Just rec'd an email from a friend and he mentioned someone was taking pre-orders for a TH&B Berkshire. Anyone hear of this?
Fergie
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
Fergy,
Did he say who was manufacturing it? I'm assuming this will be in brass?
Did you see the TH&B Hudson that BLI just came out with?
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I think you are referring to the Division Point model of the Berkshire. You are right ....it is brass and be ready to bring a truckload of Benjamins as it will be pricey! Detail on their models is exquisite but are you ready to pay for it?
Yeah, Division Point announced their intention to build these quite a few years back. While I'm an avid fan of the TH&B, and have modelled an interchange with my free-lance road, those locos were used in pretty specific service and would not have been seen in the area which I'm modelling. Probably a little too pricey for me, too.
For those not familiar with the prototype, they were the only two Berkshires built in Canada and the only two owned by a Canadian road, and they usually operated between Hamilton and Fort Erie, then later Niagara Falls Ontario, a distance of about only 50 miles. The road was jointly controlled by NYC and CPR, so they have a distinctly Central-type appearance, and because of their short run, had shorter, four-axle tenders. In my opinion, they're one of the better-proportioned Berks ever built, and it's too bad that neither was saved.
I do hope to build one of their Consolidations, though, but that's a scratch-building project. Wayne
Wayne,
I just learned that the TH&B Berks look VERY different from the P&LE and B&A Berks of the NYC:
They look more like a Hudson or large Mikado.
Yeah, the TH&B was looking for a locomotive that could handle the long grade up the Niagara Escarpment, as trains were getting too heavy for the G-class Consolidations, the road's "big power" at that time.
In 1927, they rented a NYC H-10 Mikado to test its capabilities, then tested one of B&A's A-1s in the same service. While they favoured the A-1, it would have been advantageous to have the new locos built in Canada. Unfortunately, Lima had no Canadian subsidiary. This dilemma was resolved a couple of weeks after the A-1 returned to Massachusetts, when Alco delivered a dozen Berks to the Chicago & North Western, as the Montreal Locomotive Works was an Alco subsidiary. The necessary info and patterns were sent to Montreal, and the two Berks, 201 and 202 were delivered in July 1928. Provision was made for later application of a booster, and both locos were so-fitted the following year. (This info was gleaned from Norman Helm's book "In the Shadow of the Giants", a history of the TH&B.)
Here's a view of the 202 on the Chatham Street turntable:
Wayne
Yea, she's a nice looking steamer, Wayne. Did they come with 63" drivers?
That's right, Tom, 63" drivers.
I most certainly must have seen them in-service, but don't recall them or any other steamers specifically, as I was fairly young at the time. The 202 was scrapped in 1952 and 201 the following year, and the line's two Hudsons (bought second-hand from part-owner NYC) went in 1954, ending TH&B steam.We lived about two blocks east of the TH&B's Hamilton station, and the elevated mainline roughly parallelled our street, with trains running past our front door a couple hundred feet away on the opposite side of the street.
In addition to TH&B locos, both CPR and NYC power ran here, too, and the variety continued right into the Conrail era. Nowadays, CP owns what's left, but there's still variety in the motive power, with Soo, DM&E and ICE units appearing regularly.
C'mon you guys, if it doesn't look like an NKP 1225 it isn't really a Berkshire, all Berks MUST look like it.
Here's a P&LE Berkshire...
It looks "Berk-ish" to me.
Personally, I thought Mopac's BK-63 Berks were as good-looking as those of the TH&B, and that both looked better than any of the Van Sweringen versions.Unfortunately, Mopac re-built theirs into Northerns and the TH&B scrapped theirs, and now those ones still running look pretty-darn nice.
doctorwayne Here's a view of the 202 on the Chatham Street turntable: Wayne
SHe's SWEET!! And yes I can see her some of her heritage but there's also a lot of Berk in her too
tatans C'mon you guys, if it doesn't look like an NKP 1225 it isn't really a Berkshire, all Berks MUST look like it.
I apologise, please forgive me, the above note should read : NKP 765, the other "real Berkshire" is Pere Marquette 1225, the others sort of look "Berkish" I stand corrected.
[quote user="Fergmiester"]