I recently acquired an O Gauge Berkshire locomotive which I'm told was made by Lionel for J.C.Pennys. It carries the number 8006 and is nicknamed the "Silver Shadow". Because it was a special run for Pennys, it doesn't seem to appear in any of the Lionel books. It came with an acrylic display case and apparently was not part of a complete train set. So it seems like an unusual item for Pennys. Does any one know when it was made and how it fit into Pennys marketing scheme? And were Berkshires actually used on the ACL? I don't recall ever seeing one in Florida.

-- Ron Barrett (ron.barrett@home.com), November 03, 2000

Answers

Hi Ron, That was a 'limited run' made for Penny's alright. It is actually a Hudson 4-6-4 unless someone has swapped running gear on it prior to you buying it. Before the recent burst of great steamers, it was fairly expensive. However, since then I have seen the ACL steamer for 450.00. The paint is supposed to represent the two-tone 1800 series R-1 4-8-4's from ACL. I always thought it would look nice with a two-wheel trailing truck, making it a Pacific which ACL DID have. Best wishes, Marc

-- Marc L. Hamel (gigsup@aol.com), November 05, 2000.