Commuter gang HQ

[KvadratGnezdo]

 

So, after a short while of being on this forum and observing a ton of super creative and outstanding MOCs like working mallets, articulated heavy equipment and that very special type of steam engines that look and feel more like actual scale models I decided to do something special too. For example, creating a thread dedicated (mostly) to commuter trains - most of them aren't glossy, giant or gold-plated, but they are the bulk of most short-ranged passanger rail traffic, so lets show them some love, as well as telling some stories or jokes about them. 

                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                           (Bas***s - no warmth in winter, no comfort during summer, no consience full year)

And I'll probably start this thing with ES series (1-2) commuter "Kestrel" class. It was introduced in Rusland shortly after 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, making this class one of the newest in modern history of RZD. And of course it is not really Russian. It is just a thicker version Siemens Desiro which eventually led to its unoficial nickname "Blood traitor" (along with Sapsan, EP20, Oriole and the rest of ES series). However only the first batch of ES1s were produced abroad and the rest including the significantly upgraded ES2 class were produced in Russia. This train commonly appears in 5 or 7 car variants but of course multiple units can be connected to improve capacity. Kestrel is operated on MCC (which pissed off freight-fans because most of the freight traffic was moved to the night schedule) and as a pseudo intercity train as it is not really fit for long distance riding.

"Kestrel" aka cheeky aka fathead

The model represents the MCC 5-car long train with full interior which took around 6,5K pieces to build (not counting the track). It being 8 stud wide also helped with making proportionate seats as well as the inbuilt toilet. This iteration is supposed to be a "stand piece" so it has a lot of overhanging stuff that greatly limits its ability to turn on rather sharp Lego curves, although modifying it to be a working model is not really that hard. Next day will probably start with posting more livery variants: MCD, Proto and the Olimpic. 

That's it for now!

Edited October 25, 2020 by KvadratGnezdo

[JintaiZ]

Excellent build!

The top could use less studs and more tiles though.

[KvadratGnezdo]

25 minutes ago, JintaiZ said:

Excellent build!

The top could use less studs and more tiles though.

Thanks! I like my studs though.

[zephyr1934]

Looking good, and studs will always be a classic lego feature. Always neat to have a spot on train that also shows what its made out of.

[KvadratGnezdo]

Update: color scheme variations for ES!

First one is Moscow Central Diameter (MCD for short). This one is the latest colour scheme for these trains. It is not really used that often as even nowadays such units are quite rare, when compared to the classic red-grey scheme shown previously. An interesting fact is that this scheme heavily resembles the unofficial "intercity" red-white-blue palette used on trains like Sapsan and Oriole.

MCD Kestrel (top) and Oriole (bottom)

Next one is also an interesting one. It's an Olympic variant in a transitory state - a couple of Kestrels were half-stripped from the back with the front stripe still remaining (I hated the Olympic mishmash anyway). They were used for a short while and then completely repainted.

And the last one a.k.a. protoKestrel. Prototype was quite different in certain areas to the end result with most changes being made to its roof and colour scheme. No one really knows why this was cancelled exactly, but one funny rumor says that the resulting train looked too "French" which would damage it's reputation even more (with it actually being of german origin, lol).

Edited October 25, 2020 by KvadratGnezdo