Railpool AC3 Traxx and SBB Cargowagons

[Beck]

Hello Everyone!

I have finally finished my AC3 Traxx locomotive in LDD. I will be bricklinking the parts right now and I hope to finish the MOC IRL in about a month. The Traxx uses the regular PF AA battery box and two PF train motors for propulsion. The pantographs will be constructed using 3mm tubing, pneumatic tubing and this part (all of which aren't in LDD or are impractical to assemble in LDD). Sadly, due to the ribbing on the side of the locomotive, I was unable to do the "Railpool" lettering in brick. I also built a sliding wall cargowagon in SBB livery.

The handbrake wheel on the cargowagon (not placed yet) will use the steering wheel from part 73081. And yes you can pull off the steering wheel from the mounting.

The tiles and vents attach to the droid arms using this technique by bricktrix.

The handbrake wheel on the cargowagon (not placed yet) will use the steering wheel from part 73081. And yes you can pull off the steering wheel from the mounting. The cargowagons use the new 1x1 round tile in black from new Technic Porsche on the bogies.

I also built a flatwagon in SBB livery, but don't plan on building it IRL

More photos in My bricksafe

Reference Photos:

http://www.railcolor.net/index.php?nav=1411257〈=1&file=bomb_34936_120&action=image&position=

http://www.rjftrains.com/sales/neu08/images/48055.jpg

Thanks for reading!

Edited June 8, 2016 by Beck

[marbleman]

Good job, the windshield is highlight spot.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

What a fantastic Moc: not only that amazing locomotive but also those impressive wagons!

You have done a perfect work and would be great see the whole train in real lego!

Top notch project!

[3D LEGO]

Beck,

Very well done. I noticed some of the design choices you made when building your open flat car. It looks quite a bit sturdier than the two I built. I will have to remember that for the future. Your freight wagon looks to very robust and well thought out. Its a pity that incorporating their inherit functionality is next to impossible. At least they look good. If you wanted a used look, then you could use dark grey instead of grey, tan instead of white.

The Bombardier TRAXX AC3 very well done as well. Alas the side ribbing prohibits most detailing other than stickers. (I would hate to have to be one of the guys who gets honor of putting on vinyl decals on the real thing.) But the coloring is easily recognizable as being Railpool. I wish we still had electric pulled freight here in the United States. The last closest was BC Rail. The only other things are some isolated coal carriers and the Iowa Traction Railway and its little vintage locomotives.

*Goes away to look at pictures of heritage electric locomotives. "Why did they all have to go away?"

3D LEGO

[zephyr1934]

The loco and cars are looking excellent, you've eloquently mastered some tricky curves, can't wait to see them in brick.

[Beck]

Thank you all very much for the compliments! I cannot wait to see the locomotive myself! I also am ordering ME models R104 curves since my cargowagons are so long. I also hope to build a few of these wagons in the future, where I might be able to include the sliding doors.

Yes, it has always perplexed me as to the lack of electric railways in the US in general. As a resident of the Pacific Northwest, I have always thought that a high speed rail line between CA, OR, WA, and Vancouver BC would make sense. As the California High speed rail project comes closer to becoming reality, it will be interesting to see if other states will follow suit and expand the rail railway northward.

[3D LEGO]

Beck,

They disappeared with the scrapping of the Milwaukee Road 3kV DC system and discontinuation of the electric freight operations by Conrail on the North-East Corridor's (Former P.R.R., later P.C.) 11 kV 25 Hz AC network as well as scrapping of their own sections. B.C. Rail's 50 kV ?Hz AC Tumbler Ridge Division came in the early 80s with none other than GMD/EMD equipment. (Ironic that the one pushing electric freight was them.) Driving by the old, formerly electrified Milwaukee Road mainline through the valley on a regular basis is a sad reminder for me of what had been. (On the topic of electrics, check out the renderings done as part of a study by the Schiller Institute: The Worldwide Strategic Importance of the Intercontinental Rail Corridor Connections Between the Eurasian and North American Land-Bridges )

Back on topic: Up for the dual, single axle challenge I see. It can be a real pain though so make sure to play with prototype frames to till you have a working design that you are satisfied. Having built one myself, they are very LEGO curve and switch unfriendly. Make sure to test on S-curves as those can be the real killers. Also have a look around as a few others have but such configurations albeit shorter. ME Models R104 rails will help a ton here. A few refrigerated wagons would look good in your consist. Actually, you may have already saved yourself a lot of time by choosing to go with a bogie-mounted coupling as you have depicted. And functionality is nice but it is not always practical.

3D LEGO

[Beck]

Edit by Hinckley: Your images are too large. I've converted them to URLs. Please reference the Site Guidelines for picture size limits. Thank you.

The pieces have arrived and I have finally begun the building process! I'm about 70% done with the AC3 and have the three cargo wagons left.

Here are some crappy WIP photos!

http://bricksafe.com/files/Beck/train_mocs/railpool-traxx-ac3-lm/wip/IMG_2441.JPG/1280x960.jpg

http://bricksafe.com/files/Beck/train_mocs/railpool-traxx-ac3-lm/wip/IMG_2442.JPG/1280x960.jpg

http://bricksafe.com/files/Beck/train_mocs/railpool-traxx-ac3-lm/wip/IMG_2443.JPG/1280x960.jpg

http://bricksafe.com/files/Beck/train_mocs/railpool-traxx-ac3-lm/wip/IMG_2444.JPG/1280x960.jpg

I tested it out and was surprised to find that it can negotiate LEGO's R40 curves!

[storms26]

Looking pretty good so far! Can't wait for the finished result!

[Legoboy22]

There is only one thing i have to this

Amazing!!!!!!

This is the the best cargo locomotive i have seen in these past few years. I would love to have it. Looking forward to your works in the future. Brick on!!

Edited July 7, 2016 by Legoboy22

[igordost]

They are great but I like most the one you are not going to build IRL: a flat car :) Thank you for sharing.

[Beck]

Edit by Hinckley: Your images are too large. I've converted them to URLs. Please reference the Site Guidelines for picture size limits. Thank you.

Today I have completed the locomotive except for the pantographs. Oddly enough I forgot to add the plows to each bogie. The magnet assemblies attach to the PF train motors. I forgot to order the wheels and axles for the cargowagons, which has delayed my progress.

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

The IR receiver can be seen in the gap between the pantographs.

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

More photos in my bricksafe:

http://bricksafe.com...raxx-ac3-lm/wip

flatwagon:

http://bricksafe.com...in_mocs/sbb-rns

AC3:

http://bricksafe.com...ol-traxx-ac3-lm

note: I forgot to add the PF pole reverser in the lxf. I have changed a few bricks around, but nothing major. Some parts for this color scheme were very rare and pricy, but should give you an idea of the general shape

Edited July 13, 2016 by Hinckley

[Man with a hat]

Wow. That's looking great. Not only the locomotive but the cargo wagons as well.

[Beck]

Edit by Hinckley: Your images are too large. I've converted them to URLs. Please reference the Site Guidelines for picture size limits. Thank you.

Update:

I've finally finished the AC3.

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

I've also completed one of the three cargo wagons.

http://bricksafe.com...pg/1280x960.jpg

Well that's the last of the good stuff...

I have problem with the cargowagon- you may have already spotted it in the picture above...

Here is a closeup

http://bricksafe.com...g/1280x1707.jpg

Yes the gap. Some of you might point out that I probably didnt apply the 5:2 ratio correctly. No I did, really,- If you don't believe me check the LXF of the cargowagon (Link for download)- please check out the lxf or my other pictures.

I honestly haven't the faintest clue what to do now... My only theory is that the small gaps between the lego plates could add up to the larger gap at the end. If anyone has any idea of what's going on, I would very much appreciate some feedback or tips or whatever.

[M_slug357]

I think it might be a problem with the tolerance of the parts? Like some elements can be a few millimeters/micrometers bigger or smaller than another, leading to stuff not lining up 100 percent like it does in LDD. Also, there are still a few elements in LDD that are not true replicas of their irl counterparts... But in your case this seems an unwieldy amount of disparity. Have you checked all of the relevant connections that lead up to this point to make sure that they're all 'secure'? That would be my first check.

[3D LEGO]

Beck,

Superb results in brick form. Okay, maybe a bit on the fresh from the factory side but still good none the less. Lovely paneling on the side of the AC3 TRAXX locomotive. While the smooth-sided version would be easier, I commend you for tackling the more common ribbed version. *Grabs the Möwenpick Feinjoghurt* - This one is definitely a keeper!

Disregarding former thought... According to my calculations: Disregarding my calculations as they check out... Returning to my first thought, I echo M_slug357 on checking to make sure everything is firmly pressed together. Beyond that may be an issue with having stumbled upon some of the bricks from the transition period when tolerances were being dialed in. Otherwise it is entering the realm of manufacturing effects but those should not become an issue until much larger. It is possible that the sides are being affected by the frame bowing due to the issue of stacked bricks curving because of injection mold draft (taper). Or actually another picture makes me think it is going the other way with the sides curving down towards the frame. Regardless, push everything together nice and snug, especially if you have plates bigger than 3x3 stacked together. If they problem still persists, then it is most likely brick geometry from injection molding.

3D LEGO

[Beck]

Update:

I've finally designed something that might solve the problem with the wagons stated above.

I will be bricklinking the parts soon!

*LDD file* - it's called Habbins Modified

Edited August 13, 2016 by Beck

[Beck]

After reading the flex track thread, I decided to try out and use flex track and straight track to create a large radius curve to test my consist.

The videos are in my here.

You can also catch a glimpse of two projects that I'm working on

Edited August 17, 2016 by Beck