The A-1 impressed the railroad so much that it ordered forty-five Berkshires for its own. The prototype, called the A-1, was broken in on the Boston & Albany Railroad’s Berkshire Hills, given extra tonnage and pitted against a Mikado for testing. Thus was born the 2-8-4 and the Super-power concept of “horsepower at speed” was incarnated. That, in turn, necessitated the addition of a trailing truck and two wheels to support it.ĭuring and after World War I, the Mikado became a temporary solution for the need for speed and pulling power as earlier steam locomotive designs proved effective at moving heavy freight tonnage, but their tractive effort suffered as a result of the cumbersome weight and wheel arrangement.Īfter experimentation with the firebox size on the Mikado design, Woodard designated that an entirely new wheel arrangement was necessary to support the increasing need for horsepower and enlarged firebox.
Woodard, the Berkshire was an expansion of the 2-8-2 Mikado-type locomotive design, which gained increased horsepower and heating surface with the inclusion of a larger firebox. Named for the mountainous terrain in which it was proven, the 2-8-4 Berkshire-type locomotive, with two pony wheels, eight driving wheels, and four trailing wheels, became the first embodiment of the “Super-power” locomotive design that would change the course of locomotive development in the United States.ĭesigned by Lima Locomotive Works engineer William E.
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