Burlington Northern SD40-2 MOC 6 Wide

[Freezingvettes99]

Now that I have finally figured out how to post pictures from Flickr I will share one of my favorite MOCs with everyone.  I have been lurking on this site for quite sometime now and just lately decided to become active.  I have seen quite a few attempts at MOC SD40/SD40-2s and I really didn't like the way they turned out so I set out to create something in 6 Wide that truly represented the look of the real thing.  I live in the upper mid-west so I grew up around the BN so I have a fancy for Cascade Green locomotives.  Feel free to provide your feedback.

20170130_080122 by freezingvettes99, on Flickr

20170130_080106 by freezingvettes99, on Flickr

20170130_080045 by freezingvettes99, on Flickr

20170130_080146 by freezingvettes99, on Flickr

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Dansharos

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Very nice locomotive ...and fantastic green livery!

[lostdriveway]

Love it nice work!

 

[dr_spock]

Lovely build. Miss seeing the green after the BNSF merger.

[legoman666]

Pretty slick! I've done a couple of those myself, 1 Canadian National, 1 Vale, 1 Chessie, and 1 Western Maryland.

[pyro690]

Looks great!!

[Freezingvettes99]

Thanks for the positive feedback, It's very much appreciated! 

[Feuer Zug]

Looks great. It reminds me of watching trains rolling across the American Midwest when I toured it back in 94.

[zephyr1934]

Those are some fine locomotives that you have in your collection on flickr (10x BNSF road switchers alone). How many are powered? I see 9v and standard lego curves, do you also do PF? You ever pull long trains with 4-5 of those units?  Or do you have more locos than cars? Oh, and a technical question, how did you do the gray split between the cab windows, is that a 2x2 flag?

[Jimbo Cactaur]

I like it! I'll check out your photostream after I post this so my questions may be answered there. But.. how did you articulate the three axle trucks? I've seen a few ways and am not totally satisfied with my own solution. The fans up top, are they two train wheels and three technic wheels (it's hard to tell on my screen with the black on black)? At 6 wide you don't have enough space on top if you want the proper spacing and are using the 4x4 turntable bottoms. I might need to look into this. I also didn't realize that the robot arms came in green.

 

My first loco was a BC Rail SD 40-2, it's my favorite.

[Freezingvettes99]

On 2/5/2017 at 11:05 AM, zephyr1934 said:

Those are some fine locomotives that you have in your collection on flickr (10x BNSF road switchers alone). How many are powered? I see 9v and standard lego curves, do you also do PF? You ever pull long trains with 4-5 of those units?  Or do you have more locos than cars? Oh, and a technical question, how did you do the gray split between the cab windows, is that a 2x2 flag?

The only locomotives that are powered are the 2 axle locos with the 9v train motors and most of the have 2 for pulling power.  Yes I just use standard Lego curves for now until I see something that I see is trustworthy enough to make the leap and no PF as of now.  I pull trains of 10 - 15 cars with ease with two powered locos.

I have a large amount of rolling stock not on display at the moment.  The split between the cab windows is a Swoofty design 2x2 gray flag, yes. 

2017-02-06_09-24-00 by freezingvettes99, on Flickr

Edited March 27, 2017 by Dansharos

[Freezingvettes99]

7 hours ago, Jimbo Cactaur said:

I like it! I'll check out your photostream after I post this so my questions may be answered there. But.. how did you articulate the three axle trucks? I've seen a few ways and am not totally satisfied with my own solution. The fans up top, are they two train wheels and three technic wheels (it's hard to tell on my screen with the black on black)? At 6 wide you don't have enough space on top if you want the proper spacing and are using the 4x4 turntable bottoms. I might need to look into this. I also didn't realize that the robot arms came in green.

 

My first loco was a BC Rail SD 40-2, it's my favorite.

The dynamic brake fans are RC train wheels, Lego part # 55423c01 held on with a Technic pin and the radiator cooling fans are Technic wedge belt wheel pulley, Lego part # 4185 held on with jumper plates.  The droid arms in green are tough to find and the green tubing is even tougher, almost impossible!  The articulated 3 axle trucks are the Talltim Truck design.  Here is an exploded view to get an idea:

The Talltim Truck by swoofty, on Flickr

[22kane]

Wow! That is sharp! I'm a Conrail guy but always had a soft spot for the BN green. Well done!

[Freezingvettes99]

10 hours ago, 22kane said:

Wow! That is sharp! I'm a Conrail guy but always had a soft spot for the BN green. Well done!

Thanks!  One of the more difficult challenges were the end platforms.  These were a structural challenge for me and it took several attempts to get them right and to look correct.  After all an SD40-2 is almost as long as a SD60!

[22kane]

After looking back through, that window design is quite ingenious. It really brings the model to a perfect scaled down version. Window designs on most Lego trains are not to scale due to trying to fit a minifigure inside as well as piece availability and so on. Is this something that you picked up along the way or your own design trial and error? Whether it is or not the loco is brilliant. Those hand rails really grab your attention too, such great detail. I would love to have this in my collection.