MOCs: Diesel-era rolling stock from New England

[MaineBrickFan]

Apologies to those who already have seen these on flickr, but I thought I'd pull together in one post some photos of some recent cars I've built. The PS-1 boxcars borrow heavily from Cale Leiphart's design (which feels like a de facto standard for Lego 8-wide boxcars), with O-scale waterslide decals.

Maine Central 40-foot Boxcar

MEC 40-Foot Boxcar by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

These PS-1 cars were ubiquitous on the Maine Central Railroad (MEC), in a variety of different colors and signage; a number of them have been preserved on the region's various heritage railroads. This particular unit was modeled off of a restored boxcar on display in Essex, Conn.

MEC 40-Foot Boxcar by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

MEC 40-Foot Boxcar by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

Boston & Maine 50-foot Boxcar

50-foot B&M Boxcar by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

This longer version of the PS-1 represents the Boston & Maine Railroad (which basically handled rail traffic between Massachusetts and Portland, Maine, where it interchanged with the MEC. The large logo reflects the rebranding of the railroad during the McGinnis era (after he had left a similar mark on the New Haven Railroad, but before he went to prison for mismanagement of the B&M, which led to its bankruptcy). The shades of blue used by the B&M varies over the years; I chose to model this in medium blue, rather than sand blue, for economic reasons.

50-foot B&M Boxcar by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

50-foot Boston & Maine boxcar by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

Maine Central Pulpwood Car

Major Pulpwood Car by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

Traffic of timber to paper mills for processing was a staple of the Maine economy, and the MEC, for the twentieth century. The MEC used a variety of cars to do the job, starting with modified boxcars before shifting to increasingly long "woodracks." This build represents the peak form of trail transportation--the cars were specially built by Magor and measured 64-feet between the ends. The Maine Central had an amazing 200 of these cars in the 1960s, several remained in use as maintenance-of-way vehicles for the MEC's successor company as recently as a few years ago.

Magor Pulpwood Car by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

Magor Pulpwood Car by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

One feature of these cars was the inclined floors. Four-foot logs were stacked from each side of the car, with gravity keeping them sloped inward and the wood not otherwise secured. I ultimately settled on using the "cheese grater" slope -- nearly 200 of them on one car -- to replicate this feature. Here's what the car looks like loaded:

Magor Pulpwood Car by Patrick Strawbridge, on Flickr

As you can see, there is a bit of a "bow" in these, which appears more prominent in these photos then real life. I may try to add a support beam underneath to take some of the bend out, although it's not really necessary.

Anyway, links to prototypes can be found on flickr. Thanks for looking, and feedback is welcome.. although I won't be redoing those decals!

[THERIZE]

Those flatbeds are so beautiful! Awesome job using those 1x2 slopes.

[jrathfon]

Amazing MOCS!! A few questions. Did you use a clear coat for your water slides? Does Micro-sol help? I have a few water slide decals with some slight delamination underneath in certain spots.

Also, are you using steel wheels??

[Feuer Zug]

Very nice array of rolling stock. Combined, I can already visualize the manifest train chugging through the Maine countryside in the early part of the diesel era.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Wow amazing MOCs and beautiful background too! :wub:

[Cale]

You make the late 60's, and 70's era of North American railroading look darn good. I love all these cars. Excellent work.

Cale

[marook]

That is really nice rolling stock!

Love the flatbed cars and might try to redo some like it.. even though I'm in europe.. ;-)

Edit: Seems like the flatbed is bending on the middle with load on.. any issues there?

Edited April 6, 2016 by marook

[MaineBrickFan]

Thanks for all the comments -- it's rewarding to get positive feedback from so many great builders! You all have been the source of inspiration for me in the three years I've been modeling Lego trains.

Amazing MOCS!! A few questions. Did you use a clear coat for your water slides? Does Micro-sol help? I have a few water slide decals with some slight delamination underneath in certain spots.

Also, are you using steel wheels??

I am experimenting with Future acrylic polymer (or the Pledge=branded successor) as a sealing/clear coat agent with these cars. See an informative (if awkwardly formatted) article here. I have not used Micro-Sol but I would suspect that it would help, especially in uneven areas.

Wheels are the standard PF train wheels, although I use the brass tube method.

Edit: Seems like the flatbed is bending on the middle with load on.. any issues there?

Not really. I did not notice the bend until I posted the photos, and I think tightening up the stud connections solved most of it. I've pondered adding a center support beam underneath but honestly not sure it's really necessary -- I doubt I will run more than one "loaded" car on a layout, as a derailment or even too fast a turn might leave quite the mess to clean up!

Edited April 6, 2016 by MaineBrickFan

[Man with a hat]

This is very impressive and realistic looking.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Man with a hat

[baard]

beautiful cars

Thanks for sharing!

[Brickwolf]

great freight cars!