The RARE MTH New York Central A2 Berkshire

[@marslightmodeling1753]

That PFA sequence is incredible! Very clearly a recording of 765 from the 90’s as the passing train! MTH was putting out some awesome stuff in the 2000’s.

[@erictrainman]

Absolutely! Golden era of o gauge IMO. The quality of the tooling for the time is too notch too. Hard to capture it all behind a camera

[@garyruark9506]

It seems like an engine Trainworld would commission from MTH if MTH has the tooling.

[@williamkolina3988]

Your channel is terriblely underrated.you have a beautiful layout and great collection

[@erictrainman]

Thank you so much. It’s hard to find time to enjoy the trains and make videos but hoping to do more in the future

[@williamkolina3988]

@@erictrainman work and the real world have a habit and getting in the way. Catch 22 No work no trains

[@ChrissTrainsandThings]

Awesome engine! I enjoyed seeing in the layout here and the video clips with throwback scenery footage were great!

[@WAL_DC-6B]

A few interesting facts about the actual P&LE's A-2a Berkshires include the cylinders along the firebox side where "smoke-consumers" that blew air over the fire to burn carbon in the form of soot that would otherwise have gone up the smokestack (this feature helped meet the strict demands of air pollution control in western Pennsylvania .... a "green" engine in more ways than one!), the boilers had welded shells (versus riveted), the axles had friction bearings instead of roller bearings (most freight and passenger steam locomotives built in the U.S. after 1936 used roller bearings) and the cabs were an all-weather design. This information is from the book, "P&LE's Berkshires" by Jack Polaritz. And yes, I too have this MTH A-2a model. I like it for its just plain, brute strength looks. A true freight steam locomotive that saw much activity amongst the vast steel mills that used to exist in the Pittsburgh, PA and Youngstown, OH areas. Nice presentation on this unusual MTH locomotive and thanks for sharing!

[@mslickstrains]

Looks awesome! I hope they still have the tooling and re release it. I love that whistle!

[@erictrainman]

Agreed gotta love that whistle. I may put it in some other Mth engines

[@termitevomit]

Those P&LE A2's were the last steam locos built by Alco,the tenders were built by Lima due to Alco closed it's steam loco tender assembly facilities in favor of diesel loco subassembly production in the same shop floor space! I'm looking to add one of the Glacier Park Models ho scale A2's to my collection.

[@erictrainman]

Thank you for the history! I wasn’t aware, that’s terrific. They’re certainly unique engines

[@CountryBunkersTrains]

She’s glorious!! Love it! From what I hear, they were quite a flop when introduced/offered. Coarse here we are years later wanting what wasn’t wanted when originally offered LOL

[@erictrainman]

Thought you might like this one! I didn’t know that on the history but makes sense. With lower production numbers I’m sure that’s why they’re harder to find now than others

[@davidstrainsandlego]

I've always like nyc berks

[@erictrainman]

Gotta love them!

[@sirbarongaming2138]

The only issue I have with this model, the tender's connection cable is too long and obtrusive.

[@dougsusie2319]

I hope that Lionel picked up this tooling. I'm glad to see that they got the Pennsy I1's 2-10-0 tooling and are producing them this year. I never understood why Lionel never produced one because they represented the Pennsy pretty well. The Pennsy had 598 of these bad boys the most produced loco for the railroad. I wish they had done a Q2 which MTH did a fine model of. I don't know where you live but I grew up about five blocks from the P&LE main line coming through my town of Beaver, Pa. which I'd about 23 miles from Pittsburgh and the P&LE McKees Rocks yards and shops, a lot of which is still there. I was born in 58 so I missed steam by a few years but I couldn't tell you how many P&LE diesel coal drags I saw blasting through town. The school I attended from 1964-72 sat just maybe 100 yards from the mainline and I saw so many freights passing by as I daydreamed looking out the windows. The mainline coming out of Monaca crossed the Ohio River and and into Beaver. The bridge that crosses the Ohio is iconic to this day with bridge building engineer's. It opened in 1909 and built to last 1,000 years and I believe it and its the only railroad bridge in the world to incorporate three different spans in one bridge. I see this bridge on a weekly basis and has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and it still blows me away everytime I see it. What's crazy is six blocks in the other direction from my home was the Pennsy mainline and I always got to see so many F and E units and their B units. Conway yards which is just about three miles and was and still is huge. As a kid I remember being in my parents car and passing the round house and sanding facilities and it was like F and E unit heaven and many early GEEPS to. Boy to see that again. Ok, this is supposed yo be about the A_2A. The P&LE ordered seven of these and they were the last large steamers produced by ALCO for an American mainline railroad. The P&LE took delivery of the seven in 1948. This was a bad decision because by 1953 mainline steam was done on the P&LE. I have a book on P&LE Berkshire's and most of it is dedicated to the A_2A's. There are so many photos of these locos blasting off of the bridge and through my town and the opposite direction heading towards Monaca. When these locos ran good they were great but they also had a lot of problems. These locos could dig in and handle 8,000 ton coal drags unassisted. There's a lot of photos in the book of these at the McKees Rocks yards and photos if the first one delivered there. Being surrounded by trains my whole life and my mother had five brothers and all had big Lionel layouts and a lot of my cousins were older so they had the good stuff from the late forties and early to late fifties, its no wonder I'm a train nut.I ended up with the trains from a couple of my uncles, some great stuff. I started collecting in around 72 until around 2008 or so. The last big purchase I made was the C&O Allegheny and it was nothing but trouble, after that, I was out and the prices now are outrageous for top end Lionel and from what I seeing on u tube there's a lot of complaining going on about Lionel's quality control and servicing. If you're spending upwards of close to two grand on a large steamer it shouldn't come with broken pieces and all kind of operating issues. I'm considering an I1sa with coast to coast tender but we'll see Love your A_2A's and must admit that I'm a little envious. One more I wished Lionel had produced was the Erie Triplex. MTH killed it. I even considered buying one just to display. A true beauty. Happy Railroading.

[@erictrainman]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

I really hope MTH still has the A-2 tooling. Some of Lionel’s stuff has been made somewhat crappy lately.

[@erictrainman]

That’s fair. Sounds like from other comments they do still own the molds

[@henryszubielski8601]

MTH really did some beautiful and different locomotives in the 2000's. This one, the unshrouded N&W J, Western Maryland M-2 and several more... They were great doing locomotives no one else did. Great find! Congratulations and Enjoy!

[@erictrainman]

They did and as someone who grew up in the period I remember them being launched. Always wanted several of them

[@henryszubielski8601]

@@erictrainman Same for me. The Western Maryland M-2 and H-9 are at the top of the list. N&W unshrouded J and the A, possibly a Y would be next.

[@erictrainman]

@@henryszubielski8601 I’ve been fortunate to find several of my “wanted” Mth engines. But a M2 is probably next on my list followed by a Yellowstone. Such beautiful models

[@rick1716]

I assume in real life the tender was right next to the engine. Do you know if it had a mechanical stocker? Awesome video and engine! 👍🏻

[@erictrainman]

Yes absolutely. The prototype has a smaller gap. This is wider so it can run on tighter curves.

[@GoldStandardTrains]

That is a nice engine. If Lionel did release it, I think I definitely would be a buyer. I never knew how much a Banshee smokes until I saw this engine run. lol. Thank you for sharing.

[@erictrainman]

Thanks for watching! Hope we still this tooling used again one way or another

[@raysrails2164]

Wow love the tender.!

[@erictrainman]

It’s so unique!

[@sawilson56]

Love the engine! By the way, if you ever want to sell that blue comet (and maybe the passenger cars) let me know. I've been looking for that engine for a while, the updated Legacy version that is

[@erictrainman]

Thank you. Holding on to the blue comet but I appreciate it. Hope Lionel reruns them soon!

[@sawilson56]

@@erictrainman I sure hope so. I have the Alton limited, I would love to get a blue comet

[@williamruss8830]

wow thank you so much for the info on this loco i love everything about steam.and your layout s amazing

[@erictrainman]

Thank you very much!

[@deweyhall712]

BIG STEAM live here.

[@PainesvilleRailfans]

I talked to rich at TCA. I said that i know this coming from one person may not sound much, but I made a comment on how it would be wise to do the A2 berk again as well as the unshouded Js. Both only done once. It would be a good money maker (highly sought after) to help get some cash flow for the company. He said they still have the molds, and that i wasnt the first person to mention about it that day. I would imagine the molds are buried and that we hope one day they will listen and run them again.

[@erictrainman]

Interesting. That’s great to know. Would be great to see these redone with whistle steam.

[@Woodknotta]

Just found mine! Anything I should know before I get it here and run it? Quirks or other things you’ve noticed since owning this model?

[@erictrainman]

Nope, they run great

[@johnpandolfino8663]

Saweeet 👌

[@erictrainman]

Agreed!

[@mrsms-nt4lu]

I can watch him every time