What is Rapido Railex?
We’re putting on a show! Over 2 days in September we are taking over the Market Hall in Maidstone with an exhibition of high-quality model railways.
This is also a chance for you to come and meet the Rapido Trains UK team in person to discuss projects past, present and future, see new samples as well as getting the scoop on some new and exciting announcements we will be making!
In addition to this, we’ll have trade stands for you to invest in your model railway including the chance to get 3D-scanned by Modelu for your own personalised 3D-printed figures, grab some rolling stock from some of our Official Retailers, beautify your layout with products from some of our partners and much more.
Customised Rapido Wagons – An Exhibition First!
You will have the chance to order your own uniquely decorated Private Owner wagon at the show!
Simply fill in the form at our stand when you place your order and our graphic artists will draw up the artwork for you to approve on the day. Then your 7- or 5-plank PO wagon will be UV-printed with your chosen lettering and posted directly to you.
All our PO wagon designs will be made using templates created from our painstaking research into real-life signwriting to create the most authentic look.
What can I see at the show?
An exciting selection of high-quality layouts are planning to attend
| LAYOUTS | TRADERS |
| Wendover (OO) A station on the former Great Central and Metropolitan joint line set in 1930 after the Great Central had been absorbed into the LNER, complete with a goods yard and junction to the branch to RAF Halton.  |  Custom laser scanning, figure and detailing parts in a range of scales. |
| Hobbs Hill (OO) A fictitious passing place on a Southern Region single line, set in the period 1959 to 1962, somewhere in Devon.  |  Specialists in British and Continental wagons, rolling stock, parts and accessories. Stockists of Hornby, Rapido, Dapol, Accurascale, Heljan, Gaugemaster and more. The Wagon Yard regularly commission exclusive wagons from a variety of manufacturers along with undertaking commission work for modellers, shops and preservation societies. |
| Lockdown Sidings (OO) Built during Lockdown the layout is based upon the corner of a former military camp that is now used as a general freight depot set in East Kent in the 1950’s.  | Tony’s Trains of Rugby Established shop in Hillmorton near Rugby everything you need for your model railway. The shop has been shortlisted for Retailer of The Year in multiple magazines and prides itself on great customer service. Tony has connections to the Great Central Railway which has resulted in their first exclusive commission – a GC livery LOWMAC. |
| Melton Mowbray North (N) Now cared for by AIMREC Melton Mowbray North was originally built by John Spence and Steve Weston. The line through Melton Mowbray was a joint venture between the Great Northern and London and North Western Railway companies, opening for traffic in 1879. The model is run in two eras, firstly from 1948 to 1953, showing the line as it was with local passenger and freight traffic regularly passing through. However, the operators also imagine what things might have been like between 1957 and 1962 had the line come under the supervision of the Midland Region of British Railways following the Modernisation plan of 1955 and seen the dawn of the diesel age.  | World of Railways / British Railway Modelling Looking for the latest news from the world of model railways? Then make sure you check out www.world-of-railways.co.uk. It’s the UK’s number one resource of model railway news, product reviews, model railway articles and videos plus easy-to-follow practical advice, also in both written and video form. |
| Tellindalloch (OO) Tellindalloch station and distillery are set among 70 trees showing the splendid colours seen during Autumn in the Highlands.  | Scalefour Society The Scalefour Society will be demonstrating how to convert 4mm R-T-R stock, including stock from Rapido, to P4 finescale standards. See some of the converted stock running on a P4 layout at the show – ‘Wheal Elizabeth’. Ask us how the Scalefour Society can help you on your route to 4mm finescale modelling. |
| Wheal Elizabeth (P4) Wheal Elizabeth represents a coal-fired china clay dry and associated facilities situated at the end of a Cornish freight only branch. The layout was inspired by the distinctive operations on a number of the china clay branches in central Cornwall where this industry remains an important part of the local economy. Although the majority of these facilities were in the area to the north of St Austell, which because of the spoil tips became known as the Cornish Alps, it also extended to the fringes of Bodmin Moor to the east.  | Kernow Model Rail Centre |
| Old Parrock (OO) Old Parrock is a small halt and coal yard on a fictitious line at the northern edge of Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. The name is derived from a small settlement in the vicinity. It is assumed that the line was originally built as a light railway and traffic is sparse, requiring only short passenger trains and minimal freight trains.  | Rails of Sheffield Meet the team from Rails of Sheffield, one of the UK’s leading and most popular retailers! They will be on hand to showcase their latest exclusive samples and hand out some free merchandise.  |
| Corrish (009) ‘Corrish’ is a small 009 layout depicting the atmosphere of the old Corris Railway in Mid Wales. Whilst being a ‘simple oval of track’, Corrish appears much larger with plenty of detailed interest, such as a slate quarry, small station, woodland area and even a bridge crossing a small stream.  | Ewe (OO) Ewe is a small layout built in the Cameo style championed by the late Iain Rice. It depicts a small East Anglian backwater inspired by the Wisbech and Upwell tramway. The scenic section measures 4ft x 16ins with a rather ridiculously small fiddle yard popped on to represent the rest of the world. Motive power is provided by a selection of Rapido J70s which perhaps are better known as Toby the Tram Engine thanks to the writings of the Rev. W Awdry. Ewe was featured in the October 2022 edition of BRM.  |
Paystow (O) Paystow is a fictitious Great Western Railway branch line terminus set around 10 miles from Helston near the Cornish coast. Set in the BR 1960s era, the line is in a run-down state and looks set for closure under the Beeching axe but is still heavily busy with visitors flocking to the coast and Paystow beach in the Summer months.  | The Yard (O) Built to 7 mm scale with track gauges of 32 mm and 16.5 mm, The Yard is an entirely freelance industrial type railway, featuring standard and narrow gauge trains fitted with sound, radio controlled gantry crane and radio controlled lorries. Stock is either kit built, scratch built or modified RTR. All the buildings are scratch built from MDF, cut on a laser cutter. Baseboards are plywood and foam, supported by a steel leg unit. Control is by DCC using the Gaugemaster Prodigy, points controlled by MERG CBUS system. Special attention has been paid to presentation and operation, running a very intensive display featuring all working aspects of the layout.  |
| Much Murkle (OO) Much Murkle; is a fictitious 1930’s community in Herefordshire. It is served by a single track GWR branch from a junction at Newent between Gloucester and Ledbury. The branch is just 8 miles long, with one intermediate station at the village of Kempstone and a small private halt serving Sollers Hall. There is a rail served Quarry located approximately 1 mile outside of Much Murkle. All trains departing the quarry have to be reversed at the terminus due to the quarry having no run round facility making for more interesting stock movements. The quarry is not the only significant industry using the line. Rancoutt’s Cider also use the branch to distribute their fine cider and perry to the outside world. Vans from all of the big four rail companies can be found in their sidings.  | Janes’ Creek (EM) This model is built to the scale of 1/76, 4mm/1foot, track gauge is 18.2mm EM, it is based on the area around Janes’ Creek, Strood, Rochester, Kent, as it was circa. 1920. Track work is plastic based obtained from the EM Gauge Society, partly ballasted with fine paving sand to represent the Dungeness shingle ballast. Points are operated by Cobalt slow action motors and their point levers, a Gaugemaster controller is used. Mounting board has been used for the buildings, covered in Scalesences brick and corrugated iron, downloads, printed onto card. The sailing barges are largely scratch built using the Vintage Miniature Models, resin hull, the Sarik Hobbies, vac. formed hull and the Artitec Dutch barge, as starting points. Modelu 3D printed figures, guttering and point rodding have been used.  |
| York Road (2mm Finescale) York Road is a small part of the Model Railway Club’s 2mm scale layout, Copenhagen Fields; it represents the area just above Gasworks Tunnel, featuring the Kings Cross goods yard potato warehouses and the Piccadilly Line tube station, before it closed in 1932.  | Newton Grove (O) Newton Grove 19F in an O gauge layout, based in the North-West of England between 1966-68 toward the end of steam. Heavily based on Rose Grove 10F MPD. It is a great example of how you can have a highly detailed O gauge model railway in a relatively small space.  |
| RJ Colliery (OO) The R&J Colliery is set in the mid 70’s looking towards the 80’s with steam locomotives still doing their designed jobs, shunting the empty and loaded coal wagons around the premises and taking them up to the main line exchange. The buildings are all scratch build from plasticard, wood and a variety of other materials. Rolling stock is all industrial in nature, from Andrew Barclay’s to Hunslet, Ruston and Sentinel. Wagons are nearly all by Bachmann, the standard 16t type.  | Harefield (OO) Harefield is an under-construction layout based around the builders love to the London Underground’s Metropolitan Line. Harefield Road station and its surrounding scenery are taken from the builders’ favourite locations on the network.  |
| Do you have a layout you would like to exhibit? Please get in touch via: rapidorailex@rapidotrains.co.uk | Ridge Lane (009) Ridge lane is an inconspicuous part of the countryside, where loaded wagons arrive from a quarry to be exchanged with returning empties. The tight loading gauge up to and around the quarry require smaller engines to work that section, whilst larger locomotives take the loaded wagons off to the standard gauge wharf a few miles away, a reasonable gradient further down the line necessitates the use of larger locos for this section. A rudimentary passenger platform was installed but is seldom used, apart from the locals who use it for their weekly trip into the town. As with most rural stations, it is a reasonable walk to the location’s namesake.  |
When and Where?
WHEN: Friday 27th and Saturday 28th September 2024, 10am – 4:30pm
WHERE: The Market Hall, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8LW
5 minutes walk from Maidstone West Railway Station.
Ample parking is available at the nearby (pay at machine or via RingGo app).
The Market Hall is a wheelchair-friendly venue.
Tickets
Tickets for RAPIDO RAILEX are just £5 per adult. Kids are FREE when accompanied by a paying adult.
Each ticket covers 1 day of attendance at the show, you are free to come and go during the day.
Advance Ticket sales are now closed – Tickets are still available on the door.