I’m looking for a good running, good sounding, DCC equipped, RTR Berkshire.
I hear Bachmann makes a Berk but I also hear it is their standard line. What is out there? Brass is “OK” but a little out of my league.
Walthers makes one in their Heritage Steam series. They are available with and without sound. They are are expensive units unless you can find them at a discount dealers.
I haven’t gone to look before asking, but I seem to recall MTH did a Berk, or was about to? Also, Bachmann has one in their basic series IIRC, but that would have to have sound/decoder added.
Crandell
I have an MTH berk and love it
Video of the MTH Berk
By the way the MTH units have cast boilers and a digital drawbar, so there’s no harness to mess with.
Forgot. Here’s where I got mine. They carry a lot of MTH stuff.
http://www.justrains.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5_41_42
I’ll second Hamiltnblue’s suggestion: I own the MTH Berkshire and it is very smooth operating, has fantastic sound and fidelity and is very well constructed.
It isn’t the least expensive but probably is the best of the lot, with operation, sound quality, etc.
I very well known internet dealer has them in stock at 449.95. Your local hobby dealer may be able to get one for you from MTH -I’d try your LHS first.
Good luck.
HF1
For the price of an MTH Berk you can have two Bachmanns with tsunamis.
I have a Bachmann No 759 and added a Soundtraxx sound decoder (not Tsunami) and I love it. It may lack some of the finer details but is still a great looking and running loco. I paid $80 on ebay and another $40 for the sound decoder; not bad for about $120. If I got the Tsunami it would have cost another $50-60, but am on a limited budget. Don’t over look Bachmann, you can always add details and the model is set up for sound (speaker mounting is in tender).
-Bob
I have several Berkshires of varying mfgrs and vintages, but the one that always grabbed me was the C&O Berkshire that used to resied in the park in Peru, Indiana. She was beat to hell, but still a lady with class!
Two of mine are old Rivarossis with the pizza-cutters. It will soon be grinding time, and I am going to create a couple of B&A A-6’s, complete with-yep, you guessed it-smoke deflectors and the ubiquitous Elesco feedwater heater (at least on my layout).
Sound is Berkshires is available in the Heritage line from (walthers) Proto 2000. If you are relatively inexperienced, I would stay away from monkeying around with brass. There ar too many easier ways to acheve that end.