Puddlejumper Wrote:Outstanding! I have to guess the PM and NKP must have been affiliated? Maybe also with the C&O? Because all those NKP, PM, and C&O Berks sure look alike.
dave
The Nickel Plate was built by the Seney Syndicate circa 1881 to give the LSMS (NYC's western mainline) completion. When new, the NKP arguably was superior in physical plant and equipment to the LSMS. To prevent Jay Gould from acquiring it, Vanderbilt bought it and basically operated it so that it couldn't compete with the LSMS. In the teens, it became apparent that owning the NKP was going to cause a variety trust-buster type troubles for the NYC...so it was spun off to a couple real estate developers in Cleveland (the Van Swearigan brothers). The Vans, also obtained the Clover Leaf (Toledo-St. Louis line originally built as part of a 3' gauge transcontinental line) and the Lake Erie & Western (Sandusky, O-Peoria).
The Vans began to dream big and sought to consolidate the eastern roads into four groupings: NYC, PRR, B&O, and NKP. This plan failed in the courts, largely due to the Vans approach to finance, and so they were left with a number of properties. In 1929, the Vans pooled the design talent of their properties: the NKP, C&O, PM, and Erie. This pooling was the Advisory Mechanical Committee. The AMC created a watershed locomotive in 1930, the C&O T-1. This 2-10-4 practically solved every existing problem in locomotive design and effectively rendered every other locomotive on the roster of the C&O obsolete (and practically every other freight locomotive in existence). They could pull as much as the 2-8-8-2s but at high speeds. (they were later copied by the PRR during WW2 and these outlasted all of the other modern PRR power).
In 1934, the AMC designed a 2-8-4 which harnessed the magical numbers of the T-1...the Nickel Plate Berks. The PM berks were built in 1941 and were essentially copies of the NKP design except that they had slightly larger cylinders and fabricated frames (most NKP berks had cast frames). The C&O had a few different slight variations on the NKP engines, including welded 2-8-4s. As I presume you know, the RF&P had copies of them. The DT&I had baby versions of the NKP berks (smaller drivers and other reduced details). The Virginian had duplicates. The Wheeling & Lake Erie had copies. And the L&N had berks derived from the NKP engine.
Another design based on the T-1s were the C&O's H-8s. The H-8's had a 33" stroke with 67" drivers (as opposed to the 34" stroke and 69" drivers of the T-1 and berks). These 7,500HP 2-6-6-6s were truly incredible machines. The Virginian had light copies of them.
As a footnote, the Southern Railroad fell in love with Lima's Super Power around 50 years after many other roads realized its potential. After leasing the T&P #610 (a 2-10-4 with 63" drivers) for the 1977 excursion season, they acquired the C&O 2716 as the 4501 didn't quite cut it for them anymore. They were the last Class 1 to acquire super power steam locomotives! The 2716 was in pieces for an overhaul after the NS merger, and the 611 replaced her (why advertise for the competition?). 2716 got the last laugh as she pulled two weekends of trips the year after the 611 was parked. Unfortunately for her and the 765 crew, an unaccommodating boiler inspector chose to enforce new boiler rules on her and she was parked. She returned home to Kentucky around 2002.
4 AMC berks have run: NKP 759, NKP 765, PM 1225, & C&O 2716. Additionally, NKP 763 will be running in the near future. There are 6 total survivors from the NKP, 12 from the C&O, and 2 from the PM. I am unaware of any other surviving berks. Probably more than you were interested in reading, but I enjoyed typing it
I always thought that Charles Dickens may have had a hand in naming them. 
