I want what I can not have (afford - same thing) an HO B I G B O Y 4014. Please Sam? Please. please. We'll all be good (for a bit) - no more Bullman comments, just COMPLIMENTS. Plus, all the other good stuff we could do/not do. Your layout is RIGHT for it and YOU would be the best to unbox, review, keep, maintain, run-by frequently, etc. And Bullman Oh please...
@@SamsTrains Here's a funny suggestion. This year or the next or anuealy if you like on your birthday run train that you want with the theme of childishness. I'm thinking for example tiny tank engines hauling HUGE goods trains, Pocket rockets ( Smokey Joe and those types ) running right off the rails, Big engines small trains and small trains hauling massive ones. A bloody Dean Goods legging it round the bend with the express with the express locomotive it stole it from chasing behind, and chuffing noises galore. Just utterly childish chaos cause with kids if it can fly off the bend and still run that's hours of entertainment. That is of course if you like it.
Ironically enough the number on this locomotive #1218 is the number of a preserved Norfolk and Western Class A 2-6-6-4 which currently resides at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. It was at one time used for excursions but that got axed in 1994 and the second restoration which was underway at the time was canceled after parts were "lost" while the work was being done. The whole reason for the program cancellation which had ten locomotives from six railways and an old US Army switcher was cited as (safety concerns, rising insurance costs, the expense of maintaining the steam locomotives, and decreasing rail network availability due to a surge in freight traffic).
It's no problem I always love talking to people who are interested to learn more about our countries railway systems. That's why I watch your channel to learn more about the British railways and the interesting models.
Ah, great to see some international variety in the layout! I appreciate the honest review, as I had planned to get one of these hoping it to be a beefy puller that could tackle a large freight train with ease, but now I am to rethink getting one, now knowing the truth. And I know I am 3 years late, but anyway, my wallet and I say many thanks from America!
also that Daylight engine is a GS4 class they pulled fast passenger trains in the 1940s and were retired in the 60s and there is still one running today!
Tedthetrain productions well yeah but 2 of the GS series still survived today the most popular one is GS-4 #4449 the other one is GS-6 #4460 and that is under still preservation in the museum of transportation.
Sam'sTrains I would recommend getting Broadway Limited's Daylight cars and MTH's Daylights cars for high end looks and details but Bachmann's and Athearn's Daylights cars are also good options as well.
The Lima Berkshire has got to be my favorite Locomotive to date (I'm from Michigan hehe) Since I love it so much, here is some Random Berkshire/Polar Express trivia! (may or may not have been mentioned) The N series 1225, only ran for 10 years originally, however... It was saved from scrap and ended up being preserved (along with its sister 1223), then eventually was restored to operation condition (1223 was not however, it was instead simply restored and permanently rests in Grand Haven Michigan) The fact that 1225 was chosen as the Polar Express in the movie was simply based on the numbering The proper pronunciation of "Berkshire" is (Berk-shy-er) but you are forgiven because you are British and I understand that Americans and British have many differences in pronunciations of certain words. The Berkshire was a mixed traffic engine, and wasn't just regulated to freight like most Americans Locomotives too my knowledge, 1218 has no known photos only 2 Berkshires still run today, being 1225 and 765, and I believe 1223 wraps up the ones that still are here today the creator/Author of the Polar Express also created Jumanji
One that I loved growing up was the 4-2-0 John Bull, a classic locomotive by Bachmann. Tiny thing about the size of your Rocket. Was a British engine customized for American needs, including a cowcatcher and a spark- catcher funnel. The model came in a set, was tender-driven, and came with three beautiful coaches - all in a beautiful deep green. Loved it.
When I was a boy I rode trains pulled by Berkshires. I loved the drama of the big engine pulling into the beautiful station in Niles, Michigan. That station can be seen in the movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and Google Earth. The train appeared from around a curve. You could see it before you could hear it. First, there was the high-up light in the middle of the massive black front. The sounds were memorable. The horn, then the rumble, then the bell, then the choo choo, then the steam hissing. As it pulled into the station the ground shook and you could hear all the mechanical noises beneath the hissing and ringing and rumbling. It was like a giant living thing and very exciting. I tried to get closer, but was always scared back. A crewman always came down and inspected the engine while passengers boarded. The tender added to the impression of mass. Great fun for a nine-year-old. I guess you could say I loved those engines.
thank you for doing a video on her! I've seen it on your layout and I've been waiting for you to review her. =D I own the DCC sound one and its amazing!!! if you like you can borrow it for a review. ; )
Hi mate, no problem! Oh wow, I bet the sound version is amazing - I might have tried to get that one instead if I'd known about it at the time! But that's okay mate, don't worry about that, though it's very very kind of you! All the best, Sam :)
Not to mention the longer distances. It is 100 miles or so to Birmingham from London, it is around 180 miles from Chicago to Grand Rapids, around 285 miles from Chicago to Detroit, around 300 miles from Chicago to St. Louis. It is more than 800 miles from Chicago to New York City. The one state of California, granted a big state compared to other states, but by no means the largest state, is larger in size than the entire UK, including Northern Ireland. California is building a high speed railway from just north of Los Angeles to just south of San Jose through the valley cities of Bakersville and Fresno a distance of 350 miles with another 70 miles not being high speed rail to finish the trip through silicon valley to San Francisco and into urban Los Angeles. Around a total of 420 miles. A similar distance from London to Edinburgh, around 420 miles. Is the UK building high speed rail all the way to Edinburgh from London? NO wonder the Flying Scotsman had to have a second water tender when she was in the US and Australia...
Not to mention the steep gradients trains here have to deal with, with the steepest grades being 4%-6% on a line in South Dakota, but with the usual being around a 3% grade. Not those 1/100 or 1/200 grades over in the UK.
Welcome to the bright side, There is a lot of us here in the UK who model American too so please don't forget us. People like me who have never been to the USA but gave up on the Hornby crap to get proper value for money. I have that loco and it is truly beautiful, I have PM 1225 because of the best ever Christmas film. I fitted sound to mine and it just adds more to this amazing model. The wheels stopping when you hold the loco is not a weak motor it is the impressive grip, it will easily pull 10 Bachmann heavy weight coaches and about 30 box cars. The only problem with Bachmann American is those plugs are very delicate and very difficult to remove, the wires will pull off easily when trying to unplug them and it is a trip to Bachmann to fix it. But It will just fit in the packaging with the plugs connected. Personally I through the box away and keep it in a proper foam lined storage box. The loco will crawl along all do but you do need a little extra power to get it moving then turn it down. This is because you need to get the flywheel and that very nice drive moving, I think it is actual a toothed belt drive and metal gears. So very quiet and less gearing to get in the way. If you want ANY info on American models please let me know. Ps: yes it is a smoke box and the silver grey is known as gun metal grey or graphite grey.
Lima super power, the introduction of huge fireboxes was a leap forward in locomotive design ninety years ago. Power and speed in one impressive package, absolutely magnificent. 😉🇦🇺
Hi Sam, in regard to Australian locos, I've only been able to find HO diesel electrics and some rolling stock. If you're able to find some steam locos in HO or OO (Especially from the Zig Zag railway) that would be awesome. I drove past the Zig Zag just this weekend and they're referbishing it after years of it being deserted from bush fires in 2013 that destroyed some of the line and destroyed some locos. If it helps there is a link to their website with some more info about the locos. www.zigzagrailway.com.au/FireOct13.php Thankyou for having such high quality videos. :)
As much as I would love to see a loco from Australia, I don't think they would be in your price range. If you can justify the $600 Aud to drop on one of our locos then go ahead and get a C38 Pacific. 3801 is arguably our most renowned loco. There are other good ones such as the VR R Class or C36 but these too extremely expensive. Diesels are slightly cheaper (still $300 Aud at least) but they don't really have the same touch that our steamers had. If you did however, look for a NSWGR 48, 44 or 442 as these are the most common to be modeled and are usually the cheapest classes. Go with a second hand model from either Eureka, Precision Models or Auscision if your looking for quality. Good luck finding one in your price range. Several years in and I still haven't found mine. Regards, Michael
Fantastic review! You did it justice! For US rolling stock for that Berkshire, she pulled freight with occasional passenger. For freight, get some more boxcars like the first one behind the Berkshire, about that length and type. Also, look for US refrigerator boxcars (sometimes called plug door boxcars or 40 foot reefers). Short single dome tank cars and short 2 bay hoppers will also blend nicely! Great job!
Thanks so much Ed, I will do my best to get some more US rolling stock - I've already bought some hopper cars, which hopefully might look nice with these! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
In the video you mentioned the s15 and I finally got for my birthday along with the l1. Luckily both locos don't have anything wrong with them unlike your versions which I was very happy about. I have to thank you for both reviews since I wouldn't have discovered them otherwise. Keep up the good work, Otis : )
Hi Otis, that's great news - you got lucky there then - I always seem to get unlucky, haha! That's no problem mate, thank you very much for watching them, Cheers, Sam :)
Hello Sam, I love it when you review American locomotives. We Americans love our trains as much as the Brits do. Some terminology we use in America... it is indeed called a smoke box, and the freight cars that the Berkshire was hauling we do call box cars. Although boxcars on American railroads are becoming extinct as they're being replaced by Intermodal containers. And we need large locomotives and Freight cars because over 30% of our freight is hauled by railroads compared to 8% hauled in Europe. Really enjoyed the Berkshire Sam looking forward to the next locomotive review. Cheers. Oh and one more thing those things you call vacuum pipes they're actually air hose pipes for the air brakes.
This is very nice, Sam. I had a Bershire myself, but it was too big for the curves on my layout. I even kitbashed it a bit to see if I could create a fictional locomotive. But parts started to fall off and eventually it's now a display piece. Maybe one day I can get that thing running again. #1218 was built by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio USA on 12/6/1941 for the Pere Marquette Railroad. It later became Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad #2652 when the C&O took over the Pere Marquette. It was out of service by 1956 when the C&O retired it's last steam locomotive. It was sadly scrapped.
Hi Vincent, sorry to hear that mate - but mine acts up sometimes too, it really doesn't like certain curves! Thanks very much for the history on that particular engine anyway, much appreciated! Cheers, Sam :)
Huh, Its actually quite fun seeing you do reviews for more countries then the UK! I personaly have a UK Layout in progress. But i do have a love for the US steamers!
Thanks so much for the comment - yeah it really does, I was amazed by it to be honest! I will absolutely do that - I'm looking forward to it! :D Cheers, Sam :)
Just one more thing. I noticed that DCC is prominently displayed on the box. I would not have known what that meant if it wasn't for your excellent tutorial you produced recently. I haven't had an HO set in 60yrs., so there is much I have missed. Thanks again. Pete S. USA
Thanks a lot Peter, glad you enjoyed the tutorial - manufacturers often fail to explain DCC properly on each product - they should do really! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
That's quite different for your channel! I have the Nickel Plate Road version of this locomotive, which is a class S-2. The PM version is pretty much the same design, just with a slightly different cowcatcher (Vertical bars vs. the NKP's sideways ones) and of course different liveries and whistles. Having ridden the real one once before, I am a big fan of this class and I'm so pleased to see other people outside the US having a look at it! Although for me, this model isn't very practical since my layout has to use 18" radius track and this loco's rigid frame and very loose pilot bogie tend to prevent it from running. Still, it is DCC, so it can always visit club layouts with my on-order Hornby APT-P and Birney streetcar :D
Thanks mate, yeah it was a nice change! That sounds fantastic too - I bet that is impressive - and blimey, you're very lucky to have ridden one, I bet that was an experience! Yes I've had that issue too - it won't run on my outer line in one direction, because of just that! All the best, Sam :)
It certainly was! If I could compare the sound to a UK based loco, I'd say it's more like a Britannia or a Black Five, I.E. a very loud pair of cylinders! I understand that they're intended for bigger layouts, but the front pair of driving wheels could do with some more side play. And possibly a spring to keep that front bogie on! At least it doesn't do what my old Bachmann N&W 'J' does, where the loco itself is actually fine on small radius curves, but the handrails on the tender just barely catch the side of the cab enough to derail the tender and whatever you're pulling.
Excellent job there are several examples of preserve Berkshires here in the states that occasionally make it to the mainline they were used in both freight and passenger service and you are correct with your terms they are currently restoring one here at the Kentucky railway museum and nickel plate 765 runs in excursion service thanks for the American review
Thanks a lot! That's good to hear - I managed to get some hopper wagons to run with it, but only six though - so it might look silly, I don't know! Thanks very much for watching, Sam :)
Horrah! A proper American loco :) Most American locos are built for strength and agility but British locos are mostly built for speed. My own personal favorite American loco is a "Shay", or a very unique logging loco widely used in America, there even is one all the way in Taiwan! (Where I'm from) But as always, love your videos and of course, HO is a slightly shorter in height than OO loco. On a personal note, I haven't been watching your videos for a while due to some extra schoolwork to be done just to save money to buy a Hornby Starter set. (I never bought the Bachman Thomas set in the end) I decided to buy the Hornby Mixed freight set since it was the closest and cheapest option for a hornby DCC. But as always, love the reviews and I do like you starting to review other countries locos, wonderful! Good day, BigAllan
Hi Allan, thanks so much for the comment - yeah I think you're definitely right about that! I'll have a look at the Shay, and see what it's like, thanks for that! So glad you like my videos, and good choice with the Mixed freight set - that always looked a good one to me! Thanks again mate, Sam :)
Praying for a Christmas special with this one this year as it is the Polar Express inspiration. I know it’s a long time away yet but that would be excellent.
Berkies! I plan on getting 765, a Nickle Plate Berkshire. US railroad terminology is similar to the UK's if not the same. There are some differences: guards are conductors, chimneys are smokestacks, handrails are called grab irons, railways are called railroads (but we're using railway more)... there's a wiki article on it. But those are the main ones. If you use UK terminology, US watchers will likely know what you mean. The Daylight loco is a 4-8-4 Northern type, it looks like one of the older Bachmanns as it's not shiny like the new one with an actual coupler at the front. The UK didn't have any sadly, but some countries in the mainland did. Germany, France, Russia, and Spain in particular, they were used mostly in the US though.
Hi! Thanks so much for the comment, and for some of that terminology - I will try to remember that! Thanks for the info on the daylight too, that'll be useful when I come to reviewing her! All the best, Sam :)
Nice review. I have plans on buying the Bachmann Pere Marquette 1225 and and Nickel Plate Road 765 Berkshires soon. Another locomotive that I will get soon will be Bachmann Southern 2-8-2 #4501 which I definitely recommend you to review. It's a very popular locomotive here in the US and I would love to see you make a review video on it. :)
Hi Benny, ooh nice that sounds good mate - good luck with your new purchases! Okay mate, I'll take a look at those - thanks for the tip! Cheers, Sam :)
Ok. Also, there is a really great documentary about 4501 called "And Then There Was One" which provides some great information on the locomotive's history.
Hello Sam, That's is one fantastic review of the Bachmann HO Scale American Pere Marquette Berkshire Steam Locomotive, the details looks so cool and so is running performance. I do not just like our British Steam Locomotives, I also love the foreign steam locomotives including the American ones. Some British Railway enthusiasts say they are ugly looking, but I don't, they have a lot of character. I also like seeing the Bachmann HO Scale Southern Pacific GS-4 Streamlined Steam Locomotive, Daylight in action. Since you don't have a lot of HO Scale American Rolling Stock, how about buying a few Boxcars, some Flat Cars, a few Tankers, some open wagons and a Caboose, it's an American Brake Van! I think the Bachmann Southern Pacific GS-4 Steam Locomotive No.4449 Daylight could use some Bachmann Southern Pacific Daylight Coaches. I found a Bachmann Spectrum 89135 Southern Pacific Coach on sale on eBay in America, there are 3 available. These are the only coaches I can find on eBay. Here is a link! m.ebay.co.uk/itm/BACHMANN-SPECTRUM-89135-SP-DAYLIGHT-COACH-1985-HO-SCALE-NEW-IN-BOX-/112376930144?hash=item1a2a2fdf60%3Ag%3AfEcAAOSwIUNXFsoR&_trkparms=pageci%253Afa8e15ea-25c5-11e7-9e0b-74dbd180210a%257Cparentrq%253A8b5d28ba15b0a990f38643bfffffeea5%257Ciid%253A2 You buy 2 or all 3 coaches! Again fantastic review! 10/10 5 stars ⛤⛤⛤⛤⛤
Hi Jordan, thanks very much for your comment always - glad you enjoyed seeing this for a change! Definitely - I think some of them certainly do have a lot of character! Thanks for the suggestions too - I already have a caboose, and I've just ordered some hopper cars - so hopefully that should make a nice start! Thanks very much for the link too, I'll check that out, All the best, Sam :)
I like the fact that you did your best to fit the rolling stock to the engine and it's nationality. I think a video based on cabooses would be awesome, by the way. You can find a lot of cheaper ho scale cabooses online. Either way, great job!
The Berkshire is a classic locomotive. :) There are A LOT of other unique locomotives in America that would be great additions for your awesome collection.
Fantastic locomotive, a bit of a beast.!Beautiful model especially for a hundred pounds. Have you seen pictures by O. Winston Link. They show these monsters of engineering in the landscape they were designed for. Great video Sam. Oscar
Hi Oscar, thanks very much mate - yeah I was very very happy with this one! No I don't think so - I'll have to look those up, thanks a lot! All the best, Sam :)
Funny thing about our locomotives, our couplers are called "right hand" couplers because it's shaped like a right hand, that's how they interlock with each other, and ours lock together automatically once connected, but the air hoses still need to be hooked manually
In fact, meet our living legend of the rails trn.trains.com/~/media/images/railroad-news/news-wire/2016-and-prior/2016/01/844.png?h=404&la=en&mw=600&w=600 The Union Pacific's own 844, a hard working 4-8-4 steam locomotive, and a beautiful one at that ^^
There is quite a bit I could say about this one but I'll try to condense it. I had my own model of a similar Berkshire from Rivarossi, unfortunately at the time I barely knew what I was doing so when I took it apart to see how it worked it didn't go back together. Still upset with my past self over that one. Some day I'll replace it, maybe with a Bachmann one like this. One of the preserved ones is about an hour's drive from me on a route I occasionally take on the way to vacations - I think I actually emailed you a couple pictures of it. And I think 1225 is preserved in operational conditions and doing some excursions - though maybe not so many this year or even most of next. Ciao Sam!
Thanks so much for sharing - and I know the feeling - I ruined one of my first proper models too - it's all part of the learning! Cool that you live so close to a real one though! :O Happy New Year - Sam :)
@@SamsTrains Some time on now and I ended up buying another Rivarossi Berkshire... actually 2 so I could cobble together one working one in pretty good condition overall. Coincidentally it was one of the first models I ran at my new house, so I can say at least of a couple weeks ago it's still working fine.
I usually hear a lot of comments on how big & ugly US locomotives are, which I think may be a bit true for locomotives made at the tail end of the steam era (I know some people might disagree with me on that). But there are a plethora of brightly colored and lavishly detailed locomotives from the US, but it seems the massive behemoths tend to be more popular. I'm more interested in turn-of-the-century and earlier locomotives myself, the high boilers and massive drivers; coupled with (no pun intended) extravagant paint schemes, and dripping with gold trim really look great in my opinion. I'm not a big fan of British rolling stock myself, but I can definitely see the appeal of them, very clean looking and simple but elegant paint schemes. I just don't get the same feeling from them as I would seeing a Mason Bogey climbing the Rockies, or the Hiawatha thundering it's way through the countryside. I guess a lot of it comes down to what you grew up with or what you're used to. For me at least, American trains give a bit of sense of adventure, much of the land is still untamed wilderness even to-day, and seeing a train rolling through that is very beautiful to me.
I’ve been on the Berkshire 1225. That engine is the one the polar express is based off. I’ve also been in its cab.I’ve also seen the 1223 in Grand haven in Michigan. It doesn’t run anymore though.
I'd love to see UP 4014 grace your layout sometime! As for rolling stock, basically just browse American eBay for HO freight cars, that 2-8-4 was designed for mixed freight and would look fine with a string of random US freightcars behind it.
I never understood why people hate big American steam locomotives. You need the extra power for the terrain. Like the Union Pacific 4000 class was built to conquer the Wasatch mountains range in the west. Obviously something the size of a U.K. locomotive couldn't dream of making a journey like that. I guess people have their own preferences.
I have a Rivarossi Big Boy in HO scale I absolutely love it and it dwarfs my other OO gauge locomotive makes my models of Tornado, Duchess of Sutherland and Duke of Gloucester look like LMS Jitneys 😄
I have actually recently bought a Berkshire and I have noticed some things that have been Improved on the model the 1st they changed the color of the headlights or even changed them to led the 2nd thing they changed is the motor the motor has more power in fact it Hase so much power it can easily wheel slip and the 3rd change was that they made it a dcc loco EDIT I hope this was helpful for some people
Hi Sam, OMG now your into American! There goes the budget😎. Love the Berkshire! If you want really big look at the Big Boys Locos. I Have a small collection of American Diesels and rolling stock and generally you will be impressed with the detail of the models depending on the manufacturer chosen, The SP Daylight has a lovely rake of colour co ordinated coaches to go with it if you can get hold of them. May need as mentioned elsewhere to check the CV values of the Berkshire models chip, or its drive gear? Great video again.!
haha yep! There goes the budget! Glad you liked the Berkshire, and yeah I'd love a big boy - if I could ever afford one! I did see some of those daylight coaches, but they were a bit expensive, as expected probably! I did do some messing about with the decoder, I even reset it entirely - nothing really seemed to help unfortunately :/ Thanks a lot for the comment, Sam :)
Sam, such a beautiful review, now that you have this, you should get a polar express HO set, i know Lionel (basically Hornby but American) has a good Polar Express engine and cars
There is also another berkshire you might want to look at, its called the nickle plate road 765 she has been a lot of places in america and is also famous like the pere marquette
Don't know if you're watching the comments, Sam, but: The lack of power can be fixed, it's not the motor, but the decoder. I have both 1218 and 1225, 1218 running with the decoder taken out. Plenty of power that way. Don't know what 1225 will do, haven't played with it that much, and I usually kill the sounds. The two pin plug, I can almost guarantee that will have the wires pulling out very soon. The plug is hard to get to when it's seated, it's inevitable that sometime or another, it will get caught trying to remove the plug, and a replacement isn't cheap. 1218, will be probably hard wired, not as convenient maybe, but better than paying for a new cable and having that go belly up too soon. They're not soldered, but crimped into the sockets, pull out with almost no force put on them. But my feeling is replacing the decoder with one with a bit more capacity will take care of the lack of power if you really don't want to go to DC.
Hi Rich, that's a very good point! A few months ago I de-chipped this loco, and the power was immediately much improved - it's a real shame the decoders aren't capable of putting out enough power to give the motor some real torque - ridiculous really! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Pere Marquette was the original prototype loco for the movie: the polar express, but with polar express painted on it's tender and the loco number not on the cab sides. Lionel have done O scale models of the polar express, but still include Pere Marquette's number: 1225 which logically for some reason responds to December 25th which most of us know as christmas day, Lionel have been attempting to get back into Ho scale by doing the Ho scale polar express with the prototype movie details instead of the real life details, but still keeping Pere Marquette's number. Lionel also included the polar express coaches in ho just like they did with their o scale versions, interestingly, the lionel polar express loco has better performance and speed than the bachmann Pere Marquette as noted by another reviewer. The polar express film is definitely a good movie to add to your christmas list.
Hi! Thanks very much for the comment - it's very interesting that Lionel have made an H0 polar express - I'll have to check that one out! But yeah, it's an awesome film - I do own it, and we watch it every Christmas eve! Thanks a lot for all that information, Cheers, Sam :)
I purchased a Bachmann Consolidation (2-8-0) in N scale. I think of the Consolidation as small. Recently I have swapped my N scale for Japanese stock. An EF66 is a bo-bo-bo electric that is relativly large, only being slightly shorter than the modern EF210 and EF510, which are also large engines for them. And they're dwarfed by the Consolidation. Our trains are really big...
