Conjunction Junction, what's your function? - real world MOCs (finished 9/24/21)

[Murdoch17]

On September 29th, 1973, a new School house ROCK (link to wiki page for those unfamiliar with what that is) music video was played for the first time alongside your regular American Saturday morning cartoons such as Scooby-Doo, old Rocky and Bullwinkle show episodes and maybe some Johnny Quest. This new music video featured a diminutive stereotypical train conductor, two hobos (one fat and tall, and one small and skinny), and a train with words on it... not just any words, but CONJUNCTIONS, as the name of the video and location is Conjunction Junction. This train is shown below, with comments about what it could possibly be carrying in the fictional ROCK-verse.

The first two (NOT + THIS) are obviously Boxcars.

The BUT tanker (most likely hauling Butane) and THAT boxcar.

Finally, AND (which is possibly a refrigerated goods wagon) plus an OR (ore) hopper.

Oddly, there was no locomotive mentioned or seen in the video.... thus, I have not included one here. (However, since it skews American in car styling, I'll be using a steam loco for this of that origin.)

The green caboose is my own custom addition, with my sig-fig hanging on for dear life!

All together, these train cars taught (and entertained!) generations of school-age children and some older adults about Conjunctions, and other videos taught about American history, the environment, math (multiplication tables up to 12 but skipping the number 1), science, money and even early home computers! (among MANY other subjects) All of them can be found on Disney +, as Disney owns ABC, which is who made the original music videos, and the newer ones up to 2009. 

However, what's a freight train without someone or somewhere to tell it where to go next?

Enter the railyard dispatch center, which is not just any old building: it's the Conjunction Junction dispatch office as seen in the education cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock "Conjunction Junction" episode from September '73. The sign on the roof of the building should say "Conjunction Jct.", just as it did in the show... except I'm (still) missing three printed 1 x 1 letters to make the sign work.

I've made some changes to the original cartoon design, such as adding a removable roof to the building (for getting access to the inside details), and placing a water tower nearby for thirsty steam locomotives. The tower top rotates a full 360 degrees with the water pipe, allowing the engineer to pull up, get his loco full of (imaginary) water, shove the pipe away, and move on.

Also, there is a dilapidated boxcar behind the water tower for the Junction's two resident hobos.

Inside the openable building is a typical furniture for the 1930-'50's time period which I think the cartoon takes place in. This includes:
- corner desk with telephone, a railroad oil can, and lantern, plus two chairs
- oil fired heater / stove
- time clock next to a day-at-a-time calendar showcasing a exotic locale
- potted plant, just because!

So, what's YOUR function? 

EDIT 9/24/21: added final pictures of the office. MOC is now finished!

Edited September 25, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Karle]

Good luck!  T

hat song is still burned into my memory 

[JWBDolphins]

Hookin' up Words and Phrases and Clauses...

 

[zephyr1934]

Brilliant! Those would look good woven into a "serious" train at a train show.

 

16 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

(Yes, most of the words are not centered on the cars, and it's impossible to fix that 100%.)

Easiest solution would be to extend "THIS" and "THAT" crs by one stud. Techinc bricks with half pins would probably work too, or worst case, I bet you could get the studs in the right place using snot. Or make "H" four wide.

[Murdoch17]

20 hours ago, Karle said:

Good luck!  T

hat song is still burned into my memory 

Thanks! My mind is still singed with the ELECTRICTY! song from School House Rock, @Karle.

20 hours ago, JWBDolphins said:

Hookin' up Words and Phrases and Clauses...

 

Conjunction Junction, how's that function?
I got three favorite cars
That get most of my job done.
Conjunction Junction, what's their function?
I got "and", "but", and "or",
They'll get you pretty far.
"And":
That's an additive, like "this and that".
"But":
That's sort of the opposite,
"Not this but that".
And then there's "or":
O-R, when you have a choice like
"This or that".
"And", "but", and "or",
Get you pretty far.

(I finished the lyrics of the first stanza for you @JWBDolphins )

5 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Brilliant! Those would look good woven into a "serious" train at a train show.

 

Easiest solution would be to extend "THIS" and "THAT" crs by one stud. Techinc bricks with half pins would probably work too, or worst case, I bet you could get the studs in the right place using snot. Or make "H" four wide.

Thank you @zephyr1934 for your suggestions! I like the cars all being the same length,(as in the music video) and the words are already SNOTed together by being held in by brackets set a full brick back from the edge of the car... that and the resulting brace-work is what makes them so heavy.

*UPDATE*

Three hundred and sixty-five parts found so far for this 1014-part WIP train.(625 parts still to find / order) It shouldn't be too long until it's done.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Murdoch17

[JWBDolphins]

1 hour ago, Murdoch17 said:

I finished the lyrics of the first stanza for you

Thanks!, I think.....      I always had more of a soft spot for "I'm Just A Bill"!

Regardless, I think those cars are a Great idea and looking good too!!!

 

[dr_spock]

Excellent idea.  That was a trip down memory lane or memory tracks.  

 

[Murdoch17]

UPDATE:

It may not look like much, but 484 bricks out of the original 1,138 have been found for the Conjunction Junction freight train (and a similar-styled green caboose is now included too). These parts are all in the bucket in front of the monitor, while the remaining amount are on the screen. These 654 bricks will be bought soon... likely in the next week or so. (when my paycheck arrives)

I call this picture "Word Salad".

On 4/29/2021 at 3:43 PM, dr_spock said:

Excellent idea.  That was a trip down memory lane or memory tracks.  

 

Thanks @dr_spock!

On 4/29/2021 at 3:37 PM, JWBDolphins said:

Thanks!, I think.....      I always had more of a soft spot for "I'm Just A Bill"!

Regardless, I think those cars are a Great idea and looking good too!!!

 

Thank you @JWBDolphins!

Sings : "I'm just a bill, on Capitol hill..."

Edited May 25, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

The Conjunction Junction freight train now done! Except for the new freight office... which you can see in LDD screenshots in the updated first post!

[Murdoch17]

First post UPDATE!

The Conjunction Junction freight dispatch office is off to a good start, just need about 20 or so more parts to get this done. (The accompanying water tower is not shown above, but it will be attached as soon as I find it.)

The Wild West railroad water tower model was inspired by LEGO builder The_Chestertonian and his water tower, as formerly seen on Flickr. (he sadly deleted his account) I have re-purposed the model for my Wild Western town / railroad. The tower top rotates a full 360 degrees with the water pipe, allowing the engineer to pull up, get his loco full of (imaginary) water, shove the pipe away, and move on.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

First post updated with new digital pictures of the building, it's new interior details, and a WIP real world pic!

Edited August 30, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

MOC pictures taken, uploaded, and added to the first post!

Here is the inside of the office that took so long to get done.