Jason and Gareth visit our two model train factories in Dongguan and Guangxi, China. See the latest news about how our British, American and Canadian model trains and buses are made.
Fantastic video as always! Wish all train manufacturers had this level of transparency. It is clear that you guys not only really care about your models, but the people who build them and that's great!
Glad you guys aren't afraid to tell it like it is! Jason, major kudos to y'all on being more than just a mere train manufacturer. These factory tours are always great to watch, and are very informative. Other companies could take lessons on the amount of fun you're able to have while balancing business! My wallet might hate it, but I'm really looking forward to the BC Rail B36 and Hudson ;). Keep up the great work guys!
I love the fun you have in making your videos. It's refreshing. I also feel confident that all of the employees are treated fairly, as I don't think Jason's never ending quest for perfection would allow him to run a factory where the working conditions were any less than the quality he strives for in his products. Please, keep it up.
Rapido is my favorite brand. The stunning detail and craftsmanship is simply amazing. The new steam engine coming is sure to turn some heads. Keep it up rapido
These factory / behind-the-scenes videos are fascinating and educational. Thanks for going to the trouble of making them. And, wow, does it speak to the quality of your models.
Always like your factory videos. Wonderful to see some of the human faces of those making the models. The skill involved placing these exquisitely tiny parts amazes me when I open the box on your HO re-creations. I have trouble re-attaching a single handrail, even with magnifiers.
I'm a British guy with a TV made in Poland, a refrigerator made in Romania, Shirts made in Bangladesh, jeans made in Pakistan and my local supermarket is German owned and oh yeah I drive a Nissan. Why the hell would I give a flying fig where my locos are made. So long as the quality is good and they are affordable.Jason, I can't believe peeps are bitching over the fact that your products are made in the far east, isn,t a lot of stuff we use in daily life? Anyway, great clip and best of British for the future old chap!
Love the enthusiasm shared by everyone at Rapido. I do similar work in a dis-similar industry where the average disposition is more along the charisma of Eeyore. Only thing that keeps me going is the $$$.
Really impressed with the development of your company and the ethics that underpin it. Similarly your command of language, which has required forethought because I reckon when you started you were a pioneer. No mean feat all around and in the end, there is entertainment, employment , profits and trains. Well done. Regards Stephen.
A company with videos/tours of the factory is an open company. You'd never see Hornby do a factory tour as they don't want to show people what it's really like.
Looking forward to the RDCs. To me if a manufacturer pushes it back that means they're looking out for the customer and want to produce a quality product. I enjoy these videos as its a combination of updates and an insider view as to what goes on. Keep up the good vibes!
Great to see another video from Rapido. Though I don’t model in the scales Rapido manufactures in (I model O Scale), I thoroughly enjoy the updates from the Rapido team. It is great to see the honestly and care that goes into the manufacture of your models. Keep up the good work. And maybe consider an O Scale model some day. :-)
Thanks for the look at these factories. I wish people could understand the reality of the situation--by manufacturing these in China Rapido is adding to the economy, both in China, and in Canada. The jobs at Rapido in Canada would not exist without doing the manufacturing overseas. This is win-win for everyone. Now where was that On30 8-18c 4-4-0??? :D
It's looking good so far! I gotta get more of your guys's stuff. I believe the last thing I got from you guys was the CP Rail Multimark caboose with the light in it.
Hi Jason, So sorry to hear the camera man on this video has passed away. China is such a beautiful country with some very beautiful and talented people. Also dude, I'm very impressed you speak Chinese, that is very cool. Keep up the great work and I'm looking forward to more updates on the "Dash 8". P.S. tell Gareth Bayer a wagon is something that's pulled by a horse or mule, railroads have freight cars, in fact take him outside one more time for a good talking too, ah. (ha ha ha) :-) Cheers, Rich S.
Loved this video. Is this where my Draper Taper will be made too? We just passed by The Edmunston in the Etobicoke Yard a few weeks ago and caught it on video. We loved the Rapido logo on the car!
I hope that you guys can check out our video. The track was bumpy, so it wasn't perfect; but it was the highlight of our trip back to London. We are big, big fans of everything you do for railfans and model railroaders.
If not for “Made in China” we’d be paying forty bucks for a pair of BVD’s and fifty for a plain tee shirt. Our purchasing power and thus standard of living would be lower than it is. I’m not a big buyer of new stuff myself, but I do love model trains and especially Rapido’s!
These worker are so lucky to have a great CEO like Jason who knows 100% real, non westernized Chinese Kung Fu ( 08:50 ) , too bad their car crashed in the video : (
Fascinating video! Do you guys know about the danish model train brand McK? I know that thay have a factory in China and make super detailed model like you guys and was wondering if you may know them they also make model in very limited numbers about 840 of etch loco ( 30 if you count different livery’s ac dc and with or without sound)
Jason - you have brought personality and interest into what is primarily a distant (to the West) and generally impersonal business. The models are made by people that we see - individuals earning a living wage in an area where there isn't much work... even if the work is repetitive (it beats working in the fields, though, eh). You make models that we can enjoy and appreciate - and now we know that behind that paint-job there is real person doing their best to make some of the best models in the world. I do have a query or two, though... you've talked of the LRC factory, and now the Rapido factory: were they originally combined, or were you a branch of LRC? Was LRC the springboard that set you to branch into your own business? Or did you take an enormous leap of faith and wake up one morning to say "I know, I'll make model trains"?
Thanks for your kind words! We started the Rapido factory in 2013, but soon discovered we needed more capacity. So we started the LRC factory in 2016. LRC is named for the LRC... the VIA LRC.
The Knowledge and Craftsmanship has transferred from Europe to China for Super Detailed Model Trains. The Craftmen that once did this in Europe, And North America has been lost as those people are deceased or well past retirement age in nursing homes or hospice care.
People can knock the Made in China label all day (that label has been in the USA now for over 50 years but there isn't a more global market than to work with them on this scale. The whole reason Athearn left Compton California was because while cheap and simple, blue box kits were on the way out and modelers demanded higher detailed railcars and locomotives. At the end of the day cheap and simple did not pay the bills. I for one, miss Athearn BB and Model Die Casting / Roundhouse kits. I don't enjoy paying over $20 for ready to roll freight cars. But then again I am old school. Rapido is doing their best at providing the best for a price that the average joe can afford. I cannot wait to snag up a few B36-7 locomotives when they come out!
your totally right that the capability to do super detailed trains is in China and the price of them from China is already an issue. Look at an old Model Railroaders Ads to see how much more the same sort of product costs now over 15 years ago. . If these items were made in North America you might have Athearn blue box engines with plastic hand rails and very few types and one variant per type built in high enough quantities to justify high rate tooling to replace hand labor. And you did very well by moving away from the south east cities where the cost of living and wages are moving to first world levels and all these plants could join the one major one that failed already. Going to a more inland area with lower living coasts and labor costs gives you control and a less risky production cost. The question is; is this just buying your firm time. This shows good economic planning given what you what to produce and a reasonable time frame for your business. I guess your product will probably be one of the last to be affected by Trade issues. But to produce the super detailed items you sell you don't have an alternate production process or industrial capability in North America. Super high detail Trains are either made with these highly skilled and experienced Chinese personnel or not at all as there will not be demand to support a new start up production facility set given the average age of your customer. I would forecast that if the industry is forced to locate to their home market it will be improved blue box level items with some improvements for more advanced plastic molding technology but they wont have much complex hand operations and detail painting. Perhaps in 50 years your products will be treasured masterpieces no one makes or knows how to make any more. I love your RDCs. I am personaly in favor of tariffs for Chinese products for which there are good domestic import replacements or that are economicaly viable in a high tariff economy. Trade deficits and de-industrialization are very bad things and in the long run a demand side threat to your firm. The reality of building this product is best shown by comparing an old Ahearn RDC , with updates like a non rubber band drive, and the Rapido RDC. That is the choice you and your industry have at this point in time.
I just wish that you guys would bring out more modern VIA passenger cars to go with the next release of the VIA F40's. I could really use some help building my train....please consider doing this...thanks...
Another great video Jason. Hopefully Gareth is teaching everyone there us no such thing as a freight “car” it’s a wagon! Car of course is something made by Henry Ford. Looking forward to seeing more UK stuff... preferably Great Western of course. Keep up the great work and these fascinating videos. Thanks Neal from England :-)
Why are the factory floor workers who participate in the video not credited at the end? Is it 'not done'? Are there Reasons? It's a shame; you could make them stars...
Another great video. Nice tram engine. The bus mold look amazing. In which price range is such mold, and how many models can it make? (If not a company secret).
Shouldn't place so much emphasis on made in USA... most of your customers hail from Canada. Great video though. Love your products and keep up the great work
great tour Guys. And I understand why things are made in China. yes the price would be out of this world for models. but with labour laws, working conditions , unions. wages. and just getting someone to sit and do the same Small task day in and day out. well I don't think it would be possible to do in Canada and have a competitive price. and by the looks of the tour. you have a great place for them to work, Now in China. all the employees live at the places they work also? i think i heard that also. do all your employees live on site as well. or most of them ?
At the LRC factory most people live in the dorms. At the Rapido factory most people live at home and commute to work. Different regions, different customs.
I like that you are open about your manufacturing in China. But I think on the long run, you could be better off if you would move back to the US with production as well. Once they have all the expertise they will enter the market in the US with competitive prices, and you could be out of business. Maybe more could be automated in the US to keep costs low?
Unfortunately the production runs are much too small to allow for automation. Automation works when you are making hundreds of thousands or millions of items, not a small run of a few thousand. China already has the expertise for making model trains. They've been making model trains there since the 1960s.
Ignorant statement. You obviously know nothing about manufacturing. Labor costs are the biggest component in model railroad production. Labor intensive results in much higher assembly & injection-molded tooling costs here in the States and Europe. Makes complete sense to outsource given that most won't pay the MUCH increased costs that would be incurred with manufacturing such in the West.
I have never met a person that has traveled to other parts of the world that is xenophobic or racist. Those that do not want to learn and experience new things tend to be the same people that scoff at me playing with toy trains. Thanks, Jason for these video's and for producing Canadian MRR products. When I get my Royal Hudsons plying around the layout, the spirit of my long-deceased Dad will be standing right behind me smiling ear to ear as he did when I was a small kid.
Remember that wages are relative. Throughout most of China the cost of living is so low that the low wages aren’t quite the problem Americans in particular make them out to be. It’s the same way even in the US, where you’d find being paid $8 an hour to serve tables in a restaurant would cut it in rural America but barely get you rent if at all in a major city. So while they might be paid only a fraction of the average American, they’re also not living where the cost of living is so high, like it is in the USA. Over time the people of China and other developing nations are gaining economic power and their costs of living are higher. Each economy has gone through this, it’s just some haven’t completed it yet. So I really don’t see it as a problem, in the long term this is just the middle of the Chinese renaissance.
I know it is an unpopular opinion but I am going to share it. All countries have different skills and expertise, some are better at making some things then others. China just happens to be better then most or all other countries at precision modelling. Sorry not sorry
