[MOC] The Glenfinnan Viaduct with Hogwarts Express

[Ts__]

Hello everybody,

parallel to my train "LMS Class 5 The Jacobite" I also built a famous railway bridge in Scotland.

 

Ok, not the" Firth of Forth Railroad Bridge "...

 

And not the bridge over the Tay ...

 

It should of course be a bridge that the train "The Jacobite" actually crosses.

 

I myself was there in 2005 and was able to photograph the bridge "The Glenfinnan Viaduct" with the train "The Jacobite" and I was a fan of Scotland, the bridge, "The Jacobite" and of course whiskey for a long time.

The "Glenfinnan Viaduct" was built in 1897/1898 and has a curved track design as a special feature.

Of course, this doesn't make it easier to recreate it with Lego bricks.

 

 

 

The next problem is size.

The Lego R40 curve is too narrow for most of my trains and the bridge wouldn't really work either. Then it would only be 4 curves long and only one locomotive would fit on it.

So I used the R104 curve from Trixbrix as the rail. This means that the bridge has 8 curve segments and 1 Lego straight at the beginning and end. The arc describes a 90 ° curve.

In order to be able to show the bridge at exhibitions and to integrate it into routes, it had to be built transportable.
A modular construction was unfortunately not really possible for me, only the area with "The Glenfinnan Monument" is modular.

I transport the bridge itself in a specially made wooden box and this box also serves as a height-adjustable table at exhibitions.

 

 

 

 

 

For the Lego implementation I first tried to build an arch from Lego bricks. Then the pillars down, then the foundations, then the landscape. Just like you build a bridge: from top to bottom ;-)

There was no digital planning, the model was created through trial and error, various new buildings and many stone orders.

My children's Lego Duplo bricks that are no longer used are built into the substructure and covered with a Lego 2x4 wall.

 

 

 

Construction began after Christmas and dragged on until summer.

In August 2020 the time had finally come. Despite the Corona crisis, it was possible that a meeting of Lego railway fans could be held in Schkeuditz near Leipzig, Germany. And I was there ;-)

There were hygiene requirements and no visitors were allowed, so that only we Lego train fans had 4 days to play with.
A huge track was built and my bridge was integrated at the beginning of a single-track branch line.

At home in the living room my bridge looked huge, on site in Schkeuditz it was rather tiny and there were concerns that not all models would fit ...

 

 

 

But it worked for most models, even an ICE could pass. Only a huge American diesel locomotive got stuck. But it was just a branch line ...

 

 

 

But what is a bridge without a train?

The railway line between Fort William and Mallaig is still in operation and in summer the steam train "The Jacobite" runs as a tourist attraction over this railway line with the famous bridge.

I had shown the train "The Jacobite" of an LMS Class 5 locomotive and 6 classic British passenger cars of the BR Mk. I series here at Eurobricks.

 

 

 

And hasn't the bridge become even better known through a series of fantasy films?

Many may only know the bridge from the Harry Potter films.

And so it made sense to change my design of the LMS Class 5 to a Hogwarts Express train.

I hadn't seen any of the films until last year. My first impression of the Hogwarts Express comes from the book title of the jewelry edition from the first volume. This is how a Hogwarts Express had to look to me.

Later on in the films I was disappointed: the locomotive looks way too good and has nothing at all like a magic train.

So it was clear: "my" Hogwarts Express should look something like on the book title:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope I was able to entertain you a bit and you had fun reading and looking at the pictures.

 

 

 

Enjoy,

 

 

 

Thomas

 

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Ts__

[SteamSewnEmpire]

Neat engine - super steampunk-y. 

What can I say about the bridge? Never in my wildest dreams would I invest so many pieces into such a thing, but it came out grand.

[Man with a hat]

Stunning. That looks really great.

 

[Phil B]

As someone who has been working on and off on a similar minifig-scale Glenfinnan Viaduct for the last year, I can only say that you’ve totally knocked it out of the park. Well done.

[dr_spock]

Great job on the viaduct.

[JintaiZ]

That is stunning! I really like how you used different colors on the bridge.

[zephyr1934]

Simply amazing! The bridge is brilliant, the combined transport and display case is ingenious, the different take on the Hogwarts Express is cool, and that train meet is unbelievable (I love the LONG open loop running with so many great MOCs along the way)

[Berger]

Wow. Nice bridge moc and layout too! I like the hogwarts express 'mind' moc. It looks really good!

[Electricsteam]

First off.... how have you not seen any of the movies until now?  And holy cow that train looks amazing!  All the detailed greebling and the use of the chima head! 

[Ts__]

On 12/3/2020 at 12:30 PM, SteamSewnEmpire said:

What can I say about the bridge? Never in my wildest dreams would I invest so many pieces into such a thing, but it came out grand.

Thanks, but your dreams don't seem too wild from a Lego point of view ;-)

 

On 12/3/2020 at 1:51 PM, Phil B said:

As someone who has been working on and off on a similar minifig-scale Glenfinnan Viaduct for the last year, I can only say that you’ve totally knocked it out of the park. Well done.

Thank you. Are there pictures of a "Glenfinnan Viaduct" in mini-figure scale? That would have to be about 3-4 times as big.

 

On 12/3/2020 at 4:32 PM, JintaiZ said:

That is stunning! I really like how you used different colors on the bridge.

Many thanks. With the 4 different stone colors I wanted to create an old, weathered look. I think it fits.

 

On 12/3/2020 at 5:03 PM, zephyr1934 said:

and that train meet is unbelievable (I love the LONG open loop running with so many great MOCs along the way) 

Yes, the meeting of over 20 Lego train mokers was great and my highlight this year. We think it was the largest community facility in Europe so far. And the meeting should take place for the third time next year.

 

On 12/4/2020 at 3:57 PM, Electricsteam said:

First off.... how have you not seen any of the movies until now?

Yes, I've seen most of the films since the end of last year. Mainly this year. But my first picture of the Hogwarts Express was this book cover. After that, I only started watching the films.

 

On 12/4/2020 at 3:57 PM, Electricsteam said:

the use of the chima head!  

I have no idea where the head comes from. I just looked at all the heads in black on Brickset and picked one that looked cool and suitable and had open eyes for the lighting. The LED behind the eyes is a flicker LED. Of course, if you don't see it in the picture, it comes out really good and demonic.

Thanks to all...

Thomas

 

 

[Feuer Zug]

Absolutely stunning work on the Glenfinnan Viaduct. I've had the opportunity to watch the Jacobite cross it and you nailed it. Your Hogwart's Express is a gem worthy of it's own thread. You created the image you had in your mind and made the locomotive look properly magical while still retaining much of the glamour of the mechanical underbelly. Kudos.

[Reker1000000]

I love the detailing on the train. I am actually starting the project of putting my 5972 back together... but that's small fry compared to this!

[Ts__]

On 12/7/2020 at 7:45 PM, Feuer Zug said:

Absolutely stunning work on the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Thanks.

On 12/7/2020 at 7:45 PM, Feuer Zug said:

Your Hogwart's Express is a gem worthy of it's own thread.

Thanks but unfortunately, I'm not so sure about that. In times when a set of alternative bricks is getting significantly more attention in the train area on Eurobricks, there has hardly been any frontpage news in the train area for half a year (yes, there were certainly MOCs during this time that would have deserved this attention) it's not very motivating to show a lot here.

Sorry, sounds very harsh and has no relation to your contribution. Is just my observation of the development of Eurobricks. I've been reading this for a few years and signed up here late.

Please don't put everything here on the gold scales ...

 

On 12/8/2020 at 4:16 PM, Reker1000000 said:

I am actually starting the project of putting my 5972 back together... but that's small fry compared to this! 

Thank you, but also please show. It doesn't all have to be huge. I also like to look at "smaller" MOCs and maybe I'll discover a nice detail.

Thomas