Classic Space retro-futuristic "Astrotrain" diesel train and "Nucleus" atomic turbine (passenger train) MOCs

[Murdoch17]

Welcome to the wonderous world of Yesteryears' view of the future! Where the moon is being colonized, robots are commonplace in our homes, atomic power is everywhere, and outer space is the new frontier!

Here we see two Retro-futuristic trains together: the longest one is the "Nucleus Express" atomic-powered express passenger train, while the shortest one is the "Astrotrain" diesel passenger four-car train set, and the middle one is the "Moon Mover" diesel-powered freight service, with all three sporting streamlined Classic Space color schemes.

ASTROTRAIN

I already have a real-world Aerotrain LEGO model completed, and was fiddling around while bored when I came across this Classic Space version of the train from 2018. I had to take out the upside-down slanted coach windows because the parts don't exist in trans-yellow yet.

I added different windows, red and green directional lights, and a bigger horn that looks like a thruster pod. I used black wheels instead of gray ones because they are cheaper and easier to find, but you'd never know that because I hid them behind SNOT'ed panels that look more like the prototype. Then, I deviated wildly from the GM Aerotrain and added a Baldwin Sharknose type-end to the front of the engine to make it even more unique.

The classic space 4 x 2 slope from Benny's spaceship goes right below the headlight, of course. Also, as a side note, a 9V motor can be added to the engine for shows alongside my CS base / vehicles. (I don't own a 9V motor or track, but some GtwLUG members do and have offered to try out my locos wit h 9V power in the past.)

The engine has been thoroughly made into a futuristic space locomotive... which wasn't too hard as it was already pretty forward-thinking designed originally. The roof is now removable, with seating for a driver and dual weight bricks for adding traction to the 9v motor. (when it has one for shows)

As a concession to using trans-yellow as a window color, I had to remove the original slanted GM Fishbowl-bus style windows that were used on the original Aerotrain due to lack of parts in that color.

The rear of the train has no coupler as it's "supposed" to be a part of one complete train-unit.

Here we can se the original aerotrain working slightly at my dads.

link to video showing Aerotrain in motion at Flickr

Please excuse the pineapple couch, its my dads, as is the borrowed 9v equipment. The motor sadly only can pull three cars and at full speed only or not at all. But, it is a step towards having it run at train shows! (if anyone can help me figure out how to get the motor to move more than three cars, or add the video to my actual post, please respond below!

Thanks to a suggestion by @XG BC, the locomotive now has weight bricks over the (potential) motor, so it should be ready for 9v power for shows next year.

NUCLEUS EXPRESS PASSENGER TRAIN

Heavily inspired by @Electricsteam's long-awaited Atomic Streamliner project, (as seen here ) I have designed my own Atomic-Age wonder for my "Moon Mover" fast freight service. It is, as is Electricsteams' engine, a fission powered turbine loco with 4-4-2 "Atlantic" wheel arrangement.

This engine lacks the full streamlining of other locos, but it does have the nose streamlined. This allows for easier working on the nuclear powerplant that powers the engine's movement.

Unlike the slower Earth trains, the Nucleus type of space-train is super-streamlined, and can go up to speeds of up to 180 MPH on it's special track, with super-elevated curves and a long straight-away over 101+ miles, all while using Positive Train Control (PTC) on the the mostly double-track mainline, where all vehicle crossings are flyovers and switches virtually non-existent once out of the city limits.

Here are the three coaches for the Nucleus train.

The inside of all the cars for this train look the same - three seats for each car.

This dome car features spectacular views of Earth through it's car-width rooftop window.

The rearmost-car features a large observation window.

ASTRO-BASE COMMUTER RAILROAD STATION

This commuter station will be the departure point for my two Classic Space trains. It features a very low floor with two accessibility ramps to get at the two train tracks - one run through and one stub end. There are two benches, two ticket machines, and a single double-sided analog clock. The manned ticket booth (for those uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the electronic machines) has a sign above it saying the train terminal's name, which is named Astro-Base. This is because it is located next to my Classic Space moon-base.

Here we see the other side of the run-through track.

OTHER STUFF

The two identical doors of the space base has been re-designed to handle train tracks so the trains can enter and exit the walled-in base and the doors still open and shut.

Atlantis City (located in Copernicus crater on Earth's moon, in XL shape and yellow on the map), the great domed wonder of the solar system, has a rail system to get people to work at it's outlying un-domed facilities. The interstellar transport hub of Reinhold is the next stop, and is the terminus for all the public passengers / galactic tourists. (The Reinhold crater is in green here) The following two branch lines are for specific crewmembers only:

The Lansberg line is for power / shield generation over the city and surrounding land areas. It also was where the original city was located, before the original founders relocated to Copernicus Crater and founded the Great Glass City as we know it today. (Lansberg is in violet / purple crater)

The Gambart line is for military personnel only, as it where the top brass pour over charts and make way for the latest improvements in "laser scanner" technology. (This one in the Blue with yellow rim crater)

Potential new tracks could be laid to the planned 100,000 seat stadium in the older Stadius crater (barely visible near Copernicus crater) for Sportsball  events. New tracks could also be laid past the space hippies encampment at Hortensius Crater (small yellow crater), but has been continually voted down by protesting neo-hippies, as it would bring bad vibes to their region by the loud construction vehicles just to get to the ice mines of the Mare Insularum. (No one has managed to get through to them that there is no sound in a vacuum!)

(Photo from Google Earth, with railroad lines drawn and story by me. The colorful moon landscape background is from early 1960's NASA maps that I thought were really cool.

More stuff will come as I think of it, so keep your eyes peeled for updates to this thread!

UPDATED 7/11/21

This Zephyr-like loco is going to replace the engine at the head of my Astro-train. I decided to do this for one reason: motorization! I will soon be able to put a 9v motor at the head of the train, running it via electricity for shows with Gateway LUG.

The inter-car connection is the same as before, and most of the needed parts for the engine (plus one more passenger car!) will come from the pervious loco.

Thoughts?

Edited July 11, 2021 by Murdoch17

[JintaiZ]

Cool!

[XG BC]

23 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

...and here is how the system will work:

link to video showing Aerotrain in motion at Flickr

Please excuse the pineapple couch, its my dads, as is the borrowed 9v equipment. The motor sadly only can pull three cars and at full speed only or not at all. But, it is a step towards having it run at train shows! (if anyone can help me figure out how to get the motor to move more than three cars, or add the video to my actual post, please respond below!)

You could try to add more weight to the locomotive or if the issue is not the traction but the power of the motor you should try a powerfunctions or poweredup motor as they are more powerful than the 9v motor

XG BC

[Murdoch17]

22 hours ago, JintaiZ said:

Cool!

Thank you @JintaiZ!

1 hour ago, XG BC said:

You could try to add more weight to the locomotive or if the issue is not the traction but the power of the motor you should try a powerfunctions or poweredup motor as they are more powerful than the 9v motor

XG BC

Just revised the first post with new pictures of the modified engine and cars. Hopefully the 2 new weight bricks in the cab will possibly fix the issue, so thanks for the suggestion @XG BC! I have shortened the train overall by one car, to four total, as well to reduce drag... However, this is still one more car than I've ever got any train motor to pull. Another factor to consider: the motor was seldom used, (maybe at Christmas time only for 20 minutes over 10 years and stopped being used around 2015 except for my jaunt with the Aerotrain, no joke.) as my dad loves to look at his trains, but not use them!

Anyway, I REALLY hope this works.

[XG BC]

if it doesnt you could also get a powerfunctions xl motor to somehow fit in the loco and then i am shure it could pull all your cars. If you really want 9v power have a look at this video:

XG BC

[Laura Beinbrech]

I love this concept!  I am presently toying around with some similar ideas for retro-futuristic trains for my dieselpunk post-apocalyptic setting, and am always happy to see people with similar ideas out there.

[Murdoch17]

Glad everybody likes it!

18 hours ago, Laura Beinbrech said:

I love this concept!  I am presently toying around with some similar ideas for retro-futuristic trains for my dieselpunk post-apocalyptic setting, and am always happy to see people with similar ideas out there.

Thanks, @Laura Beinbrech, here you can see how it will enter my space base:

The rest of the base walls, along with the buildings, space ships, a giant robot, and other Classic Space-y stuff is visible in this topic here.

[Murdoch17]

Parts have been ordered, though don't expect it to be built anytime soon: it's for Christmas.

But in other news, I found enough parts to make the rail entrance a reality! (I just had to modify the main gate from the old base doors and add a small number of extra parts)

I just hope there is enough room to park the Astrotrain inside the base, as it's pretty tight in there!

[Murdoch17]

Just updated the first post to have another retro train added to the post.

The atomic-powered Nucleus has made the hyper-jump from Nexus Force to Classic Space!

I have also restructured and redone the entire first post to better fit the two trains thematically.

Enjoy!

Edited October 19, 2020 by Murdoch17

[Paperinik77pk]

Great model! I love the way you designed the locomotives!!! Great job!!!

[Murdoch17]

On 10/20/2020 at 6:40 AM, Paperinik77pk said:

Great model! I love the way you designed the locomotives!!! Great job!!!

Thanks! I've just updated the first post to red o the cars of the atomic loco and the engine slightly.

And to answer @JintaiZ's question from my other thread, yes, there is now inside details, as seen below and in the main post:

:

Inside of one of the armored passenger cars with the wall folded down

The atomic loco cab features some controls, a maintenance hatch into the turbine chamber itself (DO NOT open while reactor is engaged!), and room for the crew.

The cab of the Astrotrain with roof removed.

Thoughts, anybody?

[Murdoch17]

ALERT! Incoming Nuke-punk Classic Space train! 

...This is a teaser / test. I repeat. This is only a test. If this were a REAL complete train ALERT, it would have all the rest of the train cars... which are coming sooner than you think! 

 

 

(I was trying to aim for  the feel of one of those Civil Defense Alert / kiss your loved ones goodbye / test pattern things you'd get on your TV back during the Cold War in case of World War III.)

Notes on the build so far: I'm waiting on parts for the Nucleus' train cars to photograph the engine more thoroughly. The Astrotrain is going to be built in early December, with it's pictures taken shortly thereafter.

Edited November 8, 2020 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

I made a map with Google Earth (should it be Google Moon?) showing the rail route. Check it and the backstories on the routes out below:

Copernicus City (located in it's namesake crater on Earth's moon, in XL shape and yellow on the map), the great domed wonder of the solar system, has a rail system to get people to work at it's outlying un-domed facilities. The interstellar transport hub of Reinhold is the next stop, and is the terminus for all the public passengers / galactic tourists. (The Reinhold crater is in green here) The following two branch lines are for specific crewmembers only:

The Lansberg line is for power / shield generation over the city and surrounding land areas. It also was where the original city was located, before the original founders relocated to Copernicus Crater and founded the Great Glass City as we know it today. (Lansberg is in violet / purple crater)

The Gambart line is for military personnel only, as it where the top brass pour over charts and make way for the latest improvements in "laser scanner" technology. (This one in the Blue with yellow rim crater)

Potential new tracks could be laid to the planned 100,000 seat stadium in the older Stadius crater (barely visible near Copernicus crater) for Sportsball  events. New tracks could also be laid past the space hippies encampment at Hortensius Crater (small yellow crater), but has been continually voted down by protesting neo-hippies, as it would bring bad vibes to their region by the loud construction vehicles just to get to the ice mines of the Mare Insularum. (No one has managed to get through to them that there is no sound in a vacuum!)

(Photo from Google Earth, with railroad lines drawn and story by me. The colorful moon landscape background is from early 1960's NASA maps that I thought were really cool)

[Electricsteam]

I enjoy the blue color a lot.   Still really bright and exciting! 

[Paperinik77pk]

On 11/8/2020 at 9:32 PM, Murdoch17 said:

I made a map with Google Earth (should it be Google Moon?) showing the rail route. Check it and the backstories on the routes out below:

Copernicus City (located in it's namesake crater on Earth's moon, in XL shape and yellow on the map), the great domed wonder of the solar system, has a rail system to get people to work at it's outlying un-domed facilities. The interstellar transport hub of Reinhold is the next stop, and is the terminus for all the public passengers / galactic tourists. (The Reinhold crater is in green here) The following two branch lines are for specific crewmembers only:

The Lansberg line is for power / shield generation over the city and surrounding land areas. It also was where the original city was located, before the original founders relocated to Copernicus Crater and founded the Great Glass City as we know it today. (Lansberg is in violet / purple crater)

The Gambart line is for military personnel only, as it where the top brass pour over charts and make way for the latest improvements in "laser scanner" technology. (This one in the Blue with yellow rim crater)

Potential new tracks could be laid to the planned 100,000 seat stadium in the older Stadius crater (barely visible near Copernicus crater) for Sportsball  events. New tracks could also be laid past the space hippies encampment at Hortensius Crater (small yellow crater), but has been continually voted down by protesting neo-hippies, as it would bring bad vibes to their region by the loud construction vehicles just to get to the ice mines of the Mare Insularum. (No one has managed to get through to them that there is no sound in a vacuum!)

(Photo from Google Earth, with railroad lines drawn and story by me. The colorful moon landscape background is from early 1960's NASA maps that I thought were really cool)

I lost this last post on the "Moon" routes!!!

You were an inspiration to me (thanks!) for the Galaxy Express - I remembered the show thanks to the "Astrotrain" and watched the movie again.

In the meantime the  cars of the atomic locomotive recalled me also the "Total Recall" (PUN absolutely intended) train travelling on Mars railway!

 

[Stux]

17 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

I lost this last post on the "Moon" routes!!!

You were an inspiration to me (thanks!) for the Galaxy Express - I remembered the show thanks to the "Astrotrain" and watched the movie again.

In the meantime the  cars of the atomic locomotive recalled me also the "Total Recall" (PUN absolutely intended) train travelling on Mars railway!

 

Now that would be a cool MOC/diorama :)

[Murdoch17]

On 11/9/2020 at 12:21 PM, Electricsteam said:

I enjoy the blue color a lot.   Still really bright and exciting! 

Thank you @Electricsteam! I really enjoy building in blue, (CS colors are awesome!) it's just that windows and such are so hard to find in quantity in this color!

On 11/11/2020 at 4:55 AM, Paperinik77pk said:

I lost this last post on the "Moon" routes!!!

You were an inspiration to me (thanks!) for the Galaxy Express - I remembered the show thanks to the "Astrotrain" and watched the movie again.

In the meantime the  cars of the atomic locomotive recalled me also the "Total Recall" (PUN absolutely intended) train travelling on Mars railway!

(SNIP)

 

Thank you, but I actually think your Galaxy Express loco looks better than my Astrotrain diesel, as my version is just a copy of the GM Aerotrain style, but with a Baldwin Shark-nose front. Your model looks way better @Paperinik77pk!

On 11/11/2020 at 10:09 PM, Stux said:

Now that would be a cool MOC/diorama :)

I agree it would @Stux! I'm trying to MOC out a way of having a moon railway without deviating too much from my regular Earth-based ones. Futuristic infrastructure is very hard to design, I've found.

This is an older picture, from around the 13th of November. The train roof pieces aren't installed yet, and the second door isn't finished. Also, a new dome car is being added to the Classic Space Nuke-punk consist as I had some extra space in the storage box for the train and thought "Why not add something different to this train instead of another plain passenger car?"

Thus, this WIP dome car was created, as being shown off by Benny.

As you may have guessed, the train shown off in the first post is now obsolete. I will get the pictures up for the complete train as soon as this new car is done. (maybe by mid-December)

Any thoughts?

[Paperinik77pk]

On 11/26/2020 at 9:15 PM, Murdoch17 said:

 

Thank you, but I actually think your Galaxy Express loco looks better than my Astrotrain diesel, as my version is just a copy of the GM Aerotrain style, but with a Baldwin Shark-nose front. Your model looks way better @Paperinik77pk! 

@Stux

 

Thanks  - go on with your work on these trains - the idea of mounting a different nose on the Aerotrain was great!

[Murdoch17]

On 11/27/2020 at 3:41 PM, Paperinik77pk said:

Thanks  - go on with your work on these trains - the idea of mounting a different nose on the Aerotrain was great!

Thank you @Paperinik77pk. Here is a shot of the finished Astrotrain, sitting next to the Nucleus' locomotive:

This is my last WIP shot before the last parts arrive and the trains are 100% done with... I call it "Down at the Lunar rail-yard".

Edited December 5, 2020 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

These two train MOC's are done!

The first post has been completely rewritten and updated with brand-brand new pictures of all the cars and features.

(Thanks again to @Electricsteam for the idea behind the Nucleus, and everyone else for the comments and support over these last few months!)

I hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as me.. and it's not over yet! I still have a few things to take care of (a station perhaps?) before calling it quits.

Edited January 5, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

The @Electricsteam inspired 4-4-2 (as inspired by this thread here) has been downgraded to the new "Moon Mover" freight train, while I made a new 2-8-4 engine with streamlined shroud for the "Nucleus Express" passenger train. The new freight train, new passenger loco and a more extensive write-up for everything is seen above in the first post.

This atomic engine is based off the 4-6-4 Mercury with "Bathtub shroud" (inspired by @Sunder and his retro-futuristic locomotives thread) full streamlining off the New York Central Railroad of 1930's Earth, but with only two leading wheels instead of four, and adding another driving wheel, turning it from a "Hudson" type 4-6-4, into a "Berkshire" 2-8-4 type steam locomotive. It features mandatory red (left) and green (right) directional lights and black / yellow bumblebee stripes for identification purposes.

 

Any thoughts?

Edited April 18, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Black Knight]

This is absolutely awesome insane retro fantastic!

The one thing I miss though are some 3947a baseplates! :D

[Murdoch17]

On 4/19/2021 at 2:07 AM, Black Knight said:

This is absolutely awesome insane retro fantastic!

The one thing I miss though are some 3947a baseplates! :D

Actually, I have two of those baseplates, they are just in use with other space-related projects, @Black Knight

The whole "Moon Mover" freight train for my space layout, with the revised diesel streamlined loco powering it.

What do you think?

Oh, and By the way: pictures are updated in the first post.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Rustie86]

Very interesting concept, and some really interesting models as a result! Incidentally, there is a prototype for a Baldwin Sharknose locomotive on a lightweight train - look up New York Central's 'Xplorer' trainset. 

[Murdoch17]

On 5/7/2021 at 10:40 AM, Rustie86 said:

Very interesting concept, and some really interesting models as a result! Incidentally, there is a prototype for a Baldwin Sharknose locomotive on a lightweight train - look up New York Central's 'Xplorer' trainset. 

Thanks @Rustie86, I just checked it out... pretty cool looking!

Here is an updated (and simplified) Moon Mover train, now using a diesel switcher loco. I also added a rocket car to the consist, as it makes it more space themed.

What do you think? (The updated train has been added to the first post as of now, BTW.)