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Greetings, Train Tech!

Here's a model of the BR24 steam locomotive from Germany, built at my usual 15 inches / stud scale:

br24-01-front.jpg

The BR24 (or "DRG Class 24") were a standard class of German locomotives built in the 1920s and 1930s. As was the case with most standard German designs, plans were drawn up and orders were placed from various manufacturers. They served through World War 2, and continued to serve into the 70s in West Germany, East Germany, and in Poland (as the Oi2 class)

br24-02-rear.jpg

Most photos of the locomotives show them fitted with the larger Wagner smoke deflectors (the "elephant ears") -- I've chosen to model the locomotive with the smaller Witte deflectors, which were fitted on a few examples later in their life.

br24-03-loco-front.jpg

I was motivated to build this locomotive for two reasons. First, I wanted a suitable locomotive to go with the Umbauwagen I had built. Secondly, I hadn't seen many new takes on this model since Ben Beneke's version from the early 2000s! There are many builders who have modified Ben's design, often substituting BBB medium wheels for the rare large wheels from the set 7750. However, my typical scale is larger than the scale of Ben's model, and I also wanted to leverage some new parts that have come out since.

br24-04-loco-rear.jpg

Like most of my locomotives, this model features Power Functions. A single M-motor beneath the cab powers the drivers at a 5:3 reduction ratio. The locomotive is fairly light but pulls adequately, and there's room in the boiler for additional weight if needed. In a way, this model helps to understand and demonstrate how little weight and torque you can get away with; I see a lot of builders cram extra motors into their locomotive, when the torque can't be transmitted due to a lack of weight.

br24-05-tender-front.jpg

The tender houses the Power Functions receiver and battery box. The 3-axle tender has a rigid frame, with the center axle sliding to negotiate curves (I used a similar geometry on the TP56 locomotive).

br24-07-tender-lid-lift.jpg

The body of the tender lifts off for access. The battery box is mounted sideways to better take advantage of the shape of the tender.

br24-10-top.jpg

Coupled together, the locomotive has decent reception from all angles except the front, where the cab blocks the receiver. Incidentally, my model of the 2MT, which exhibited similar reception characteristics, happened to fall off the table during prototyping of this model. About 60% of the 2MT's parts wound up in the BR24, which is actually a pretty good recycling rate!

I took the model to Bricks By The Bay 2017, where it spent many hours pulling the Umbauwagen around BayLUG's display. It also won "Best Machine" in the "Scale Models" category:

br24-11-award.jpg

Thanks to anyone who came by to see it, and the rest of the display!

Here's the full Brickshelf gallery, along with some Work-In-Progress pictures. I've also brought you some footage of the locomotive in action:

 

Thank you for reading!

EDIT: I finally made instructions! https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-106527/NonsenseWars/148-br24-drg-class-24-power-functions-powered-up/

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One final note: Ben was one of the builders who had been active around the time I first started buidling Lego train MOCs -- so in a way, this model is an homage to him. A few of the design techniques used in this model are based on techniques in his models -- the hinges angling the sides of the cab, the 11-plate-diameter boiler, and the way the smoke deflectors are attached.

If you're still out there in the hobby, Ben, thank you for inspiring me and a whole generation of builders.

Edited by jtlan
Added link to instructions

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Looks fantastic! Honestly I think your work on the tender is more impressive than the actual locomotive. Your compact work never ceases to amaze me.

I also updated my vectron; I'd appreciate your opinion.

 

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It looks so chunky! I love it!!!

You have some genuine skill with designing locomotives. Keep up the great work!

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That's a very nice model. I agree with Beck that the engineering on the tender is impressive.

Those sliding tiles for the pistons are also an interesting (and clever!) solution.

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Thank you, everyone!

On 8/20/2017 at 11:35 AM, brickostan said:

Wow. Very impressive. And it takes the curves without any problems.

I always test the chassis before I get too far along. The drivers display the maximum spacing between axles I'm comfortable with.

 

On 8/20/2017 at 11:57 AM, Beck said:

Looks fantastic! Honestly I think your work on the tender is more impressive than the actual locomotive. Your compact work never ceases to amaze me.

19 hours ago, Duq said:

That's a very nice model. I agree with Beck that the engineering on the tender is impressive.

Thanks, I'm pretty pleased with how the tender came out too. I had to do a partial redesign at one point, as I realized there was no way to get the battery out or to turn it on/off!

 

19 hours ago, Duq said:

Those sliding tiles for the pistons are also an interesting (and clever!) solution.

This isn't the first time I've used that technique. Genealogy of ideas: @Commander Wolf demonstrated it to me after noticing it on @SavaTheAggie's T1. It's wonderfully compact!

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Impressive work! I like the size; it's not too small a locomotive, but not enormous either. I may have to build something similar...

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On 8/22/2017 at 2:12 PM, ColletArrow said:

Impressive work! I like the size; it's not too small a locomotive, but not enormous either. I may have to build something similar...

Given how small I usually build, this was actually a very comfortable change of pace for me! Still, the shape of the locomotive dictated parts of the layout -- for example, I didn't really have any room to put the battery box in the locomotive itself. Definitely, with this locomotive (and TP56 before it), I thought a lot more about "usability", both in terms of reception as well as battery box accessibility. 

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Hi,

what a wonderful rendition of this iconic little engine from my home country!

Reading about all the problems you have fitting the PF IR receiver, I was wondering if you have ever considered installing a BUWIZZ?

It really saves you a lot of space! Especially for tank engines like your BR standard class 2 ;)

Also a Strick would be a good choice to avoid the need for the IR receivers eye to poke out somewhere.

Or if you want to also have steam sound, then take a look at what the guys from PF bricks are doing:
 

http://buwizz.com

https://www.sbrick.com

https://fxbricks.com/pfxbrick/

 

And just for fun take a look at my rendition of the BR 24 from 1996, where we had only 6 wides and no BBB wheels :)


Regards

 

CaL

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9 hours ago, CaL said:

Hi,

what a wonderful rendition of this iconic little engine from my home country!

Reading about all the problems you have fitting the PF IR receiver, I was wondering if you have ever considered installing a BUWIZZ?

It really saves you a lot of space! Especially for tank engines like your BR standard class 2 ;)

Also a Strick would be a good choice to avoid the need for the IR receivers eye to poke out somewhere.

Or if you want to also have steam sound, then take a look at what the guys from PF bricks are doing:
 

http://buwizz.com

https://www.sbrick.com

https://fxbricks.com/pfxbrick/

 

And just for fun take a look at my rendition of the BR 24 from 1996, where we had only 6 wides and no BBB wheels :)


Regards

 

CaL

 

Hi CaL,

Thank you for the suggestions. However, I'm mostly a purist builder, particularly where electronics are concerned, so I'm happy to use the stock components. I enjoy the constraint of working within the system,and even (particularly?) the challenge of fitting the PF components within a small model. I think a builder can grow a lot by learning and building within constraints, rather than using a third-party solution to "fix" a "problem".

Cheers,

~jtlan

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Dear Jtlan,

 

may I ask wo More questions?

1) Why did you choose grey as colour for the rods?

2) Which manufacturer are the wheels from?

 

Regards

CaL

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4 hours ago, CaL said:

Dear Jtlan,

 

may I ask wo More questions?

1) Why did you choose grey as colour for the rods?

2) Which manufacturer are the wheels from?

 

Regards

CaL

Hello CaL,

  1. In most photographs of the actual locomotive, the rods are some grey metal, but with the inside of the web painted red. While the Technic half-beams are somewhat rare in red, they do exist, and so I could have used red rods for this locomotive. However, I wanted to make sure the rods were easy to see, particularly while the locomotive is running.
  2. The large wheels are official Lego wheels. The small wheels are from Big Ben Bricks. Lego also makes small red wheels, but they are slightly thicker and I would have had to design some parts of the model differently.

An extended musing on point 1, above: I think it's important to keep in mind that, as builders, we are building a model of a locomotive, not an actual locomotive. Therefore, it's important to take into account the setting in which your model will be seen. For example, in most cases the model will be seen from slightly above -- design your model knowing what will and won't be seen from that angle. Parts of the model may blend together from a distance -- you might want to choose colors that make those parts stand out. And so on.

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Hi @jtlan,

i am from germany and my grandvather is driving one of these in the past .. very coool to see the br24 with so many details

i recently build the BR10 from holger matthes ... and now i have to build the BR24 ... ;-)

i have look in you brickshelf but i dont get all Bricks together which i have to order .. Because all of my black tiles and so on are gone in the BR10 ^^

i would love if you can generate a list or can share with me the mlcad file. or a dirty generated buildinginstruction, may be for a virtual coffee or beer via paypal ;-)

if you see a chance for me to get this, write me a PM an i will give you my mail address .. so we can talk about details.

i also promise that i never give this to an other person.

thanks bigBrick

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