Model trains manufacturer Rapido Trains has announced that its set of S160 models will be revealed on Thursday, 6 June.

It will be offering OO Gauge USATC S160 2-8-0s in 10 different versions.

This will include variants that cover both wartime and preserved conditions of the locomotives, and a range of different liveries.

The S160s were designed by Major J. W. Marsh of the Railway Branch of the Corps of Engineers, and were first sent to the UK in 1942 in order to help the war effort and replace some of the country’s badly damaged rolling stock.

More of the locomotives were delivered to British ports throughout World War Two, and in total almost 800 arrived.

Some of the Rapido models will be in liveries that reflect those they carried during the war.

These include Great Western Railway, The London, Midland and Scottish Railway, The London and North Eastern Railway and The Southern Railway.

There will also be a wide range of tooling variations, including left or right hand drive, standard wartime tenders or tenders with lockers and coal space storage, PKP or Westinghouse air pumps, pipework mounted behind or in front of the chimney, and standard or specialised lamp irons, among numerous other differences.

Locomotive works in the US manufactured over 2000 of the engines during the war, with many of them heading to continental Europe in order to run as supply trains.

After the war, only one S160 locomotive remained in the UK prior to preservation efforts resulting in eight of them being returned to the UK.

One of these, known as 5820 Big Jim, now runs on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in West Yorkshire.

The announcement regarding the new S160 models comes just days after it released information about its Fireless locomotives.

The S160 models will be available to pre-order starting from Thursday, 6 June.