The Brave Locomotive, Katy Caboose, and Conjunction Junction freight train - real world MOCs

[Murdoch17]

This is *almost* a Disney train - Linus the 2-4-0 steam engine is from "The Brave Locomotive" that was started by Disney animator Andrew Chatsworth before he got hired, Bill Peet wrote "The Caboose who Got Loose" some years after being let go from Disney, and Conjunction Junction (part of "School House Rock!" educational TV series) was created by ABC, which is now owned by Disney. What am I talking about? Keep reading to find out!

Meet Linus the Brave Locomotive, and his driver Henry! (from Andrew Chatsworth's animation on Youtube as seen here. ) I decided to make this 2-4-0 out of LEGO after watching the short over and over, as it's an inspiring tale and very well done animation-wise. I did make some changes to Linus' design from the cartoon, such as adding a number 2 to his tender and cab. I also borrowed heavily from the 2019 Disney train and 2010 Toy Story Western Train Chase sets. (Linus is actually missing one part - the smokestack from the Orient Express. The stack seen above is a stand-in and will be replaced at some point.)

The rear of the engine. Sorry for the color issues with some of these photos, it's because my phone camera doesn't like taking pictures of blue objects.... no idea why.

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 in order above, 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.

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.

Heavily inspired by @zephyr1934's MOC of "Katy" from the classic children's book "The Caboose who got Loose" by ex-Disney animator Bill Peet. Zephyr's version can be seen here in his own topic.

I didn't want to use stickers for Katy's eyes like what's being done by the original builder, so I decided to use the eyes from set 43186 (Bruni the Salamander buildable character) from the Disney Frozen II line . I also added a actual mouth, as just the two eyes without something between them looked kind of odd, most likely because of the specific eyes I chose. The MOC I based this on used a different method for the mouth using a lot of SNOT-work.... I used a brick with 2 studs on the sides and two quarter tiles to give her a open mouth. The roof has also been modified, and a different stove pipe added compared to what the original MOC has.

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.

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!

EDIT 11/28/23: Added Katy caboose and Linus - the brave locomotive to the main post, which has been completely redone!

Thoughts welcome!

Edited November 28, 2023 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.

[Murdoch17]

I just added Katy caboose and Linus - the brave locomotive to the main post, which has been completely redone!

Any and all thoughts welcome!