3 replies to this topic

[Walter Kovacs]

My father-in-law is a complete train nut.  His favorite line is the Santa Fe.  A few weeks ago we took a trip to Chicago to visit a train museum just west of the city.  (We also paid a visit to the LEGOLand Discovery Center there  XD ).  I only saw one Santa Fe engine there, but I managed to take a few pictures of it.  Here is one of them.  That woild be my father-in-law and my son in the picture.  I also have been using photos gleaned from the internet, like this one.  

As we were leaving Chicago for home I had a brainstorm.  Why not reproduce the engine we saw in the museum in LEGO for Christmas.  Had I thought of it earlier, I would have taken many more photos.  Here is the result of my design, using MLCad.  I apologize for those that dislike MLCad, but in this case it really helps cut down on unnecessary Bricklink Orders.  

Side View:


This is my first attempt at a train engine, so I would appreciate plenty of comments from everyone, especially those who are more experienced designing trains.  

Front View:


I plan on using some custom stickers to add the Santa Fe on the sides and the yellow symbol on the front end.  

Back:


Here is where I really could have used an extra photo or three.  I have no idea what the back end of the engine is supposed to look like.  I took my best shot, but this design can certainly be improved upon.  

Top:


I could use a little guidance onthe top as well.  I made a few assumptions that there would be some exhaust fans, and addd a few grills, but if any other details would help, I'd appreciate the comments.  

Side from Back:


Like I said, I intend to build this in time for Christmas, so I have plenty of time to make adjustments to the design.  I would like it to be the best it can be.  

As always, questions, comments and criticisms are always welcome.  

The Brickshelf Gallery, when public.

[Commander Red Hat]

The colors and details on it are great.
I do think it is too high though.
You might want to make it lower, or wider.

I too have started on trains, and they aren't easy projects, especially when they need to really ride around on the tracks.
I wish you all the best with this!

[prateek]

you might want to look at the official santa fe set made a few years ago for reference. right now its looking pretty good, and you have a long time to make improvements. good luck

[Walter Kovacs]

Captain Green Hair, on Jun 21 2009, 05:21 PM, said:

The colors and details on it are great.
I do think it is too high though.
You might want to make it lower, or wider.

prateek, on Jun 21 2009, 06:01 PM, said:

you might want to look at the official santa fe set made a few years ago for reference. right now its looking pretty good, and you have a long time to make improvements. good luck

I've taken a good, long hard look at the official Santa Fe Set (set # 10020, BTW).  The Super Chief is a different engine (I believe it is an EMD E6, but don't shoot me if I'm wrong), but many of the details are similar, especially the warbonnet color scheme.

LEGO's Super Chief set uses yellow 1 x 1 Bricks for the long vertical stripe separating the light gray from the red sections.  I was trying something a little different, using a SNOT technique to make the vertical stripes the same width as the horizontal stripes.  The technique requires even numbers of studs to work well, so the height of the engine was set by those details.  I could lower the overall height of the engine by 1 brick and 2 plates, but that in my opinion makes it look far too short.  

I could always abandon the SNOT technique and follow 10020's path, and then the height of the model would be unconstrained.  Perhaps I should just try it and see how it looks.  

I'm not comfortable with trying to make this model an 8 stud wide design.  I know it's been done before, but I prefer to stay with the 6-wide standard baseplate.  

Thanks for the comments.