41-E trucks with metal wheel-sets, full interior details, Easy-Peasy battery operating lighting, metal side grab irons, and accurate paint and lettering schemes.

Prototype History: In 1934 Pullman-Standard’s Osgood Bradley plant in Worcester, Massachusets began construction of one of the first true lightweight coaches for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. These cars were used on both long distance and local trains and served well into the 1970’s.

For clarity’s sake, let’s get the nomenclature right. Due to copyright issues, we’re not allowed to call these cars by their popular name. The popular name for the cars, named after an A.C. Gilbert S scale model in the 1940s, was coined by Arthur Dubin in his book More Classic Trains in 1974. In the interests of historical accuracy, let’s return these cars to their original name: they are Pullman-Standard’s lightweight Osgood Bradley coaches, or Osgood Bradley coaches for short.

Road Name History: The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company would found the Delaware and Hudson Railway to support its mission of getting fuel to the timber denuded cities of the northeast when it was discovered that 'rock coal' or Anthracite could be burned successfully. In time the railway eclipsed the parent company, and America's brief canal age would be ended by the availability of more powerful traction locomotives, so today the canal is little known. Today the Delaware and Hudson Railway (reporting mark DH) is again a subsidiary railroad that operates in the northeastern United States. Since 1991 it was owned and operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway under the rail subsidiary Soo Line Corporation also controls the Soo Line Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited.

The name itself originates from the 1823 New York state corporation charter listing the unusual name of "The President, Managers and Company of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co." authorizing an establishment of "water communication" between the Delaware River and the Hudson River.

Nicknamed "The Bridge Line to New England and Canada," the D&H helped connect New York with Montreal, Quebec and New England. It called itself "North America's oldest continually operated transportation company." Between 1968 & 1984, the D&H was owned by Norfolk & Western. N&W sold it to Guilford Transportation, who cast it into bankruptcy in 1988 and in 1991, the D&H was purchased by Canadian Pacific Railway (CP).

On September 19, 2015, Norfolk Southern Railway assumed control and began operations of their recently acquired Delaware & Hudson "South Line", the 282 miles from Schenectady, New York to Sunbury, Pennsylvania from CP. The Delaware & Hudson "South Line" is a rail route that now consists of three rail lines, the Sunbury Line, the Freight Line, and the Voorhesville Running Track; the Sunbury Line absorbed the original route of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad main line which contains the Nicholson Cutoff during that rail line's history.

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.