28/07/2026
Rapido UK USATC S160 'Omaha'
My S160 arrived in the
post a couple of days ago and it sounded awful like a bag of rusty spanners. After a prolonged running session on
Wednesday eventually the mechanism has bedded in! That’s the longest running in
period I have experienced. During the running the front buffer assembly fell
off, I refitted it yesterday with a tiny spot of superglue I did notice that
only one pin had been glued at the factory. On the whole niggles aside what a
stunning model eventually I am very pleased. I am converting it to oil fired as
per the real ‘Omaha’, I cannot
find any descent photos of the full size conversion but my understanding is the
tank fits into the coal space. So with a little artist licence I 3D printed a stepped
plate to cover to top of the bunker and added a filler cap. This just sits in
place and can be removed with out any modification to the tender.
