MOC: Modular Curry Station

[woofmcmoose]

First real post of a MOC in the town forum, I present to you "トレイン カレー" or "Train Curry".

This a a small restaurant inspired by the real life "Curry Station Niagara" in Yutenji, Tokyo where my girlfriend and I spent an extremely nice evening as the only customesr during the 2nd worst snowstorm to hit Tokyo this year. If you are ever in Tokyo, I highly recommend a visit as the Station Master (yes he really is one) is extremely friendly and your tasty curry is delivered by toy train. More info on the inspiration for this build can be found here: http://www.facebook....station.niagara

So time for a tour.

The outside

Here you see the building from all sides, its a short blocky 2-story affair.

It was built on a 16x16 plate, with a 4 stud overhang on the left side for the stairs to the 2nd floor and a 1 stud overhang for the frontage. It will sit into a 16x16 recess on my train layout, hence no street detail around the building in these shots. The reason for all the 1x1 headlight brick holes will become clear shortly.

The sign on the front is my best attempt at brick built Katakana (Japanese alphabet used for western words). Really "train" should be "densha" not "to-re-i-n" however that would call for some Kanji (Chinese style characters) that just could not be realised in the space available. I was tempted to just build 'curry' in western script but thought I'd have a go like this first; let me know what you think!

A close up of the steam engine front end in the bay window:

I wish I had a window piece without the burger on, but I just cant bring myself to use the poleesh remover of naieel. I'm also hoping to find a better sign for the level crossing post.

The inside

Having never seen the upstairs of the building that served as inspiration, I settled for a generic small flat interior with compact bathroom (shower and toilet) and an open living area:

It looks quite spacious as there is no bed (assume there is a futon stashed away somewhere) and no kitchen (but then there is already a restaurant downstairs, perhaps though I should MOC a rice cooker). The robot is there just because.

The Restaurant

I tried to pack the restaurant full of memorabilia, picking some key features from the real life inspiration such as the ticket machine where you order your meal, the train number plates all over the walls, the ticket window and station clock, and of course the toy train track around the room for curry delivery.

Now you see the reason for all the 1x1 headlights; how I wish Pick a Brick sold 1x1 with stud on side in brown.

If I ever get hold of some minifig roller-skates I will build a small train for making curry deliveries, but for now the track is empty.

The ever happy station master talks to his patrons:

Behind the white wall is a small stove for making curry, In reality there is a bathroom here and the building extends back further into a small kitchen. I had no room for such though (my layout has a train running directly behind the building with only 2 stud clearance). I also forgot to re-assemble the top of the wall for this shot!

The right hand wall swings away providing a minifig's eye view:

A final shot from behind the bar, a spare station master cap sits on the luggage rack for patrons to wear:

And finally here it is in my layout:

(see http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=95715 for more on the train layout itself)

Thanks for taking the time to look at my MOC. Comments and suggestions welcome.

[eurotrash]

That's a cool looking MOC! I like the lettering, the SNOT windows on the front, and the upstairs apartment, but it's the downstairs interior that really stands out. It looks just like I imagined a Train themed Curry house in Tokyo would look like.

Tip of the hat to you! And I'll have a Lamb Tikka Masala with Garlic Naan bread please...

[lightningtiger]

That's cute and cool.......a train theme eatery......I like the living space up stairs too !

Brick On 'woofmcmoose' !

[jonwil]

I have heard of Sushi Trains but never a Curry Train. Great job :)

[Kristel]

Very nice! I'm impressed with how much detail you have squeezed into this building.

[charly1221]

very nice, at first I was confused with the トレイン カレー, but when you cleared it i understood

[Dewey Cheatum 1011 Western]

:thumbup:Cool MOC! it be nice if Lego could do something like this only it featured 2 or 3 other similar sized buildings....maybe you could build some more?

[Moebius118]

A curry burger sounds like a million dollar idea to me.

[CityBuilder]

A modern styled mini modular building with lots of detail and Japanese (?) writing I can't read.

I like it

[LazorApple]

Love the interior.