Life-Like - 920-90056 - Locomotive, Steam, 2-8-4 Berkshire - Painted/Unlettered

Model Information: Life-Like first introduced this model in 2004; it was re-run in 2005 and 2006.

Features

• Over 50 Hand-Applied Detail Parts
• Outstanding Laser-Sharp Printing
• Authentic Painting & Lettering
• Electrical Pick-Up from Locomotive Drivers and Tender Wheels

Performance

• Slow Speed Less Than 5 Scale Miles Per Hour
• Weighted for Maximum Tractive Effort
• Blackened Nickel-Silver Wheels with RP25 Wheel Contours
• Current Draw at 12 Volts, No Load, Level Track Less Than 0.15 Amperes
• Will Operate on Code 50 Through Code 55 Track on 9 ¾” Radius Curves and #4 Turnouts
• 8-Wheel Drive & Electrical Pick-Up from Locomotive Drivers and Tender Wheels
• 5-Pole Skew-Wound Balanced Armature
• Precisely-Meshed Worm Gear and Spur Teeth
• Meets all NMRA Standards

DCC Information: This model does not have provision for an easy DCC install.
An example of DCC conversion is available on the North Raleigh Model Railroad Club web site.

Prototype History: Under the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has one unpowered leading axle, usually in a leading truck, followed by four powered and coupled driving axles, and two unpowered trailing axles, usually mounted in a bogie. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, though the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway used the name Kanawha for their 2-8-4s. In Europe, this wheel arrangement was mostly seen in mainline passenger express locomotives and, in certain countries, in tank locomotives. Locomotives of a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement were used mainly for hauling fast express freight trains on heavy freight service. They often replaced older 2-8-2 Mikados where more power was required. In turn, they were often replaced by even more powerful 2-10-4 Texas type locomotives.

In the USA, the Berkshire type's big boost came in 1934, when the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road or NKP) received its first 2-8-4s, built to a new design from the Advisory Mechanical Committee (AMC) of the Van Sweringen empire. Under the Van Sweringen umbrella were the Nickel Plate Road, Erie Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and Pere Marquette Railway.

From Wikipedia
Read more on American-Rails.com

Road Name History: Some items are designed to have their owner add whatever company marking they choose, usually in the form of decals or dry-transfers. These items are painted in a generic prototypical fashion but with all company affiliation deliberately left off.

Brand/Importer Information: Life-Like Products LLC (now Life-Like Toy and Hobby division of Wm. K. Walthers) was a manufacturer of model railroad products and was based in Baltimore, Maryland.

It was founded in the 1950s by a company that pioneered extruded foam ice chests under the Lifoam trademark. Because ice chests are a summer seasonal item, the company needed a way to keep the factory operating year round. As model railroading was becoming popular in the post-war years, they saw this as an opportunity and so manufactured extruded foam tunnels for model trains. Over the years, Life-Like expanded into other scenery items, finally manufacturing rolling stock beginning in the late 1960s. At some point in the early 1970s, Life-Like purchased Varney Inc. and began to produce the former Varney line as its own.

The Canadian distributor for Life-Like products, Canadian Hobbycraft, saw a missing segment in market for Canadian model prototypes, and started producing a few Canadian models that were later, with a few modifications, offered in the US market with US roadnames.

In 2005, the company, now known as Lifoam Industries, LLC, decided to concentrate on their core products of extruded foam and sold their model railroad operations to Wm. K. Walthers.

In June 2018, Atlas and Walthers announced to have reached an agreement under which all Walthers N scale rolling stock tooling, including the former Life-Like tooling, will be purchased by Atlas.

Read more on Wikipedia and The Train Collectors Association.