The Lima Locomotive Works was the youngest of the three major locomotive builders, but during the 1920s it developed some of the most sophisticated locomotives built during the steam era. In 1922, under the direction of designer W.E. Woodward, Lima built a 2-8-2 Mikado which was unlike any engine built before it. It was the first of a series of designs that Lima was to call "Superpower Locomotives". Lima built the first 2-8-4 Berkshire in 1925, designated as the A-1.
The two axles in the rear allowed for a larger firebox and was equipped with a booster. These locomotives featured larger fireboxes and grates, throttles located up front in the smokebox, boosters for more starting tractive effort, hollow axles to save weight, superheated steam for auxillaries, lighter rods to cut down on dynamic augment and stack exhaust for the booster engine to improve the draft at lower speeds. These engines had more power per weight than any engines built before them.
You can learn more about Lima and super power from the books "Super-Power Steam Locomotives" by Richard Cook and "Super Power" by David Weitzman. I highly recommend both books. The following pages were taken from the Lima catalog of 1946.
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