what cars did my Berkshire pull?

Freight cars. 

Boxcars, 40 and 50 footers, general merchandise, lotsa boxcar red, Tuscan red or brown.  Reefers in orange, yellow or white.  Two and three bay hopper cars.  Some piggy back cars like Weaver's.

Rusty

Gerry, I agree with you.  I have 5 Berkshires and I think the 779 has the best whistle of them all.

Doug

should have been clearer in my original post...

what passenger cars, if any, would it have pulled?...thank you!

Would have been freight cars all the way. The Nickel Plate had 23 Berkshires equipped for passenger service, but the 779 was not one of them. However, if you were to pull passenger cars with your 779 a mix of heavyweight and streamlined would be appropriate. Many pictures of NKP passenger trains show they mixed their cars regularly. There was also a Lackawanna sleeper car on some trains, mostly the Chicago to New York run. 

Rusty is right on as far as freight cars go. Seeing pictures of piggyback service headed by Berkshires is just cool. Not sure how many roads pulled TOFC service with Steam power, but the Nickel Plate definitely did. 

Scott

Which NKP passenger cars would you suggest? Manufacturer?   thanks.

For what it's worth, the CB&Q used to interchange large blocks of reefers off the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, through Congress Park, ILL and around the IHB to the NKP. Thus you would see MANY western road reefers (PFE, WFE, NP, BREX) on the NKP eastbound to Buffalo and points east.

NKP Berks rarely pulled passenger trains.

Gerry, if you are interested, I have a 7 car set of MTH Heavyweights that I would consider selling.  I have put about 12-15 people in each car for a better look.  Shoot me an email.

Doug

Hello Gerry........

Well you can pull pretty much any freight car or passenger car you want.  I will soon have a set of Williams scale 72 foot Madisons to go behind my S.F. #5011 class Texas.

the woman who loves toy trains

Tiffany

Gerry - The heavyweight set Doug refers to is a good choice. I don't think there are a lot to choose from, because the NKP didn't have that many passenger cars to choose from. Another thought is finding a few of the streamlined cars to mix in, and perhaps even a Lackawanna car to stand in as a sleeper. 

Hot Water - I think the Berkshires that were equipped for passenger service were done so more as protection for the Hudsons and PA's rather than regular passenger service. Does that sound right to you? 

For what it's worth, the CB%Q used to interchange large blocks of reefers off the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, through Congress Park, ILL and around the IHB to the NKP. Thus you would see MANY western road reefers (PFE, WFE, NP, BREX) on the NKP eastbound to Buffalo and points east.

Hot Water,

I was about to sell off a bunch of west coast freight cars feeling they didn't fit my engine roster. I have 2 Berks and will use these cars behind them.

thank you. 

Correct. Plus the occasional troop train, as needed, during the war.

I have a 30+ car NP/GN/CB&Q reefer train that I can pull with either a NKP Berk, a CB&Q O5 4-8-4, or an NP A4 4-8-4. All I do is use the appropriate road caboose for that steam locomotive pulling the train.

The Berkshire was a "fast" freight engine.   It probably wouldn't have pulled many passenger trains in original service.    It probably didn't have the steam heat lines to handle them, so it might only do it if the Passenger broke down or it was a special trip.   

The NKP as bridge route hauled a lot of east west traffic of all kinds.   Any freight.

But then it is your RR so pull the heavy weights if you liike.

You could pull a mix of different types of passengers cars from different roads simulating an excursion train in the manner the 765 does now.

Gerry

Have a look for yourself. 

Great video

doug