Product Information:
HO BiLevel Commuter Car: Sounder: Set #2 (Cab: 110 Coaches: 209 227)
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.
The Rapido Trains HO scale Bilevel Commuter Car 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
