Cargo Railway Reimagined

[mark6399]

Cargo Railway, 4559, goes down in the books as one of the more interesting trains Lego has designed. I never knew that it was actually based off of a real prototype until this thread was created a couple of years ago:

Is the 4559 Cargo Railway based on a real train? - LEGO Train Tech - Eurobricks Forums

Anyway, Cargo railway was the first Lego train that I received growing up. I liked the train, but always thought that it was a little strange with the disjointed passenger compartments. I remember rebuilding the train into a more traditional consist, but I could never really build it how I imagined due to lack of pieces.

About 3 yrs ago I decided to build a "Reimagined" Cargo Railway (There was a long break in between start and finish!). The goal was to build the train how I always wanted to as a kid. I wanted to make it a more realistic style train that embodied the spirit of the official set. As such, I kept different aesthetics and upgraded others. I wanted it to feel like it could be a set that you would see on the store shelves. I may one day go back and further upgrade this into 8 wide with more detail, but for now, I'm very pleased with my present rendering of Cargo Railway Reimagined!

 

Cargo Railway Reimagined 1 by Mark, on Flickr

 

Cargo Railway Reimagined 2 by Mark, on Flickr

 

The cargo containers can slide out of the compartments. I'm thinking of making a forklift that goes along with the train as well.

 

Cargo Railway Reimagined 3 by Mark, on Flickr

 

Cargo Railway Reimagined 4 by Mark, on Flickr

 

The passenger cars are a combination of the Metroliner Railroad Club Car and the passenger compartments of Cargo Railway.

 

Cargo Railway Reimagined 5 by Mark, on Flickr

 

Cargo Railway Reimagined 6 by Mark, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by mark6399

[Toxic43]

This is spectacular! I never had the set as a kid, but saw it recently and decided I'd have to get one someday. Pricey even to just buy parts for this set now. This though... this is great. Great techniques used in the locomotives. Kind of a blend of the original model and an Intercity 125 HST now. I really dig it. The door markings made with plates and slopes... just wow!

[zephyr1934]

Well done, that looks really nice. Definitely keep it 6 wide, without the tie in to the set it loses something and I think going 8 wide for a 90's train is too far of a departure. The sloped diaphragms between cars look interesting but I suspect the fact that they come out 2 studs might cause troubles, however, that should be simple enough to build a moc up to test on curves and switches, then if it causes problems you can go back to a more conventional vertical design. It would be interesting to see a pure cargo wagon for the set too.

[ivanlan9]

Those engines are really stubby. I think they'd benefit a lot by being stretched a minimum of four studs, maybe eight.  Otherwise, I think your MOC is very nice, and eliminates a lot of the original set's strangeness.  The original looks like no other train on the planet.  Stretched, the locos would look like proper streamlined units.  And you could add a few more cars:  baggage, cargo, diner.  If you made instructions available, I'd be Johnny at the rathole, as my mother-in-law used to say.   Oh, and @zephyr1934 has a point:  the sloped diaphragms are kind of strange, and your design doesn't need them, cool as they are.

I have one of the originals.  Long ago taken apart, but I could see having a ball digging the parts out and incorporating them in one of these.

Metta,

Ivan

[zephyr1934]

19 hours ago, ivanlan9 said:

Oh, and @zephyr1934 has a point:  the sloped diaphragms are kind of strange, and your design doesn't need them, cool as they are.

I did say they were unusual, but not in a bad way. It was purely a mechanical concern of conflicts on the curves that I was cautioning about.

[Vilhelm22]

Very nice!  Cargo Railway and Metroliner are the only two 9v trains I’ve ever actually seen in real life, and you’ve merged the two brilliantly.  Great work!

[M_slug357]

Shameless self-promotion:

https://flic.kr/p/23WUNMU

I had a similar train of thought as @mark6399, but my rendition is more Metroliner in Cargo Railway’s black & yellow.

Edited May 30, 2021 by M_slug357
fixed link

[Evans]

Very good upgrade, I was working on such a project, after I got an incomplete set. I am searching for a way to make it entirely bi-level with the 6x34 bases, but I haven't figured out a way to place the motor yet.

[TeriXeri]

Cargo Railway was my only 9v train, always loved the alternate builds suggested on the box/instructions, and used the flip box to store all LEGO instructions/catalogs from up to around 2000.

(I say "was" because while I still actually rebuilt the original back around 2015 before getting back into new LEGO sets , I still keep the "old" LEGO (year 2001 and earlier) seperate.)

This is a great upgrade, the way the locomotive attached to the original set was pretty awkward, but still a great set for it's time from experience.

Edited May 31, 2021 by TeriXeri

[mark6399]

Thanks everyone!

@zephyr1934 Thanks. The diaphragms might not be prototypical, but I thought they kept a neat aesthetic from the original model. I haven't tested it in brick, but yeah, I could easily adjust it if needed.

@ivanlan9 Thanks! Yeah, I thought the same about the engines, but decided to keep them short to keep the aesthetic of a set that could be sold by Lego. The base is a standard 6x28 length. If the BNSF base wasn't so expensive, I'd have just used that. I may do a V2 upgrade in the future. The goal with this was to get an initial model complete. I've got some ideas for different variations of the cars.

@M_slug357 Nice!

@Evans That would be cool! Maybe you could build a custom motor and use PF/PUp. Some of the narrow gauge motors on this forum are pretty compact. You could probably adapt them to 6 wide and use them in the more compact space of the 6x34 bases.

@TeriXeri I keep all of my childhood sets separated too. I'm still building my collection for modeling and layouts. I want to keep the sets separate so my future kids will be able to enjoy the sets I enjoyed.

Edited May 31, 2021 by mark6399
pressed submit on accident, lol

[The-Legoman]

This version of the Cargo Railway is sick !! But I do have to agree with a few of the other guys here that the Engine needs to be stretched somewhat, it looks a little short. All in all a fantastic looking train. Keep up the good work.

[Lfm55]

Wonderful reinterpretation !

The mix between those two 90’s set work really well.

I like to engine the way it is, no need to make something absolutely realistic, let’s say it’s minifig proportional !