OVERVIEW Model Rail/rapido Trains BR/WR ‘16XX’ 0-6-0PT

While we would not review one of our own products by offering comments, we can provide all the technical information and description that we would normally provide as part of any locomotive review. The diagram in A Pictorial Record of Great Western Engines by J.H. Russell (OPC) carries no written dimensions so it is impossible to check that it has been accurately scaled in the reproduction, but it appears to be so. The ‘16XX’ checks accurately against all major dimensions of that drawing.

The body of the model is die-cast metal with a moulded plastic running plate and details. Four small cross-head screws hold the body in place, two under the bunker and two concealed beneath the water filler caps on the tank top. The filler caps are a press-fit and they simply pull out to reveal the screws. Once all four screws are removed, the body simply lifts off, leaving the running plate attached to the chassis. Cab backhead and bunker front details are plastic and glued into the body, as is the upper part of the bunker. The chimney and safety valve bonnet are separate fittings, as are the whistles and shield.

The backhead is fully detailed with regulator handle, sight glasses and pipework picked out in colour. The firehole doors are modelled ‘cracked open’ to reveal a red glow when under power. There is planked detail on the cab floor and the reversing lever is bright red. As the floor remains attached to the chassis, fitting a suitable crew is easy and the pack includes a flyer for a discount on the 3D-printed crew produced by Hardy’s Hobbies. Turning to the chassis, Sprung buffers are fitted front and rear. The three green versions of No. 1638 feature a coppercapped chimney and a brass-finished safety valve bonnet, as does No. 1655 which carried this embellishment in its later years. All the other BR black-liveried models have the plain black chimney and safety valve bonnet.

The model has jointed metal coupling rods and factory-fitted brake gear. NEM coupler pockets with tension lock couplings are fitted front and rear and dummy coupling hooks are fitted to the bufferbeams. If the NEM coupler pockets are dispensed with, the detail pack contains two very neat screw couplings which can be fitted in place of the dummy hooks. A conventional skew-wound five-pole motor with flywheel is fitted, driving the frontcoupled axle via a worm and

gears. Despite some comments to the contrary on social media, this is not a coreless motor. Plunger pick-ups are fitted behind all six wheels.

There is daylight under the boiler and a non-working representation of the inside motion. The ‘16XX’ does not have the usual plethora of pipework on the boiler and tank top as Hawksworth concealed this between the boiler and tanks and provided the locomotive with a flat top. This has allowed the mechanism to be constructed on a substantial casting which, together with the cast bodyshell, provides much of the weight and enables the electronics to be neatly laid out on a circuit board which includes the Next18 decoder socket with its analogue blanking plate. A sugar-cube speaker is attached to the floor in the bunker area for easy installation of DCC sound.

The model is spray-finished in satin black with printed emblems, numberplates and shed code. A small bag of customer-fit extras includes couplings, fire irons and three spare lamp irons. Not all ‘16XXS’ carried the spare lamp irons and their precise location varied so, for this reason, they are supplied separately and small holes will need to be drilled to fit them.

We have operated several ‘16XXS’ on test and performance is remarkably consistent, the model having no problems with a train of 35 four-wheel wagons.

The detail pack contains two very neat screw couplings which can be fitted in place of the dummy hooks