NKP Berkshire Power Upgrade by David Whiting

Intro-
I purchased the NKP Berkshires at the same time that I purchased the SP&S Northerns.  If you've already downloaded the SP&S Northern upgrade and read that readme, you know how much I was disappointed with the model's performance already.  It was underpowered and it proved very difficult to maintain steam pressure above a certain speed.  Just like the 700, NKP 765 is one of my favorite locos in America and to see something like this was massively dissapointing.  At last I decided to do something about it.  After consulting Smokebox, steamlocomotive.com, and the Developer Docs from then-RSC I set to work improving the loco's performance.  After taking a look at the simulation file I found that it wasn't as bad as the 700 (for horsepower it was actually overpowered), but it still needed some attention (the tractive effort was still too low and the boiler needed work).  Changes include: Slightly decreasing the locomotive's maxpower line to prototypical rating; increasing the locomotive's maxforce line to more prototypical rating; increasing the locomotive's superheater; completely overhauling the boiler section in the simulation file.  Critics of the real thing back in the day claimed that the NKP versions of the Berkshire class were the best ever made and I tried to reflect that in the changes I made.

ONE THING TO WATCH OUT FOR: Since implementing the upgrade in my test runs I've found that the locomotive is more pron to slipping when starting and when climbing steep grades with heavy loads at full power.  Making adjustments to the throttle, reverser and adding sand does remedy this condition.  My personal recommendation is that when starting the train with a consist to apply sand before opening the throttle.  Leave the sander on until you have built up some speed (between 10-15mph).  Make adjustments accordingly throughout the rest of the run.
Installation-
Before installing BACKUP THE ORIGINAL SIMULATION AS THESE WILL BE OVERWRITTEN IN THE INSTALLATION PROCESS.  Run the Train Simulator Utilities and install the package in the package manager.  That should be all you need to do.

Special thanks again to Smokebox for taking the time to give me advice and pointers as to work with the simulation file back when I was working on the SP&S Northerns, especially in the middle of developing the new FEF-3 Northern.  His advice helped me get my feet wet and move on to work on the Berkshires.  I'd also like to recognize steamlocomotive.com for being essentially an online Encyclopedia for all things steam locomotive-related and the Developer Docs from RSC/Dovetail Games.  The file may be old but it's still very relavent and useful.

I take no responsibility for any damage that may be incurred to your game or computer as a result of this update.  I am not aware of any problems but I have to say this anyway.  Install at your own risk.