plinthed 2-6-2 Prairie steam engine in a public park - modular building compatible real world MOC

[Murdoch17]

The permanently parked 2-6-2 'Prairie' steam loco is enshrined in a small public space in Lego City. The park used to be much bigger, but eminent domain for more buildings has shrunk it down quite a bit to the size you see now. Nowadays, the OCTAN Company is threatening to take the rest to make into a automotive service station, hence the billboard. Octan and the local historical society are currently slugging it out in the courts to see what will happen to this lot and it's resident steam loco.

Nevertheless, this park remains a popular place to grab a hot dog from the vendor and hold a picnic. If you need a rest on your walk, there are two benches, and if you want to read some about the loco there is plaque is placed behind the stairs to the engine's cab.

The back side of the MOC, which is pretty ugly and sparsely decorated.

I've been on a bit of a modular building kick recently... this plinthed 2-6-2 Prairie-type steam loco with surrounding public park is like my twelfth in a year or so. I've got two others waiting in the wings waiting to be finished as well.

The food stall is run by Heimlich Stewblaster from the old LEGO Universe video game.

...Someone left a cake out in the rain, with all the sweet cream icing running down... 

(this is a reference to a song called 'MacArthur Park' and was sung by Richard Harris - yes, the original Dumbledore had a singing career!)

Back when Bricklink allowed you to buy custom MOC instructions, I bought some plans for a small 2-6-2 steam loco from @SavaTheAggie in January 2014. (You can now buy Sava's instructions for his original MOC - and more - at Brick Train Depot.) I devoured the instructions, used the techniques shown to make me a better builder. Now, ten years later, I've revisited the model: I built it in LDD, (with some stand-ins for BBB parts) then went to town making it into my style and then bought the parts in the real world.

I changed the boiler to be studs-up instead of SNOT, and removed the squeaky old tiny wheels from the model, and made space for XS Big Ben Bricks wheels instead. (this actually was easier than I thought it'd be!) I added a different stack along with heavily revising the piston / side rod assembly. As for the all-new, longer tender, different wheels were added and a 'painted' box put on the sides.

The rear of the loco. The engine is numbered 119 and lettered for BRS (Brick Railway Systems), my original LEGO railroad that I began when I was in late-stage elementary school nearly 20 years ago. (Man, how time flies!) I also gave it the original black-and-red paint scheme of my first train MOCs from the early 2010's, as a nod to my past. This loco was my third set of instructions I purchased from Sava back in the day, although I had never built this one until now. (I did build the 4-6-0 and Berkshire I bought in 2010 and 2012 respectively, but oddly not this one from 2014)

The inside of the cab.

Thoughts?

EDIT:

@JopieK Do you you think this in the right area? Or should it be moved to town? I was confident before in my placement, but now I'm not so sure...

Edited September 9, 2024 by Murdoch17

[JopieK]

I think it is a great topic for Train Tech. Very nice work and good idea!

[Murdoch17]

3 hours ago, JopieK said:

I think it is a great topic for Train Tech. Very nice work and good idea!

Thank you for your kind words @JopieK!

[Feuer Zug]

Good work on this "display" piece. Considering most locomotives were scrapped, it's nice to have a reminder of the past for the children to crawl over at the remains of the park.

[Murdoch17]

3 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

Good work on this "display" piece. Considering most locomotives were scrapped, it's nice to have a reminder of the past for the children to crawl over at the remains of the park.

Thanks @Feuer Zug! I also agree it's nice to inspire future generations into railroading careers (either on modern roads or in preservation circles), or maybe into being museum docents / historians... plus, pretending to be an engineer driving his mighty iron horse across the country is fun to do at any age - from 4 on up past 99!

[Shiva]

Nice build :)

What about a few flower+pots between the bullbar and smokebox?

[Murdoch17]

2 hours ago, Shiva said:

Nice build :)

What about a few flower+pots between the bullbar and smokebox?

Thanks @Shiva. As for your suggestion, I have never seen in any photos of that being done with a real locomotive - parked or otherwise. It's a good suggestion, but not one I'll be doing. Thank you, though.

[zephyr1934]

On 9/9/2024 at 2:47 PM, Murdoch17 said:

(this is a reference to a song called 'MacArthur Park' and was sung by Richard Harris - yes, the original Dumbledore had a singing career!)

And was featured prominantly in Beetlejuce Beetlejuce

 

On 9/11/2024 at 10:34 AM, Feuer Zug said:

it's nice to have a reminder of the past for the children to crawl over at the remains of the park.

Monterey, CA

[Murdoch17]

@zephyr1934 : Well, that appears to be:

A) incredibly dangerous

B) very sad because the mighty iron horse has been reduced to a kids jungle gym

C) All of the above

 

...But at least it's in (relatively) good condition and still looks like a proper steam loco for the most part. (extra handrails notwithstanding)