Jeffinslaw

[MOC] C&O K4 2-8-4 #2716

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Hey guys! I have a new MOC to share. This was a commissioned build that will be turned into a full kit for bricktraindepot.com. Will be doing additional full kits for Nickel Plate #765 and Pere Marquette #1225 as well. Pre-orders for all three kits will open on September 1st! If you purchase the C&O kit, $100 will be donated to Kentucky Steam to help with the restoration of #2716.

Anyways, about the engine. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's K-4 class were a group of ninety 2-8-4 steam locomotives purchased during and shortly after World War II. Unlike many other railroads in the United States, the C&O chose to nickname this class "Kanawha", after the river in West Virginia, rather than "Berkshire", after the region in New England.

During the 1940s, the C&O K-4's were being built to haul heavy freight services and were used mostly for high speed freight and passenger services throughout the north-eastern regions of the United States and part of Ontario, Canada by the Pere Marquette Railway. C&O Class K-4s were one of the few recognizable 2-8-4 (Berkshires) classes in North America along with the Pere Marquette Class N (road numbers 1201-1239), and Nickel Plate Road Class S (road numbers 715-779). Both the PM Class N and NKP Class S were manufactured by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio. NKP 779 was the last standard-gauge Berkshire to be built in the world, and the last steam locomotive built by Lima Locomotive Works.

My model features 2x L motors in the boiler with custom battery box in the tender and all specialty wire custom finished, 3D printed XL drivers, BrickTracks wheel in roller bearings, custom side rods by TrainedBricks, and decals by OkBrickWorks.

I've finished the physical build and have been doing testing while waiting for OKBrickWorks to print my decals and wheels. Hope you enjoy the renders for now. More pictures will be coming soon!

50167621172_1b31eff8e3_h.jpgLeft Front by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

50167621112_8a0855a2c7_h.jpgRight Front by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

50230212062_90b85baf6c_h.jpgGetting close! by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

Additionally, be on the lookout for other train cars from BTD such as the AAR 50 ton hopper in C&O livery as well as an update to our TOFC to include a C&O flat car and some Railway Express Agency trailers.

Let me know that you guys think!

-Jeffinslaw

Edited by Jeffinslaw

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That looks freaking fantastic! Any idea on if this loco will be able to use those knuckle couplers announced by BMR? Also, any idea on the price at this point?

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That is an amazing build and poised to be among the best steam engines money can buy. It will look amazing pulling 20+ hoppers.

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12 hours ago, Coal Fired Bricks said:

Wow looks amazing

 

Thank you! Appreciate the comment.

10 hours ago, High_Admiral said:

That looks freaking fantastic! Any idea on if this loco will be able to use those knuckle couplers announced by BMR? Also, any idea on the price at this point?

Thank you! It will be an easy swap for the rear of the tender but the front would require a rebuild since I used a 1xN technic plate. You could omit the magnet/coupler upfront and just make sure this engine is the first in the consist and isn't used as a helper or pusher. Looking at between $1200 to $1300 depending on cost of printing/number of orders. More preorders placed means better prices on everything ordered in bulk which means more savings for everyone.

34 minutes ago, zephyr1934 said:

That is an amazing build and poised to be among the best steam engines money can buy. It will look amazing pulling 20+ hoppers.

Appreciate the comments! This would look great with a long string of BMR USRA hoppers and BTD AAR hoppers.

-Jeffinslaw

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2 hours ago, bogieman said:

Looks terrific! Any thoughts about lighting?

Lighting could most certainly be done. I could look into it if more people state during preorder that they would be interested. I could also work with a manufacturer to offer a standalone kit for the model.

-Jeffinslaw

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Do you have any plans to also produce instructions for matching cabooses? Obviously NOT included i the regular price of the loco, and probably not even a set, but if they were available in the BTD store to buy I bet a lot of the loco buyers would eventually purchase instructions and stickers for a matching caboose. Or maybe that could be a stretch goal, if enough copies of the set are sold in a given variant then you (or someone else at BTD) will produce instructions for a matching caboose that will be available separately from BTD.

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23 hours ago, Craig Strader said:

What will you come up with next?

I've got a few things in the work. Things such as something heavy, something refrigerated and express, as well as something turbine. 

3 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Do you have any plans to also produce instructions for matching cabooses? Obviously NOT included i the regular price of the loco, and probably not even a set, but if they were available in the BTD store to buy I bet a lot of the loco buyers would eventually purchase instructions and stickers for a matching caboose. Or maybe that could be a stretch goal, if enough copies of the set are sold in a given variant then you (or someone else at BTD) will produce instructions for a matching caboose that will be available separately from BTD.

I haven't announced it yet but yes, I will also be doing a giveaway for a free caboose (bricks + instructions) for people who preorder one of the engines. The instructions for the different cabooses will also be on sale later this fall/early winter.

3 hours ago, dpergau said:

wow, that's gorgeous!  Thanks for sharing the photos.


Dan

Thank you!

-Jeffinslaw

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It's very impressive. A really fat thing. I like it and look forward to videos for release.

Thomas

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2 hours ago, High_Admiral said:

Hmmm, Turbine you say? We talking Steam or Gas turbine?

Gas turbine:

 42861296705_39ccc81027_w.jpg

Cab Unit by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

I plan on doing all three generations. It'll take some time though.

42 minutes ago, Ts__ said:

It's very impressive. A really fat thing. I like it and look forward to videos for release.

Thomas

A few videos can be arranged!

40 minutes ago, Pdaitabird said:

That looks great! I can't wait to see it in real bricks! :drool:

Thank you! Been doing some testing today and finishing up the last little fiddly bits and it will be ready for pictures!

-Jeffinslaw

Edited by Jeffinslaw

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On 8/28/2020 at 5:03 PM, Brandon Pea said:

FIRE AND SMOKE!!!!! That looms awesome! 

Thank you! 

---------------

Today is the day guys! Go ahead and jump on over to bricktraindepot.com and preorder one of the three Berkshires we have designed!

-Jeffinslaw

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3 hours ago, Craig Strader said:

I've seen your Z-6 challenger before. Will you eventually make it a full kit product? I am a huge fan of that engine.

Challengers are down the road but they may not be a full kit... IF there is enough interest, then I would look into it. At the least, instructions are planned for a few versions though.

-Jeffinslaw

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10 minutes ago, Jeffinslaw said:

Challengers are down the road but they may not be a full kit... IF there is enough interest, then I would look into it. At the least, instructions are planned for a few versions though.

-Jeffinslaw

I understand. But I propose an idea for the BrickTrainDepot website. How about you do a voting page where everyone can vote on what they want to see put into production

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2 hours ago, Craig Strader said:

I understand. But I propose an idea for the BrickTrainDepot website. How about you do a voting page where everyone can vote on what they want to see put into production

As the webmaster over at Brick Train Depot, we may do something like this on occasion. Thanks for the suggestion!

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Hey guys! Finished up the brick built version of the engine today. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

My model comes in at 90 studs long. I built this in 1:48 scale so parts like the cab and tender are 8w whereas the cylinders and valve gear stick out to about 10-10.5 studs wide. The engine is powered by two LEGO PF L motors in the boiler. The motors have geared up slightly for a little boost of speed. The SBrick controller and custom battery box are housed in the tender. Connecting the two parts of the engine is a custom PF cable with an a pin ATX fan connector. This allows for easy connecting and disconnecting of the engine.

Overall the engine performs exceptionally well on wide radius curves such as the R104's pictured. The engine can handle R56 but it doesn't like it. Luckily, my layout features R104+ so I am fine. This was a challenging engine to design as it needed to have the motors in the boiler but also fit within a small footprint as the boiler diameter isn't massive. I also strived to push my abilities and settle for nothing but the best when it came to the design (both structurally as well as detailed) and I think I achieved that goal well. 

50298232798_586f92d9e6_h.jpgFireman's Side 1 by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

50298232973_4aefbc3abe_h.jpgFireman's Side 3 by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

50299068177_8cdf1884fb_h.jpgFiremen's Side - Engine by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

50298916711_b0bc8078bd_h.jpgEngine Front by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

50298233788_8ffdd03d40_h.jpgEngineer's Side 2 by Jeffinslaw, on Flickr

As always, more on my Flickr page.

-Jeffinslaw

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Looks freaking amazing! Any idea on how long these kits will be available? Wanting to grab me one but won't have the money to do so for awhile.

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12 minutes ago, High_Admiral said:

Looks freaking amazing! Any idea on how long these kits will be available? Wanting to grab me one but won't have the money to do so for awhile.

Preorders go for the month of September. After that, next opportunity to pick one up wouldn’t be until next year sometime. If you’d like to discuss this more, please PM me as I don’t want to hog the thread with sales related questions.

-Jeffinslaw

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