This ^^^^^ is ugly, sorry guys from the north of us.
And based on Rapido's business practices, they will probably ask you for a non-refundable deposit. AKA The Canadian
What business practices are you referring to, apart from the deposit on The Canadian? Have we done something nefarious?
The deposit on The Canadian was not non-refundable. Maybe you think we're a massive offshore company out to scam all and sundry, but we're just three guys who love trains. Without the deposits for The Canadian we would not have been able to make it. A big MR company with 75 years experience can get access to large amounts of capital for a big project. We can't.
We will not be taking deposits for any other projects, simply because we have no plans to do something as big as The Canadian again. I mean, there isn't much bigger in Canada than The Canadian.
We've had trouble getting stuff out of China on time, and we're working to fix that. The GMD-1 is being tooled with a new supplier.
But the LRC locomotive mentioned in this thread is not a victim of the delays in China - it has been ready since 2009. We've just put it on hold in the hopes that people will actually order the darn thing. We've now accepted we're going to lose money on the project and we'll be making it after The Canadian and FP9A.
So if nobody orders the GMD-1, it will also be delayed. We can't afford to have the factory work solely on projects that lose money when we have other projects on the go that are profitable. And I am using the term "can't afford" in the literal sense. If you want to be our sugar daddy, we'll happily make unprofitable projects!
That being said, please keep in mind:
a) We think a lot more people want a GMD-1 than an LRC, so we're not too worried about a lack of orders.
b) like the LRC, we are tooling the GMD-1 in advance of taking orders, so we are committed to making it even if only 12 people order it.
Best regards,
Jason