My review of Lionel's latest 3-Rail O-Scale Nickel Plate Road #765 2-8-4 Berkshire Steam Locomotive. More videos on my youtube channel or at www.ericstrains.com
Eric: "To install the mars light, you gotta remove this part to get the door off." Me: "That ain't so bad." Eric: "Lionel didn't supply a wire and bulb for the headlight in the other boiler front, so we have to borrow those from the first boiler front." Me: "Well that is rather annoying." Eric: "Now to avoid damage to the wires and the bulb we have to remove the plug and--" Me: "THAT'S IT! I can't take it anymore!"
As I know, the Nickel Plate Road Nr.765 was built a few years after it's older brother, the Pere Marquette 1225, which is also based on the Polar Express.
I remember the Lionel Nickel Plate Special set when I was a kid. I remember walking through Toys R Us and seeing it on the shelf during Christmas time and I always wanted one, but we were just to poor. This scaled one trumps that set from when I was kid. Great review.....Thanks!
Some other history: The 765 was also purchased by F. Nelson Blount but he died while piloting his own airplane in 1968. The 765 came to his area right on time and did excursions in many places from Roanoke, Virginia to Omaha Nebraska.
Nice review. I do plan on buying this model. I've been on 765 last year on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and it is coming back this year so I'm going to be there again. By the way, when I was there, the engine had the mars light and was numbered 767. I think it was to show people what the engine looked like before.
Benny Holton I think the 767 thing was a reference to when the engine was disguised as #767 (which a certain city wanted, however the engine was in poor condition so 765 was substituted with different numbers).
I love NKP 765 it's my favourite train and the whistle steam sound it's the best steam whistle of oll time.And your video are amazing good job keep going.
Eric as usual great video and many thanks for the tip of swapping the front cover with the mars light. I also ordered this engine and as soon as i am back from vacation i will follow your instructions.
Great review Eric! As a kid growing up in the 1950's I got to see 765 and her sisters running in and out of Conneaut, Ohio until they were retired in 1958. The MARS oscillating light was added to the Berks, as well as other NKP engines, after WWII as a safety measure. I believe it operated in a horizontal figure 8 pattern. Not having the MARS light would be an "as built" configuration for the engine. Would it be possible to replace the lower boiler front hinge screw with a flared head pin dropping in from the top or is the clearance between the upper and lower hinges too small? I have to agree with your BFIMO. Rich Melvin has been associated with 765 for years and having his voice in the crew talk is very fitting. Check out the video "Running That New River Train" to see Rich pulling throttle on 765 in the New River Gorge. Thanks again, Eric.
The main pieces you removed for the headlight- Mars light change were; 1) Smokebox door and 2) cross compound air pump. Excellent review as always Eric.
AWESOME review as always Eric!!!!!!!!!!! Lionel did a fantastic job with this engine!.... Your mars light installation demonstration was great, I was thinking that the boiler would have to come off the access that bottom screw. Anyways, thanks for the awesome review bro and happy holidays!
Just noticed the Pennsylvania mail/rpo/baggage car is reversed from true operational direction. I used to play with the mail bag hook on this car pulled by the Copper Country Limited/Milwaukee Road. Not bitching or complaining, your videos are truly great and love all that you do. It was just a Segway to say something about the CCL. Ed
Hey Eric I know it’s late in the years to be commenting on this video but I enjoy watching your videos and all your engines and all your rolling stock are very nice and that the Norfolk Southern car you had behind 765 is exactly what the Fort Wayne Railroad did when they ran their excursions bc most of the cars they used were in-fact from Norfolk Southern
Eric, great video. I can't believe that you figured out to safely put on the Mars light. Lionel could have a done a little bit better job of thinking that through. Beautiful engine and detail. Thanks.
You did Very good Eric'strains Your video of the lionel NKP 765 2-8-4 Berkshire is Realy Great with the video how to install an alternive boiler front good job
man they really nailed it with this engine, especially with Richard Melvin doing the talk sounds, and that whistle...oh that whistle...sounds SO amazing
Eric, fantastic and professional review as always. I appreciate you taking the time to walk-through the MARS light conversion, will certainly use as a guide to make the swap on my 765. I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. How are you enjoying your Big Boy?
My favorite feature is the Rich Melvin crew talk, too, I noticed it's on the Pere Marquette 1225 & both Polar Express Berkshires. Will upload a video of mine soon. :)
I got to go see this engine on the Cyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad here in Ohio on September 21, 2018 n it was the best day of my life n it was THE very first steam locomotive I've ever seen in my entire life
I Love this engine very Much! I wish Lioned made my favorite engine, The NKP 759, the 765's sister locomotive! I love the 765 very much, and I got to see it at Steamtown's railfest in 2015
He’s got them. He made videos for each of them not that long ago. His review of the Polar Express locomotive: m.czcams.com/video/LWysSuMbR-g/video.html His review of the matching passenger cars: m.czcams.com/video/Jpti6K60UGk/video.html His review of 1225: m.czcams.com/video/O_D7Qi5qH2M/video.html
Hi Eric • I always enjoy the history part of your videos, yes I am a baseball fan and I do have some stats, but nothing on the Berkshire. Great details on this Lionel. Boiler Front Demo. How to install mars light. Excellent Demo. I agree, have fun with your model railroad. • Cheers from the Detroit & Mackinac Railway
when you where talking about the mars light and how the locomotive used to have one, I looked over to the recommended side of the video, and I got a video with the thumbnail of the locomotive with the headlight
What a beautiful engine! Great review Eric! In the next run session video, run it in lash up with some NS heritage! Why does the cab light turn off when the engine moves?
The whistle is amazing, of course taking into granted it's a model, and you get little vibrations and the speaker doesn't sound 100% real because it's a speaker. But damn, that freaking whistle...
I have personal history with NKP 765. Grew up in Fort Wayne where 765 was displayed for many years as 767. I attended Wayne High School (class of ‘75) and one of my teachers, Walter Sassmanshausen was instrumental in the formation of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society which took on the restoration of 765. I have early VHS video from 1990 of my wife, 5 year old son, and my late Uncle on an excursion on 765 from Fort Wayne to Peru, Indiana. My Grandfather, Clement Meyer, was a brakeman at the yard in Fort Wayne until the late 50’s and I’m trying to find out if he worked for Nickel Plate ( and possibly 765) or more likely for the Pennsy. At any rate I currently live in NE Tennessee and an planning my first layout and I think I’m going to model part of the Fort Wayne yard using Nickel Plate and Pennsylvania equipment as well as from a local line, the Tweetsie (ET&NWC). Good video!
+ericstrains what about a lookover and review of lionel trains item number 83193 southern pacific 4-8-4 GS-4 #4449 with current southern pacific lines tender lettering ?
Here's the trivia of #765. Before #765 was restored in the mid-1970s, she was on display in a park in Fort Wayne, IN. She was renumbered to #767, Fort Wayne wanted #767 on display because it was the locomotive to celebrate the opening/completion of the Fort Wayne track elevation. #767 had been scrapped already, so NKP renumbered #765 to #767 and the locomotive was given to the town. In the 1980s, the locomotive appeared in the movies Four Friends and Matewan, and became an annual attraction in the New River Gorge operating the New River Trains from 1985 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1993. In 2006, the FWRHS was given a "Locomotive Restoration Award" by the Tourist Railway Association, Inc and the "Outstanding Restoration Award" from the Architecture and Community Heritage Foundation of Fort Wayne. In 2014, NKP #765 was re-lettered and renumbered as "Lionel Lines" #726. In 2016, Nickel Plate Road #765 ran a couple of excursions, and for the Steam in the Cuyahoga Valley excursion, it was briefly renumbered to #767. Since 2017, NKP #765 visits Joliet, IL each year for the "Joliet Rocket" a passenger excursion that runs from Joliet to LaSalle St. Station.
“And, last of all, let’s check out the always-controversial crew talk sounds. ‘Eric, I don’t like crew talk sounds!’ Welp, too bad. I’m gonna make you listen to them anyway.” Love it.
Great stuff but exorbitantly expensive. Most affordable way back into this hobby is to buy an old locomotive and load up with Menards rolling stock. Lionel made a beautiful engine here though! Maybe someday🚂
Nice layout. What are you using for the backdrop on your walls and where can I get it? Where did you get the elevated bridge and piers? Did you scratch build them? Very cool.
Quite a long one... Given the instructions for swapping the smokebox doors. At the end of the day, you'll have a screw loose from that surgery... :P BTW Those pieces from the pilot, those are the air pumps to pump up the air for the brakes on the real thing.
@ericstrains: Okay, in the available section of the video you listed 3 other road names for this model one being "The Polar Express" if you could or had the time do a review on that specific 4-8-2 thnx
27:34 That whistle is so beautiful!
Yeah, it's great.
I know, it sounds crisp =D
765 whistle in the 90s
@Ericstrains Yeah that whistle on the Nickel Plate Road 765 sounds awesome.
That’s what I’m saying!
When I first saw this engine I couldn't get over how immaculate the whistle was, 5 years later I still can't.
Me too it's just so good. Same with the legacy NYC hudson whistle. Probably my favorite 2 Lionel whistles ever.
That engine lives just down the road from me lol
@@reversecloak550 this is 765 not 759
Noice
luckyyyyyy
woah!
This is another one of my favorite wheel arrangements. I particularly love pere marquette 1225, because its the real polar express.
" "Eric, I don't like crew talk sounds!" Welp, too bad. I'm gonna make you listen to them anyway."
LOL what?! XD
Jurassic Fan If you buy one just turn them off,problem solved.
I Like them!
Eric: "To install the mars light, you gotta remove this part to get the door off."
Me: "That ain't so bad."
Eric: "Lionel didn't supply a wire and bulb for the headlight in the other boiler front, so we have to borrow those from the first boiler front."
Me: "Well that is rather annoying."
Eric: "Now to avoid damage to the wires and the bulb we have to remove the plug and--"
Me: "THAT'S IT! I can't take it anymore!"
irk
me: OHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
29:00 no one cares we love crew talk sounds. Great video,Eric!
Not everyone.
I love the whole train
I agree
As I know, the Nickel Plate Road Nr.765 was built a few years after it's older brother, the Pere Marquette 1225, which is also based on the Polar Express.
I remember the Lionel Nickel Plate Special set when I was a kid. I remember walking through Toys R Us and seeing it on the shelf during Christmas time and I always wanted one, but we were just to poor. This scaled one trumps that set from when I was kid. Great review.....Thanks!
Jack DeYoung I had that set
Jack DeYoung if you were talking about the plastic you model set
Jack DeYoung also I had the polar express set too
Jack DeYoung oh that's sad I know how you feel though
Beautiful engine; totally impressed w/ the Lionel version. Thanks for another great video.
Some other history: The 765 was also purchased by F. Nelson Blount but he died while piloting his own airplane in 1968. The 765 came to his area right on time and did excursions in many places from Roanoke, Virginia to Omaha Nebraska.
Awesome Engine Eric! Love the crew talk sounds also the boiler plate fix. Great tip!
Beautiful engine and cool hearing Rich's voice and great review Eric.
Nice review. I do plan on buying this model. I've been on 765 last year on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and it is coming back this year so I'm going to be there again. By the way, when I was there, the engine had the mars light and was numbered 767. I think it was to show people what the engine looked like before.
Benny Holton I think the 767 thing was a reference to when the engine was disguised as #767 (which a certain city wanted, however the engine was in poor condition so 765 was substituted with different numbers).
Acctually #767 was a different Locomotive NKP owned.
Nice review Eric! I rode 765 last summer from Detroit to Fort Wayne.
Lucky you!
Amazing layout you have. So impressive. I love it.
I love NKP 765 it's my favourite train
and the whistle steam sound it's the best steam whistle of oll time.And your video are amazing good job keep going.
Eric as usual great video and many thanks for the tip of swapping the front cover with the mars light. I also ordered this engine and as soon as i am back from vacation i will follow your instructions.
Sounds like the original whistle and bell. This review video is underrated. Great job Eric.
Another great review video Eric. Rich Melvin did the crew talk on Lionel's first rendition of 765 in 2010.
I love this channel. Great video thanks. The 2-8-4 Berkshire is my favorite steam train wheel arrangement.
Great Review Eric! I enjoyed this review from start to finish!
Eric, your layout is looking stellar! STELLAR!
So good eric! I haven't seen your videos in a while and just wanted to tell you how awesome that completed bridge looks in the background!!
Great review Eric! As a kid growing up in the 1950's I got to see 765 and her sisters running in and out of Conneaut, Ohio until they were retired in 1958. The MARS oscillating light was added to the Berks, as well as other NKP engines, after WWII as a safety measure. I believe it operated in a horizontal figure 8 pattern. Not having the MARS light would be an "as built" configuration for the engine. Would it be possible to replace the lower boiler front hinge screw with a flared head pin dropping in from the top or is the clearance between the upper and lower hinges too small? I have to agree with your BFIMO. Rich Melvin has been associated with 765 for years and having his voice in the crew talk is very fitting. Check out the video "Running That New River Train" to see Rich pulling throttle on 765 in the New River Gorge. Thanks again, Eric.
this engine is my favorite engine so thanks for getting it Eric!
Same man i might be getting this for christmas this year
Another awesome review!!!! Great job Eric and hope you and your family had a Very Merry Christmas!!!!!!!
Wow!! The Whistle and the bell Sounds so sweet
The main pieces you removed for the headlight- Mars light change were; 1) Smokebox door and 2) cross compound air pump. Excellent review as always Eric.
Really nice review and I really enjoyed the how to section of the video with the head light and the blooper at the end lol
I really wish I had the engine! Great review!
AWESOME review as always Eric!!!!!!!!!!! Lionel did a fantastic job with this engine!.... Your mars light installation demonstration was great, I was thinking that the boiler would have to come off the access that bottom screw. Anyways, thanks for the awesome review bro and happy holidays!
Just noticed the Pennsylvania mail/rpo/baggage car is reversed from true operational direction. I used to play with the mail bag hook on this car pulled by the Copper Country Limited/Milwaukee Road. Not bitching or complaining, your videos are truly great and love all that you do. It was just a Segway to say something about the CCL. Ed
That whistle is amazing!!
You're videos are the best!
Almost every steam excursion be having mixtures of many types of coaches from different railroads 😅
Great locomotive and nice tutorial!
Thanks.
Hey Eric I know it’s late in the years to be commenting on this video but I enjoy watching your videos and all your engines and all your rolling stock are very nice and that the Norfolk Southern car you had behind 765 is exactly what the Fort Wayne Railroad did when they ran their excursions bc most of the cars they used were in-fact from Norfolk Southern
USARailfanProductions thanks!
Awesome engine Eric!
I would love to see your collection
You do a great job with your reviews
Awesome Review Eric
Eric, great video. I can't believe that you figured out to safely put on the Mars light. Lionel could have a done a little bit better job of thinking that through. Beautiful engine and detail. Thanks.
I really like the quiling 3 part echo of 765's Nathan 6 Chime from 80s, 90s.
That's my favorite part of the video.
You did Very good Eric'strains Your video of the lionel NKP 765 2-8-4 Berkshire is Realy Great with the video how to install
an alternive boiler front good job
That is a very beautiful locomotive I have seen that in person and its consist or passenger cars
man they really nailed it with this engine, especially with Richard Melvin doing the talk sounds, and that whistle...oh that whistle...sounds SO amazing
Eric, fantastic and professional review as always. I appreciate you taking the time to walk-through the MARS light conversion, will certainly use as a guide to make the swap on my 765. I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. How are you enjoying your Big Boy?
My favorite feature is the Rich Melvin crew talk, too, I noticed it's on the Pere Marquette 1225 & both Polar Express Berkshires. Will upload a video of mine soon. :)
loved the whistle chime
Hey Eric that is a beautiful engine I have the 765 and he is in the other Berkshires
I got to go see this engine on the Cyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad here in Ohio on September 21, 2018 n it was the best day of my life n it was THE very first steam locomotive I've ever seen in my entire life
I Love this engine very Much! I wish Lioned made my favorite engine, The NKP 759, the 765's sister locomotive! I love the 765 very much, and I got to see it at Steamtown's railfest in 2015
Dude, you should try the Lionel Legacy Pere Marquette 1225 or The Polar Express 10th anniversary. (Legacy)
He’s got them. He made videos for each of them not that long ago.
His review of the Polar Express locomotive: m.czcams.com/video/LWysSuMbR-g/video.html
His review of the matching passenger cars: m.czcams.com/video/Jpti6K60UGk/video.html
His review of 1225: m.czcams.com/video/O_D7Qi5qH2M/video.html
My dad, my grandpa, and I rode and this train and I have pictures of it on my train layout. I also got to talk to rich Melvin
That whistle sounds so good I mite pick one up
I actually just discovered youtube videos of the 765 using different whistles; including the 611's
Hi Eric • I always enjoy the history part of your videos, yes I am a baseball fan and I do have some stats, but nothing on the Berkshire. Great details on this Lionel. Boiler Front Demo. How to install mars light. Excellent Demo. I agree, have fun with your model railroad.
• Cheers from the Detroit & Mackinac Railway
Sunset models? This is a Lionel engine
***** Thanks Matt • My chaos.
when you where talking about the mars light and how the locomotive used to have one, I looked over to the recommended side of the video, and I got a video with the thumbnail of the locomotive with the headlight
could you please do a review of the peer Marquette berkshire or the 10 anniversary polar express berkshire.
What a beautiful engine! Great review Eric! In the next run session video, run it in lash up with some NS heritage! Why does the cab light turn off when the engine moves?
I really like the whistle on this engine
So you should order a replacement light bulb assembly for the start will save a lot of trouble.
yay crew talk!! so cool
The whistle is amazing, of course taking into granted it's a model, and you get little vibrations and the speaker doesn't sound 100% real because it's a speaker. But damn, that freaking whistle...
beautiful cars
A NKP Berkshire went past my house in upstate New York a few years ago on a excursion ride
The method of wheel classification is the Whyte method and differs from that used in Europe, where the wheel count is one side only.
I have personal history with NKP 765. Grew up in Fort Wayne where 765 was displayed for many years as 767. I attended Wayne High School (class of ‘75) and one of my teachers, Walter Sassmanshausen was instrumental in the formation of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society which took on the restoration of 765. I have early VHS video from 1990 of my wife, 5 year old son, and my late Uncle on an excursion on 765 from Fort Wayne to Peru, Indiana. My Grandfather, Clement Meyer, was a brakeman at the yard in Fort Wayne until the late 50’s and I’m trying to find out if he worked for Nickel Plate ( and possibly 765) or more likely for the Pennsy. At any rate I currently live in NE Tennessee and an planning my first layout and I think I’m going to model part of the Fort Wayne yard using Nickel Plate and Pennsylvania equipment as well as from a local line, the Tweetsie (ET&NWC). Good video!
Wow cool
I like how funny you are! 🤣
Hey Eric, in the 2015 MTH O gauge volume 1 catalog, there is a 5-pack of NKP cars. Those might suit well.
Yeah, i ordered those but they haven't been made yet.
Okay, but when you get the cars, please post a video featuring 765 and the cars.
+ericstrains what about a lookover and review of lionel trains item number 83193 southern pacific 4-8-4 GS-4 #4449 with current southern pacific lines tender lettering ?
+ericstrains ITS THE POLAR EXPRESS
+ericstrains It's ok eric. I like the crew talk sounds
My favorite locomotive
Here's the trivia of #765. Before #765 was restored in the mid-1970s, she was on display in a park in Fort Wayne, IN. She was renumbered to #767, Fort Wayne wanted #767 on display because it was the locomotive to celebrate the opening/completion of the Fort Wayne track elevation. #767 had been scrapped already, so NKP renumbered #765 to #767 and the locomotive was given to the town. In the 1980s, the locomotive appeared in the movies Four Friends and Matewan, and became an annual attraction in the New River Gorge operating the New River Trains from 1985 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1993. In 2006, the FWRHS was given a "Locomotive Restoration Award" by the Tourist Railway Association, Inc and the "Outstanding Restoration Award" from the Architecture and Community Heritage Foundation of Fort Wayne. In 2014, NKP #765 was re-lettered and renumbered as "Lionel Lines" #726. In 2016, Nickel Plate Road #765 ran a couple of excursions, and for the Steam in the Cuyahoga Valley excursion, it was briefly renumbered to #767. Since 2017, NKP #765 visits Joliet, IL each year for the "Joliet Rocket" a passenger excursion that runs from Joliet to LaSalle St. Station.
I love crew talk sounds
even though they do go wit the engine there beautiful cars keep the vids going
“And, last of all, let’s check out the always-controversial crew talk sounds. ‘Eric, I don’t like crew talk sounds!’ Welp, too bad. I’m gonna make you listen to them anyway.”
Love it.
This or The Pere Marquette 1225 ? which edition do you love more? Also the polar express :) *Berkshire fan screaming*
AWSOME.
Great stuff but exorbitantly expensive.
Most affordable way back into this hobby is to buy an old locomotive and load up with Menards rolling stock. Lionel made a beautiful engine here though! Maybe someday🚂
gotta love that 6 chime
Wolfox yep those Nathan 6 Chime are great
the crew talk it is so cool on NKP 765
I like crew talk sounds.
Nice layout. What are you using for the backdrop on your walls and where can I get it? Where did you get the elevated bridge and piers? Did you scratch build them? Very cool.
Do you think you could get passenger cars that go with this awesome train?
Anyone have any idea to what whistle 765 had mounted when they recorded the sounds cause it doesn't sound like a Nathan's 6 chime.
Can you do a review of the golden spike limited 759 (i want to hear ross rowland's voice for the crew talk)
Would it be possible to make that boiler front replacement more complicated?
Andrew Jackson yes, factory solder the light to the wires
You should get the polar express 1225 heavyweight train set it has lots of detail inside and out.
Rich Melvin did the crew talk sounds on the older version of the lionel 765, did he?
you should look at getting a lbscr E2 class locomotive. i think they are made for 3 rail o scale.
Have you thought of getting Lionel's O-Scale Polar Express?
Toby Pasman I have the lionchief
Ik
I have the original non lion chief version
Jacqueline Ibarrondo same
That’s a nice model
Hi Eric,
I live in the UK. Can you tell me if there is an 0 guage non running model of 765 available. i.e. a static kit.
Thanks Mike.
If I could I would get that engine if I could, it's a great engine (mostly the whistle, it's so good)
I wished for the same Berkshire for Christmas but I got the beginner engine #779
Hey, Eric can you please do a review PM 1225.
Ok I need to get this because I live in Ohio which is where 765 is and I’ve also rode on 765 and she is an absolute beauty
Quite a long one... Given the instructions for swapping the smokebox doors. At the end of the day, you'll have a screw loose from that surgery... :P
BTW Those pieces from the pilot, those are the air pumps to pump up the air for the brakes on the real thing.
Why is NKP Berkshire has different whistle as Pere M, or polar express?
Were dis you get the parts grabber? And is it avaible in ho scale?
@ericstrains: Okay, in the available section of the video you listed 3 other road names for this model one being "The Polar Express" if you could or had the time do a review on that specific 4-8-2 thnx
Tim Cookson 2-8-4 is what these locomotives are
+ericstrains please do a Lionel video of Norfolk and western 2156 after you buy it