Is it just me or were the Berkshires (2-8-4’s) just awesome, handsome and balanced looking engines compared to most other types? There’s just something about them that really grabs me.
I’m especially fond of the Norfolk Southern F-1, L&N M-1 and RF&P engines.
oldline1
It’s not just you. The Berkshires were “…awesome, handsome, and balanced looking engines…”! Some were better-looking than others of course, but on the whole they were a very successful type and did the job splendidly. It’s no wonder that as far as Big Steam locomotives went they were among the last to go.
The RF&P was a bit late to the Berkshire show, only purchasing them during WW2 when they needed more steam freight engines that had to move. At the height of the war you could stand trackside by the RF&P and see trains moving north and south every fifteen minutes! They were that busy! Imagine, freight and passenger trains running on commuter train schedules. They were well satisfied with their Berks!
I would agree that the Van Sweringen 2-8-4’s (and most other designs out of the Advisory Mechanical Committee) were especially handsome locomotives. On the other hand, B&M’s 2-8-4’s with their Coffin feedwater heaters were not so great looking.
Readers of this thread might enjoy Ed Weinstein’s discussion of Berkshire design (as posted on steamlocomotive.com).
Berkshires have always been my favorite, just like stretched Berkshires (Yellowstones) are my favorite articulateds. I liked the concept and I liked the railroads that used them.
It does have to be said, though, that I still generally prefer 4-8-4s to Berks. For example, imho the RF&P “AMC clones” didn’t hold a candle to any of the RF&P’s classes (Generals, Governors, and Statesmen). It is well understood that the L&N Emmas would have been 4-8-4s had available turntables been a smidge longer … they are honorary 4-8-4s in proportion and style even so. I’m a great fan of the A-2-A Berk (most of its problems were circumstantial or related to outright neglect) but it is just not a Niagara (or C1a which is a sort of honorary 4-8-4)
Doesn’t mean I don’t like Berks, by any means – or the Berk-and-a-half that is a good 2-6-6-4 or 2-6-6-6; those would not benefit materially from having a four-wheel leading truck … and no, I don’t rate Challengers of any stripe in the same august category. The first true high-speed Super-Power freight locomotives in the world were the Erie S-class Berks, from which came the C&O T1, from which came the AMC family, all of which are awe-inspiring and seminal, and of course from there came the PRR J1 and J1a which did essentially everything a peacetime PRR could expect out of a ten-coupled locomotive of any sophistication. But to me there’s more thrill in a proper two-axle lead truck on a high-speed eight-coupled, and the proportions are better.
Virginian crews loved their BA 2-8-4s and AG 2-6-6-6’s. Lima built locomotives for the mid-20th Century that were beautifully proportioned, like the SP GS classes.
You’ll get no argument from me! [;)]
Awesome machine!
Does Ohio have an official state steam engine? If not, I nominate NKP 765! Ohio born and bred!
Incidently, 2-8-4’s for the P&LE were the last steam engines that ALCO build for a US railroad.
At this point I think 765 deserves the title more…
and a 2-8-4 for NKP, 779, was the last steam engine Lima built.
And Baldwin’s last domestic steam locomotive was a compound 2-6-6-2 (C&O 1309) while Roanoke’s last steam was an 0-8-0.
Mamma mia! You right! 'Scusa me! I fix!
That bogus number on the smokebox threw me off!
S’arright, kiddo. My briefcase and luggage are still set to “284” on the right and “759” on the left, just as I put them starting in the early '70s when I saw Karl Zimmermann using that famous engine number on his briefcase…
To a kid in that era, 759 was a magic number, one of the most famous locomotives in the world. I hope the day comes when it is once again to a new generation.
That’s a tough one. There’s the only survivng N&W pacific down near Columbus. Of course there’s GTW 4070 undergoing restoration here:
It’s moved along quite a bit since I took that pic: https://www.midwestrailway.org/article/4070-news
This little Vulcan is also near me:
And this little one is in Dover behind Mooney Warther’s house:
Plus everything at Age of Steam and Mad River.
But how do we classify 2100 now?
She’ll likely pull excursions here, but does she really belong to Ohio?
Not really. No N&W locomotive has anything to do with Ohio: they’re Virginia born and bred. No little industrial locomotive has the necessary cachet to match Lima as The Source. And as noted, 2100 is and always will be Pennsylvanian, even if Ohioans perfect her and bring her to life.
I might add that a couple of clear contenders for ‘greatest locomotive from Ohio’ don’t really count, either. Ross Rowland’s 614 is head-and-shoulders superior to any Berkshire, but has very little history in Ohio other than being conceived and birthed there. Ditto the Alleghenies, the moral equivalent of a Berk-and-a-half but never really used as their designer intended.
So what it comes down to is finding a distinctive locomotive built in Ohio, run successfully during its regular lifetime in Ohio, then providing a world-class experience afterward as seen and loved by millions … including operations in Ohio. And for that, we can forgive nominal current ownership slightly west of Ohio proper. The Fort Wayne people think and act like proper Ohioans. So there’s a very long lead for 765 as a candidate, and no real contenders near…
Grand Trunk Western? Built in Schenectady? Because it’s been lying derelict in Ohio an extended time??? Give me some of that stuff you musta been smokin’! [;)]
Well the Nickle Plate did run through Ohio, and presumably so did 765, so even if it lives in Indiana now it’s no stretch to call it an Ohio engine.
I zoomed in on the photo of that Grand Pacific Junction 0-4-0, it looks like it’s in decent shape and appears to be “all there.” I wonder what it would take to get it running again?
Somebody call the Gramlings!
Gorgeous trains!
No “Nickle Plate” ever ran through Ohio – have some respect. In Ohio that was spelled NICKEL, and rightly so. [:D] And there is no doubt that 765 did much of its finest work along the top of Ohio, precisely as it was designed and constructed in Ohio to do.
