Berkshire 2-8-4 loco's

[JAW]

Hello

I really kind of want a Berkshire loco .

I see that there are two kinds ;

The one that comes in the Polar Express and a Jr one in the CW 80 transformer sets. There are some Baseball ones too.

What is the difference?

There seems to be a lot of Polar Express set out there to be had a good prices and you get a set of Passenger cars to boot.

The Baseball sets are cool but do  not do anything for me ,most likely would end up repainting them.

Way to flashy for me,would look funny pulling freight cars with one.

Thanks JAW 

  

[sir james I]

There is a new Ponoco Berk set cataloged at $479.99. Set # 6-81025 in the RTR catalog.

Lionel has used the Berk in a number of freight sets. I'm sure there are still some new ones out there for sale.

[BigAl 956]

Does is have to be a Berk? In the newest catalogs Lionel has a bunch of Mikados, Hudsons, and Pacifics for separate sale equipped with Lion Chief+ technology.

[Firelock76]

Check the Williams by Bachman online catalog to get an idea of what they've got, if it's a Berk you want and not necessarily a Lionel Berk.

Don't pay too much attention to the suggested retail price.  There's deals available from a lot of CTT advertisers.

I've got a Williams Berk, and I'm very pleased with it.  Oh, the smoke unit's a bit anemic but to me that's a minor thing.

Whoops! I had a baaad feeling just now and checked the Williams online catalog, and blast it, they're not cataloging any Berks this year.  Thanks a lot guys, for making a liar out of me!

This is  not to say there aren't some out there.  I'd still check the CTT ads.

[Penny Trains]

The PE berk has a long, pointed pilot more akin to a 19th century loco like the general.  The standard Lionel berk pilot is the much shorter road version.  The observation car in the PE set also has an elongated  and rounded platform as opposed to the squarish platform found on most baby madison heavyweights.

I'm sure there are other differences but the pilot is the most obvious cosmetic one.

Becky

[jwse30]

The  baseball sets look to be the same as the Polar Express set in different paint. I saw an online dealer had a few of them on clearance for $200.  I personally don't care for the cow catcher on  the Polar Express engine, but that's just my opinion. My PE has been a good runner, though I only run it a few months a year. The smoke is pretty weak, even after I added some different wicking. A lower resistance smoke element may be available; I will be looking into that next time I open this engine up. The whistle is very quiet as shipped due to some toy law. Lionel's website used to have a video explaining how to modify the board to make it louder (it involves removing a resistor and soldering a jumper in its place) I have several starter sets that have the same whistle issue. I don't know if the other Berk you are referring to has this issue or not.

If you don't have your heart set on either of the two choices you mentioned, Lionel made a few Berks in their MPC era that are not going for too much money these days. An upside to buying one of these units (or a postwar era Berk) is that parts are generally available for them should a repair be needed.

Hope some of this helps,

J White

[John Asklar]

Firelock76 is right about the Williams Berkshire- it runs GREAT and is very reliable.  I repainted mine for TH&B  201....you can still find some  for sale in the magazines....highly recommended!!  John A

[Firelock76]

Thanks for the kind words John!

One thing to keep in mind about the Polar Express Berkshire is that it's not really supposed to be a model of any particular prototype, even though it was inspired by the Pere Marquette 1225.

It's a bit much to call the PE locomotive "cartoony", but it is supposed to be "larger-than-life"  with a bit of fantasy rolled in. 

PS:  I didn't care for the PE movie, but I loved the book!

[Ribdoner]

I love the lok of the PE, but keep in mind Lionel made them with differnt options. I picked one up on EB and there is no way to turn off the smoke unit, all though the paper work shows that some models come with an on off switch. I bought the loco and tender to pull some passenger cars I all ready had. 

[rtraincollector]

Jaw have you considered a post war like the 736 or 726 I have a 736 and feel I got a good deal on it forget exactly what I paid but do know it was less than $200 total. 

To be honest what got me going I received 2 train sets but only one engine well the one engine and its proper cars are gone now but I still had original set box ( for the 2371 train set) the guy used it to ship some of the items  anyway it turned out I had all except the engine and tender and the correct Hopper color correct hopper wrong color needed Red. any way found the engine and now that set with correct hopper also is my pride and joy. All have original boxes also. 

Have to admit 2 favorite engines are post war berkshire and S-2 

[Firelock76]

Just out of curiosity I went looking for some Williams Berkshires.  TrainWorld  (www.trainworld.com) is showing some in stock.

The Train Station in Mountain Lakes NJ (www.train-station.com)  has some Lionel post-war Berks listed, but bear in mind these are collectables and the prices reflect that.

At any rate, if you're going to go with a Williams I'd get busy, they're a discontinued item so who knows how long they'll be around.   Hit the train shows too if there's any coming in your area.

As an aside, usually when a manufacturer discontinues an item it's because of low demand.  Then as soon as that item's discontinued the demand goes UP!   Go figure.

[Firelock76]

I found a few more Williams Berkshires.  Yesterday I was in a wonderful train shop in Lansdale PA called Hennings Trains.  They've still got some Williams Berks.

Try www.henningstrains.com.

Or if you're in the area the address is 128 S. Line St.  Phone # is 215-362-2442.  Great shop, lots o' stuff, great people too.  I recommend it highly!

[Firelock76]

Found a place with some Lionel post-war Berks this past weekend, check www.ridgefieldhobby.com .  I'm not into post-war so I didn't ask what they were going for.  The folks there are VERY friendly so call or e-mail them, I'm sure they'll be glad to hear from you.

[Roadmaster]

Hi FIRELOCK76,  They may be friendly, but the link has a virus in it.  AVAST caught it:   HTML:HideMe-F[Trj].

[Firelock76]

A virus?  That's odd, I didn't see a thing, maybe because I work through the company network and the security caught and stopped it.

OK, here's the info:  Ridgefield Hobby

                                     508 Broad Ave.  Ridgefield NJ  07657-1615

                                      Phone  [phone]   Monday-Friday 9:30 to 6:00,  Saturday 9:30 to 5:30

e-mail  [e-mail]

Try that.   I'm assuming that HTML you listed is the name of the virus.  I'll pass it on to them.  Thanks for the heads-up!