Description
The Lima A-1 started the steam "Super Power" era. Looking for heavier freight power for the grades at Charlton Summit and through the Berkshire Hills, the Boston & Albany turned to Lima Locomotive Works, which took its "super 2-8-2" design for the New York Central and added a four-wheel trailing truck under a bigger firebox — creating the first 2-8-4 in the United States and giving the wheel arrangement its name: the Berkshire. Lima built 25 A-1a's and 20 A-1b's for the B&A in 1926. With 63-inch drivers, 240 psi boiler pressure and 28 × 30 in cylinders, they moved heavier trains over the line more than an hour faster than the Mikados they replaced, and they ran until all were scrapped between 1949 and 1957. This is Broadway Limited's first production run of the A-1, built as a Brass-Hybrid in several prototypical appearances.
This version depicts Lima's own demonstrator, Lima Locomotive Works #1, as it appeared in the 1920s — the prototype A-1 that Lima built in 1925 and sent to the Boston & Albany for road tests before the B&A placed its orders.
The Paragon4 version carries BLI's Paragon4 Sound & Control system: synchronized puffing smoke with chuff sound, variable smoke intensity and timing, an integral dual-mode DCC decoder with Back EMF for the best slow-speed running in DC and DCC, and accurate Boston & Albany A-1 sounds.
Model features: Brass-Hybrid construction — hand-crafted brass boiler, cab and tender body on heavy diecast locomotive and tender chassis for serious pulling power · Precision drive with 5-pole skew-wound can motor and rubber traction tires · Premium paint with authentic schemes · Prototypically accurate models for 1930s, early-1940s and post-1946 appearances · Separately applied handrails, grab irons, ladders, piping, cab glass, whistle, brass bell, markers, numberboards and air tanks · Separately controllable headlight, numberboard lights and cab light · Factory-installed engineer and fireman · Recommended minimum radius 18".
📦 Preorder details:
Expected arrival: Spring 2027 (see the BLI Official Delivery Schedule for the latest dates).
25% deposit required at checkout, balance charged when the product arrives.
Preorder cancellation: 7 days from order date; deposit non-refundable after that.
Browse more from Broadway Limited Imports, see the full BLI HO Berkshire 2-8-4 run and our HO scale collection, or see all preorders. Ships from Oakville, Ontario. Contact us for special orders.