[MOC] Union Pacific M10005 "City of Denver"

[Barduck]

 

It's finally time to present the MOC of the M10005 “City of Denver”, in all her glory. This MOC has been developed over several years (yes, YEARS) as I started her in October 2018 and very soon ran in to problems finding solutions to build her nose and windscreen.

 

 early development

 

While I did not work on her every day, not even every month, I did return to her ever so often to try and see if I could make it work. The biggest problem that I ran in to was that there just isn't enough information about her on the internet. Size, power, etc etc, its nowhere to be found, whatever search pattern I tried. Even pictures of her are difficult to find as the prototypes of this locomotive have all been scrapped ages ago. For a while it seemed this train would remain a WIP for ever. Until September 2021 when, by sheer luck, I found a book called: “UNION PACIFICS M-10000 and the Early Streamliner Era 1934-1941” by Thos. R .Lee.

In it was everything I would need; beautiful pictures, a complete history of not only the locomotives but also the consists, and more importantly all the stats and even rough blueprints with measurements. Finally I could design her and in the proper scale as well. From then it was a designing frenzy where I would find solution after solution to design her, it was almost like she wanted to be converted to LEGO and designed herself. Only the windscreen remained at the end. At first I was thinking of using the same method as Anthony Sava in his EMD F7 but I actually didn't like the look it was giving her, it was almost to modern. So after some tampering and test building I found a different way to do it and I'm pretty pleased how that turn out.

Now with the design ready I could start getting the needed bricks, all 2250 of them. In between, my render of the A-unit won a price on the LEGO Rail Facebook page that was just running a monthly competition. That month it happened to be the theme “Streamlined” and what could be more streamlined than this City of Denver? After all, they are called “Streamliners” for a reason.

The A and B-unit are not connected using the usual magnets but uses a rather nifty spring-loaded system that keeps them together while doing turns. That systems was developed by Teunis Davey and it's with his permission that I adapted it to go for my M10005 MOC. It does mean that this engine will not run on radii smaller then R104.

It was all ready late December 2021 when I contacted Andy Mollman of OKBrickWorks to get the decals done and after some going back and forth we settled on a design that would work and he shipped the decals. Those decals are now also on OKBrickWork's site, for a very reasonable price, do check them out:

https://www.okbrickworks.com/shop/vinyl-decals/lego-moc-decals/stickers-for-union-pacific-city-of-denver/

 

 

Instructions are now available on Rebrickable, you can find them in two versions.

The first version is the full locomotive, so A & B-units together.

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-97195/Barduck/up-m10005-city-of-denver-a-b-units/#details

The second version has the A and the B-unit listed apart:

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-97193/Barduck/up-m10005-city-of-denver-a-unit/#details

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-97194/Barduck/up-m10005-city-of-denver-b-unit/#details

 

I've chosen to do it this way so that it's possible not having to buy all the bricks at once but still be able to build at least one of the units and see it run. Because, 2250 bricks, that's not cheap.

Later on the coaches of the “City of Denver” consist (all 10!!) will also be added.

 

I hope everyone likes this locomotive as much as I do, for me, it's the most mesmerizing and iconic diesel engine ever build and ever to run on UP's rail network.

 

More pictures and renders, as well as some videos of her running R120's can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/91060327@N07/albums/72157699792435012/with/30711903947/

Edited January 5, 2022 by Barduck
some typos

[The01]

This looks very good and really really streamlined. The bogies are also great! I am interested in the spring-loaded system of the connection, maybe you can show us a picture of it?

Spoiler

The only thing that is a bit odd (for me) is the long headlight in the front, but I guess it is in the real train too long too.

 

[Barduck]

5 minutes ago, The01 said:

This looks very good and really really streamlined. The bogies are also great! I am interested in the spring-loaded system of the connection, maybe you can show us a picture of it?

  Reveal hidden contents

The only thing that is a bit odd (for me) is the long headlight in the front, but I guess it is in the real train too long too.

 

From Teunis's Flickr: 

[Feuer Zug]

Phenomenal rendition of the classic M10000 style streamliner. Your attention to all the little details, from the windscreen to the grab irons is top notch.

[zephyr1934]

Oh WOW! You have done an amazing job capturing this classic streamliner. The bulbous nose is a particularly daunting task with the slowly changing slopes in all directions, which you have tackled so gracefully. Three+ years of work from a master builder really shows.

[bogieman]

You did an amazing job, I've been following you progress on Flickr and it's great to see you releasing your plans. At EMD in our Engineering Loco Shed, we had a 5 foot by 6 foot black & white photo of this train and it's always been one of my favorites. Your design of the bogies, I agree, is terrific.

Dave

[Barduck]

2 minutes ago, bogieman said:

You did an amazing job, I've been following you progress on Flickr and it's great to see you releasing your plans. At EMD in our Engineering Loco Shed, we had a 5 foot by 6 foot black & white photo of this train and it's always been one of my favorites. Your design of the bogies, I agree, is terrific.

Dave

Oh cool. This makes me wonder what your colleges have to say about her. And what can I say, ever since I saw a miniature model of this locomotive on Brass trains I wanted to build her, so now I have

[JopieK]

Really nice job @Barduck! It is getting better and better with those rounded parts/slopes!

[Barduck]

21 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Oh WOW! You have done an amazing job capturing this classic streamliner. The bulbous nose is a particularly daunting task with the slowly changing slopes in all directions, which you have tackled so gracefully. Three+ years of work from a master builder really shows.

That nose sure gave me headaches, specially with wanting to integrate the grill at the front. The two studs that are showing (from the 1x4 plates) were a compromise, tried different looks (with a cheese slope on it, with a 1x1 tile on it) but in the end that was the best looking solution. The tapered roof from the cabin was something I found very early on in the designing, having it go half a plate down with every step was a great find to achieve the look I wanted. And, "master builder"? I wouldn't go that far, there's builders out there that have better builds or more complex builds. But I would agree that my attention to detail does set the MOCs I try to make to a high level. I'd rather not build it then have it not look the way I want it

Edited January 6, 2022 by Barduck

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Impressive troubled work!

I enjoyed reading about how you had to wait for documentation to continue the project!

Another masterpiece for your U.P. collection!

[XG BC]

7 hours ago, Barduck said:

That nose sure gave me headaches, specially with wanting to integrate the grill at the front. The two studs that are showing (from the 1x4 plates) were a compromise, tried different looks (with a cheese slope on it, with a 1x1 tile on it) but in the end that was the best looking solution. The tapered roof from the cabin was something I found very early on in the designing, having it go half a plate down with every step was a great find to achieve the look I wanted. And, "master builder"? I wouldn't go that far, there's builders out there that have better builds or more complex builds. But I would agree that my attention to detail does set the MOCs I try to make to a high level. I'd rather not build it then have it not look the way I want it

i shure can imagine the nose to be a true snot nightmare

[ivanlan9]

Sweet! Very nice job!

BTW, The Diesel Spotters' Guide series has basic info on these machines.  But not the level you got in the book you found (which I've never heard of!).

Again, great job.  Almost makes me wish I modeled in 8w.

[Barduck]

6 minutes ago, ivanlan9 said:

Sweet! Very nice job!

BTW, The Diesel Spotters' Guide series has basic info on these machines.  But not the level you got in the book you found (which I've never heard of!).

Again, great job.  Almost makes me wish I modeled in 8w.

As I pointed out in the OP, it was sheer luck that found that book. Stumbled on a page of someone building a livesteam version of it (one of those that you can actually sit in or on) and somewhere in there was mention of that book so I started looking. Found it on Amazon, wasn't cheap (and the added import taxes sure did hurt too) but it's more than worth it.

And, nothing is keeping you from going 8 wide, or at least have one train in 8 wide. It's the best scale for trains, not to big to be bulky but big enough to add all the details you never knew you wanted to add. So go ahead, get my instructions, it'll make your day (and mine)

[Barduck]

Today I finalized 2 coaches for the "City of Denver" consist. In total ten coaches were running behind the M10005, all have been designed already and now the first 2 are completely done (had to wait a bit on my decals, but as usual OKBrickWorks delivered perfect work). So here are "Silver Dollar" and Ogallala":

"Silver Dollar":

"Ogallala":

edit: instructions are now available: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-112327/Barduck/up-ogallala-and-silver-dollar-coaches-for-city-of-denver-consist/#details

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Barduck

[bogieman]

Beautiful, one of my favorite trains!

[Feuer Zug]

Gorgeous cars to attach to your consist. The colors are great, along with the level of detail. Does it have an interior?

[Barduck]

5 minutes ago, Feuer Zug said:

Gorgeous cars to attach to your consist. The colors are great, along with the level of detail. Does it have an interior?

didn't want the hassle of adding an interior that most of the time will not be visible anyway, so no

[ivanlan9]

Wow.

[zephyr1934]

The train is coming along very nicely, the cars look great!

[ivanlan9]

Again, wow.

Also, I don't model wider than 7w because of R40 constraints. And because my engines, with the exception of the Crocodile and the Emerald Night, are all 6w--all the engines Lego has made from the 4.5v era through the RC era, with the notable exception of "My Own Train" (not a steam fan, but EN is irresistable).

[Barduck]

16 hours ago, ivanlan9 said:

Again, wow.

Also, I don't model wider than 7w because of R40 constraints. And because my engines, with the exception of the Crocodile and the Emerald Night, are all 6w--all the engines Lego has made from the 4.5v era through the RC era, with the notable exception of "My Own Train" (not a steam fan, but EN is irresistable).

apart from the M10005 all of my 8 wide engines take r40 without problems, even my triplex

 

[ivanlan9]

You're the triplex guy?  You're nuts, you know that, right? 

But I guess that means your gorgeous M100005 squeaks through the R40 curves. ...

[Barduck]

1 minute ago, ivanlan9 said:

You're the triplex guy?  You're nuts, you know that, right? 

But I guess that means your gorgeous M100005 squeaks through the R40 curves. ...

Well, she doesn't. She was never designed to take r40's but for r104. With some tweaking she might be able to take r88, maybe r72 but smaller than that is simply impossible without changing the connection system. And yes, I'm the "triplex" guy 😁

[ivanlan9]

You even said it wouldn't run on radii much smaller than R104!  I didn't miss it, I forgot it.  Argh.

I finally sprang for the book about the M1000* units, and I'm looking forward to it.

[Barduck]

Since latest reply in this topic I've added 2 more coaches to her but can't yet take good pictures off those as one is missing a decal (spelling mistake). Took this little consist to our LUG's end of the year event at Antwerp, Belgium where she stood with a small corner I threw together in a hurry:

Once pictures are taken of the latest 2 coaches I will post those. Also gathering parts for the next 2. Once those are finished I still need to build 4 more, all 70 studs long.

I've licensed her to Letbricks to make sets and made a video of it compared to to my version in LEGO: (admin: please remove if not allowed)

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Barduck