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Found 21 results

  1. I have recently acquired Cargo Train 60198, which is a great set. I figured out it could do with a shunter, so I started designing one. The main things I am after are: Something small With accurate and releastic speeds (slow!) and acceleration (slow!) Playable and not too difficult to build So the following is largely inspired by other topics, including: There it goes: Unfortunately, the Powered Up motor takes up too much space for the driver to sit inside the cab, but at least they can hang out from the door! Designed largely around placement of motor + battery box like this, giving it the same overall length and wheelbase I think of Shunter 7760.
  2. *A Lego IDEAS submission* Frankie's Farm by Nick Jackson, on Flickr Welcome to the farm! This is a farm-themed freight train set that features the small diesel engine Shiro-chan. Shiro-chan v2 (front) by Nick Jackson, on Flickr There are three freight cars to transport cargo from the farm to your LEGO town. These are an all-purpose gondola, a tanker car, and a wood-paneled livestock car. Gondola (v2) by Nick Jackson, on Flickr Tank Car by Nick Jackson, on Flickr Stock Car (open) by Nick Jackson, on Flickr The farm consists of a barn with a loft, a mini tractor with a trailer, and a raised goods platform with a crane hoist. Barn Full by Nick Jackson, on Flickr Tractor (front) by Nick Jackson, on Flickr Farm Platform by Nick Jackson, on Flickr In the barn's loft there is a spot where a minifigure can take a quick nap next to the hay! Barn Loft by Nick Jackson, on Flickr Barn Open by Nick Jackson, on Flickr Drive the tractor and trailer to haul crates' worth of goods and supplies between the barn and the platform. The cargo platform has attachment points in the base which allow you to rearrange the ramps and staircase. The barn can also attach to the platform. For minifigures, there are two train operators, three farmhands, and an assortment of farm animals including cows, chickens, dogs and cats. Barn, Tractor, & Minifigs by Nick Jackson, on Flickr I built this digitally via Stud.io, but I have also built Shiro-chan (the engine) in real life. Depending on how the support campaign goes, I will attempt to construct the rest of the set. Not all of the parts exist (yet) in the colors depicted however. Thanks so much for taking some time to look at my project! **UPDATE** 6/28/22 So, I ordered some parts and set about building this in real bricks! I think the set turned out rather well! Can you spot the differences between the renders and the irl build…?
  3. In this latest model series, I decided in order to keep the "toy like" proportions of it's inspirational genesis, set 71044. (Disney train) Now, people who know my design style are probably scratching there heads right now in confusion, as I don't EVER build in 8-wide for trains. But in order to make it look as good as possible with the original 2010 Toy Story figures and their stretched appendages, I had to do 8-wide. My current setup... minus a few things on the other table not shown. This scene will change, as the freight 4-4-0 needs revision on the tender, and the passenger 2-6-0 and it's train need heavy work done, as you will see! Loco Number 1 - 2-6-0 Mogul w/ passenger train This 1890's style train is to be pulled by my revised Western 2-6-0 steam loco, and will be made from my older three yellow train cars. These newer cars are four studs shorter, so I can fit a fourth car in the storage box with the extra space. Also, the sidewall closest to the camera comes off on all the cars so you can get at the inside details. The coal-burning straight stack-styled locomotive is a mish-mash of two steam locomotives, the 4-4-0 from the Toy Story 7597 set and a British 2-6-0 train model designed by Block Junction. I repainted the British engine into a Toy-ish color scheme, then added 8-wide late 1800's American-style features with printed parts from set 7597. Oh, and I built a brand new small size tender from the rails up, which uses new red wheels from BrickTracks.. The rear of the engine features a coal tender with a ladder from the water tank-top down to the magnetic coupler. This tender is smaller than before, as it looked very silly next to my 2-6-0 IRL, and even worse next to my blue Western 4-4-0, which currently has an exact copy of the earlier tender version as well. The baggage car features two sliding freight doors in red along with two non-functional passenger doors in black. The side wall comes off, as it does on all the cars, to reveal seating. In this car, that means lots of luggage room and two seats. The two coaches are identical in every way, and are also quite similar to the parlor car at first glance. The inside features side seating, as in LEGO set 71044's Lilly Belle car... this also allows for easier moving of figures, and placing them in any of the five seats per car. The observation car features a rear platform, plus a red drumhead ready for the train's logo. The inside is the same as the two coaches, with five seats. Loco Number 2 - 4-4-0 American w/ freight train This freight-hauling locomotive is meant to be built from sets 7597 (Western train Chase from Toy Story 3), 71044, (Disney Train and Station) and set 10014. (Caboose from the My Own Train series, albeit a bit bigger width-wise!) I also used set 10013 (Open Freight Wagon, also from My Own Train) as a guide for the pipe-carrying car, plus model 15 (Tanker) from set 10183, Hobby Trains for the tanker car. This loco shares the same tender as my other Western 8-wdie loco from this time period. The engine itself, however, is an enlarged version of 7597, in yellow and blue. It's also meant to have inside pistons as it's an early-to-mid 1860's locomotive. (thus the lack of visible pistons!) The locomotive is missing these printed parts. They are as follows: The four yellow 1 x 6 bricks are supposed to be printed with this number 2. while the headlamp is supposed to have two of these printed yellow 1 x 1 tiles. The firebox door requires this print. This boxcar is an enlarged to 8-wide and recolored boxcar from set 3677 (2011's Red Cargo Train). The printed doors (not shown) and from set 7597. (2011's Western Train Chase) The coal-filled 8-wide gondola was inspired by a sub model from set 10183. (2007's Hobby train) This water tanker is a version modified of set 2126's (Train Cars) design with newer reddish brown tanks instead of the vintage 1998 brown of the original model, and now in 8-wide. This model was built from instructions seen at the Old Workhorse's Lego Ideas page as seen here. (I am not affiliated with the creator of that page, I just used their free instructions, visible further down in the updates section, to build the traction engine seen here.) This car is a mashup of set 10013 (2001's Open Freight Wagon) and the bed area from set 60059. (2014's Logging Truck) This caboose was inspired by set 10014 (Caboose) except this versions is 8 wide and the main two colors are reversed. Loco Number 3 - 4-10-0 Super Mastodon w/ military train This entire eight-wide military transport train was inspired by sets 71044, 60052, 79106, and 79111. It is inspired by the 1975 film "Breakheart Pass", which features an US Army resupply train traveling to a Western frontier Fort under siege. This train also has a couple play features, such as a rotating Gatling gun, moving steam engine side rods, and a exploding jail car wall, among a few others. This engine is basically a stretched version of my Western 2-8-0, with another driving axle and a four wheel truck in front. The wheel diagram show which six wheels will be blind and which four will be have a flange. I've tried a similar (albeit reversed) setup on my UK 2-10-0, so I know the wheel arrangement works in it's basics, I'm just not sure how the magnetic coupler will like this new arrangement. (My 2-10-0 doesn't like having a magnet, so it's hard-connected to the tender by a lift-arm on that MOC.) I included the working pistons, and a more cohesive color scheme of red and green, with a splash of yellow as on the previous 2-8-0 steamer. Big Ben bricks' medium size wheels, 4 with flange and 6 blind, are meant to take the place of the gear wheels in the order shown above. You can buy them at his site here. The tender and cab walls are supposed to have four of this printed red 1 x 6 piece inserted into them: The front headlight is supposed to have two of this printed 1 x 1 placed on it. This horse car was originally a cattle car from set 60052, (2014 Cargo Train) but I've re-purposed it for my Army officer horses. These cannons are from set 79106 (Calvary Builder Set) and were placed on a generic two-axle flatcar for transport by rail. The rotating Gatling gun you see here was taken from set 79111. (Constitution Train Chase) This car has the basic "look" of the Lily Belle parlor car from 71044, (Disney train and station) but is less ornately furnished due to be a second-hand coach refurbished cheaply for use by the US Army of the 1880's. The right-side wall is removable for access to the inside. The jail / baggage car you see was originally from set 79111, (Constitution Train Chase) with the basic coach styling of set 71044. This car has one play feature that is sure to blow you away: the back wall can be removed to get at the jail cell via the "dynamite" on the outside of the back wall. When pushed back towards the other end of the car, the lever on the left side pops the back wall out and the bad guys can escape! Also, the right-side wall is removable for access to the inside. Loco Number 4 - 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt w/ rotary snowplow train This blue train is marked (2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt, for heavy duty rotary snow plow jobs) number 4, and joins the family of similar mid-1880's engines such as the large 2-8-0 for military transport, the inside-piston 4-4-0 for freight, and the fancy 4-6-0 for passengers. This 8-wide Garratt-type steam locomotive is perfect for use on the mountainous terrain of Colorado Rocky Mountains, with it's double steam locomotive pistons sets. (Before anyone says anything about Garratt loco's not being ever sold into the North American market, I'll say it's an lost experimental prototype to help with a motive power shortage. It may have been seen by the owner as a economical way of sending one locomotive to do the job of two.) This steam powered rotary snowplow was inspired by the real-world Denver and Rio Grande's narrow gauge plow "OY", as now seen on the Cumbres and Toltec RR in New Mexico / Colorado. I've decided to name my plow "YO" in tribute to my inspiration, using four of this part from the original Toy Story sets as a sort of marker. The rear of the plow features the coal tender. This 8-wide engine was originally a SRW locomotive works product, (made by Anthony Sava and formerly available on Bricklink until LEGO sadly removed most of his models.) I reworked the engine to have working pistons and side-rods plus a longer frame. This made it from 2-4-0+0-4-2 to a 2-8-0+0-8-2, among other smaller updates to the engine. I also substituted a Disney train-style boiler onto the engine to backdate it to the mid-1880's or so. Even with the added pistons, the engine can go around corners and switches quite easily. A simple caboose, for the snow plow train. I used a pair interesting windscreen parts for the cupola windows. Loco Number 5 - 0-6-0ST shop switcher Locomotive number 5 is an eight wide model of a generic 0-6-0 saddle tank steam engine from the later half of the 19th century, and was inspired by a @ScotNick build of Stanley from Thomas and Friends for the stripe work, and this build of Percy (also from Thomas) from the L Gauge site for the front of the boiler/ piston assembly. Here is the coal bunker / driving controls shot for this 8-wide yard goat. NOTE: The color scheme is red and yellow, though sadly here red looks pink. Loco Number 6 - 4-2-4T w/ RR office car I created a more realistic version of the 2016 Winter Village holiday train (set 10254) for all the train fans who didn't like the engine. I added working pistons, and more colorful (and less festive!) color scheme plus two more sets of fuel bunker-based wheels on the rear of the engine. The accompanying business car is for the WXYZ railroad president, and features a accessible interior, like the Disney Train (set 71044) it's modeled after. This private car has been given the name "Mount Clutchmore", after the tallest peak and highest point on the WXYZ line, at the tunnel under said mountain in Colorado. This locomotive is modeled after the unique C.P. Huntington of the Central Pacific railroad. The model will be numbered 6 for use on my Wild West railroad, and and features a (small) balloon stack, yellow and blue paint scheme, with red accents. This railroad office car is modeled after the dark red observation car as seen in the Disney Train LEGO set. It has been changed to a blue paint scheme, with red doors/ windows and brown trim, with a black roof. As the car has been stretched by four studs to fit the longer frame, there is more room inside. The Mount Clutchmore office car features three chairs, a table with drinks for investors / newspaper reporters, and a planter on a table at the rear-most end. Almost the whole wall is removable to get at these inside details. Loco Number 7 - Automotive Rail-Speeder The early '50's automotive rail-speeder is inspired by this fairly recent @hachiroku build here and by @Cale's pictures of Ma & Pa RR 101 as seen here. The vehicle is numbered "7", for use on the WXYZ Railroad, and rolls quite well on the track with no problems in stock switches or standard R40 curves. The rear has two coverings almost fully obscuring the rear wheels, in true retro style. This model is designed for track inspector's and high-up executive's to get up close and personal with the railroad. The roof is removable and the doors open, with seating for two figures side-by-side. Loco Number 8 - Galloping Goose (freight version) This Galloping Goose's front half was inspired by @hachiroku and his Indiana Jones staff car MOC, as seen here. The rear of Number 8, with all the doors open. Loco Number 9 - 2-4-0 Old English w/ silver ore and mine payroll train This very short train is based off set 7597, Toy Story 3's Western Train Chase, which my dad purchased for my birthday gift for later this year. I digitally converted the 4-4-0 "American" into a 2-4-0 "Old English" type which I then based off the real world 2-4-0 'Montezuma'. That 1871-vintage engine was the Denver & Rio Grande's first steamer. (which was the basis for the fourth Disneyland loco, the Ernest S. Marsh, by the way.) I had a real urge to name the LEGO version of the engine after Achu, the South-American tribal leader from the Adventurers' "Jungle" subtheme as a tribute to the real-world Montezuma engine and it's namesake Aztec leader. But I didn't think anyone would get the reference, so I didn't... at least not yet! The locomotive as it will be later in the year. I used the basic look of the Disney set 71044's engine for the two wheel tender, as it was too good an opportunity to pass up. (and it's accurate to the real engine it's based on, too!) I also managed to add working pistons, though quartering was not possible, sadly. The rear view of the engine, which will be numbered 9 in my numbering scheme for the Wild West-era W.X.Y. & Z. Railway. (This means it is replacing the 2-6-2 loco on the wanted list.) These three silver ore cars are taking their loads to the U.S. Mint in Denver to be made into coins. The mine payroll boxcar will feature dollars signs on the doors, as in the Toy Story 3 set. The caboose will have printed parts on the sides, saying "GREAT WEST". The inside with the roof removed. The Wichita Xenia Yazoo & Zephyrus Rail-Road (Stock market trade name WXYZRR) was a mid-19th / early 20th century enterprise also known as the Wasted, eXausted, Y bother & Z*. (*No one could figure out an insult to the railroad that started with the letter "Z") The railroad started in Wichita, Kansas in 1868, then went straight through Xenia, Oklahoma, while then meandering into Yazoo, Colorado and barely making it into Zephyrus, New Mexico by 1875. Other stations included several army forts dotted along the route through Oklahoma and Colorado, along with scattered mining camps and agricultural towns across the maps of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The railroad is hardly mentioned anywhere in writings of journalists, except in scathing "letters to the editor" of various newspapers about lack of the promised service on the line in the early years. Also, the much derided company slogan "last railroad you'll ever need" did not work out well for the new railroad, but it did vastly increase questions fielded to the main office about coffin, headstone, and various other memorial shipments from all over the area from which the railroad served. It is therefore shocking the railroad lasted as long as it did, a substantial fifty-six years from incorporation in 1867, to it's sale at auction in 1923! The old WXY&Z railroad had about 35 locomotives on the books at the maximum, but most of these were already very old when purchased and broke down frequently so they were chronically in the workshop for some reason or another. In fact, the seven additional 4-4-0 locomotives purchased third-hand from engine dealers were of the long-obsolete inside-piston variety of the mid-1850's, yet were bought in the early 1870's! However, what the railroad lacked in regular service motive power, it made up for in the snow plow-train department. A single prototype of what would later be called a "Garratt" (a doubled-power-unit steam loco with a single boiler not normally found in North America) was first run on the "High Line" between Fort Legoredo, Colorado and Glencoe, New Mexico in the steep Rocky Mountains. This is where the railroad really shined, in keeping the trains running through steep mountain passes with a single experimental train with a rotary snowplow at the head end... of course, there were other plow trains, but only two rotary trains. (One would work from either end of the Glacier Gulch Pass, and meet in the middle on a passing siding. The Garrett would be on one train, and two regular locomotives pushing the other.) After 1923's closing of the railroad, it was bought wholesale by a consortium of stock brokers from Denver, with plans to redo the line with less sharp grades and more snow sheds. However, during this reconstruction, the 1929 Great Depression began, leaving half the line with old grades though most of Colorado mountains, but new grades on New Mexico were finished in time. The passenger car fleet was upgraded, but the freight engines (downgraded passenger power, really) and rotary plows remained vintage as far back as 1878 for motive power. The older inside-piston locomotives went for sale once the Depression really started up, and one was snapped up for a potential history museum in Glencoe, while the rest were scrapped. Then, a miracle happened: the movie industry intervened, and several production houses bought some of the oldest rolling stock, engines, and the line was given enough cash to stave off it's dismantlement until 1941, when trains of heavy munitions from companies on the line came rolling through for the War effort, making the line the busiest it had ever been. The profits from this, and the later 1950 / '60's movie companies use of the stunningly scenic "High Line" line for motion pictures saved the line. When the good times started to dim in the early 1970's, the railroad was jointly bought by the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, & New Mexico for tourists, occasional movie trains, and the freight that still used the line, as the original stock broker consortium had by then been dissolved. The "new" WXYZ railroad, (the town names were shortened to just the initials for simplicity's sake) was thus founded in March 1st, 1971. It has been running, mostly non-stop and is closed during the three winter months of December, January, and February for running of the single remaining rotary snowplow to get the line ready for opening day on March 1st of every year since the early 1970's. (NOTES from the writer: Only Wichita (Kansas) and Xenia (Illinois) are real-world towns, with them being based in name ONLY on real places. Yazoo, for example, is really a river in the state of Mississippi, while Zehyrus was simply because I needed a "Z" name that sounded plausible, and the Colorado Zephyr train was on my mind at the time. The rest of the story is also fiction, as no Garratt ever rode the rails of North America.... ever. Also, the WXYZ logo is an old Union Pacific logo from the early 1910's, while the railroad name's initials have never been used ANYWHERE on a railroad in the USA.) EDITED 8/3/21: added screenshots of engine No. 9 and it's train. I still need to take real-life photos of the private car and 4-2-4T, and now the blue 4-4-0 and it's freight train require photos too.
  4. Legownz

    [MOC] Diesel Switcher

    One of the biggest issues I find with building in 6 wide is hiding PF/PUP elements, especially when I want to have walkways down the side of the locomotive. A few years back, I started on a locomotive design to put the battery pack partially below the base, between the two sets of wheels. I never finished this design, so when I wanted to create a switcher a few days back, I thought of this old design (as I didn't want the loco to end up being huge to conceal the battery box and end up looking bloated). This is what I came up with. The engine is essentially symmetrical front to back, so it is meant for going in and out of sidings all day in a yard. The cab comes off in one assembly below the 1x1 cheese slopes. Inside, there is a seat that is directly on top of the PUP box, so easy access for power/linking. Unlike some of my other models, I did not make space for a PF receiver so it can only be powered by PUP or 9V. I felt this was ok though, as I really wanted the electrical components to not dictate the shape of the engine too much. I have never tried putting the battery box in this location and since it is not above the powered wheels, traction may be a problem? There should be enough open space to put a ballast brick in above the wheels, should there be any issues. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this MOC. I feel the cab looks off in the side view, but other than that, I think it turned out nicely. As usual, there is a download for the Studio file. From now on though, I will just be putting all of my files into one folder so any links on my posts will grant you access to all my models. Thanks for reading! File Download: https://bricksafe.com/pages/Legownz/legownzs-train-mocs
  5. Commander Wolf

    [MOC] Alco HH1000 Switcher

    I was looking at that thread about compact PF solutions, and I thought about posting this MOC. The Alco HH series is a line of very early diesel-electric switchers (made in 'Murrika of course) produced between 1931 and 1940 after which it was succeeded by the much more well-know S series. The HH1000 was the 1000HP variant of the HH series of which 34 were produced between 1939 and 1940. Because other companies' color schemes were more difficult to implement, my HH1000 carries that of Union Pacific. UP owned exactly one HH1000, numbered 1251, which it acquired from the Mount Hood Railway in the late 60s. It was probably retired not long after. The most difficult part of the prototype to implement in Lego was by far the cab. Ideally the columns at the corners of the cab would be something like 2LU x 2LU, but that is pretty much impossible in Lego. After much fiddling I was able to get 2LU gaps in the back, but the cab is too long by about a stud to accomodate 5LU columns from the side. You'll notice the PF receiver sticking out of the center window. To me the main feature of this loco is that it is the perfect shape to cram two M motors, the AA battery box, and the reciever into a body 30 studs long. The receiver is actually just floating because that's the only orientation that works. The tractive effort is a little less than what I was able to get out of the RF-16, a combination I think of less weight and shorter bogies, but for practical purposes it'll basically pull anything reasonable - just slowly. As far as I can tell having a gear ratio other than 1:1 is more or less impossible here. This model has been about 85% complete for the past month or two, mainly for testing, but I'm about to BL the remaining parts, so it should get done soon!
  6. I've always desired a small engine to run on my small door layout. Lots of looking here and elsewhere online provided plenty of inspiration. My three main goals were a) make it powered by PF b) make it similar to something that exists IRL and c) make it tiny! I've seen some small switchers but mine might be the shortest at just 14 studs long and 6 studs wide. I even managed to squeeze in a minifig (well, 1/2 a minifig). The gray plate on top serves as an on/off switch, though a curved side piece needs to be removed to see the light. Designing it was a bit of a challenge, and ultimately I took two potentially controversial shortcuts. This one took only about 5-6 hours to design in LDD. It contains about 175 pieces and cost about $80 US to build with pieces from BL including the PF parts. Below I've included lots of pics and a link to a quick video of it running. It looks right at home on my layout and does a good job moving cars around, especially considering it's very light weight EDIT: Here's a link to my LDD file so you can make, modify, copy or inspect my design. https://bricksafe.com/pages/sed6/switcher-shunter-engine Hope you like!
  7. Commander Wolf

    [MOC] EMD Model 40 switcher

    Hey EB, it's time for another train MOC! Today's locomotive is the EMD Model 40, a small industrial switcher made in very limited quantity in the early 40s. The model is approximately 1:48 scale, contains about 360 parts, and weighs about 360 grams. Much like my PRR A6b, this locomotive is an oddity among American locomotives in that it only has two axles, but that's what makes this model possible! The genesis of this build goes way back to the micromotor boxcab I built a few years ago. I was not too happy about various aspects of my implementation, and the model was dismantled after not too long. I had been wanting to try my hand at another micromotor locomotive since then, but I was also waiting for a good prototype to show up. So when forum member jtlan showed me the Model 40 a few months ago, I of course first thought, "hey maybe time for a new micromotor model". Alas, initial investigation indicated that the Model 40 was probably not a good candidate for micromotor traction: the locomotive turned out to be much larger than it looked - almost double the size of the old mini boxcabs. I was going to stop there, but I had a suspicion that prompted me to keep looking at different drivetrain layouts, and eventually I began to realize the size of the engine was more blessing than curse because... At 1:48 scale the Model 40 is probably the smallest locomotive by volume in which you can put a full PF drivetrain. Figuring out how to fit everything in there certainly took a couple nights, but there's basically two "tricks" I had to recognize: 1) The cab is just big enough to accommodate the battery box, but it must be in a studs-sideways orientation 2) What I call the "monkey motor" (because it came from a Creator set that made a motorized monkey) has the output shaft mounted lower than the "usual" 9v geared motor The second point is important because it allows me to connect the motor to a shaft below it with only one gear stage and without excessively large gears (a little more on this in a bit). After solving the layout problem there were of course the usual challenges of how to bolt everything together and actually model the various details of the engine. While the motor and receiver fit perfectly in the two hoods, it was difficult to tile all the sides of each end with the limited peripheral space available: the front and rear grill panels are actually attached from the bottom by hinges. The running boards are only connected near those panels and simply rest on the fuel tanks, which attach to the chassis. The battery box and the cab are connected by gravity: they simply rest on each other such that it's easy to remove the roof to access the power button and it's easy to remove the battery box to access the batteries. Two more neat details I thought were worth pointing out: 1) I used a set of click hinges to create a structurally integral step, which allowed me to mount the battery box one plate lower than otherwise: 2) There's a little bit of business done to allow 1:1 gearing with 16-tooth gears, and I'm quite happy with the torque/power curve with 1:1 gearing. The underside of the chassis: At this point some of you might be going "waitaminute...", and you might be correct! Until I tried it explicitly, I didn't think installing the 16-tooth gear at the same height as the driving wheels was supposed to work. If you do it with the old 9v wheelsets, the teeth of the gear will fall below the railhead and contact anything at that height. However, the official wheels with the rubber bands are just big enough such that the teeth now clear the railhead, even if just barely! You can see I applied permanent marker to the teeth of the lower gear for testing. None of the ink got scraped off when passing over switches, etc. Other random thoughts: The livery was not intended to be a prototypical. Since all of the 11 units built went to different industrial operators, and many seem to have changed hands some, I felt that the colors of some fictional industry was plausible. The number is kind of an easter egg, but I dunno if anyone will get it. Many of these pictures were taken in a DIY lightbox that jtlan and myself put together. This is the first time either of us have tried photographing models in such a thing, and for the amount of time we spent on our box, the results seem quite good. Other than that, I think there aren't any other construction details worth mentioning that aren't obvious in the pictures. There's a couple more pics in the gallery, but the model's so small there's not that much to see! EDIT: Instructions for this model are now for sale on Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-53554/NonsenseWars/148-scale-emd-model-40-power-functions-9v
  8. icemorons

    MOC center cab switcher

    In preparation for starting up a LEGO Train and City layout, I wanted to create a small, Power Function controlled center-cab switcher for use in a train yard. I used the GE-65 Ton center-cab for inspiration, but it's not an accurate model of that example. I wanted to utilize 4-wide hoods on both sides of the 6-wide cab. This presented challenges with the incorporation of Power Functions components. Utilizing lessons learned from LEGO 3677, I did my best to "hide" the PF components as much as possible. Working from the DBG color of the battery box, I used that as the primary color, with red as the secondary color, and some accent lines in LBG. I used a 24-stud train base, and didn't lengthen it at all, since the desire was to keep this as short as possible. The cab section is least realistic, however, I was working with parts on hand, and wanted to ensure that a minifig and some controls were able to fit. Constructive criticism is welcomed.
  9. Want an SD40, but can't afford one? Here's a half-off deal for you: ...literally. These little locomotives are made by cutting an SD40 in half, attaching the frame to the truck, and installing a new and efficient prime mover and cab. I kid you not: Link to the manufacturer's website. I went about building this model the same way I usually do: Gather reference images, find an engineering drawing, and overlay grid paper over the scaling drawing. Complicating the matter was that the diagram in Tractive Power's specifications brochure was very obviously wrong -- there's no way the SD40 truck is that long! Comparing the drawing to photos of the real locomotive confirmed my suspicions. I overlaid a drawing of an SD40 truck on the diagram of the body, and worked from that. As with my Standard Class 2, I selectively compressed the wheelbase to make the axle-to-axle distance a whole number. This made building the truck frames much easier: After working out the frames, I worked on designing a drive train that would power all three wheels (once again, I picked a small prototype, which didn't help). Here's what I came up with: That's the ungeared 9V motor driving a shaft with a belt, powering all three axles with worms. The center axle slides to traverse curves: As a side bonus, I get to check another motor off my list of "motors to power a locomotive with". Because of the belt drive, unlike any of my other locomotives this locomotive's pulling power is limited by torque instead of weight (because the belt will slip first). It still has plenty of pulling power for something of its size. The locomotive traverses almost all track arrangements -- strangely, it will skip switches coming out of a curve, but only in one direction. The hood hides the battery box. One section isn't held on by anything, and comes off to reveal the power button: The other sections are only connected with one stud (and some interesting panel spacing to grab the power connector), making it easy to change the batteries. The receiver sits on top of the motor in the cab and receives signals through a hole in the roof. Unlike the other locomotives I've built, this one has great reception from all angles. I really wanted to build this locomotive in Curry Rail colors, but the parts I needed weren't available in either teal (too old) or bright green (too new?). So I built it in black, but left the frames grey to show the details better. Thanks for reading! Full Brickshelf gallery, pending moderation.
  10. This engine is modeled after the GE 44 ton switcher locomotive. Why 44 tons, you may ask? I give you the answer from the Wikipedia article on this loco type: This locomotive's specific 44-short ton weight was directly related to one of the efficiencies the new diesel locomotives offered compared to their steam counterparts: reduced labor intensity. In the 1940s, the steam to diesel transition was in its infancy in North America, and railroad unions were trying to protect the locomotive fireman jobs that were redundant with diesel units. One measure taken to this end was the 1937 so-called "90,000 Pound Rule" :[citation needed] a stipulation that locomotives weighing 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg) – 45 short tons – or more required a fireman in addition to an engineer on common carrier railroads. Industrial and military railroads had no such stipulation. The 44-ton locomotive was born to skirt this requirement. The loco is bi-directional, and doesn't have much to differentiate between the "front" or "rear" expect for the air horn and exhaust stack on one end in real life. My LEGO model lacks these, so it's only way to tell which is front is by the headlights: clear for front, red for rear. I am going to name this loco WFP number 7007. (WFP stands for Wabash Frisco & Pacific, which is the name of a 12 inch gauge ride-on railway in St. Louis, MO.) They don't have a real 44 toner there, but do have a Fairbanks Morse H10-44 (number 704) in the same color scheme, so I made this engine as a companion to the H10-44. In the spoiler tag below, you will find a real life picture of a 44-toner loco. (I got the picture from railpictures.net, It is NOT mine!) Just for comparison purposes, here is the H10-44 I was talking about. NOTE: The H10-44 is NOT included in the GE 44-ton's LDD file! The (updated) LDD file for the GE loco is available here. Build updated 3-14-17 with a better 44 ton GE unit, courtesy of Henry Durand over on Facebook's LEGO Train Fan Club. Thanks Henry! Comments, Questions, suggestions and complaints are always welcome!
  11. This loco is basically an updated 2017 version of the Railbricks Fairbanks Morse H10-44 engine that was built by Jeramy Spurgeon back in 2007 for the Hobby train set number 10183. (It didn't make it into the final set but was considered for it) I was also inspired by this topic here on Eurobricks by user dx0. I wanted to make it in orange like his model, but decided on yellow after looking at the Technic 1 x 4 brick, which doesn't come in that color. The elongated model features a new slope brick that actually very closely mirrors the real loco, along with space for railways initial tiles and printed numbers. I am going to name this loco WFP number 7004. (WFP stands for Wabash Frisco & Pacific, which is the name of a 12 inch gauge ride-on railway in St. Louis, MO. They really have a Fairbanks Morse-like loco there numbered 704, so this engine is partially inspired by that!) The rear of the loco features the cab door and the tail-light. The LDD file is available here if anyone wants it. (UPDATE: I revised the underside of the engine to be beefier, along with a bunch of other small modifications. The LDD file and pictures are updated as of 1/24/17. Comments, questions and complaints are always welcome!
  12. I've made a new gearbox for my next car. This gearbox can either be set to a gear ratio (driving the wheels) or to a function, allowing the drive motors to power something else. In total, there are 4 forward gears, 2 reverse gears and 6 function "ports". The reverse gears weren't intentional - they happened to exist when I added the gearing for the forward gears. The gearbox consists of a turntable with an off-center gear positioned on it. This design uses two off-center gears on the same axle - an 8t and a 12t. This allows more meshing combinations. The off-center gears are driven by a 24t gear in the middle of the turntable, which is powered by the drive motors. Around the turnable, there are many axles with gears on them (12 in this design). When the turntable is rotated correctly, one of the off-center gears meshes with one of the gears on the outside, turning that axle. Some of the axles are connected with extra gears to form a transmission with different speeds; the unconnected ones will be used for functions. Here you can see the internal workings of the gearbox. These are the gear ratios (including the 3:5 gearing before the transmission): Gear 1: 1:2.5 Gear 2: 1:3 Gear 3: 1:4.167 Gear 4: 1:5 Reverse 1: 1:3 Reverse 2: 1:5 Functions 1, 3, 4 and 6: 1:7.5 Functions 2 and 5: 1:5 The gear ratios are rather close, and the reverse ratios are too high, but there is little choice in choosing gears since all of them have to mesh properly with the off-center gears on the turntable. I made all the gear ratios quite high since I'm planning to drive the vehicle with 2 EV3 Large motors, which have tons of torque. There are two inputs - this is purely because I plan to use 2 EV3 Large motors - one on each side of the gearbox. The shifting input drives the turntable with a 28:8 gear reduction - this could be increased, possibly with a worm gear. Note that it is ESSENTIAL to use a MINDSTORMS motor for shifting, since the shift positions are in strange places and not in order. This gearbox can handle plenty of torque - the gearing up before it does help. However, when under high load, the turntable can move out of place and make gears grind. This gearbox works best with minimal backlash on the shifting input. Also, some clever programming can make the turntable adjust its position a little bit depending on the amount and direction of the load, countering the forces pushing the gears apart. The gearbox is very compact for its functionality - comparable in size to a 4-speed sequential gearbox. However, it can only be used with a MINDSTORMS motor for shifting, which will make it useless for most of you guys (unless of course someone develops a version that can be controlled by a PF servo...)
  13. Legownz

    0-4-0 Steam Switcher

    Hello all! I build mostly City style 6-wide trains. I have been building a lot of trains on LDD recently, and I just joined Eurobricks a couple of weeks ago. So I found this to be the opportune time to share my newest creation. A 0-4-0 Steam Switcher Engine. For the models I've been designing on LDD, I have been using a color scheme of blue with a white stripe. It looks a little cartoony, but until I find a better combo, I'm going to stick with this one. I based it off the countless models of switcher that Lionel likes to do with their O Gauge trains. A rear view of the switcher. It is worth noting that this probably isn't possible to build since I built it in LDD Advanced Edition. Therefore, I could put all the parts in any color I wanted, regardless of if they've even been made in that color. For example, the robot claws on the back of the tender have never actually been made in blue. So if I actually wanted to buy this model, I'd have to use a different color scheme. What little interior i did. If I started building in 8-wide, I probably could get a full cab in, but I'm happy with my 6-wide trains for now. Hopefully the formatting isn't too messed up, since this is only my second post. Here is a download link if anyone wants the LDD file. NOTE: If anyone wants to redesign this model or make it better than it is, I'd love to see it!
  14. The following creations were made with help from about five people, not including myself. Please see each model for more details. The steam switcher was originally a model by Scotnick, which had no working pistons and was colored white and red. I borrowed some pistons from one of HunterDobbs' engines, and now have added updated saddle tanks courtesy of Canvas Rails / TF Twitch. (Canvas made the original 0-4-0 design where the tank originated, which TF Twitch recreated, this leading to the adding of it to this 0-6-0.) Oh, and by the way: the gears on the steamer are standing in for six Big Ben Bricks medium steam engine drivers. (four flanged, two blind) The rear of the engine features warp-around stripe design. The number of the engine goes on the four studs, while BRS goes on the three studs. The diesel was designed by Flickr member "RIZING!" and modified by me to be little taller and come in tan. I also removed some parts that are unavailable in black. The diesel could be motorized with either 9V or PF motors and associated items. Also, I must say I really like the stairs at both ends of the engine that RIZING! designed. The rear of the switcher now has three tail-lights. The number of the engine goes on the four studs, while the three studs is reserved for the letters BRS. I will be building these locos sometime early next year.
  15. These trains are my latest works-in-progress. Some of these trains have been built already, and the topic's LDD screenshots will be updated with real pictures once they are done. Also, they all have LDD files available, and comments are most welcome! First up: Emerald Express with 2-6-0 "Mogul" In the real world, the locomotive was assembled from instructions on Railbricks for a MOD of set 79111, Constitution Train Chase, by a user named Zephyr1934. I then added train coaches inspired by set 10015, Passenger Wagon, but with inter-car connections and inset doors. (plus the rear platform on the observation car) The locomotive is a 2-6-0 (two leading, six driving, and zero trailing wheels) steam locomotive. Engine number 4613 usually pulls the Emerald Express. Combination baggage and passenger car for the Emerald Express. Two identical passenger coaches for the Emerald Express. The observation car of the Emerald Express. The letters BRS stand for Brick Railway Systems, the owner of the train. LDD file for the Emerald Express with 2-6-0: http://www.mocpages....1435538134m.lxf Meramec River Runner with 2-8-2 "Mikado" In real life, this engine is made up of four different models. This includes ScotNick1's 2-10-0 9F European steam engine, which was shortened to a 2-8-0. The second model is set 10194 Emerald Night, from which the rear truck was taken. The third model is Anthony Sava's Pacific 4-6-2 model and that comprises the inspiration for the tender. The boiler was inspired by the one in set 79111 Constitution Train Chase. Together, these different engines from four different eras and four separate builders come together to create this one steam engine. The coaches are inspired by a 12 inch gauge railway called the Wabash Frisco & Pacific. The locomotive is a 2-8-2 (two leading, eight driving, and two trailing wheels) steam locomotive. Engine number 5916 usually pulls the Meramec River Runner lightweight passenger train. Combination baggage and passenger car for the Meramec River Runner. Three identical passenger coaches. The observation car lacks the letters BRS (standing for Brick Railway Systems) but it is owned by that line. Generic Freight Train with 4-8-0 "Mastodon" This model was originally ScotNick1's London Midland 7 Southern Ivatt class 2MT steam tank engine. I added a Anthony Sava-style Tender to this model about a year ago, and today I added a Constitution Train Chase -style boiler and recolored the engine reddish brown. coal gondola diesel fuel tanker drop side gondola (with hobo!) two identical boxcars flatcar with vehicle load rock hopper Brick Railway Systems bobber caboose Their is no LDD file for this entire train... however, the engine does have a file: http://www.mocpages.com/user_images/80135/1436900565m.lxf As I said, comments are always welcome!
  16. M_slug357

    7760 Reboot Project

    Hey everyone! I've finally decided to start my own thread, rather than piggy-back someone else's. Frankly, I need help with this: https://www.flickr.c...157643245649484 I'm trying my hand at remaking the classic 7760, with full PF components (lights too!) for a while now, but have hit a wall. The problem lies with the cab windows, and my current solution looks terrible in real bricks... So, I threw together an LDD moc up of what I currently have, and earnestly hope that you can provide me with something insightful! http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=554681 Thanks in advance, ~M_slug357~
  17. Commander Wolf

    [MOC] PRR A6B #3907

    Shortly after jtlan's CNJ1000, I set out to make a small PF boxcab of my own! I think like many of the earliest diesel electric locomotives in the US, the A6 had its beginnings in the Kaufman Act of the 1920s, which banned steam locomotives from operating in New York City. PRR built three A6 class two-axled switchers (3905-3907), one of which was repowered and reclassified A6B (3907), all of which operated in various New York yards between the late 1920s and late 1950s. Here is a picture of the lone A6B with some B1s up for scrap in 1961: This projext actually started out as one of those B1s, but along the way we found engineering drawings for the A6/B, and I was able to cram the drivetrain I'd designed for the B1 into the smaller body of the A6B. The unit is 24 studs long between couplers and has about 400 parts. The power comes from an AAA battery pack driving the old 9v geared motor. Not surprisingly the most difficult part of this model was figuring out how to position the battery pack, the geared motor, and that darn PF receiver inside the scaled dimensions of the loco. There weren't *that* many potential combinations of fit, but I had to go through a couple. In the end it's actually pretty tight given that the face of the receiver is already at the same height as the top of the curved slopes that make up the sides of the roof. The transmission is as simple as I could possibly make it: just 8-tooth gears meshed into 24-tooth crowns. You could actually speed this up by using 12 and 20 tooth bevels, but I prefer to go slower and have more pulling power - I want to be able to use the most worn out AAAs floating around and still go somewhere. Consequently the loco is *really* slow, but I'll call that a feature. Otherwise, the build is pretty straightforward, but I did try to make the top easily removable. My only real beef with this implementation is that the L drivers are slightly too big and the 1x1 tanks slightly too small. The receiption is also not amazing due to the positioning of the receiver, but it could be worse. There's a flap in the roof to access the power button. I have no idea what the big tank in the back is for. Someone enlighten me. More pics Bonus material #1: I tried my hand at "weathering" the unit by changing some of the brick colors, but I couldn't really get a combination with which I was happy: Bonus material #2: LDD of the B1 that I didn't finish. Pantographs are a pain. EDIT: Instructions now available for sale on Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-76470/NonsenseWars/148-pennsylvania-railroad-a6b-v2-powered-up/#details
  18. UrbanErwin

    [MOC] Switch Engine UW

    Hello all, I want to present you all my newest MOC: Switch Engine UW [front/right] by UrbanErwin(EPJL), on Flickr It is an switcher for railyards. The build is 7 studs wide. Switch Engine UW [front/left] by UrbanErwin(EPJL), on Flickr Switch Engine UW [back] by UrbanErwin(EPJL), on Flickr Switch Engine UW by UrbanErwin(EPJL), on Flickr Switch Engine UW It is used by the fictional company UW. As you can see my sticker skills are far from perfect. Thanks for reading, Comments, constructive criticism and likes are always appreciated. Erwin by UrbanErwin(EPJL), on Flickr
  19. Hello everybody, this is my first post, welcome to me ;) First: Sorry for my english. i got a question: Thare is a way to switch direction (or maybe stop the train) like the old 4,5v trains? I got a end of line bumbper, and i need to stop the train or invert direction on it via power function. Thx everyB in adv
  20. dr_spock

    MOC: PRR B1 Switcher

    Presenting my little Pennsylvania Railroad B1 electric boxcab switcher. The B1 was a 700HP switcher used on the PRR. It had an interesting looking 0-6-0 wheel arrangement. They were built between 1926 and 1935. Originally they were operated in semi-permanent pairs as the BB1 class. They were splitted into single B1 units later on. I built this engine as it was a cute little boxcab and to learn to make stickers with Avery labels. It was also a good use of the wheel set from the LEGO Monster Fighter's Ghost Train. In order to motorize it, I may have to build another one to make a BB1 unit. The B1 currently doesn't have enough room to fit in the battery box, IR receiver and motor. That's a project for another day.
  21. zephyr1934

    MOC: NP SW1200

    [ full gallery] Here's my take on the classic SW1200 yard switcher, this time in NP colors. I chose my subject from the MTM collection for several reasons, (1) my son is fond of this specific locomotive in part because it is featured in several episodes of the Choo Choo Bob Show (if you've got railfans under the age of 8 in the US I highly recommend this show), (2) I am fond of this specific locomotive because I spent way too many hours running it and maintaining it as a volunteer 20 yrs ago. On a side note, I know of at least one earlier build of the same subject by the folks at GMLTC. I built this locomotive as a gift for my son. He like's his 7939 set but although he is barely in the recommended age range he much prefers his dad's trains. So I wanted to build a very realistic train for his birthday. Since he is still young, it had to be kid tough, which meant one or two compromises, the biggest one being the cab. I managed to get a lot of great details in the cab, I am particularly fond of the back, getting the windows pretty close to correct. Shortly before building this I was commenting to a friend about the reintroduction of 1x1 trans clear bricks and how you could almost always substitute the much cheaper 1x2 bricks... oops... I needed four 1x1's for this and the photos predate my acquiring them. I also like the fact that I was able to work in the all weather cab windows. The thing I don't like about the cab is its length. It is 4 long and I would much prefer to have done it in 5 long, but all of the designs I came up with would have been a lot weaker. As it is, the 4 long cab is the weakest point on the locomotive (plenty strong for AFOL use, but you can't stand on it), I've had to rebuild it a few times ("now remember, the most important thing is that if it breaks, you collect all of the pieces"). To keep the structure tough, I used a lego train base. I also wanted to keep some flavor of classic trains, so I used the train railing on the ends. My son likes to push his trains around, so no motors on the stock build, but I made the trucks the same size as a motor so one can quickly swap in a 9v motor when desired, e.g., The hood is 5 wide, mostly snot. I am particularly fond of the stacks, I think I got the look pretty good (as original, not with the spark arresters that were subsequently added to the MTM unit). I borrowed the hood doors from my GP20 The taper at the cab was inspired by Jeramy's BN kit (the production of this kit reportedly consumed all of the available 2x2x3 double convex slopes in black at the time, though now they are becoming more common). With instructions now available for free here. At the time of the build I contemplated building a second one for myself, but I did not want to take away from the magic of my son's locomotive. In spite of some of the compromises, there are a lot of features on this build that are among my most advanced. I really wanted to give it to him and have him build the set, but in the end (sadly) I built it and presented him with the completed model (in a few more years I can give him the bricks and instructions, just not yet, this build took me a few hours to assemble). Some point in the future I will likely revisit this prototype to incorporate a few changes- 5 long cab, slightly longer frame, replace the train baseplate with regular plates, and motorized from the start. [full gallery]