Kohs Erie 'S' Project Update

10/29/17 - This project has now been placed on my 'Archived Project' list, which means that I am no longer hopeful of acquiring sufficient reference material to continue the development of the project. Rather than remove it from the project list, it remains listed with the hope that the 'right' person will see mention of the project and come forward with previous unknown reference materials. I often hear that other importers have produced this project why can't I? The level of detail and accuracy that I strive for are far beyond the specifications of other's projects and I will not ask anyone to invest in a model that I produce if I am not totally satisfied that I can deliver a model that I would be pleased with myself. If you can help with reference material, by all means get in touch......please!

1/01/14 - Our efforts to bring this project to reality continue, but with little success thus far. Although we have accumulated a sizable number of drawings, we are still in need of many more drawings that would allow for an accurate miniature reproduction. In recent months I have been asked why Kohs & Company is unable to produce this project when other importers have taken on the same prototype in their product lines. The answer is really pretty basic, it all depends on the level of accuracy and detail that not only the particular importer is looking for, but also what their related customer base is willing to accept. From my point of view, there are enough compromises that need to be made in producing an O scale model due to scaling issues that starting with less than enough reference to accurately reproduce the detail essential to portray the true character of a prototype is a waste of time and effort. Compromise has always been difficult for me to accept and now Mr. Lee my builder is of a like mind and is often pushing me for information so he can get it right. The idea of producing an expensive model based on compromised data and then having new nonsupporting data subsequently surface is just too much of a risk.

With each project we have completed, the bar has been raised to a new level which has required even greater research than when we first started the business. So, in the case of this project, although we have gathered the basics of the reference required we have really gone backwards since we now require even more documentation than when we thought of doing the Erie 'S' class. I am not giving up and I will continue to beat the bushes looking for what we need!

9/23/10 - For those concerned that this project will be dropped as a result of our C&O K-4 'Berkshire' announcement, fear not, the effort to locate the research material necessary to produce this project will continue as vigorously as possible. A great deal of effort and money has already been expended on this project, so there is no desire to walk away from what has been accomplished to date. Keep watching for continuing updates.

3/01/10 - The reference review has continued on this project and it is still unclear exactly what the status is. At issue is the fact that a number of drawings utilized for the C&O T-1 are applicable to the Erie 'S' class and I am in the process of verifying which fall into that category. I am also reviewing my collection of T-1 drawings to see if there are additional drawings that were not cross referenced and may also be applicable.The review will continue as time allows.

8/29/09 - An active review of the reference material and drawings on hand for this project is currently going on and a determination will be made regarding our ability to move forward with an offering for this project very soon. Much like the C&O K3/K3a project, the demand for this proposed project is extremely high and I have no doubt that it would be successful from a sales standpoint, my issue is being able to do our projects as accurately as possible and not guessing to fill in gaps in research material. I will continue to update as I gain a better handle of exactly where we stand. The efforts of Larry Berger continue on this project and I sincerely thank him for all that he has done and continues to do in trying to make this project possible.

8/05/09 - A further update resulting from my last update regarding this project; copies of drawings from the collection located earlier this year have finally started to arrive. As I have mentioned in the past, until you have reference material in hand, you never know for sure that you can count on it, but it seems that the future of this project is actually getting brighter slowly but surely. We can always use more material so do not hesitate to let us know if you know of material that may help in our development. A special message to our go-to guy on this project so far, Larry Berger......keep digging!

2/28/09 - We have another good news update, this time regarding our Erie 'S' class project. We have located a cache of drawings that contains enough new material that we do not have that will allow us to proceed with this project. We are in the process of acquiring copies of the drawings and as soon as this acquisition is complete, we'll be ready to schedule the production of this project. We are very excited about this particular project, we consider it to be the finest of all 'Berkshire' type locomotives. Stay tuned for further updates in the very near future.

6/04/07 - We continue to track down reference material for the 'S' class project and Larry Berger has again delivered important data that moves us ever closer to being able to actively develop this project. If we only had a few more 'Larry's' to help us in searching for critical data there would be no limits to what we could model. At this time we have approximately 70% of what we need to move ahead and we are very hopeful that once a couple of leads that we have developed have been chased down, we will have the reference data that we require to offer a Kohs 'S' class 'Berkshire'. Please, if you have any information to offer regarding this project contact us and help to make it a reality, we will make it worth your effort for sure!

3/22/06 - It has been quite some time since we have had good news regarding this project, but persistence and the help of a dedicated enthusiast works most every time. We owe a great big thank you to Mr. Larry Berger who has been in touch with us from the very outset of our interest in the Erie 'Berks', he has just delivered to us a large collection of original drawings for our use in developing this project. It is cooperation like this that makes what we do possible, more often than not, the material that will make or break a project comes from a private collection or the efforts of a loan enthusiast. Once we have a chance to evaluate where we stand on the project now we will be updating further and will hopefully have a better idea regarding the scheduling of this project.

2/20/03 - The serious work has begun and the initial decision making data is coming together thanks to our guiding spirit for this project, Mr. Dan Biernacki. Dan is published on the subject of Erie locomotives and he is laying the groundwork for the project and trying to point us in the correct direction from the standpoint of a serious Erie modeler. We will get into the details of the selection process, but at this point we're interested in getting the dialog on this project started with some basic ideas to consider.

As you may know, there were four basic groups in this prototype class, the S-1, S-2, S-3 and S-4. The first group of locos were built by American Locomotive Works and was distinctly different from the later three groups. The S-2 and S-4 were Lima built locos and the S-3 group was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. As the class of locomotives reached their period of late service, the last three groups were all very similar in appearance except in detail areas. To be factored into the consideration, there were two tender types that came into play with the different productions and also based on period of service. A major factor not to be overlooked from a modeling standpoint was the location of service, east end or west end of the road.

We will be posting a number of new photos in short order that will help to illustrate what factors are being considered, but in the meantime we'll give you the basic thought at this point and let you consider options. As we have found with previous projects, the most interesting period of service are the later years, for this prototype that is the post-war years much the same as the Union Pacific 4-12-2. Please consider the following options and then let us know what you think!

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