Rolling Line

Rolling Line

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Berkshire Pack V2
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Berkshire Pack V2

Description
-----===== HISTORY =====-----

Beginning in the 1920s, trucking was becoming a serious competitor to the railroads. In order to remain relevant, they needed to abandon their slow drag freights in pursuit of great tonnage at speed. Lima Locomotive Works, having previously built the successful H-10 2-8-2 Mikado for the New York Central, developed a wheel arrangement which would be able to generate steam with ease - having a 4 wheel trailing truck to support a larger firebox - and use it efficiently to move thousands of tons of freight; The 2-8-4, with Lima calling their design the A-1, being the first locomotive of the so called 'Super-power Era'.
The locomotive would be trialed over the Berkshire Mountains, and was a better performer than the H-10. In one instance, the latter departed the Selkirk yard 40 minutes earlier with less tonnage, yet the A-1 traveled at greater speeds, and even arrived at its destination 10 minutes earlier than the H-10, signifying a turning point for steam locomotive design.

Soon enough, the Boston & Albany, Illinois Central, Boston & Maine, Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe, Chicago & North Western, and many others were ordering many 2-8-4 Berkshire locomotives, but it was the Erie Railroad that would take things a step further. While most early Berkshire types had low, 63 inch diameter drivers, the Erie would order theirs with 70 inch diameter drivers, allowing for even greater speeds than previously possible. Their S-1 through S-4 designs had great influence on later Super-power designs, being the basis for the Chesapeake & Ohio 2-10-4 Texas type, which would subsequently be the basis for the Nickel Plate Road's 2-8-4 Berkshires, known as the 'Van Sweringen Berkshire'.

Around 20 railroads would roster 2-8-4s, and the last one built would be made in 1949 by Lima themselves for the NKP. They had a lasting influence on steam locomotive design, as many Super-power Era locomotives became icons for their respective railroads, such as the NYC's 4-6-4 Hudsons and 4-8-4 Niagaras, Union Pacific's 4-6-6-4 Challengers and 4-8-8-4 Big Boys, Southern Pacific's GS class 4-8-4 Northerns, among dozens of others.

Despite their revolutionary characteristics, they simply could not compete with the higher efficiency, lower costs and reduced maintenance of the diesel locomotive. Most Berkshires would be scrapped, with only 3 railroads preserving theirs - The Pere Marquette's N-1s, Nickel Plate Road's S-2s and S-3s, and the Chesapeake & Ohio's K-4s (known as Kanawhas). However, 3 notable examples from each line were restored as excursion locomotives at some point (PM 1225, NKP 765, C&O 2716), helping to keep the legacy of steam alive. Although Louisville & Nashville's M-1s were all scrapped, 7 of their tenders were preserved as MOW equipment, 5 of which have been converted to auxiliary water tenders for modern day steam excursion locomotives, with only L&N 1966's and L&N 1984's tenders being preserved in their original form.
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-----===== MOD CONTENTS =====-----

Lima A-1 Demonstrator locomotive (Shift+1 for dynamometer shield) and tender
Boston & Albany A-1 locomotive (Black boiler, Green boiler) and tender (White lining, Black lining)

Erie Railroad S-3 locomotive and tender

Nickel Plate Road S-2 locomotive and tender (Shift+1 for Mars lamp - L+2 for Numbeboard lights - L+3 for Mars light)
Pere Marquette N-1 locomotive and tender (L+2 for Numbeboard lights)
Chesapeake & Ohio K-4 locomotive and tender (L+2 for Numbeboard lights)

Louisville & Nashville M-1 locomotive (Baldwin version, Lima version) and tender
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-----===== ADDITIONAL INFORMATION =====-----
All items have livery support. Feel free to make liveries with these mods, however, please do provide a link to the original mod, and don't just reupload them without making modifications or claim them as your own.

Thanks to the Railroader Discord Server members for helping with references!
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Hey folks! This project has been in the works for over a month now, and it features some remakes and brand new models. I'm hoping to aim for a similar level of detail for my future mods, which means they will probably take a little longer to release on average. Since I decided to leave the MILW A class for the future, I'm currently working on other mods that are easier to make than that, and hopefully the next upload, though not Milwaukee Road related, should be a good one with similar scope as the most recent UP steam pack.
21 Comments
jpzygila Jun 30 @ 7:41pm 
4th of July is come will you give us The American Freedom Train? PLEASE!
CTW7435 Jun 8 @ 8:17pm 
(uno reverses the wheel arangement) the B4L
CTW7435 Jun 8 @ 8:17pm 
L4b (oh shit thats a mountain type)
Swedish Cuirassier May 24 @ 7:20am 
I Hope their Is Pokey Im Praying for A NYC Berkshire
Pokey1751 May 19 @ 9:34pm 
was there an nyc berkshire?
CBug519 Apr 26 @ 2:02pm 
As always, amazing work!
We need coaches to match please lol
is the polar express included?