First up in the Powerhouse Classics is a series of the USRA heavy 2-8-2 design. There were 233 original USRA heavy 2-8-2’s built plus another 957 copies, covering 23 railroads. It was a most successful design!

The USRA heavy 2-8-2’s used pretty much the same running gear as the light 2-8-2’s, but the boilers were 10 inches larger in diameter and they had larger cylinders as well. Tractive effort was about 10% higher for the heavy 2-8-2’s.

BLI’s models will follow the original design closely, but will allow for some detail variations such as headlight type per prototype practice, as well as road and footboard pilots as appropriate for various railroads. There will be two locomotive numbers offered for each railroad, plus a painted model without any lettering.

The factory installed Quantum sound system with dual speakers will feature the following:
• Chuff
• Whistle
• Bell
• Squealing brakes
• Doppler effect
• Sound of Power (change in chuff sounds with differing loads for more realism)
• Air let off (in neutral)
• Air pumps (in neutral)
• Water sounds (in neutral - blow down, pop off & injector)
• Blower hiss
• Headlight (dim head light in neutral)
• Slave (mutes whistle and bell for double heading)

Mechanical features will include:

• Powerful 5-pole can motor with flywheel
• Die-cast locomotive chassis
• Die-cast tender chassis
• Detailed tender underbody
• Plated bell & whistle
• Deck plate from cab to tender
• Many exceptional prototypical added-on details like piping and appliances
• Prototypical cab interior, including backhead, etc.
• Operating headlight
• Directional backup light
• Constant speed control - keeps speed constant up or down hill, etc.
• Authentic paint scheme and correct locomotive numbers
• Magnetic knuckle coupler on tender
• RP-25 contour on drivers and wheels
• Will operate on Code 70, 83 and 100 rail
• Can be operated on minimum 18" radius curves