Rapido Trains UK enters TT:120 with Class 45 and 46 locomotives

Rapido Trains UK has moved into TT:120 with its first locomotives in the scale, and it picked one of British diesel modelling’s biggest names to do it: the BR Class 45 and Class 46 Peak family. The launch is more than a one-off nostalgia play. It puts a heavyweight ready-to-run maker into a scale that only arrived in the mainstream a short time ago, and it does so with enough variety to serve more than one kind of layout.

The range covers named and numbered locomotives across British Rail green and blue liveries, including 3rd Carabinier, Royal Inniskilling Fusilier, The Lancashire Fusilier, Sherwood Forester, Lytham St Annes and Apollo, plus the departmental Class 97/4 Ixion. Rapido’s TT:120 listings show DCC Ready and DCC Sound Fitted versions, with prices from £159.95 to £259.95 depending on specification. The models also carry HM7000 compatibility, a Next18 decoder socket, a factory-fitted speaker in all versions, directional lighting, bogie-mounted NEM coupler pockets, separately fitted wipers and radiator fan grille, and optional buffer-beam hoses.

For TT:120 modellers already buying into Hornby’s ecosystem, that mix matters. Hornby launched TT:120 in summer 2023 and the scale has already gained traction, while PECO, Heljan and Gaugemaster have all added support around it. Rapido’s arrival gives the scale another established manufacturer with a reputation for prototype-specific detail, which should make the decision to commit to TT:120 feel less like taking a flyer and more like building on an expanding fleet. The Peaks are a particularly strong fit because they cover express passenger, secondary passenger and mixed-traffic work, while the Ixion gives departmental and engineering-stock layouts a distinctive twist.

The prototype choice also carries proper railway weight. The first BR Class 45 entered service in late 1960, British Rail ordered 127 of them, and they became the main locomotives for St Pancras on Midland main line services. Rapido says the Class 46 continues the same family line that began with the Class 44 and Class 45, which keeps the new TT:120 releases tied to a very specific chapter of modernisation rather than a generic diesel shelf-filler.

Rapido says the TT:120 models were developed using original archive material and official engineering drawings. That is the sort of detail that tells you this is not a token entry into the scale. It is a proper market statement, and for TT:120 operators who want a big, recognisable diesel with modern features and multiple operating options, the Peak family just made the scale look a lot more serious.