TeddytheSpoon Posted yesterday at 05:26 PM Posted yesterday at 05:26 PM (edited) Happy new year, train techies! Some of you may remember a couple years ago I started designing standard-gauge trains using narrow-gauge track. After doing a few Swiss models, I took a break, but kept thinking about doing some British steam locos at some point. I'd like to present the first one to be finished in bricks - one that, I'm not kidding, came to me in a dream! This is a London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Ivatt 2-6-2T tank engine. Essentially, the LMS' version of the GWR's successful Prairies, and (I believe) one of the last locos to be designed by the railway before it was absorbed into British Railways. When I was younger, I had an N-gauge model of this same loco. I had a dream about it one day last summer, and upon waking up thought it would make a good candidate for my first attempt at a steam locomotive in this odd scale! There are a few differences to the Swiss trains I built in the past. Firstly, the British standard gauge makes trains designed around this Trixbrix track closer to 1:60 scale than 1:64 - although it's not particularly noticeable given how different they are anyway. Since most things seem to end up somewhere between 5 and 6 studs wide, I'm tempted to just call this "5-wide scale" so as not to end up too pedantic. It's far from being a perfect scale model anyway! Secondly, and most importantly, I've taken the plunge into the world of custom wheels. The choice of LEGO wheels is incredibly limiting at this scale, and for a steam engine having these drivers is crucial to the look. This model has actually been built for nearly 6 months by now, but I was finally able to pick up some Breckland Bricks wheels over Christmas to finish it off. Special thanks to them for the #4 sizes that are necessary for the leading and trailing wheels! I've only pushed it through R80 curves so far, which it handles very well. I don't think it will take much to go through tighter bends - possibly removing some details. The running gear works well too. And to head off the inevitable questions: I'm afraid it isn't motorised! I wanted to focus on getting the details right, and to make it easier to make fuller consists (hence the big ugly magnet couplings). It might be possible to fit a Circuit Cubes motor, but it would require a significant re-design and would still be missing the receiver. I do have some ideas for something motorised at this scale though. Perhaps once that's done I'll show some videos of this one moving too! Edited yesterday at 05:39 PM by TeddytheSpoon Fixing borked links Quote
FGMatt Posted yesterday at 06:40 PM Posted yesterday at 06:40 PM 1 hour ago, TeddytheSpoon said: And to head off the inevitable questions: I'm afraid it isn't motorised! I wanted to focus on getting the details right, and to make it easier to make fuller consists (hence the big ugly magnet couplings). It might be possible to fit a Circuit Cubes motor, but it would require a significant re-design and would still be missing the receiver. I do have some ideas for something motorised at this scale though. Perhaps once that's done I'll show some videos of this one moving too! Could always motorise one of the carriages? Quote
Toastie Posted yesterday at 10:26 PM Posted yesterday at 10:26 PM Oh - wow!!! This is 4(+) wide, not 5! And this is breathtakingly nice! A large steam engine in 4(+) wide??? Crazy. Yeah, why not using the binoculars to make a narrow gauge "ladder"? Crazy. Just imagine, there were 1/2 thick rods ... Wow. I am blown away. So nicely built! Thank you very much for sharing! All the best Thorsten Quote
zephyr1934 Posted 17 hours ago Posted 17 hours ago Oh wow! An amazing build, only one problem though, it makes my head hurt looking at all the detail you compressed into such a tiny package. The cab and ladders are brilliant, I like how you made the tank work, and how you made everything else so detailed in such a small size. Great job! Quote
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted 14 hours ago Posted 14 hours ago Absolutely amazing, real pistons rods and incredible detail for a 4 studs wide locomotive ...I can't think of any other that I can remember. Epic work! Quote
TeddytheSpoon Posted 13 hours ago Author Posted 13 hours ago Thank you all! You're very kind. 14 hours ago, FGMatt said: Could always motorise one of the carriages? A motorised box car or parcels wagon is something I am considering. The only possible snag is that wagons would mostly use the same #4 wheels as the pony trucks here, which don't have an o-ring. So I'm not sure how good the traction will be - it might be OK for shorter trains. It is something I will test! 10 hours ago, Toastie said: Oh - wow!!! This is 4(+) wide, not 5! And this is breathtakingly nice! A large steam engine in 4(+) wide??? Crazy. Yeah, why not using the binoculars to make a narrow gauge "ladder"? Crazy. Just imagine, there were 1/2 thick rods ... Wow. I am blown away. So nicely built! Thank you very much for sharing! All the best Thorsten Re: the ladders - just after I photographed this, I noticed that the tiny ladder now appears in black in one of this year's new City sets. I may have to pick one up as it's perfect - if on the big side - for the one on the bunker! Quote
Sven J Posted 11 hours ago Posted 11 hours ago This is extremely clever and imaginative, and the result is utterly cute! Despite, no, just because of its small scale, it's the most intriguing steam locomotive model I've seen for a long time. Very well done! Quote
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