'2-8-4' refers to the wheel configuration, Berkshire refers to the mountains they chugged through for their first prospective owner. The prototype ran against a Mikado class locomotive. Boston & Albany Railroad ordered forty-five of the '2-8-4s', and they became Berkshires. Chesapeake and Ohio called them Kanawhas. Nickel Plate Road bought eighty.
Now, there are six in existence. The 765 is the last operative one. It was completed [see supra], and made its last commercial run in 1958. The age of American steam locomotives had only a few months left.
Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society began in 1972. Overhaul began in 175, and in 1979 it ran again. It was restored from 1993 to 2005.
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