Dear HO Scale Customers;

Broadway Limited Imports is excited to announce the New Brass Hybird Illinois Central (IC) Berkshire with Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC

Following World War I, the Boston and Albany railroad was looking for more sustainable freight power to handle the railroad’s grades at Charlton Summit and the Berkshire Hills at Washington. Back then it was not unusual for freight trains to use their 16 hour crew rules for traversing the 200 miles of main line.

The railroad's answer was Lima Locomotive Works. With increases in train length and faster speeds needed to meet demands, the Ohio based locomotive builder  took one of their "super 2-8-2" designs for New York Central and added an additional axle to it to create the first 2-8-4 in the United States. All in all, Lima built 25 A-1a's and 20 A-1b's for the railroad in 1926 and all were scrapped between 1949 and 1957.

The A-1 featured 63-inch driving wheels, a working boiler pressure of 240 psi, and produced over 76,000 lbf of tractive effort from 28-by-30-inch cylinders. They ultimately were not suited for fast freight, but the A-1's proved to US railroads that they had a dramatic performance improvement over other steam locomotives on the line. They hauled heavier trains over the B&M's line more than an hour faster than their 2-8-2 mikados.

In Broadway Limited Imports first production run of A-1a's and A-1b's, they are building the locomotives in several different prototypical appearances. This includes the Lima Locomotive Works #1 and the Illinois Central 7050.  Broadway Limited Imports are offering these models in both Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC with smoke, and their Stealth Series. Broadway Limited Imports Stealth series models are no-sound and DCC-ready. They come with a 21-pin decoder socket for easy decoder installation, and they come factory-equipped with an 8-ohm speaker.

All models have hand-crafted brass boilers, cabs, and tender bodies, and die-cast locomotives and tender chassis.

Industry-leading Model Features:

• ALL-NEW Paragon4 Sound & Control System
• Synchronized Puffing Smoke with Chuff Sound
• Variable Puffing Smoke Intensity and timing
• Integral DCC Decoder with Back EMF for Industry Best Slow Speed Operation in DC and DCC
• Precision Drive Mechanism engineered for continuous heavy load towing and smooth slow speed operation
• 5-Pole Can Motor with Skew Wound Armature
• Handcrafted Brass Boiler, Cab, and Tender Body, and Heavy Die Cast Chassis for Increased Tractive Effort
• Premium Caliber Painting with Authentic Paint Schemes
• Prototypical Light Operation with Separately Controllable Headlight, Numberboard Lights, and cab light
• Factory-installed Engineer and Fireman Figures
• Prototypically Accurate Models for 1930's, early 1940's, and post 1946 appearances
• Many Separately Applied Details such as Handrails, Grab Irons, Ladders, Piping, Cab Glass, Whistle, Brass Bell, Markers, Numberboards, Air Tanks, and Many Others
• Equipped with Rubber Traction Tires for Increased Pulling Power
• Recommended Minimum Radius: 18 inches
• Accurate Prototypical Sounds for the Boston and Albany A-1a and A-1b locomotives

Broadway Limited Imports is proud to introduce Paragon4: The new benchmark for premium HO sound-equipped locomotives. These DC and DCC-Sound equipped locomotives feature the ALL-NEW Paragon4 sound and control system. Each Paragon4 locomotive comes with BLI's own integral DCC Decoder factory-installed. Paragon4 locomotives offer Dual Mode DC and DCC operation with superb back EMF motor control, improved DC motor control, built-in capacitor pack for more reliable electrical pick-up, industry best on-board sound with Rolling Thunder functionality, Pro Lighting Mode for prototypical light control, Switcher model for precise low speed control, recordable DCC operation for automated playback, and the same excellent level of detail that you’ve come to expect from Broadway Limited Imports.

Paragon4 Sound & Control System Features:

• Operates in DC & DCC with improved DC speed control (use DCMaster for DC Sound)
• Built-In capacitor pack to navigate imperfect track
• Capacitor Pack automatically disabled on program track for full compatibility with JMRI Decoder Pro
• Pro Lighting Mode offers individual control of all lights on model
• Switcher Mode for precise low speed control.
• Record & Play Operation - Records and plays back sounds and movements once or repeatedly for automatic operation
• High Resolution Audio
• Quillable Whistle for various whistle lengths and patterns
• Choice of 3 selectable whistle
• Alternate Whistle / Horn where applicable for locomotive with air horn and steam whistle - both the main whistle and alternate can be easily played
• Adjustable bell ringing interval for faster or slower bell
• Numerous user-mappable functions with available keys
• Johnson Bar Sound at Direction Change
• Multiple realistic passenger and crew sounds play on command
• Grade Crossing Automatic Signal
• Automatic Forward / Reverse Signal - When activated, stopping triggers and stop whistle toot. When moving forward from a stopped position, toots twice. When moving in reverse. toots three times.
• Chuff sound intensity varies with load
• Individually adjustable sound volumes for each effect
• EZ Reset Button for quick return to factory default settings

Order Due Date: July 10, 2025

Anticipated Delivery Date: May 2026

Looking for more Broadway Limited Imports Berkshire Steam Locomotives? Click here!