1st Run - Lionel 115th Anniversary Berk

Nice! The detail on the drivers really stands out.

How does the whistle sound?

Chris,

That looks great.

I hope it came with a pair of white cloth gloves for fingerprint free handling.

Really sharp!

Mike

Yup, it came with gloves! And wrapped in what looks like wax paper. There are some scratches on the finish (on the whistle dome and especially the tender between the rivets.  It looks like its at the height of the Styrofoam packing.)  A little disappointing but you really need to look to find them.  

The whistle sounds great.  I don't know why I didn't blow it.  I think it's the 765 Berk whistle.  The whistle steam is also very strong. 

A fantastic looking locomotive, on a fantastic looking layout!  Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Chris,

That looks beautiful, thanks for posting the video.

Alex

Wow, what a great looking loco.

Thanks for posting this video of your wonderful and very impressive Steam Engine. We hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving.

Chris,

    You can bring that shinny engine to the Black Diamond and run it any time you want, don't forget you are a honorary member (and only one). Looks great, smokes great and great sounds.

    Have a great Thanksgiving

JohnB

FINALLY...a video that doesn't have someone laying on the whistle like they never heard a whistle before!!! The sound of that loco is out of this world! Thanks for NOT blowing the whistle!!!

Chris that is one sharp looking locomotive and it looks great running down the rails.

Good luck and enjoy!

Super....enjoy!

Peter

Chris,  your video is great - Liked the way you followed her along and gave us a good long look!

Thanks c.sam and everyone else.  It's little tough walking sideways down a narrow aisle and trying to hold the camera still.  I hope the swaying didn't make anyone nauseous.   

Chris,

Great Video.  What type of camera did you use?

Lol.That would look pretty cool! 

Amazingly, I have two extras. Maybe some dealers didn't take theirs. Any offers? 

Steve........ 

Motorola (Verizon) Droid Turbo.   I usually use my Sony HD cam when taking videos but I forgot it and went with what I had.  

Sorry Mike, I only have 50.

I have to find a bunch of silver cars to pull behind it.

Any suggestions anyone?

Beautiful engine. Makes me wish they had done that with a set of F3's, in war bonnet.

WOW!!! I knew this LOCO would look impressive,but I had no idea they would do the drivers also.Forgive me for asking,but how much was the MSRP on this?I'm guessing $1,500.00+  I am right? What a train.That is a SHOWPIECE!!!!

Amazingly, I have two extras. Maybe some dealers didn't take theirs. Any offers? 

Steve........ 

fitting to have the Lionel logo plastered on the tender as this is one of the ugliest things i've ever seen running on rails.  kudos to the first person who weathers one.

Agree with DorfJ2, there is something for everyone. Tastes are different. The new Visonline GG1 was / is getting hammered but for those folks that DON'T have any GG!'s from any manufacturer, this maybe their first purchase of one. I for one, have a very old beat up one that I picked up 2nd hand. Works nicely, but not modern. I may buy it only because I don't have one. No, it is not a JCL version, MTH, or one from another manufacturer, but if I like is I will buy it regardless of what the OGR forum members say.

Chris has a nice engine, one of 113 that made it to the market. He runs what he buys. He's an operator, it wont sit on a shelf. Enjoy the engine, you might never see one in operation. 

MSRP was $1999.99, and that's what most dealers were also advertising as their selling price.  I noticed one dealer here is already playing games with their pricing at $2,500.   No thanks... if I didn't pre-order one at $2K, I ain't springing for it now for an extra $500 -- especially when some other dealers aren't moving inventory at their original asking price.

This is a sweet-looking locomotive though.  Two ways Lionel could have made it better...  

• Lose the 115th Anniversary logo and just have the tender read "Lionel Lines" like the 100th Anniversary Gold Hudson.  Would have been much more timeless AND classic that way.  While I could live with the circle-L logo from post-war days, I detest the Lionel lettering font from MPC days.  Combining the two was a graphics design blunder in spades.  Leave the anniversary stuff for the catalog and box -- not the product itself. 
• Offer matching heavyweight passenger cars.  Still a possibility, but I doubt they'll do it.

David

I thought this had a production run of 250, two of which Lionel kept.

David

Yup.  MSRP only.  No "Early Buy" program.  I ordered it as soon as it was announced, before pricing was available.  I was disappointed when I was invoiced that it was full MSRP but "ya pays ya money and takes ya chances"

I agree with the logo but what are you going to do?

As for what to run it with I'm at a loss.  I'm thinking of trying it with the Lionel Century Club Empire State Express cars.  I don't think we'll see anything matching. They've only released two cars types for the Gold Berk and that's been disappointing.   

As for liking it or not.  To each their own.  I have many engines that are very prototypical and a bunch of gold and now silver ones.   I enjoy running them, especially at our shows, where the kids just love them.  

For the ultimate in ugly lash-ups I'm thinking of running the 115th, 1225 PE Berk, 765 Berk and Gold Berk together. 

Bottom Line -- Everyone should just remember 2 words......."Toy Trains"

Chris

Very cool engine!

Al

Definitely a sharp looking locomotive.

Although traditional sized, the 2015 Toy Fair and 2015 Dealer Appreciation boxcars would look great behind this locomotive.

Ed, when did that 2015 Dealer Appreciation boxcar come out???  Do you have a 6-dash SKU for it?  Inquiring minds would like to know.  I did a quick search of the Charles Ro website, but nothing came up (yet).

Dang... seems everytime I glance at the forum these days, there's something interesting to buy!!!    I'm not a big fan of that 115th Anniversary logo for sure, but I've been collecting these dealer appreciation cars since the series started.  So I just may need to bite the bullet on this one.  I'll just look to the left-hand side of the boxcar. 

David

Just noticed a bunch of the 2015 Dealer Appreciation Cars on eBay... SKU is 6-81497.  Found one reasonably priced at $50.  The rest are the usual game-playing with premium prices in the $80-$100 range. 

These cars usually sell for $50 or so.  Surprised we haven't heard more about them on the forum yet... or perhaps I just missed it. 

David

Chris: How about some of the "chrome" MTH Coors beer reefers behind your shiny baby? These would be from the "Silver Bullet" train set....

Ed and Dave,

Those cars are very sharp and would indeed look great behind the Berk.

A series of those with various classic locos depicted would be a home run of a train.

Mike

Chris; The MPC-era "chrome" wrapped tank cars ( from the '70's) would also be appropriate behind this engine.....

That's EXACTLY what they're thinking, Marty.  They're willing to sit it out hoping the lesser expensive units sell.  And then enthusiasts who "missed out" will play the pricing game in their minds to decide if it's worth being taken advantage of. 

Not the nicer side of this hobby for sure, but it's been like that for decades...  some dealers always looking to make a quick profit on the "hot stuff".  The only difference nowadays is that eBay gives every Tom, Dick and Harry the ability to play the same pricing shenanigans.  And true to form, they are.  There's a fellow on eBay now who's "liquidating" a lot of top-end, Lionel Vision Line stuff... die-cast ES44's, Hybrid ES44's, Big Boy, etc...  The prices are WAY beyond the stratosphere, but he's consistent... I'll give him that.  Not one price in the entire lot I'd consider "reasonable".  Highest asking prices I've seen for these kinds of items -- even higher than one or two of the notable "flippers" on the forum here.    Maybe he doesn't really want to sell the stuff after all!!! 

David  

Rocky Mountaineer - The 2015 Dealer Appreciation cars just recently shipped, as you found by searching e*ay.  The 2015 Toy Fair boxcar (6-82940) has been out for quite some time but with only 115 made, won't be an easy one to find.   The Toy Fair cars are labeled on the bottom, Number X of 115. The 2015 Toy Fair car was on display at the Toy fair back in February, not sure how exactly they were allocated.

Ed, I was happy to grab the Dealer Appreciation car at the "normal" going-price, and it's pretty much the same car as the 2015 Toy Fair boxcar.  I'm surprised Lionel made the graphics pretty much duplicates of each other -- aside from the words "Toy Fair 2015" replaced by "Lionel Dealers etc...".

Last year Charlie Ro advertised the 2014 Dealer Appreciation car prior to its release and was taking orders for it, which was a bit of a first for these cars if I recall correctly.  Doesn't seem to be that way this year though... at least not yet.  It's never really clear how Lionel distributes these, or if any one dealer will get a large volume of them to sell.  I was under the impression most "mom-and-pop" shops only get ONE.

The only Toy Fair car I own is the Polar Express from 2005, and I managed to grab that at a reasonable price (compared to what I see sellers asking for it now).  I sometimes run it with a few other P/E boxcars as head-end cars with my scale P/E passenger train.

David