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Also: Please excuse the dust!
It is hard for me to keep things from getting dusty in AZ. 
A good deal of the time building this engine was spent trying to get the proportions and iconic shapes captured well, and I think this picture captures most of those. There are four steps on the face of the engine that I would like to point out, since I have had a very difficult time getting good photographs of them.
The cutout shape of the forward cab was one of the more important shapes of the engine to me, and I think I managed to pull it off. The big downside was of course having the windows placed slightly "wrong", but I can live with that. The "LRTS" stickers are from the 10194 Emerald Night, although I did have to trim the tops of them off with a scalpel. The black bits of tubing are pneumatic tubes, and the gold railing is just some gold aluminum wiring I picked up at the store. (The only non-LEGO element.) Unfortunately the wiring of the headlamps obscures the gap below the boiler, but the gap would be difficult to see and I decided that for general viewing the working lights would probably be more fun.
Because of the wheelbase, the front coupler isn't really all that functional. With a wider turn radius of course I could change that, but for now this is how it is. I have been considering buying an old-style magnetic coupler and builder a more accurate bumper, but I need to get more spending money before doing that.
Love the PF system, although the cables out the rear make it a bit unsightly for photos. The longer cord is for the PF Train Motor and the shorter cord is the lights. When building the SNOT around the back I was at first concerned about the anti-studs being unsightly, but they ended up looking and being placed like the bolts on the back of the real engine. So hoorah for that!
There's quite a few studs in there that I would rather be smooth, but given the placement of the motor, and other key elements it just wasn't practical to eliminate them. The wire from the light elements took quite a bit to incorporate, and although I strongly wish they could be much better hidden the internals kind of forbid it.
Those jerks!
I thought it would be sort of fun to show these two pictures side by side. I did manage to add some detail to the cab, but greebling (especially engine controls) isn't yet a strong suit. The door to the firebox does open, however there is nothing but bricks and support structure behind it.
A couple more deeplinked pictures:
Spoiler
Here is the gallery of larger pictures, with a couple more "fun" ones. (Once Moderated) Viola!!
The buffers and drive rods will probably go a bit of revision in the future (Probably during the construction of my next engine), but for now I'm happy enough with it to call it done. I do wish I could have added the bar running along the base of the wheels but I couldn't find anything that seemed like a workable solution.
Here's the LXF! Tah-dah!
LXF Notes - The purple parts are substitutes. The large group in the front of the engines is a replacement for the PF Train Motor, and the purple 2 x 2 x 1 brick between the rear wheels is for the lights. Both the motor and lights power cords go through the tunnel that comes out the rear bumper. :)
I hope you enjoy looking at my engine, and I hope all my rambling hasn't put anyone off!
Edited by Daedalus304, 07 June 2011 - 07:04 AM.
