(It Arrived!!) Today ordered 2-8-4 Berk painted-unlettered NKP

[Railhound333]

Just ordered a Berk 2-8-4 NKP version painted-unlettered today to add to my fleet.

Anything I need to know about these.

Good runner?

Inherent problems?

Good puller?

Ease of maintenance?

Anyone know if the tender is punched for a speaker?  In the parts section, the tender frames look like they
might be already punched.  You can just see what looks like a round piece for the speaker under the weight.
Maybe the BACH-MAN might know and will chime in on this.


Your thoughts!!!

[ACY]

I am pretty sure it is, but it has to be the newest run, you might get new old stock.

[jonathan]

RH33,

I have the C&O version of the 2-8-4.

Looks good and runs so well, it should have been a Spectrum.

Maintenance is about the same for any other steamer.

You will need to add a little weight.  I put in about 2 ounces, most of it up front (smokebox) to move the balance up a bit. Others have added more.  With new weight, I have pulled up to 33 cars, but it will pull more on level track.

It doesn't come with crew figures.

Tender is prepunched.  I have a thread where I installed sound (with pics).

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,16616.0.html

Regards,

Jonathan

[richg]

Since Jonathan metioned figures, some here may be interested in these HO figures. I buy my figures from him also. A little paint here or there and they look different.

http://yardbirdtrains.com/index.htm

Rich

[Doneldon]

Railhound and Rich-

Yardbird's figures are certainly good ones. They have great poses and the ability to be modified easily. But they are expensive, too much so for populating a whole layout. When you just need figures to fill the place up, go to ebay. There are a couple of companies in China which sell figures in bulk for exremely low prices, like less than a dime per piece, painted. I wouldn't use them exclusively or as the centerpieces of a scene, but they're great for people walking down the street, waiting for a train, etc. Just be sure you get 1:87 figures, not the 1:100 ones. Those are useful inside passenger cars and so on but they don't cut it next to properly scaled figures.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     -- D

[richg]

Railhound and Rich-

Yardbird's figures are certainly good ones. They have great poses and the ability to be modified easily. But they are expensive, too much so for populating a whole layout. When you just need figures to fill the place up, go to ebay. There are a couple of companies in China which sell figures in bulk for exremely low prices, like less than a dime per piece, painted. I wouldn't use them exclusively or as the centerpieces of a scene, but they're great for people walking down the street, waiting for a train, etc. Just be sure you get 1:87 figures, not the 1:100 ones. Those are useful inside passenger cars and so on but they don't cut it next to properly scaled figures.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     -- D

Yeah, I use the ones from Yardbird only for the locos and a few crewman.
I use the cheap batch from ebay also.

Rich

[Railhound333]

Thanks to all.

Wish it would get here soon. 

Glad to hear that it is pre-punched for a speaker.

Saves me a lot of time and work.

[WTierce1]

I have a berk and it pulls well, is very beautiful and should be spectrum, and overall is a 10/10 on quality!
By the way, here is a link to my review of the Pere Marquette version. Note I've already installed sound.
               http://www.youtube.com/user/wtierce1?feature=mhee#p/u/10/GGIGVKCjL1I

[Doneldon]

rich-

Did you ever wonder what kind of profit they make on figures? They use so little plastic you can't weigh them in less than hundred figure lots and yet HO figures commonly go for $1 to $3 each. Then the Chinese seller comes along and sells them for pennies. And it's not like the expensive ones are made here. They all come from China. The only things I can see making a difference are the marketing and packaging. Give me a little plastic bag and keep the price down.
                                                                                                                                -- D

[Railhound333]

It arrived today.

Beautiful loco, surprising it isn't in the spectrum line.

Fit and finish is excellent.

Ran it for a few minutes using a test lead connected to loco and it is surprisingly smooth and quiet.

Noticed one little problem before I ran it, one of the side-rod screws was backed out about half way, so I tightened it before running.  Could have caused a bad clicking or even a lockup.

All pickup wipers were adjusted properly, not so on others that I have purchaced.  On other locos, some of the wipers were not even touching the back of the drivers.

Being a NKP version, I noticed it has 2 headlights, lower one looks like a MARS light with 2 small lenses in a vertical setup.
Will have to run it's own feed so I can have seperate head and MARS working independantly.

Was not going to get this loco, but now I'm glad that I did.

[J3a-614]

Yep, the NKP version would have a Mars light, but it's the one on the top.  The dual lights on the lower level represent a twin beam headlight.  Both would be modifications to the engine after they were built; the NKP didn't apply Mars lights until about 1949 or 1950, and the twin-beam headlights would be a little later still.

The NKP is one road of which you can have a fairly complete locomotive roster from the transition era.  The big 2-8-4s would handle your through freights, or in some cases coal drags in former Wheeling & Lake Erie territory.  Light USRA 2-8-2s, some with replacement tenders that looked like those behind the 2-8-4s, would handle secondary freight assignments.  A handful of heavy USRA 2-8-2s and four USRA 2-6-6-2s would also be at work in W&LE territory.  USRA-designed 0-8-0s and 0-6-0s, some of which had very modern touches such as front-end throttles (ex-W&LE engines) would handle yard chores that had not yet been dieselized. 

NKP main line passenger trains would be in the charge of the "Bluebird" Alco PAs by then, and that would also nearly be the limit of passenger service, just about everything else being gone.  Lightweight coaches (the Walthers 52-seat car) and some heavyweight stuff were identical to some C&O cars, courtesy of the two roads (and a couple more, including pre-merger W&LE and the Pere Marquette) having a common management that went back to the late 1920s.

Outside of the PAs, the NKP never owned streamlined units, dieselizing with road switchers, mostly GP7s, GP9s, and Alco RS-3s.  Diesel switchers included units from EMD, Alco, and Fairbanks Morse, all of which are available on at least a limited basis.  I'm not sure, but there may have been some Baldwins, too.  All of these would be 4-axle engines, except for some SD-9s that replaced steam in the W&LE coal country of eastern Ohio.

In any event, it sounds like you have a good engine to work with; congratulations on your purchase.   

[Railhound333]

Outside of the PAs, the NKP never owned streamlined units, dieselizing with road switchers, mostly GP7s, GP9s, and Alco RS-3s.  Diesel switchers included units from EMD, Alco, and Fairbanks Morse, all of which are available on at least a limited basis.  I'm not sure, but there may have been some Baldwins, too.  All of these would be 4-axle engines, except for some SD-9s that replaced steam in the W&LE coal country of eastern Ohio.  

I live in W&LE territory, and they still have a GP9 (or maybe a SD9, weeds were too high, couldn't get a look at the trucks) working arround here doing a short coal drag from the river barge off-loading pier to the power plant here on the Ohio river.

Originally was going to get the USRA Heavy, but they were out of them, so I picked up the Berk.

Got a Med Vandy Tender also for a good price.

Still looking to get 1 or 2 "Heavy's" to add to my roster.

LHS had a BLI Heavy Mike, but I didn't want to pay the price.  Looking for a Bachmann.

All I have is Bach steamers, and am going to stay like that, if I can help it.