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Proto2000 Berkshire is here

Well, in Australia, that is. Sorry if that;s old news. Berk (OK, Kanawha to all you C&O fans) sells locally at about $300AU depending on where you shop and who gives the discount. About $220US I guess.

I haven't seen it yet, a jubilant friend picked his up today and rang me to gloat - er, inform me. :) Runs well, very quiet, all separately applied detail but he's not so happy with the glossy gun metal finish on the drivers and motion. It will be subjected to an intense scrute at our round-robin running night next Tuesday.

Steve Newcastle Oz

Reply to
Steve Magee
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The Berkshires are here, too. Overall, I'd give it a B+. The good: it certainly looks like a Berhsire as to shape and "sit:. The detailing is separately applied, as are all pipes. Cap aprom and cab-to-tender distance all good, as is tender.

The not-so-bad: Engines 717 and 738 are the first NKP run. They are dated in their detailing to late 1940s i.e the models have the high number boards but no Mars light and no supplemental turbogenerators to power the Mars light. Also, the locos are solid black, not a drop of graphite on the smokebox or firebox (this is odd). Finally, the running gear is, well, different. The counterwieghts on the drivers are case so as to extend fomr diver center whete they not-quite overlap the wheeledge. Their outer edge should stop at the inner edge of the tire. The finish on the drivers is ashiny dark chrome--takes some getting used to....

But my overall impression is that these are good models which should get better as future runs appear.

Reply to
Ivan Abrams

To kill that finish and give the drivers a good lubrication all at the same time, I recommend NeoLube by PBL.

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Reply to
Frank Eva

I agree. Comparing to my 0-8-0, it is like they forgot to apply the flat black paint to the driver centers. Another poster commented on the main driver counter weights. I put my P2K berk next to my old Rivarossi, and it almost looks like Life-Like copied the Rivarossi drivers, which have the same too large counterweights, apparently as a consequence of their thin metal tires on plastic driver centers. GQ

Reply to
Geezer

Well, I haven't received mine yet. I'll put it up against my PFM and see which looks better. When it gets here. Gene ABV61-1043.001.HCB

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"Skinny Dipping and Other Stories" On the web at
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or
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and look for "Into Joy From Sadness" soon.

Reply to
STEAM GENE

There is a pretty good amateur review at:

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If magazines were that thorough I might go back to buying them!

Steve Newcastle Oz

Reply to
Steve Magee

So where is mine? I think I need to get on the phone. Gene ABV61-1043.001.HCB

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"Skinny Dipping and Other Stories" On the web at
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or
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and look for "Into Joy From Sadness" soon.

Reply to
STEAM GENE

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