MOD: 60052 Cargo Train

[dr_spock]

I bought and assembled 60052 Cargo Train. The holes on the top of the engine bother me so I wanted to cover them up. I ended up making a bunch other modifications along the way:

Added Power Function LED ditch lights

Changed style of radiator grills

Added air intake grills

Added dynamic brake grills

Moved fan #1 forward for dynamic brakes

Moved fans #2 and #3 further back

Added exhaust port

Covered up unnecessary openings in the roof

Changed to smaller sized horns

Changed style of fuel tank

Switched doors around so they are no longer suicide doors

Added dual transclear stud lights to back

Changed bley brack in front roof to black

I guess it looks a bit like an EMD GP38 now. Please excuse my messy building table.

60052 MOD by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Now this loco looks really better! :thumbup:

[bjorkan]

perfect! per -- fect!

[Redimus]

Looking good, definitely an improvement on the original.

I've been toying with getting this loco (not fussed about the rest of the set) but I've a feeling it'll look rather silly sat next to the Maersk loco. Has anybody got any comparisons?

[andyscouse]

Great modifications.

[Paperballpark]

Nice! This reminds me that I modified mine a few weeks back, as I felt it was too stubby and short. I extended it by 6 studs to make it the same length as the Maersk train.

[cgarison]

I like the Conrail mods on the 60052 locomotive. (I used to live by the Port Richmond Conrail yards in Philly 5 years ago and wished I had a some pictures of the remaining rolling stock.)

I have not decided what I am going to do with my 60052 locomotive just yet. I am thinking at the very least I am going to build the train a new frame in the style that I am using in my own MOCs which will make it easier for me extend the length of the train. Also, it will be running two live PF bogies instead of just one. Also, I would like to build an extra locomotive to have the going "butt-butt" on the tracks like they run in the coalfields of southern WV and Eastern KY.

Hmmm..... I have some ideas now, but it looks like they may not have the 60052 as fodder for the design. I hate it when that happens.

[LoneBrickerSG]

dr_spock

I think you made a good effort at detailing the 60052 engine, and it certainly deserves some fancy looks. I also like your Conrail stickers, as I've only seen CSX stickers meant for it.

I still like my own version more, though. And PaperBallpark, I think your modified one looks really good.

Here is mine rendered in LDD, made to look like a GP-20 locomotive, but I may up it to GP30 at some point.

Edited September 27, 2014 by LoneBrickerSG

[dr_spock]

Thanks everyone.

Nice! This reminds me that I modified mine a few weeks back, as I felt it was too stubby and short. I extended it by 6 studs to make it the same length as the Maersk train.

http://i.imgur.com/3KgEsEu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/g86GlLW.jpg

Nice. I can see some Maesrsk in it like the exhaust stack, the front and back end platforms and steps. I was looking at the Maesrsk instructions before for something to do with the other blue train base.

Here is mine rendered in LDD, made to look like a GP-20 locomotive, but I may up it to GP30 at some point.

http://i60.tinypic.com/avly05.png

Cool. That's some heavy MOD. The changed cab and fuel tank give it a totally different feel. Reminds me of the 10133 BNSF set. Since you removed the train doors, I am not sure if you need to keep the cab's rear vertical handrails. Mirrors are a nice touch.

[Paperballpark]

^ Yes, the platforms and steps are basically a carbon copy of the Maersk, as I didn't feel I could improve on it.

[v6TransAM]

More like GP-15. It's too short without adding in some extra length otherwise.

The 6 stud lengthening really looks like the way to go with the new cargo train.

Wonder if we will ever see a real North American style windshield for trains.

[dr_spock]

Probably not too hard to get a GP15 out of it. It seems radiator grills are different design and location.

I guess it depends if that North America style windshield can be used for other sets. Making a new mold is not cheap and LEGO designers would need a good business case.

[LoneBrickerSG]

Cool. That's some heavy MOD. The changed cab and fuel tank give it a totally different feel. Reminds me of the 10133 BNSF set. Since you removed the train doors, I am not sure if you need to keep the cab's rear vertical handrails. Mirrors are a nice touch.

I would agree with you on the handrails, but on most american diesels I can think of the handrails along the side also attatch to the cab at an angle. Mine could probably stand to be shortened. I know mine was a heavy modification, but I've spent much of my life looking at the diesels rolling through my country so I really enjoyed tweaking 60052.

I never had the BNSF engine so I personally wouldn't be surprised if some deeper part of my mind wants 60052 to fill that hole.

[Skydancer]

Found this thread via Google.

Dr_Spock how did you manage the Cables? Can you please post close up Pictures? Also without the Front Piece/Brick.

I suppose for the Light you use Technic Brick 1x1?

Want to Mod t for my 6 Year Old :) Lights should arrive soon.

[Amiko]

Thanks for the inspiration DrSpock... I decided to go for it myself and install lights thanks to your work here. I ended up placing them in the same place, then taking the wiring around and into the side of the train at the first opportunity (replacing the 1x3 blue bricks at the side with 1x2 bricks and a couple of 1x1 blue plates just to neaten things off where the wiring went in). The rest of the wire ran through easily under the driver's seating and into the main body of the engine. Because I wanted the lights permanently on whenever the engine is switched on, I had to place the relevant power connection on top of the one that's already plugged in on the battery pack. This meant that, in order to keep the roof flush, I had to reduce the platform upon which the battery pack sits. I did that by replacing the technic bricks and modified white 4x4 tiles with 1x10 (or 1x12- sorry... Can't remember off hand) plates, stacked two high. The wires juuust squeeze underneath if you're careful and neat. I then had to add two extra white 2x2 plates to the underside of the switch mechanism, in order for it to still work. All in all, I'm very happy. It's a bit more complicated than lighting the red high speed train but satisfactory enough for me. Will try to lost some pics to show what I did, although I have no idea how you achieved it, DrSpock. Your wiring looks more streamlined..'

Edited January 26, 2015 by Amiko

[dr_spock]

Thanks Amiko. I connected my PF LED to the second channel on the IR receiver and ran the wire under the 4x4 white tiles with studs.

Found this thread via Google.

Dr_Spock how did you manage the Cables? Can you please post close up Pictures? Also without the Front Piece/Brick.

I suppose for the Light you use Technic Brick 1x1?

Want to Mod t for my 6 Year Old :) Lights should arrive soon.

Welcome to Eurobricks. I don't have my engine in one piece any more but here are some pics of what I did minus the PF LEDs. I used a headlight brick instead of a technic 1x1 brick so that I can attach a round transclear stud for headlight lens. The modification was to the front platform to create a gap so that wires can fit under the nose. The wires were basically run from the IR receiver under white 4x4 tiles with studs, then under the seat of the engineer, and bunch up in the nose.

[Amiko]

Excellent! A lot neater than my idea. DrSpock, I tried using the second channel previously but I didn't like the dimming. Am I missing an obvious way to switch on and off without dimming ?

[dr_spock]

Excellent! A lot neater than my idea. DrSpock, I tried using the second channel previously but I didn't like the dimming. Am I missing an obvious way to switch on and off without dimming ?

I use the quickly spin the knob on the remote to get to full brightness technique. Then I just leave them at full brightness while I run the train using the other knob on the remote.

[zicdragon]

I like the lights you added to it.

[feuerbogen]

I add my pf lights and connect them direct to the battery box rather than on the same or other channel on the receover. This gives two benefits - the lights are turned on when the battery box is, so you know when the unit is on/off. Secondly, the lights are always on at full power.

[zephyr1934]

I add my pf lights and connect them direct to the battery box rather than on the same or other channel on the receover. This gives two benefits - the lights are turned on when the battery box is, so you know when the unit is on/off. Secondly, the lights are always on at full power.

Excellent idea

[LoneBrickerSG]

Thanks Amiko. I connected my PF LED to the second channel on the IR receiver and ran the wire under the 4x4 white tiles with studs.

Welcome to Eurobricks. I don't have my engine in one piece any more but here are some pics of what I did minus the PF LEDs. I used a headlight brick instead of a technic 1x1 brick so that I can attach a round transclear stud for headlight lens. The modification was to the front platform to create a gap so that wires can fit under the nose. The wires were basically run from the IR receiver under white 4x4 tiles with studs, then under the seat of the engineer, and bunch up in the nose.

I want to point out that if you're intending your 60052 engine to look like a legit American diesel, the real headlights should be above the cab, at the top of the nose, or both. I currently have mine set up to use one of the PF LED's in an over-cab setup.

Adding headlights to 60052 is pretty easy, and in a over-cab setup like mine only requires a few extra common pieces to pull off. The stock roof will have to be changed to 2x2 and 2x4 slope bricks with a 4x6 plate as the roof. The design of the engine means you will have to pack most of the extra wiring into the nose, because there will not be enough room in the engine compartment. I have to leave right now, but I will post better photos of my wiring setup in a few hours if anyone is interested.

[dr_spock]

I want to point out that if you're intending your 60052 engine to look like a legit American diesel, the real headlights should be above the cab, at the top of the nose, or both. I currently have mine set up to use one of the PF LED's in an over-cab setup.

...

Adding headlights to 60052 is pretty easy, and in a over-cab setup like mine only requires a few extra common pieces to pull off. The stock roof will have to be changed to 2x2 and 2x4 slope bricks with a 4x6 plate as the roof. The design of the engine means you will have to pack most of the extra wiring into the nose, because there will not be enough room in the engine compartment. I have to leave right now, but I will post better photos of my wiring setup in a few hours if anyone is interested.

Nice work. It would be appreciated if you could post some photos of how you did it. Thanks.

[LoneBrickerSG]

Nice work. It would be appreciated if you could post some photos of how you did it. Thanks.

Sure.

So to start with, I changed the roof and built a lamp housing using a typical black 1x2 single-hole Technic brick.

The roof, as I said before, Is a 4x6 plate on top of two 2x4 slope bricks and two 2x2 slope bricks. The lamp housing is built according to this photo:

So that part is done and you have a place to route the light to. So now, let's get to the installation.

You will need to remove the battery box and the two white plates that it rests on and route the light wires underneath the battery box just like the IR receiver wire. Fortunately, the designer of this loco left a nice channel along the bottom of the cab to route the wires through, but the large chunky brick on the string will have to be fastened down between the two brown 1x6 bricks in order to keep the wire string from moving around.

I've been playing around with different options for mounting one of the two lights in the nose, but for now we'll just leave it tucked away in the nose. Most of the wiring will be left here, except for a short bit that needs to be pulled out to reach to the housing.

I should also point out that the new cab roof can be sort of fragile, so I raised up the flat 1x1 tiles next to the gray slope brick to help support the 2x2 slope roof bricks.

Now, put the cab floor in. The wire needs to pass over the floor (unless you re-do the floor to make a hole for it)

The cab can be assembled now. The light wire will want to bend wherever it wants, but make sure it sticks out into the 2x6 channel in the cab roof and not being pinched somewhere.

And that's it. here is a side-shot of mine all complete. While installing the lights, I also decided to change a few things on mine to make it look more like a real GP-series diesel loco.

Edited February 7, 2015 by LoneBrickerSG

[Vliebricker]

Nice modding! I defenitely like this one better than the original. It really looks better enlarged.