RAPIDO #926008 USATC S160 No.2253′ Omaha’ (as preserved) Part of the USATC S160 collection - DCC Ready - 21 Pin

RAPIDO #926008 USATC S160 No.2253′ Omaha’ (as preserved) Part of the USATC S160 collection - DCC Ready - 21 Pin

Livery- Maroon (satin finish) with Transportation Corps U.S.A. on tender.

Manufacturer- Baldwin Locomotive Works – Philadelphia – 1943

Repatriation date- 1992

Current location- Churnet Valley Railway

Date of model- 2023

Tooling variations –

• Standard lamp irons
• Straight strap smokebox door with door mounted lamp iron
• PKP air pump
• Front running plate-mounted sandboxes
• Pipework mounted behind chimney
• Stepped running board on right hand side
• Right hand drive with screw reverser and original pattern firehole door
• Cab rear shutters fitted
• Standard wartime tender
• Boiler-mounted ejector pipe fitted
• Alternate piston valve covers fitted

No.2253 arrived in the UK in May 1943, where it was loaned to the LNER and based at Neville Hill in Leeds. It was returned to the USATC in September 1944 and sent to France, eventually working for the SNCB at Aarschot. The engine was later bought by the Polish State Railway and became TR203-288. No.2253 returned to the UK in 1992 and entered traffic on the NYMR for a short period.

The locomotive was later sold to Peter Best and cosmetically restored prior to display at Locomotion in Shildon. In 2019 the locomotive steamed again, carrying a lined maroon livery and later that year was named Omaha. It has subsequently appeared at several preserved railways on hire.

Each model features factory-fitted speakers in the smokebox and tender, dual LED firebox glow with dynamic fire draw effect, a large twin flywheel motor, detachable loco and tender connections, pickups on all driving and tender wheels alongside a tender mounted 21-pin DCC decoder socket. DCC Sound versions will be fitted with an ESU LokSound5 decoder and our own sound project.