Rapido 992508

SR U Class No.31620 – BR Lined Black Early Crest (DCC Sound Fitted)

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Era
Era 4 (1948 to 1956) British Railways Early Crest

Manufacturer description

Southern Railway ‘U’ Class 2-6-0
BR Lined Black (Early Emblem) No. 31620
4,000gal tender
U1 type chimney
Blanking plate fitted to cylinders
Flat dome
Snifting valves plated over
And many more variant parts
Suitable for operation on 2nd Radius curves (438mm or greater)
Dynamic firebox flicker
21-pin DCC decoder socket
MoPower stay-alive capacitors
Factory-fitted speakers in all models
Sprung buffers
Museum quality paint finish
Smooth & powerful mechanism
Highly detailed
NEM coupler pockets
1:76 scale, (OO gauge)

Catalogue listing

Model details

The Rapido Trains UK OO gauge model of the SR U Class 2-6-0 locomotive is a highly detailed representation of the locomotives that were part of the newly built batches. The model will be available in various guises, covering its Southern Railway and British Railways liveries.

The SR U Class was a class of 2-6-0 tender locomotives built by the Southern Railway in the 1920s and 1930s. The class was designed by Richard Maunsell, who was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway at the time. The locomotives were built to replace the older 4-4-0s and to provide a semi-fast and cross-country capable locomotive.

The U Class locomotives were built in two batches, with the first 20 locomotives being rebuilt from the K Class 'River' 2-6-4 tank engines and the remaining 30 locomotives being built new. The rebuilt locomotives retained the 4-lookout window cab of the K Class, while the new-built locomotives had a 2-lookout window cab. The locomotives featured a 4,000-gallon tender, a straight-sided, smaller 3,500-gallon tender being used on the earlier rebuilt versions.

The U Class locomotives were used for a variety of duties, including freight and passenger traffic, and were known for their reliability and all-around performance. Four examples of the class have been preserved, with three being newly built locomotives and one being a rebuilt 'River'.

The model features a range of detailing variants, including flush and riveted buffer beams, flat or rounded domes, flat-fronted cylinders or cylinders with piston tail rods, Snifting valves on Southern Liveried locos, and smoke deflectors on all models apart from the earliest representation. The model also features a smooth-running mechanism, factory-installed speakers, NEM coupler pockets, an ESU 21-pin decoder socket, fitted MoPower stay-alive capacitor, tender pickups, and firebox flicker with a dynamic fire draw effect.