NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: B&A, Lima, and IC Berkshire in HO & N Scale Baldwin RF16 Sharknose diesels!

Broadway Limited is proud to share our newest announcement from the Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, Massachusetts. We have a new HO and new N scale announcement for you to go over, so without further ado, let's get into it! 

We at BLI are proud to announce the newest addition to the Brass-Hybrid series of highly detailed steam locomotives. We are proud to introduce the Boston and Albany, Lima, and Illinois Central Berkshires in HO scale. 

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 our first production run of A-1a's and A-1b's, we are building the locomotives in several different prototypical appearances. This includes the Lima Locomotive Works #1 and the Illinois Central 7050. We are offering these models in both Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC with smoke, and our Stealth Series. Our 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.

The order deadline for these locomotives is July 10th, 2025. With an estimated delivery of the Spring of 2026. Order today from your favorite dealer! Please note that orders placed after the order deadline are filled on a fire-come first-served basis while supplies last. 

Built between 1950 and 1953, the RF-16 Sharknose diesels were cab unit diesel locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works to the specifications of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Their distinctive contours were reminiscent of Raymond Loewy's design for the Pennsy's T1 class steam locomotive. Baldwin built a total of 160 of these locomotives - 109 A-units and 51 cabless booster B-units. In addition to the PRR, B&O and NYC railroads also operated a substantial number of the "Sharks".

The Sharknose locomotives were known as excellent "luggers". They regularly saw service hauling heavy ore and coal drags. The RF-16 Sharknose locomotives beat the F7 with 100 additional horsepower and tied the FA2 with 1600 horsepower. Unfortunately, they did not last as long as the F7's. With a few exceptions, most of the engines were retired by 1967.

In this production run, we are offering A-B Sets in 3 prototypically accurate paint schemes, along with additional A and B units available as a separate item. We are also offering two D&H Sharks as single A-units. 

The railroads typically operated these in ABA configurations. Our A-B sets come with a Powered A-unit with Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC and an unpowered B-unit with a lightweight frame. We also offer an additional single powered A-unit for each paint scheme where appropriate. This single unit has our full Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC system. All of our models have road-specific details and lighting.

List of individually controllable lights in our Sharknose models (note that light options may be limited in Stealth Series models):

• Headlight
• Rear Light
• Numberboard Lights
• Cab Light

In addition to our Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC units, we are also offering these in our Stealth series. These are No-Sound / DCC-Ready models that operate on DC out of the box, or a modeler can easily install their DCC decoder of choice. Out of the box, front and rear lights are directional, and other lights are always ON with track power. Additionally some light functions may be missing depending on selected aftermarket decoder the modeler installs.

Industry-leading Model Features:

• Paragon4 Sound & Control System featuring ROLLING THUNDER
• Integral Dual-Mode Decoder with Back EMF for Superb Slow Speed Operation in DC and DCC
• Precision Drive Mechanism Engineered for Heavy Towing and Smooth Slow Speed Operation
• All Wheel Electrical Pick-up
• ABS Body with Die Cast Chassis for Maximum Tractive Effort
• Premium Caliber Painting
• Prototypically Accurate Paint Schemes and Road Numbers
• Many Separately Applied Details such as Handrails, Grab Irons, Horn, Bell, Wipers, and Etched Metal Grills
• Prototypical Light Operation - accurate for each paint scheme
• Prototypically Accurate Sounds for the RF-16 Diesel Locomotive
• MicroTrains-compatible Couplers (2)
• Will Operate on Code 55, Code 70, and Code 80 Rail
• Minimum Operating Radius: 9 inches

The order deadline for these locomotives is July 10th, 2025. With an estimated delivery of the Spring of 2026. Order today from your favorite dealer! Please note that orders placed after the order deadline are filled on a fire-come first-served basis while supplies last.