raised

Announcing OcTRAINber, the first contest by Brick Model Railroader!

Recommended Posts

Tell me, please, at least 60 pins on the axes of couplings? And is the width of the object unlimited?

1 hour ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

The contest was away also when I built this:

And I would not be allowed with the locomotive TEM14, since its length is only 58 pins. But he also very funny goes through the turns of the standard kind. :look:

 

tem-14_107816.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 1-10-2017 at 8:25 PM, Nemo57 said:

Tell me, please, at least 60 pins on the axes of couplings? And is the width of the object unlimited?

 

Well, in real life the length of an unit is being measured by its length from buffer to buffer. Also, there is no limit on width. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 9/30/2017 at 5:51 PM, ScotNick said:

While I do like the idea of this contest the rules make it really hard for me as a European to participate. I know engines in the US are just huuuge, but in Europe articulated steam engines or engines that are that long just weren't common. So I have 4 options left - I could either build an American engine (I do think there were some articulated steam engines in Africa and Australia as well), build a fantasy engine or scale up my engines to make them longer, or build something *just* train related. While I really looked forward to this contest (when was the last time we had a train contest?) I sadly have to admit that I'll pass on this one, as all those options seem rather (or not buildable in such a *short* time) to me. I hope there are others who have more time and good imagination and wish everyone participating good luck!

 

On 10/1/2017 at 7:28 AM, ColletArrow said:

The UK doesn't have much in the way of everyday use large/long rolling stock as our loading gauge is quite restrictive.

Ah, there is one other alternative you haven't considered, go big... that is to say, take a smaller locomotive prototype and build it larger than 8 wide. I think the lego train track is proportionately scaled to about 10-12 stud wide trains. Why there is a mighty fine LNER Mikado that is screaming for a lego build that would probably dot all of the requirements. And at 12 wide you can fit an incredible amount of detail in to it, you'll blow the competition away. See, e.g., Tenderlok's fine 12 wide builds for inspiration, you just have to narrow the gauge down from G by about one stud.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, UrbanErwin said:

When talking about semi-permanent coupled units, is something along the lines of mat '64 acceptable to enter in the contest?

That's pretty much the quintessential of semi-permanently coupled units for us Europeans (I think I wrote somewhere in the post that EMUs and DMUs were allowed), so the answer would be yes I'd say.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So I think the key to this competition is imagination. It was referenced that 'fantasy' entries would be considered given the plausibility of the back story. So think of it like this: 

Find a problem anywhere in the Railroading world, and then come up with a solution for that problem and demonstrate it in Lego.

For example, Back in the early 1900's there was a fierce battle based around power and tractive effort in the US, and it led to the Triplex Locomotive, something that was almost beyond belief at the time, but ultimately it was a monumental failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplex_(locomotive).

The point is, the engineers (that's you guys, I can't afford to compete in this one) can find a problem to solve and come up with something completely original, complete fantasy, but is plausible to have potentially existed, because that's how railroads used to do things. They'd come up with an idea, and if it passed the "Wow that's nuts but it sounds cool and cooooould possibly work" stage, they built it (See: all the crazy stuff the Pennsy did, e.g. T1 Duplex, the S1, the S2, etc.)

Just look at the Union Pacifics Gas Turbine Engines: Three massive units making up one engine all based around a jet turbine that was a completely bonkers idea, and kind of worked, but it's all about thinking outside the box https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_turbine-electric_locomotive.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about: 2017 was a horrendous year for Forest Fires in Florida. <Everything that follows is completely made up>. The CSX was greatly concerned by this and needed to make sure that the route of it's famous Juice Train (Tropicana) remained open no matter what. So the Tampa shops got to work and a 5 car articulated gondola train car (5 cars permanently coupled, plenty of studs there) along with a 3 car articulated tanker was built to go ahead of every juice train and make sure the Right of Way (RoW) was fire free. The train of 8 cars (5&3 semi-permanently coupled) was pushed down the tracks while the gondolas had custom drop out sides that would open to both dump water on the RoW and also spray the trees running along the track in high risk areas. The lego model could have operating trap doors to let the 'water' out at intervals, power function hoses that make them move back and forth through 90 degrees to make it look like they're spraying back and forth, etc.

It's a completely plausible idea. It's also complete bonkers: can you imagine building an 5 car articulated gondola set that semi-permanently coupled to a 3 car articulated tank car set?

I would imagine it would be that hard to build either, especially with two recent runs of City "Fire" sets. Heck, one of the gondolas could have a bucket lift with a hose and a firefighter to spray things that are high up. 

Oh, and because everything is articulated you could run on single power functions main driveline through all five cars and each car that uses power functions has it's own gear box to activate it's feature. Maybe change the idea of 5 semi permed to 3 to 5 semi permed to a boxcar that houses the power functions aspects. Heck, you could smash and engine and a gondola together and then it's a 5 car articulated fire-fighting train with it's own engine-think something like the short lived AeroTrain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerotrain_(GM)

I would give anything to compete in this contest. Unfortunately I have neither the money or the software know-how. And that idea is up for grabs. Would love to be consulted on the concept though :D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@raised Strange question I know but when you say fantasy train, would I be allow to enter say a Clone Turbo train?

 

Edited by Agent Kallus
I put an @ thingie

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
19 hours ago, Agent Kallus said:

@raised Strange question I know but when you say fantasy train, would I be allow to enter say a Clone Turbo train?

 

See rules, also it has to have trainwheels.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I entered on Day 1, but forgot to post in this thread. :wacko: I don't plan on winning anything because my entry is just a extended version of a engine I already uploaded.... also, as a note to the judges @raised @zephyr1934, the "Swoosh!" category will be a little hard to do digitally as LDD doesn't allow for the train wheels to be placed on curved track.

36760504413_0b9fe7a4ca_z.jpg

Anyway, here is my Frisco 1522 model 4-8-2 steam loco with added water tender, as was used during it's short excursion career from 1988 to 2002 before the water tender was sold in 2011-ish. The real engine will likely never turn a wheel on it's own again,(Dang those high insurance prices!) so it has had it's tool cars and auxiliary tender sold for use by another steam loco group. The train may not be turn-able in LDD, but this 96-ish stud long engine and tenders -will- work in real life.

and if I do somehow win.... I have no room for the tracks, so please just consider my entry a salute to your awesomeness and hard work here at BMR :-)

Edited by Murdoch17

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 10/1/2017 at 9:28 PM, ColletArrow said:

A Network Rail two-car Windhoff MPV (google images search) is quite long when built roughly to scale, I had a go at one digitally once. Their breakdown/recovery cranes are pretty big too, but the best has to be the ballast cleaner; that is a pretty long monster, especially if you include the self-discharging wagons. 

The UK doesn't have much in the way of everyday use large/long rolling stock as our loading gauge is quite restrictive.

I built a couple of these last year (at scale too) and they didnt go around a curve. I built them just to sit as a static display. Scroll down to the last post.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@raised 

I have some more questions:

1. The rules state that bonus points will be awarded for builds longer than 60/70 studs. For lengths on the interval between 60-70 will the model get bonus points? If my model is 62 studs long, it is more than 60, but less than 70. I would change this to a single value like 60 just to eliminate confusion.

2. You mention length is measured over buffers; however, US trains do not use buffers. So my question is, where would I measure the length from?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Beck

1. 60 studs for single units, 70 studs for semi-permanently coupled units. These are two different categories!

2. Measurement for US loco's goes over the couplers

Hope this helps!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Following all your questions, we have decided to bundle them and put them online in a separate post. 

http://brickmodelrailroader.com/index.php/2017/10/11/octrainber-some-extra-information-on-the-rules/

Just now, raised said:

There have been some questions asked over at the Eurobricks Train Tech forums OcTRAINber thread regarding the contest, which we have tried to answer the best as we could. For completeness, we have decided to post some clarification on the rules here as well.

Sizes

For us here at BMR, we normally use the same way of measuring as other scale modellers do, meaning:

US: Over the couplers
EU: Over the buffers

It’s a rule of thumb, so all trains that have buffers are measured like the EU, and all trains that just have automatic couplers are measured over the couplers.

Also, there is no limit on the width of the entry.

Entering old entries in the contest

OcTRAINber is a building contest, meaning that you have to submit a new model specifically build for the contest. To keep in mind: We have set up this contest to inspire people to actually build, so please no old models that have been posted already!

(If it wasn’t put online before, we would be willing to consider it. In the end, the pre-announcement did state that we encourage finally finishing those previously half-failed ideas for something long.)

Third party parts

BMR has always been positive towards third-party parts, as long as they have any way of added value to the hobby. So the rule of thumb is simple:

Lego: Yes
Third Party parts: Yes
Clones: No

Flickr

All entries have to be posted on our BMR Flickr. For this you need your own Flickr account, but trust us, there is an awesome community out there you can be part of!

The Swoosh

There were some questions about how the swoosh should look like. We didn’t state any rules for this so that’s up to your own imagination!

Types of consists

Lastly, there were some questions on what type of units you can send in. To give some clarification on this: Everything that has train wheels underneath it is allowed. So think locomotive, passenger carriage, goods wagon, etc. For semi-permanently coupled units you can think about trams, rescue trains (think SBB in the alpes), MOW equipment, Truck-Train combos like Hupac, the Eurotunnel LeShuttle, etc etc.

Good luck with building and enjoy your OcTRAINber!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Prizes have been announced! Read all about it here on Brick Model Railroader

For the ones who cannot wait:

22135548_517837698565755_204805133588161

Some cool Lego Train sets. Thanks TLC!

22090039_517397935276398_918856176722930

A full circle of R104 and R120 curves. Thanks Bricktracks!

Remember, all entries must follow the rules (post 1) (post 2) and must be uploaded in the two contest threads at our BMR Flickr!

Edited by raised

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Only 7 days to go before OcTRAINber ends! Because we love to see as many entries as possible, we have a short question to everybody who is currently building for OcTRAINber: Are you going to finish your entries in time, meaning before November 1st?

Edited by raised

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm in the same boat as stefaneris: about 85% finished. Mind you i am building digitally. I know I can Finnish on time, but I think a couple more weeks wouldn't hurt. If given maybe 2-3 more weeks I could have bricklinked it and completed the model IRL.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My car is 59,5 studs long over the buffers. Can I round it up to 60 or am I not allowed to enter it?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I did start work on a train as well, but can't say how much more time I need, really depends on how much spare time is left at the end of the day.
I won't be able to work on this project till Friday, so I might finish the model in time but can't say for sure :sceptic:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes I'll be ready, but I've given up all of my spare time this month and then some to hit this deadline. I'm looking forward to 1st November so I can rest.

My digital build is 98% complete for the contest, but it would still need a lot more work to get all the detailing right. My real world build has hit a small snag, but that should be ready in time too.

Wishing everyone the very best of luck!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.