zephyr1934 Posted May 5 Posted May 5 The BDP 11 palette went live in early March and I've been busy building virtually since then. Here's a teaser of what I've been up to... In case a last minute snag crops up with my submission I don't want to jinx myself by going into all the details before the designs are posted. So more to come in a week. [UPDATE] BDP 11 voting is live and you can support this creation here. Scroll down for more info about the build Quote
Ts__ Posted May 5 Posted May 5 Looks promising. I like the hatchet as a ladder. Nice idea. Thomas Quote
zephyr1934 Posted May 7 Author Posted May 7 Thank you all! Indeed, I used cleavers (98369) for the steps, a very handy part in combination with the 1x3 plates with round ends and holes. It tucked in nicely between the smokebox and cylinders. It's hard to tell from the view, but the relatively thin running boards continue beyond the steps using brackets and then panels. I was even able to get the steam pipe to the cylinder in below all of that Quote
zephyr1934 Posted May 11 Author Posted May 11 Okay, the BDP 11 submissions have been posted and I can now present the full train. I call this a Classic Train because of the cargo it is hauling. The flatcars carry components to assemble a spaceship inspired by the classic space transport and cruiser sets from 1979 while the traveling renaissance festival horse car incorporates styles from the earliest classic castle sets. At the front of the train is one the rarest locomotives ever built, it is believed none were ever constructed. Inspired by a cartoon depicting a massive steamer in an 0-2-0 configuration by Bruce Bates (long time cartoonist for Garden Railways magazine, who passed away in 2015). The locomotive in the model faithfully recreates the fanciful illustration. Although the choice of wheel arrangement is whimsical, the build incorporates a lot of realistic detailing in the tiny package. If you look from the front, you might think you are staring at a mighty C&O T-1, only to discover that someone forgot to put all of the wheels on. The cab features a removable roof (shown on/off in one of the images), throttle, brake-stand, firebox door, sight glass, steam gauge, injector, backhead, and more. Even with all of the details the cab fits two crew members. The Vanderbilt tender is ready for Power Up (Powered Up elements are not included). When powered the engine can handle all standard Lego train track geometries (tested in real bricks). One flatcar carries the fuselage of a spaceship, and another carries its wings. This model draws inspiration from classic space sets 918 Space Transport and 924 Space Cruiser. The spaceship components make a great looking load for the train, but they can also be taken off the flatcars and assembled into a spaceship. As you can see from the images, the cockpit has been updated with ample displays to monitor every function on the ship and visualize critical information from across the sector. It even has a seat worthy of a space minifigure wearing air tanks. The spaceship is in transit with no crew on board, but inside the cargo bay you will find a spacesuit. The horsecar is part of a traveling Renaissance Festival. With a cabin for the reenactor and their gear on one end a stall for the mighty steed on the other. The opening functionality and color scheme are inspired by the classic yellow castle, set 375. The car includes barding styled from 383 Knight's Tournament, and cargo from 677 Knight's Procession. The horse and knight can be completely suited up for a joust using equipment carried on board the car. The train is crossing a box-girder bridge. The design is strong yet light. It works amazingly well in bricks for the same reason the prototype works amazingly well in real life. For safety, there is a duck-out in the middle of the bridge in case a train approaches while a track worker is maintaining the deck. You can use the bridge as a display stand for the train or integrate it into your layout. The set also includes a father/daughter (or mother/son) pair of rail fans, ren fest fans, and simply Lego fans to take it all in. If you like this design, please support it and share it on your social media networks too! Quote
Murdoch17 Posted May 11 Posted May 11 (edited) Nice work @zephyr1934, I love the cargo - the spaceship especially! Now that you've given the steam engine an actual real-world form (as opposed to a drawing), it needs a wheel arrangement name. Therefore, (if you're okay with it) I dub this 0-2-0 loco the "Unicycle" type. (I believe Bicycle type was taken, and this has less wheels than that, so... ) Edited May 11 by Murdoch17 Quote
zephyr1934 Posted May 12 Author Posted May 12 Thanks! The spaceship was a killer, there were only like a dozen trans yellow parts in the entire palette, it was a nigh impossible to get anything that remotely looked like the original classic space ships. As for the 0-2-0, I would think "Bates class" makes more sense. Quote
idlemarvel Posted May 12 Posted May 12 Lovely piece of whimsy and lots of play opportunities, and well engineered. The loco is quite Heath-Robinson. As a set I think I would prefer it without the bridge, nice though that is. Quote
rjr Posted May 12 Posted May 12 Haha this is great, who would have thought that the preview was almost the whole locomotive! :-) great details on all parts and I would love to see this running! Quote
Ts__ Posted May 12 Posted May 12 Oh, that sure is an unusual locomotive.... I was expecting something different. The whole train matches it, too—it’s not a typical setup, so it really stands out! Thomas Quote
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted May 12 Posted May 12 On 5/5/2026 at 5:18 PM, Ts__ said: Looks promising. I like the hatchet as a ladder. Nice idea. I totally agree! Quote
Murdoch17 Posted May 12 Posted May 12 20 hours ago, zephyr1934 said: Thanks! The spaceship was a killer, there were only like a dozen trans yellow parts in the entire palette, it was a nigh impossible to get anything that remotely looked like the original classic space ships. As for the 0-2-0, I would think "Bates class" makes more sense. That makes sense, I like your idea better! Quote
L-Gauger Posted May 12 Posted May 12 I like the spaceship included - stowed on the flatcar without its wings, it looks a lot like the Space Monorail. Was that a deliberate tribute? The bridge is INCREDIBLE - I loved the trestle in the Logging Railway, but this looks sturdy enough to even pick up with a train parked on it. And bringing a cartoon to life with the loco is super cool - although one thing that came to my mind is, do you know what the modding potential would be to make this engine into a 0-4-0 or a 0-4-4T? I ask because if I bought this set I would probably try to do that. Quote
zephyr1934 Posted May 13 Author Posted May 13 20 hours ago, idlemarvel said: Lovely piece of whimsy and lots of play opportunities, and well engineered. The loco is quite Heath-Robinson. As a set I think I would prefer it without the bridge, nice though that is. Thank you kindly. Oh, wow, I never heard of Heath Robinson before (they call him Rube Goldberg on this side of the Atlantic, grin), but his Railway Ribaldry book looks fantastic. I need to track down a copy. As for the bridge, it is always good to hear folks preferences. In this case, excluding the track/ties/etc that would be present anyway, the bridge is just under 200 parts. Lots of large panels and such. 16 hours ago, GoHabsGo said: I hope it will be selected ! Me too! (grin), merci 14 hours ago, rjr said: Haha this is great, who would have thought that the preview was almost the whole locomotive! :-) great details on all parts and I would love to see this running! Bedankt, yes, that's what I was going for with the preview. I'll try to remember to get a video of my original build from last year running around the track (my build has matching shorty passenger cars inspired by Piker and Oscar). The BDP locomotive has lots of aesthetic improvements though, e.g., the cab in my physical build has no detailing, I didn't anticipate anybody ever looking inside. 11 hours ago, Ts__ said: I was expecting something different. The whole train matches it, too—it’s not a typical setup, so it really stands out! Danke. Indeed, I suspect my whimsy might put a few serious train heads off and I understand that, but it's Lego, you've got to have a little fun. Personally, I'm a fan of using a technic half pin for the "piston" connection at the cylinders but I could totally see that being illegal to the lego police. I tried a bunch of alternatives, but settled on a lipstick for the mechanism. To complicate matters, the rod is actually shorter than the diameter of the wheel. So I had to extend it out and away from getting caught on the rim of the wheel (simple, use a 1x1 round plate). 11 hours ago, Shiva said: Well, this got into the "most liked" aka <3 list. Excellent! back at you @LEGO Train 12 Volts 7 hours ago, Murdoch17 said: That makes sense, I like your idea better! Then it's a deal (grin) 6 hours ago, L-Gauger said: I like the spaceship included - stowed on the flatcar without its wings, it looks a lot like the Space Monorail. Was that a deliberate tribute? To be honest, that wasn't deliberate but I like the idea. I was just doing my best to capture the look of the Classic Space Cruiser, set 924. However, I keep looking at it and seeing a potential cab for a train. Personally I like how the windows are framed out in the design. 6 hours ago, L-Gauger said: The bridge is INCREDIBLE - I loved the trestle in the Logging Railway, but this looks sturdy enough to even pick up with a train parked on it. I effectively built that bridge many years ago in real brick. I don't remember if it is 48 or 64 studs long, but it is pretty strong. The supports are a new design and I haven't built them in brick. There is a small chance they might fall off if you picked it up. Anticipating that the lego police might not like that, I included an alternate design in the file submitted that locks them in using hidden technic. In the unlikely event this were chosen I'm sure it will be thoroughly tested before going into production. 6 hours ago, L-Gauger said: And bringing a cartoon to life with the loco is super cool - although one thing that came to my mind is, do you know what the modding potential would be to make this engine into a 0-4-0 or a 0-4-4T? I ask because if I bought this set I would probably try to do that. Oh, that was completely my intent, that someone could take this basic design, stretch the boiler out to a proper length and stick more wheels under it. I'm contemplating doing a Pacific or Northern based on the design. The one hard part is fitting in a pilot truck such that it does not interfere with the cylinders, but that is a challenge on any Lego steam engine with a pilot truck. Thinking about the classic space, I made a separate BDP submission with just the flatcars, but I like the full train better (if nothing else, there are enough parts that I can also put stickers on the flatcars) Quote
zephyr1934 Posted May 13 Author Posted May 13 PS, for those who like this design, please add your comments to the BDP listing. The more chatter in the comments, the more it is likely to get Lego's attention. Quote
iragm Posted May 13 Posted May 13 9 hours ago, zephyr1934 said: The more chatter in the comments, the more it is likely to get Lego's attention This is not the case, it's really only votes that matter. But still a neat design. I feel like it would do better with a more well-known locomotive, the ship and knight draw in the usual classic crowd, but the engine isn't quite impressive enough to get a casual train fan excited. I usually complain about wasted parts on bases, but the bridge is a really simple, well-executed design and I love it. I think the best part is that this whole design is "something different" and very clever. Quote
L-Gauger Posted May 13 Posted May 13 18 hours ago, zephyr1934 said: To be honest, that wasn't deliberate but I like the idea. I was just doing my best to capture the look of the Classic Space Cruiser, set 924. However, I keep looking at it and seeing a potential cab for a train. Even without making any other changes it's basically the front half of a Monorail if you take off the wings and rocket engines, swap the landing gear for the new Education monorail trucks, and add a rear coupler. I like that. If this gets made (it has my support!) I think there will be some great MODs (of the ship, the bridge, and the locomotive at the very least) based on your work here. That's what I love about this idea - it's a incredible design as-is, but also has immediately obvious MODing potential - and lots of it! 18 hours ago, zephyr1934 said: Personally I like how the windows are framed out in the design. Me too! That's what makes it look so much like a Monorail, at least to me. 18 hours ago, zephyr1934 said: Oh, that was completely my intent, that someone could take this basic design, stretch the boiler out to a proper length and stick more wheels under it. I'm contemplating doing a Pacific or Northern based on the design. The one hard part is fitting in a pilot truck such that it does not interfere with the cylinders, but that is a challenge on any Lego steam engine with a pilot truck. How cool! I look forward to seeing what you come up with! Quote
zephyr1934 Posted May 14 Author Posted May 14 11 hours ago, iragm said: This is not the case, it's really only votes that matter. Indeed, it's the votes first and foremost that get you in the door. I'm sure Lego only considers the top vote getters. But at the end of the voting, for the small number of models that had the most votes, the comments could make a big difference for the final five. In which case comments pointing out details that you like can help a lot. The comments also resonate with voters, a comment mentioning a nice detail can get a viewer to look twice and can lead to a more positive voting. 11 hours ago, iragm said: But still a neat design. I feel like it would do better with a more well-known locomotive, the ship and knight draw in the usual classic crowd, but the engine isn't quite impressive enough to get a casual train fan excited. I usually complain about wasted parts on bases, but the bridge is a really simple, well-executed design and I love it. I think the best part is that this whole design is "something different" and very clever. Thank you thank you. Indeed, a well known locomotive is always a crowd pleaser. But to do a well known locomotive right it probably has to be the singular focus of the build. The real challenge with a well known locomotive is that they are so regional. There are only a few locomotives that I think could capture strong global interest: Big Boy, Mallard, Flying Scotsman (taken), Thomas the Tank Engine (can be done w/o a face), Santa Fe Warbonnet (taken), and maybe a few others. For this build I went for the train as a whole and wanted to have many focal points, and I appreciate that you liked that element. 7 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said: Just supported! Merci! 4 hours ago, L-Gauger said: Even without making any other changes it's basically the front half of a Monorail if you take off the wings and rocket engines, swap the landing gear for the new Education monorail trucks, and add a rear coupler. I like that. If this gets made (it has my support!) I think there will be some great MODs (of the ship, the bridge, and the locomotive at the very least) based on your work here. That's what I love about this idea - it's a incredible design as-is, but also has immediately obvious MODing potential - and lots of it! That is most excellent to hear! I appreciate all of the feedback and support from all of you. There are so many great entries, I do not envy the selection committee. Quote
Darkkostas25 Posted May 14 Posted May 14 Nice and lovely engine and "cargo". Engine caught me off guard, and I was even baffled by its design and wheel arrangement :D Nice addition to BDP! Quote
LL1982 Posted May 14 Posted May 14 Fun I voted for this one. Totally weird engine, but the combination of themes won me over. Great that you came up with this. Quote
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