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[zephyr1934]

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I think I’ve built my masterpiece, I doubt I’ll ever be able to top this one. Just over a year ago, after the Emerald Night came out I decided to build a better Pacific. My chosen subject was the Southern Pacific Railroad, 4-6-2 ‘Pacific’ type steam locomotive. Several of these locomotives survived into commuter service and were preserved at the twilight of steam in the US. Two were operational in the past decade (2467 and 2472) and a third is under restoration (2479).

I had planned to use the banded drivers from the Emerald Night and finally power a steam engine via the drive wheels. But then I saw Cale’s PF Y at Brickworld and pffft, now I had better propulsion to pursue. I stuck with the SP pacifics though.

I finished the model a few months back and have been waiting for something special for the public debut. Since I will not make NMRA this year, what better reason than Brickworld?

On the surface this model captures many distinctive details from the prototype- opening cab windows, boiler arch between the domes, cab roof vents, the roof tapering at the rear, curved hand rails around the nose, Vanderbilt tender with running boards, three axle tender trucks, and much more. Under the surface the two XL-PF motors deliver a lot of pull and the suspension under the engine can handle very bumpy track.

A quick (and incomplete) list of the highlights, first the brilliant tricks blatantly borrowed from others,

• pilot/cow catcher- Tony
  
• main rod- EN (yeah, it is bulky, but is it any worse than pinning together half beams? I wanted to do something more decorative, but decided to go with functional for this model)
  
• cylinders- Cale (with tweaks)
  
• propulsion- Cale/Swoofty/Tony/et al
  
• front cab windows- Garret
  
• marker boards- Jayhurst (hey, why aren’t you in COLTC)
  
• cab steps- Garret

and the tricks/features I came up with on my own (some wheels have likely been reinvented)

• curved grab irons on nose
  
• smoke box door- it is safely secured
  
  
  
• five chime whistle (repurposed crystal- bonus points for use of useless part)
  
• 3 wide steam domes (okay, I stole that one from myself on an update of my NP tenwheeler)
  
• arch in the boiler between domes (I was having troubles capturing it with my camera, but it is there)
  
  
  
• hatches in cab roof
  
• cut on rear cab roof
  
• opening windows on cab
  
  
  
• running boards on Vanderbilt tender
  
  
  
• almost all of the major piping on the locomotive
  
• reverser gear
  
  
  
• tender truck frames
  
  
  
• suspension (she’s well hung)
  
  
  
• hiding two XL motors and all the PF gear in the tender (she’ll pull a Buick alright)
  
• and more...

During a shake down run last fall, she pulled 33 passenger cars, most of the time with the train in four separate curves. I’ll post photos from under the PF “hood” and videos as soon as I can.

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[yugistew]

the tender is absolutely beautiful! i love the slopes and graceful curves its soo powerful!

[Toa_Of_Justice]

Excellent work, zephyr1934! I am especially fond of all the details you put into your model, as well as the positioning of the crater plate to give the appearance of smoke coming from the smokestack.

-Toa Of Justice

[lightningtiger]

AWESOME steam train 'zephyr1934' - beautiful lines and curves - you have done a very good job !
Very clever using that plate to show smoke leaving the smoke stack !
Keep on bricking !

[Skalldyr]

The Steam is the eyecatcher on this one, but the tender is simply perfectly builded.

[darth yogi]

very nice and the details are just awesome
love how u made the smoke

[Jedi Joe]

Wow, I love the perspective with the elevated baseplates!

[gcarstensen]

wow
that is for sure your best train yet, just a heads up i'm gonna steal the running boards on the tender.
the cab is brilliant and i can't wait to see it it person!
great job Benn!

[Commodore Hornbricker]

I am no train expert but your engine has a very powerfull look to it. I like the many details and colors you have added. Very clever idea using the moon plate as smoke. has that been done before? I haven't seen it anyway. Very beautiful train MOC!

[TerranCmdr]

Simply amazing! I would love to see a video of her in action.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Nice job!

The tender is so big and so real.

The steam cylinders and the steam drive rods are amazing!

I'm a little bit jealous of this masterpiece! [/size]

[Delta 38]

Great details. Nice use of that baseplate for the background; while it's not part of the actual MOC, it's still a nice little addition to make it more realistic.

[KielDaMan]

I'm not much of train guy, but I don't need to be one to say that this is a fabulous work of art! Great job 'zephyr'! The amazing amount of detail just goes to show how much effort you put in researching, designing, and building this masterpiece of a train. I like the way you captured the overall look of a classic steam-engine train. Gotta love also the clever use of moon plate as the steam.

[Dan the Brickman]

I usually dont put much into train stuff with my legos, and am not so much of a train enthusiast myself. HOWEVER-
I MUST compliment you on your wide variety of creative details here.

1-everyone noticed the "smoke"/baseplate of course.
2- the next detail I noticed, the crossbow in the wheel system.
3- the cauldrons for smokestacks- took me a few to notice at first, but brilliant.

You have used alot of pieces in ways I never thought of.
for this, i give you the thumbsup!'

[fff]

Great Job! Plenty of details and although black is hard to make it so well in the photo you managed to do it!