EMD FT 103 diesel locomotive demonstrator (the diesel that did it) - real world 10020 MOD

[Murdoch17]

Built by General Motors (GM) / Electro Motive Division (EMD) in 1939, this is the diesel that showed the way to the future, signaling the start of the diesel era. This particular engine (FT 103) was originally owned by Electro-Motive as part of a four unit demonstrator. After proving diesels were the superior to steam by way of a whirlwind tour of a whole heap of railroads, it was later sold to the Southern Railway and the lead A unit was eventually placed in the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri where it resides today, under cover and out of the elements. (the other three units were scrapped before they could be preserved, sadly)

My MOC is heavily drawn from the 2002 LEGO set 10020 - Santa Fe Super Chief. As that loco is a F7 from the same basic design as the earlier FT, not much had to be changed on the body outside of window placement and a few other things. The roof however, was completely revised to use the same design as 2013 LEGO Inside Tour set 4000008 - Villy Thomsen Truck. This was due to the needed parts as used in 10020 not being available in black in quantity.

The rear of the locomotive. This model was first designed by me in 2013 in a very crude way (as seen on my Flickr here), but was heavily upgraded and modified over the years until finally being built last month when the final part - the windscreen - was released.

The inside features the engine and control cab, and the roof is removable.

Here is the real loco circa 2018, with the FT B-Unit from the Roanoke Transportation Museum behind the original A-unit. (This B-unit was at the St. Louis museum from 2015 to 2020 as part of a loan, but has since returned to Virginia.)

Thoughts?

Edited 15 hours ago by Murdoch17

[JopieK]

Nice one @Murdoch17. Will u also be going for the upcoming bricklink designer program Brick Railroad Locomotive?

[Murdoch17]

2 hours ago, JopieK said:

Nice one @Murdoch17. Will u also be going for the upcoming bricklink designer program Brick Railroad Locomotive?

Thanks for the front-paging and the compliment @JopieK! RE the BDP train design submission: No, I'm not entering anything into the contest... I still use LDD (I have Studio downloaded but haven't touched it at all) for my digital MOCs. I'll get around to learning it someday, but I hate change so who knows when that will be!