[MOC] NS Hispeed Traxx F140 MS2 #186 114

[raised]

Some of you might remember that several years ago (end of 2014! Wow that's long ago) I wrote a topic about my ongoing tries to build a Bombardier Traxx F140 MS2 loco in the Fyra livery of NS Hispeed, the -now defunct- brand of Dutch high speed trains in 1:45 scale. Well, here it finally is!

NS Hispeed Fyra Traxx F140 MS2 - 3/4th view by raised, on Flickr

Back then, I never managed to finish the build, due to several reasons. The major one being a lack of motivation to build a loco that looks so simple in real life, but is so difficult to get right in Legos. Luckily for me, there are nowadays several amazing builders in this community that every time that I was feeling down about ever finishing this loco, came up again with their version, and thus gave me again and again a kick in the back to re-start. The list is definately not complete, but included are BigDaeady, Dennis aka TECHNO, Beck, StefanEris, dutchtrains and Ashi Valkoinen. 

NS Hispeed Fyra Traxx F140 MS2 - 3/4th front view by raised, on Flickr

Some small details: The Traxx is powered by two L-motors, geared 1:2 for some extra speed. Controls come from a PFx brick (with the possibility to swap it out for a IR reciever) and I have build in a XL Speaker. There is still some room available for the FX Bricks LED board, but due to a lack of LED knowledge I haven't tried incorporating it. Stickers are printed with a Dymo MobileLabeler Labelwriter, which is a perfectly fine machine if you don't like to outsource printing your stickers. As long as you don't need fancy multi-coloured stickers (it's only available in white, black, blue, yellow and red on transparent) it get's the job done very well.

NS Hispeed Fyra Traxx F140 MS2 - Sideview by raised, on Flickr

The whole album, including some WIP pictures of failed previous attempts, can be found here.

As part of this model I made a post over at Brick Model Railroader, discussing my model and the at the same time released model by BigDaedy. During these five years we have quite often inspired each other, but still, the end results are pretty different due to different design choises. Definately worth a couple of minutes to read! 

Thanks for checking it out, hope you enjoyed it!

-raised

 

[Man with a hat]

Very impressive work.

All those details are really nice. Also how you did the curves is great. Fantastic job. I just keep staring at it.

[Stefaneris]

I feel honoured to be mentioned here. If I rebuild the cab of my LKAB IORE one day, I will definitely look at your techniques. Your loc looks indeed like there went a lot of thinking and trial and error in it, but it does match the real Traxx very well.

[Pdaitabird]

Wow! The level of detail is stunning!

[zephyr1934]

Great looking engine with tons of details, clearly shows all the time that went into the design.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Gorgeous model with many beautiful details ...pantographs are from a different league, and the stickers are the icing on the cake! 

At first glance it may not seem lego ...well done! 

[Roadmonkeytj]

14 hours ago, raised said:

 

 

So much great detain in such a "simple" loco ... Really impressive. 

I love the fact you included grafiti 

[Mister Phes]

Thanks for sharing, @raised!

I have posted your MOC on the Eurobricks frontpage.

[JopieK]

Much better than the real one :) (Although the problem wasn't the locomotives though, these were Traxx replacements for the troubles high speed locomotives afaik). That graffiti is also brilliant!

[LegoSjaak]

Very well done.....great build!!

[raised]

On 6/27/2019 at 12:30 PM, Man with a hat said:

Very impressive work.

All those details are really nice. Also how you did the curves is great. Fantastic job. I just keep staring at it.

Thanks a lot! I kept staring at it for a loooong time as well, just for other reasons. Mainly because I just couldn't get it working ;) 

 

On 6/27/2019 at 1:17 PM, Stefaneris said:

I feel honoured to be mentioned here. If I rebuild the cab of my LKAB IORE one day, I will definitely look at your techniques. Your loc looks indeed like there went a lot of thinking and trial and error in it, but it does match the real Traxx very well.

Feel free to! The LKAB IORE is still somewhere on my list as well, that thing is such a beast. Massive loco. Your version will be diffficult to match! 

 

On 6/27/2019 at 1:38 PM, Pdaitabird said:

Wow! The level of detail is stunning!

 

On 6/27/2019 at 4:33 PM, zephyr1934 said:

Great looking engine with tons of details, clearly shows all the time that went into the design.

 

On 6/27/2019 at 7:16 PM, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Gorgeous model with many beautiful details ...pantographs are from a different league, and the stickers are the icing on the cake! 

At first glance it may not seem lego ...well done! 

 

4 hours ago, LegoSjaak said:

Very well done.....great build!!

Thanks! Glad to hear, I always see it as a little game to include as many details as possible. It's one the the reasons why my building process is so lengthy though...

 

On 6/30/2019 at 10:42 AM, Mister Phes said:

Thanks for sharing, @raised!

I have posted your MOC on the Eurobricks frontpage.

I just logged in to EB after a weekend without internets, just to see my loco on the frontpage! I feel truely honored! So cool :) 

22 hours ago, JopieK said:

Much better than the real one :) (Although the problem wasn't the locomotives though, these were Traxx replacements for the troubles high speed locomotives afaik). That graffiti is also brilliant!

Haha thanks! You are right, the Traxx'es of NS were bought / leased because the V250 first was delayed several times, and then became permanent after NS and NMBS decided to cancel the V250-order alltogether. However, due to differences in level of ETCS between Bombardier (Traxx) and Siemens (as far as I know the supplier of the ETCS system for the whole HSL-Zuid) they still aren't as reliable as one would like. Even though I must admit, all the times I have traveled with them lately they run perfect on time without any hickups. 

[Mister Phes]

54 minutes ago, raised said:

I just logged in to EB after a weekend without internets, just to see my loco on the frontpage! I feel truely honored! So cool :)

You're most welcome!

[Sérgio]

From side to side, from top to bottom, I have nothing to tell, to improve or change, this is a perfect model scale. Nice Job!

[AlmightyArjen]

This looks so much like the real thing! You totally nailed the curves, well done!

[raised]

For the ones who are interested in how this project came to be, I just published a small article about on on Brick Model Railroader, called "How to Traxx".

 

 

[Duq]

Very impressive model! I'll have to work a bit harder now on my next model...

Also looks like I need to upgrade my labelmaker. I bought the Dymo Labelmanager PnP a while ago but I'm disappointed with the resolution.

By the way, did you really write 'my Legos' in that article? :-P

[raised]

@Duq Thanks! The reason I went for the MobileLabeller is because it was the only one available that accepts D1 tapes of 24mm with a resolution of 300dpi. However, I must admit that the smallest details aren't as crisp as I would like to have them. The luxury of printing your own stickers at your own time, without waiting or going to a printer shop does make up a lot though ;) 

BTW: You're the first one that noticed. Must admit I had expected more tumult about that wording ;) 

[Duq]

What can I say? Once a teacher....