gmpullman richhotrain Ed, have you ever removed the engine shell on a Proto Heritage 2-8-4? No, Rich, not the 2-8-4. I did have to disassemble one of their 2-10-2s because I toasted the LED by forgetting the resistor. That LED was buried deep inside the boiler! In that scenario, it took me a while and only by studying the diagram did I see that there was a screw hidden under one of the domes (steam dome IIRC). The LED replacement is so much simpler on the Berk... Good Luck, Ed
richhotrain Ed, have you ever removed the engine shell on a Proto Heritage 2-8-4?
No, Rich, not the 2-8-4. I did have to disassemble one of their 2-10-2s because I toasted the LED by forgetting the resistor. That LED was buried deep inside the boiler!
In that scenario, it took me a while and only by studying the diagram did I see that there was a screw hidden under one of the domes (steam dome IIRC).
The LED replacement is so much simpler on the Berk...
Good Luck, Ed
I have 3 of the Berkshires. Not a problem on the NKP or Pere Marquette but a real problem on the C&O because the headlight is below the center of the headlight shield. And, that front weight prevents a "standard" 3mm LED from being used because the front weight prevents the shield from fitting up tight against the boiler with the base of the LED in the way.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrainEd, have you ever removed the engine shell on a Proto Heritage 2-8-4?
gmpullman I have good news and— I had a machinist and boilermaker stay late tonight to take the smoke box front off the 772. Here is what they found: And a few hours later... The white and orange wires are for the Mars light. So I had the boilermaker remove the phillips screw there, and the weight wouldn't come out. He reminded me that there's one in the stack which he took out and the whole stack comes off. Then the weight can be removed. I wrote the B on there to remind me to put the LED back in the right orientation. I put a blue marker on one lead. You can see the "socket" back in the boiler. That's the smoke stack closest to the camera.
I have good news and—
I had a machinist and boilermaker stay late tonight to take the smoke box front off the 772. Here is what they found:
And a few hours later...
The white and orange wires are for the Mars light.
So I had the boilermaker remove the phillips screw there, and the weight wouldn't come out. He reminded me that there's one in the stack which he took out and the whole stack comes off. Then the weight can be removed.
I wrote the B on there to remind me to put the LED back in the right orientation. I put a blue marker on one lead. You can see the "socket" back in the boiler. That's the smoke stack closest to the camera.
De Luxe If one Berk can walk away with a 60 car freight train without hesitation and without traction tires, it should do the same with 10 heavyweight passenger cars, where 7 out of 10 cars are those very light ones by IHC.
If one Berk can walk away with a 60 car freight train without hesitation and without traction tires, it should do the same with 10 heavyweight passenger cars, where 7 out of 10 cars are those very light ones by IHC.
Thanks for testing Ed!
Sounds very good! If one Berk can walk away with a 60 car freight train without hesitation and without traction tires, it should do the same with 10 heavyweight passenger cars, where 7 out of 10 cars are those very light ones by IHC. Great! And with traction tires it should be able to move such a train also on grades!
De LuxeOk, I´m staying tuned...
OK, Here's my test setup using an Ohaus 8002 Precision Spring Scale:
Neither of my Berks have the traction tire installed, just lightly worn plating on brass treads. My results were 5 to 5.5 ounces of drawbar pull. It would pulsate with each wheel rotation showing that a wheel is out of round or slightly bent. Still, the engine tracks very well and there is no wobble discernable.
I coupled on to sixty cars, a mix of 40 and 50 footers and about 20 Proto tank cars, all with metal wheels and the one Berkshire walked away with that train without hesitation. I have a 2% grade and I know one engine alone will not climb that with 60 cars but double-headed they pull it with ease.
Hope this helps, Ed
My ancient plastic AHM Berkshire can pull 29 coal hoppers (all the hoppers I have runnable) and a caboose. I cheated a little bit, I opened the Berkshire up and packed in all the sheet lead that would fit. No grades on my layout.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Thanks Ed!
Sounds indeed like a bit of a project! Will seriously need to think about this! By the way it´s the first time I hear a steamer has weight even inside the cylinders! Wow!
Ok, I´m staying tuned...
So, the bad news? The center of the smoke stack is still behind that protruding weight. You can see how the two halves are part of the "split frame" design so each half has rail potential and to fit a smoke unit in you would have to re-wire the LED socket, which looks to be a PC board sandwiched between the weight halves.
Here's two explosion views:
And the guts:
You can see the projections on the front parts of the weights. There would have to be filed off to fit the smoke unit in. See the little dot on the left hand weight, near the motor worm? That dot represents the center of the stack where the screw threads in. That would have to be drilled out to the 5mm you need, or ground off completely. Note, there are even a pair of weights inside the cylinders!
Not impossible, but a bit of a project.
Now I have to go tell those shop guys to mark off. They're eatin' up the overtime!
PS, no time to look for the scale tonight, stay tuned.
I dunno about the model but I rode behind NKP 765 yesterday and it had no problem pulling 19 cars upgrade to Mountaintop on the old Lehigh Valley line. Not heavyweights though. No diesel helpers, either. There's a target to shoot for with a model though. The normal consist of the train is actually 20 cars, but one of the domes had a mechanical issue and was left off.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
gmpullman I have two of the Heritage Berks that you are inquiring about. I am very happy with their pulling capability and smooth running. I bought the first one when they first were available and a second one recently with factory sound installed. I had the smoke box front off a while ago because I melted the headlight after installing DCC on the older one (should have installed an LED!!) as I recall it is open and available for additional weight. Again, I'll let you know when I have time to examine my Berks.
I have two of the Heritage Berks that you are inquiring about. I am very happy with their pulling capability and smooth running. I bought the first one when they first were available and a second one recently with factory sound installed.
I had the smoke box front off a while ago because I melted the headlight after installing DCC on the older one (should have installed an LED!!) as I recall it is open and available for additional weight. Again, I'll let you know when I have time to examine my Berks.
All three are great pullers.
Thanks for the info. Yes, a test with a traction tire equipped Berk would be great! Thanks for offering! And when you do it please tell me if there would be enough space to place a Seuthe smoke unit into the smoke stack (and below it) which is 5mm in diameter and 24mm in length.
I'm away from the layout at the moment but when I get a chance I'll look at the traction tire and if I can find my scale I'll try a tractive effort test.
I usually run them double-headed and have no problem with a sixty car freight on 2% grades.
Regards, Ed
I heard several times that these engines despite their smooth running can barely pull themselves because of their lack of pulling power and traction tires. But what about the ones that were delivered with an optional traction tire equipped driver set? I searched for infos on the internet but couldn´t find anything about their pulling power when equipped with traction tires. Does anyone know more about it?
I´m asking this because I´m thinking of the idea to purchase one and have it pull a 10 car heavyweight passenger train (7 cars by IHC & 3 cars by Walthers). All cars with interiors, passengers and lights of course. So if a traction tire equipped Life Like 2-8-4 could pull such a train, that would be great.
Another question: Is the area below the smoke stack emtpy so that a Seuthe smoke unit could be installed or is the boiler below the smoke stack filled up with weights?