NKP 757, 2-8-4 Berkshire

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

On Saturday, my brother and I drove
to the RR Museum of Pennsylvania at Strasburg.

http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/

Accompanied by a musuem volunteer, I was
able to spend some time in the yard in
the late afternoon, where I photographed
the NKP 757, 2-8-4 Berkshire.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=115373

http://nkphts.org/preservation/steam.html

Although I prefer Diesels and Electrics to
Steam locomotives, the Berkshire is a
such a great-looking locomotive that
I would like to get a HO model of it.

How does the group rate the quality
and authenticity of the Proto 2000
series of the 2-8-4?

http://www.lifelikeproducts.com/proto/heritageseries/hoscale284.htm

Is it likely that the first and second releases are
still available in NKP? I have many Proto 2000
Diesels but no Heritage Steam models.

Thanks.

Dave

2

I have a Virginian Proto 2-8-4 and I would rate it absolutely first rate. Smooth, quiet, very nice paint, and decent power. I am predjudiced, because a BA was the only brass I refused to spring the big bucks for, so I was 35 years waiting on the P2K one.

3

I have a Chesapeake & Ohio Greenbriar model. It’s superb, runs well and great detail. I haven’t read anything so far about problems with this model, apart from something about the drivers being slightly smaller than the prototype. However this really isn’t a noticeable issue to me.

You can probably find some NKP versions still around. Try some of the big internet hobby dealers. I see Life-Like is releasing a sound equipped version later this year too.

4

Dave;

The detailing and authenticity of the P2K model is excellent, some have complained about it’s lack of pulling power. In real life, the NKP Berks ran longer trains faster than the NYC could with thier EMD F7 ABBA lash ups across Ohio and Indiana on parallel tracks.

5

Dave,

There are still P2K NKP Berks for sale out there. Try Trainworld, Discount Trains Online, or Ebay.

As for the accuracy of the P2K Berk, I reviewed it for the NKPHTS. Witht he exception of the first run’s lousy drivers, it’s nearly perfect for any of the class S and S-1 Berks. Oddly, the only thing really out of scale are the angled numberboards, which lack detail and are about 15% undersized. If it bugs you, the Cary parts are almost exact in every dimension. The model’s pulling power isn’t as good as the prototype, but I could get mine (I own eight) to lug 25 NMRA-weighted cars up my 2.5% grades without slipping. That’s a larger train than most layouts can accomodate, so don’t worry about the model’s pulling power.

6

Those Van Swergian Berks sure are cool, huh? Here’s a pic of one of NKP 757s relatives, the Pere Marquette 1223, in Grand Haven, MI.

It’s sad that P2K makes PM Berks, but not in 1223 or 1225, the only two remaining PM berkshires!

7

I have three of the P2K NKP Berks and I think they’re great. One of the handsomest steamers ever produced, IMHO. DCC-ready, too, if you’re into that. Just remove the tender shell, plug in the Digitrax DH163LO and away you go–no fooling with resistors, as the board is made for LL and includes necessary resistance. While inside the tender, I added some of the 1/4-oz stick-on lead weights. The only negative to this loco is the too light tender, which is subject to derailments backing up because of that.
Get yourself one…you won’t regret it! [:)]
Dave

8

Dave, were you not able to weight the tender as well?

i really like the looks of the Berk. There are three locos that I would like to have over time. One is already on order, the K4 from BLI [:D]. The other two are the 2-10-4 from BLI that I would modify to look like the CPR Selkirk, and the other is the BErkshire. The P2K one looks like a honey.

9

Crandell, I weighted the tender, while I had the shell off. I did NOT add weight to the locomotive. I don’t think I want to take that baby apart!
Dave

10

Thanks for our reply, Dave. I guess what I am hoping is that your weighting of the tender helped with the derailing in reverse?

It is strange that there is universal criticism of the LL steamers due to their lack fo pulling power. I don’t see why they should be so different from those of other manufacturers…or why the problem persists. I know I couldn’t add but a few pennies to my 0-6-0…hardly worth the effort.

11

Actually, most modern plastic steam pulls poorly. BLI is getting around the problem by adding traction tires to a few of their engines (which can overload the motor), and some of the Bachmann Spectrum engines have all-metal boilers (making them NOT plastic steam). But virtually all of the other new engines out there pull badly (the one exception being the Spectrum 2-8-0). It’s just the nature of the beast. And I only pointed out the pulling performance, I’m not complaining about it. Let’s face it, most of us don’t have layouts that will support a scale-length train of 65+ cars, so engines that can easily pull that many cars are wasted on most layouts. With my 2.5% grade and “only” three scale mile long mainline, I’m quite happy with hauling between 15-25 cars around. If I want to haul more cars on a single train, I’ll either run it downhill, double head, or drag out one of my old Mantuas (which look godawful, but will drag down the walls!)

12

You may have a point there, Ray. My BLI Hudson is cleary my toughest loco, but I have never actually tested it to see how much it can pull before stalling. As you say, I haven’t the cars nor the space flat enough to do a proper test.

Now once Christmas Day rolls around, and I unwrap my all-metal BLI K4, I suspect it will displace the Hudson.