The Baby Pendolino Kichstarter project has now morphed into Revolution Trains. The Kickstarter project came tantalisingly close to meeting their £210,000 target, and even through it “failed”, it proved the proect would be commercially viable. So there will still be an N-gauge Pendolino, now financed by pre-orders.

They have been taking orders at the original Kickstarter prices, restricted to those who had already backed the project. Now they’re taking further orders at a slightly higher price for those who didn’t back the Kickstarter. The price for a “basic” DC 9-car train is now £300, which still represents good value for money. It’s also available as an extended 11-car set, or as a 5-car “fun size” version for those without space for the prototypical 9 or 11 car train, with all variants available in either DC or DCC with sound.

The Pendolino is only the start. The intention is to follow up with other models, using the same pre-order model.

Love them or hate them, they’re the signature train for the electrified west coast main line, which cannot be realistically modelled without them.  The model will be produced by the Canadian manufacturer Rapido Trains.

The model will be available in 9 or 11 car versions as per the prototype, in DC or DCC with sound. For those without the space for a full-length set (A 9-car train is just short of 5 feet), there is also the option of a shortened 5-car set. The price for the basic 9-car set without DCC is £255, which compares very reasonably to Bachmann’s 6-car Midland Pullman.

The above photo is a tilt-shift image the prototypes at London Euston, by Stuart Axe.