Berkshire Pack V2

-----===== 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 H