I see that Trainworld’s online flyer shows both the Proto 2000 and Bachmann Berkshires available for the same price. Is there a consensus as to which is the better loco? I’ve read on these forums that the Proto is better detailed but has had serious pulling issues. Has that been fixed? It’s an issue for me since my layout has a 2.5% grade on a 24" radius. None of my Spectrum steamers (2-8-0’s and 2-10-0) or Genesis Mikados can pull anything but short trains up the grade.
I’d really like to hear from those who have one or both of these Berks as to which you’d recommend.
The Proto 2000 is the better of the two, and I think a traction tire is now included for better pulling. I’ve heard that the one from Bachmann is also very good.
I have a question about these myself. I’m a Virginian modeler, and I have been unable to find a good photo of either of these in virginian colors. I know that one or possibly both of them were produced in virginian colors, but if anyone has photos of them as such I would be interested to see them for comparison to prototype photos. Alternatively, photos of the C&O model would work as well, since they were virtually identical to the Virginian berkshires.
As long as its not a first run Proto, go with that one. The first run has drivers that are weird looking, and really destroy the models realism. If its a late run model, they are awsome if not a bit on the fragile side. I had a Bachmann one and they are nice models in thier own right, but lack the superdetailing of the Proto and they dont pull well at all. My Proto 2K NKP Berk with working Mars light, but no sound/dcc pulls good without the traction tire installed but I have it in the box if need be. the lighted numberboards, bright headlight are both much better over the Bachmann model. So is the working Mars light if equipted with one. I gave $125 at a show for my Berk from an estate sale, only had been test run. Let us know what you get and how you like it. Mike
I’d go with Proto - their detailing and running performance far exceeds Bachmann’s models based on my experience (pulling qualities aside).
I have checked out Trainworld’s offerings, but I believe the Proto units they are trying to unload are from the first run - back before LifeLike was bought out by Walthers. Those Berkshires did not come with traction tires, but you can always add your own using bullfrog snot.
If the Proto model is the first run without the traction tires I would advise against purchasing. It is very fragile, detail parts break off easily and the pulling power is very poor. I had one and got rid of it, now have a Bachmann and am very satisfied with it.
I have one of the Bachmann locos that I’m re-detailing for a friend. It runs well, but seems to be a bit light. I’m told that there’s ample room for more weight inside, though.
Can anybody comment on whether or not the Proto Berks have been upgraded from their original incarnation? That’d be the one with the drivers with no apparent tires and the undersize piping. Most of their early offerings, especially the 0-6-0 and 0-8-0, were also a little on the light side, with not much pulling capacity.
The driver problem was corrected on the later runs, I belive under the Walthers ownership as mine look fine. I would say the detailing is on par with the same era offerings from Broadway Limited. It also looks better than some of my brass steamers. Much better than any of the PFM NKP Berks I have had and equil to my Southern RR PS4 Pacific. You want one of the Walthers era NKP Berkshires and not the early run with the weird looking drivers. On some layouts the Bachmann does fine due to either a flat surface or short trains. Some love them, some dont like the lack of pulling power. But if you take each model at thier MSRP or even the street price at the time of issue to the market, the Bachmann is an excellent value for the money, it runs smooth, headlight is easily upgraded from the yellow LED to one of the Yelglow golden white LED’s from Miniatronics. Get rid of the white wheel rims and it looks much much better. That being said, if you have any grades on your layout, chances are you will not be happy with its pulling performance. If you can find a late run Proto 2K engine with the traction tire wheel set, you will be much happier with it. Even if it does cost a bit more.
How would I be able to find out which production run these are? Would the store employee at the other end of the phone have any clue what I’m even asking?
The Trainworld ad shows the engines as stock #30011, a check of the Walthers site indicates that stock number is first run. Stay away from these. For the money get the Bachmann engine
The Virginian Berk is differentfor the sand dome, and the tender is more the virginian design. LL made the first run virginian version, but did not include it in the 2nd run.
I have two of the Bachmann Berkshires. They run nice and look good. They are in the regular line so they are not quite as detailed as other Bachmann Spectrum locos or the Proto version, BUT they are very close in detail and what detail they have is very good.
I did add about 5 oz of weight which was very easy to do. There is plenty of room inside to add the weight. Before weighting, they would pull about 25 free rolling 5.4 oz cars on level track. After they now pull 40 of those same cars
A 2.5% grade on 24 inch radius is a steep grade. The curves adds to the resistance and the sharper the curve the steeper the effective grade. So expecting anything to pull much up that is wishfull thinking, especially steam.
If you are running DCC and what sound the Bachmann loco does have provisions for a speaker and comes with an inexpensive dual mode decoder. If you are running DC I would strongly suggest you remove the decoder and install the jumpers they provide. These and most other dual mode decoders to not perform well on all DC systems.
Out of the box they simply would not run correctly on my Aristo Train Engineer wireless throttles. Afther removing the decoders they ran great.
My two Berkshires are actually no longer Berkshires, but have been converted to super power Mikados similar to the Detroit Toleto and Ironton 800 series Mikados built by Lima.
I am very happy with my Bachmann versions. I understand the Proto model is much improved from the orginals which had several problems, including poor traction. I don’t see where either is a bad choice so long as you stay away from the original Protos and/or are willing to add weight to the Bachmann.
I bought two of the first run Proto 2000 C&O 2-8-4s when they first became available. Aside from the attrocious drivers, neither one ran as LifeLike claimed. The slow speed performance was terrible. They were SUPPOSED to operate smoothly down to three scale MPH according to the owners manual, but both of mine had some sort of bind that caused the drivers to stop once each revolution until sufficient power was applied to overcome it. Then they rocketed along at about 20 SMPH. I sent one back to LifeLike and never saw it again. The last I heard it was “In China awaiting Parts” LifeLike would not repair or replace it no matter how loudly I squawked. When Walthers bought the Proto 2000 line, they honored my waranty. Walthers gets a big thumbs from me.
The second 2-8-4 I attempted to fix myself. I put it on a test bed and ran it for 6 hours, stopping only to let it cool and lubricate the moving parts…Still had a bind. Next I started dropping side rods one at a time. I did not find a bind there, but did find that when the rods were connected so that only two drivers were driven, the locomotive would not pull it’s own weight…it just slipped. As beautiful as they are, I can NOT recommend them to any one. I hope the problems were fixed on subsequent runs, but I will not buy one to find out.
I have no experience with the Bachmann 2-8-4 to relate.
