I couldn't take it anymore... Santa Fe Super Chief MOD/MOC

[firstofminifigs]

As the title implies, I can no longer stand not owning 10020 Santa Fe Super Chief and accompanying sets. Such an iconic train coupled with memories of my dad's N scale model of this train drive my desire to have a Lego version. I was about 13-14 years old when 10020 was available, the start of my 'dark age' and with the budget of your average middle schooler. I'm trying to remember if I even knew this set was available at that time. More recently, I am very tired of watching eBay auctions for this set skyrocket higher than anyone should ever be paying for ~400 small pieces of plastic.

I thought about modding the current set in LDD but by the time I started messing around I had built a new version from the ground up. I've started with the loco and the B unit. I for sure borrowed many techniques from the original designer of 10020 and even more so from swoofty. I will likely have to modify a few pieces but totally worth it to save the money and for the end product in my opinion.

Santa Fe1 by Adam, on Flickr

Santa Fe 2 by Adam, on Flickr

Santa Fe 3 by Adam, on Flickr

The brick version WIP already is different in a lot of ways. I lengthened the loco by 2 studs. The grilles are flat silver which I love. Hoping to save some $$$ on LBG bogies by replacing with my original ones. PF fit perfectly with capability of two train motors.

0913152216[1] by Adam, on Flickr

0913152216a[1] by Adam, on Flickr

Not sure if I will sticker, paint, or pay $$$ for the windshield piece. I have ordered StickyBricks copy sticker sheet so advice/reviews on those would be helpful. Still waiting on 2 bricklink orders to fill out the rest. Let me know what you think! I know this is a somewhat unoriginal idea however something I just had to do as I am sure many of you will understand.

[xboxtravis7992]

I once thought I had found the Super Chief for a few dollars online: turnout it was the instructions! Your model looks better than chasing down the official set. I don't like how the nose was on the original but your's is a big improvement.

[Hobbythom]

Excellent build. Those bogies are very nice indeed.

[JopieK]

Very nice! We have the stickers a repro, but not the windshield at this moment.

[dr_spock]

Very nice. Interesting design for the bogie frame.

[Dan-147]

Great re-issue of an iconic LEGO set. The bogie detail is outstanding and I am more than a bit jealous that I didn't come up with something similar.

I understand your frustration about not being able to get the Super Chief at a reasonnable price. I went through the same thing a few years ago, and it wasn't quite as expensive as it is now! I also changed some parts for cost and modernised it but, additionnally I changed the colors and certain details so that it was a model of a locomotive that was more significant for me. (VIA Rail FP9 ARM that is preserved at the Delson train museum near Montreal)

As you can see on the picture, I stickered the windscreen. This allowed me to give it that rounded look typical of EMD F-units and E-units. The fact that the screen frame was black on a trans-black windscreen helped to blend it all together.

One small suggestion that I would like to make. For the porthole windows on the sides, rather than use a transparent 87552 Panel 1 x 2 x 2 with side supports - Hollow Studs; use 2377 Window 1 x 2 x 2 Plane in red and light bluish gray. The windows won't be quite as big and overpowering. See the above picture as reference (blue in my case).

Dan-147

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Better than the original one! :wub:

Those bogies are amazing!

[v6TransAM]

Great design on both F units in this post.

The round portholes are kind of iconic however and detracts heavily from the real thing without it.

I would assume somewhere, somehow, you could get some tape or transfer to go over the window glass pieces so you could cut out a porthole.

[zephyr1934]

That is looking really good with lots of nice subtle details, e.g., the cab steps, the 6 wide mudguard over the diaphragms, the fuel tank, etc.

[Younge]

Unlike a golf tournament, these bogies are welcome!!!

[THERIZE]

Cool model! I also noticed your LDD model doesn't have couplings, it might not be needed but the old coupling can be found under 'coupling lever' and 'magnet'.

[firstofminifigs]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated as this is my first topic posting.

The round portholes are kind of iconic however and detracts heavily from the real thing without it.

One small suggestion that I would like to make. For the porthole windows on the sides, rather than use a transparent 87552 Panel 1 x 2 x 2 with side supports - Hollow Studs; use 2377 Window 1 x 2 x 2 Plane in red and light bluish gray. The windows won't be quite as big and overpowering. See the above picture as reference (blue in my case).

Dan-147

The sticker set I ordered from StickyBricks actually includes stickers for the porthole that fit on the 1 x 2 x 2 trans-clear panels which is really beneficial. I paid a little extra and got enough for the B unit porthole windows as well, just haven't applied them yet as that will be one of the final steps. See pic below.

2015-09-15_04-23-48 by Adam, on Flickr

I was supposed to get another Bricklink order today based on the shipping tracker but didn't find it in the mail box. The third Bricklink order with the red curved pieces for the nose hasn't been shipped yet, I ordered and paid a little over a week ago.

So currently I am working on designing a bogie that uses frictionless pins without the original housing so I can keep the bogie design consistent on the non-powered bogies as the one I designed was meant to fit over the train motor.

[fred67]

Nice build; I like the changes, including the roof; I do miss the "portholes" though.

For the record, I "won" a Sante Fe auction some time ago, but had to bricklink the cars, as they were just far too expensive. The big culprit piece is:

Light Gray. $3 minimum, and you need 14 of them for the Super Chief, 32 of them for one of the cars.

When I did the cars, I used LBG, because that was the color that was available - but TLG had only limited releases in LBG; it wasn't for sale on PAB, and nobody on BL had any decent quantity. So I had to come up with alternate roofs. Although I had some good plans, I ended up just using this piece in black, which was abundantly available.

But now this piece in LGB is abundantly available, too, directly from S@H.

[(1)Stein]

Yes, a nice MOC version of the Chief. And also true getting the parts in the proper colour will be very expensive!

but when you get the whole train together you can be proud owning one of the best trains Lego ever made!

[JopieK]

@firstofminifigs, just wondering (uh, actually, monitoring competition haha), are those stickers also computer cut or did you need to do it yourself?

[firstofminifigs]

Yes, a nice MOC version of the Chief. And also true getting the parts in the proper colour will be very expensive!

but when you get the whole train together you can be proud owning one of the best trains Lego ever made!

I am greatly looking forward to it. I have already started redesigning the passenger cars (mostly lengthening them, changing the bogie design) in LDD. I think I will only be doing 4 cars to keep the costs reasonable although I would like to have as many as you do. One mail/baggage car, one sleeper car, the 'pleasure dome' car, and the rear observation car along with the loco and B unit I think will look pretty sharp.

@firstofminifigs, just wondering (uh, actually, monitoring competition haha), are those stickers also computer cut or did you need to do it yourself?

I looks like I will have to cut them myself. I paid $8.99 total for the sticker sheet including window stickers for the original loco. I paid $4.00 on top of that for the extra porthole stickers for my B unit. I would love to see what you have to offer as I will eventually need to buy stickers for my passenger cars.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Yes, a nice MOC version of the Chief. And also true getting the parts in the proper colour will be very expensive!

but when you get the whole train together you can be proud owning one of the best trains Lego ever made!

Wow what a fantastic collection!

[toxicbananna]

Yes, a nice MOC version of the Chief. And also true getting the parts in the proper colour will be very expensive!

but when you get the whole train together you can be proud owning one of the best trains Lego ever made!

Woah! great collection bro. I too have a full set of santa fe with only 1 B unit, total of 7 cars. Just a question, I'm attached motors on my locomotive with one 9v motor and one pf motor pulling 6 cars behind and it seems to struggle around the curves after a while. How many motors have you attached on you santa fe?

[Lego Dino 500]

Man, I'd kill for a consist like that. I can't wait until Bricklink gets the new features up eventually, I heard from /u/scootersbricks on reddit that they're planning on implementing something similar to brick wizard to order sets by part. I imagine that could possibly lead to more and more competitive pricing, until we end up with decently priced 2x3x6 windshields and light grey bogies. But if Lego does have something planned for 50th Anniversary of trains, I'd want it to be a new Superchief. They've done it in the past before, with the Legends Barracuda and Metroliner, I can't imagine them not. This is the most highly coveted train, and it's for good reason.