Rapido USATC S160 2-8-0

[Horsetan]

Two years in the planning, Rapido have just delivered this.

The S160 has never been mass-produced in 4mm scale before (although Roco did make a very good one in HO some years ago), and I've only ever seen two scratchbuilt efforts - one in OO, and the other in EM.

There's at least eight different livery variants available, and Rails of Sheffield have plenty of stock starting at a not too terrible £230 (more if you want it in DCC with sound).

At a glance, it looks as though it might be possible to convert it to P4 - axles appear to be 2mm diameter throughout (so longer replacements will be needed), and wheels look as though they will tolerate a session on a lathe, with most material being taken off the back to thin the flanges and maybe a light skim off the tyre face.

[Mol_PMB]

Will you have to move the cylinders out too, with the re-gauge? 

I'd be interested to see some photos of how you go about the conversion of something like this.

[Horsetan]

10 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Will you have to move the cylinders out too, with the re-gauge? 

No. The cylinders appear to be exactly in the right place. What Rapido have done is to insert a thick washer/bush between the coupling and connecting rods in order to fill in the difference in gauge.

Removing the bush allows the coupling rods to move outwards when P4 wheelsets are inserted; connecting rods and return cranks don't need moving out, as they're already in the correct alignment.