orange 2-10-0 British Railways 9F (Murdoch) - a journey nearly ten years in the making! - finished 9/24/22

[Murdoch17]

This started out as a test in LDD as to whether I could build my BR 9F in orange and not use unavailable parts. (I obviously succeeded!) However, you may be asking, why Orange? And why change a model eight years after building it originally? Does this have something to do with your username, 'Murdoch17'?

The answer to all these questions are intertwined:

The model is based off the BR standard class 9F 2-10-0 steam engine Murdoch from Thomas and Friends (introduced in the last year of the "pure" model series, 2005), which was also the basis for my half my original Lego website username from 2007, and then everywhere else later on. But more on that later!

I originally built the model in late 2013 based off this unfinished 9F Murdoch model by @ScotNick. It was uploaded on Brickshelf first, and later on Flickr after I uploaded my copy (LDD only, at first) in November 2013.

When I had redesigned the engine to build it IRL, I realized orange had virtually been eliminated as a color choice at that time. Windows were (up until that summer when CITY Arctic dropped) only from the 2004 BNSF loco, and orange was VERY expensive as a color. It was impossible.

I thus decided on "works gray" as the only option I could do it in... you can see the original February 2014 version above.

...and here it as of 2019.

Orange's pallet of parts would increase in the intervening 8 years, culminating in 2022 with every orange part I needed being buyable!

The rear of the tender with the number 17 on it.

A view inside the cab.

This brings us back to me and my username: Murdoch is the part you know, but where did "17" come from? Well, Murdoch also had a wooden railway model released in 2005 (my favorite, even though I was WELL out of the age range), and I didn't like that he was never assigned a number in the TV show. So, I randomly chose 17, had my dad printed me a sticker, and slapped it onto the wooden tender. Fast forward a few years to late 2007, when I was thinking of a username for the Lego website. I wanted something catchy, and something I could easily remember. (and something nobody else could take!) The wooden Murdoch was sitting on my desk, and caught my eye and I typed it in. Thus, my online moniker was born.

Thoughts?

EDITED 9/24/22: real world photos added!

Edited September 25, 2022 by Murdoch17

[Legownz]

I think it's a great looking model! The grey looks good, but the orange is stunning! I always love seeing posts and models that have personal history with the builder. I can't wait to see it in real bricks!

[Darkkostas25]

Maybe, maybe add more spacing between the wheels of tender`s boogies? made them not so standard lego design 
And yeah it's great to see it on photos as build one. Great steamer! (and I love it`s main colour)

[Murdoch17]

Thanks to whoever front-paged this topic! However, the main picture on the front page is the wrong one. It should be the third picture in my post above (the first orange one). Maybe somebody could fix that, @JopieK, perhaps? Please?

Thanks you!

2 hours ago, Legownz said:

I think it's a great looking model! The grey looks good, but the orange is stunning! I always love seeing posts and models that have personal history with the builder. I can't wait to see it in real bricks!

Thank you! It's been a labor of love these last 9 years!

24 minutes ago, Darkkostas25 said:

Maybe, maybe add more spacing between the wheels of tender`s boogies? made them not so standard lego design 
And yeah it's great to see it on photos as build one. Great steamer! (and I love it`s main colour)

The actual tender on a real 9F only has 3 axles on it. I couldn't get that to work, so it made due with what I could. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Edited September 6, 2022 by Murdoch17

[Jack Sassy]

That is a beautiful looking locomotive (and tender ), looking forward to seeing the finished product. \

 

Interesting story regarding origin of your name.

[JopieK]

On 9/6/2022 at 9:21 PM, Murdoch17 said:

Thanks to whoever front-paged this topic! However, the main picture on the front page is the wrong one. It should be the third picture in my post above (the first orange one). Maybe somebody could fix that, @JopieK, perhaps? Please?

Fixed it, it is an automatic script, but can be overruled :)

[The Brick Boss]

He was one of my favorite characters in Thomas and Friends. Sad how they did him and several other good characters that were only shown a handful of times. 

Edited September 8, 2022 by Poodabricks

[Murdoch17]

17 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

That is a beautiful looking locomotive (and tender ), looking forward to seeing the finished product. \

 

Interesting story regarding origin of your name.

Thanks @Jack Sassy!

6 hours ago, JopieK said:

Fixed it, it is an automatic script, but can be overruled :)

Thank you @JopieK for fixing that!

4 hours ago, Poodabricks said:

He was one of my favorite characters in Thomas and Friends. Sad how they did him and several other good characters that were only shown a handful of times. 

Agreed, @Poodabricks! Murdoch was my top-of-the-list favorite character. Before he existed, it was Donald... or was it Douglas? They ARE identical twins, after all... 

[natesroom]

Question: Was this ever produced in an orange? Also why are trains such a desirable theme in Lego? Is it because model trains has been a hobby for many years and it transferred over into lego? I don't know much about trains but when i was reading about the 9F i found that there was so much about trains that i don't know or understand. The descriptions of 2-10-0 or 2-8-2 were interesting to read and i understand but have no idea how or why one is better then the other.

[The Brick Boss]

1 hour ago, Murdoch17 said:

Agreed, @Poodabricks! Murdoch was my top-of-the-list favorite character. Before he existed, it was Donald... or was it Douglas? They ARE identical twins, after all... 

Neville is my favorite. He's totally underrated. I like the Scottish twins too. 

[Murdoch17]

7 hours ago, natesroom said:

Question: Was this ever produced in an orange? Also why are trains such a desirable theme in Lego? Is it because model trains has been a hobby for many years and it transferred over into lego? I don't know much about trains but when i was reading about the 9F i found that there was so much about trains that i don't know or understand. The descriptions of 2-10-0 or 2-8-2 were interesting to read and i understand but have no idea how or why one is better then the other.

Here are some answers to your questions @natesroom:

- Orange wasn't from the real world class, but from a Thomas and Friends Tv show character from 2005. In the real world, dark green was the only other color besides black for this engine class. (Evening Star, the last steam engine built for British Railways, and was the only dark green one and the only one to carry a name in it's original working life. It ran for only 5 years out of a projected ~30 year lifespan.)

- Because layouts without motion become a boring diorama. You see a moving model train on a layout, it become interesting, lifelike, action-packed. The same is true for other scales of models too. You have to have motion to capture people's attention... especially when working with the public! In my 10+ years of LUG experience, trains (or things moving, really) capture more people than anything else. Sure, Star Wars or licensed displays may get a lot of people, but they don't dwell for long if things aren't moving. It's pure human nature to want to see something moving.

- This page on the Whyte notation might explain a lot on why they are named as such. With this loco, 2 front wheels (one per side) - 10 driving wheels (these power the engine and are attached to pistons, zero trailing wheels (these support the firebox, but this engine has none)

Each type of steam engine was cutting edge at one time and was used for a specific purpose. Some caught on nicely (4-8-4's were very popular as passenger locos in the 1930's to the end in the '50's, for example) and some didn't do very well (4-2-4's are one of these who never did well at all). Also, as a side note,: Duplex engines are tow sets of pistons on a rigid frame, while articulated types are jointed between the tow sets of pistons with the boiler staying straight. Garratt types have two sets of pistons: one under the coal bunker at the back, one under the water tank in the front with boiler hung up in the middle and joined to the two pistons sections with hinges. Geared locos are just named after the type they are, such as Shay, Heisler, or Climax, and use something akin to car pistons to turn a crankshaft to power the wheels.

If you have more questions, just ask.

7 hours ago, Poodabricks said:

Neville is my favorite. He's totally underrated. I like the Scottish twins too. 

Agreed!

Edited September 8, 2022 by Murdoch17

[natesroom]

nice thanks for the info!!

[Murdoch17]

On 9/8/2022 at 10:07 PM, natesroom said:

nice thanks for the info!!

No problem, glad I could help!

Here is an update on the part-finding process, if anyone is interested:

All the parts left to find for Murdoch are shown above. He's currently sitting at about $25 worth of parts from Bricklink.

[Paperinik77pk]

It is a beautiful locomotive in gray, but in orange it will surely be better!!!  

Great job!!! 

 

Ciao!

Davide

[Murdoch17]

On 9/10/2022 at 10:51 AM, Paperinik77pk said:

It is a beautiful locomotive in gray, but in orange it will surely be better!!!  

Great job!!! 

 

Ciao!

Davide

Thanks @Paperinik77pk, I agree 100% about the color scheme!

Here is my latest change to the plans:

Murdoch will need a freight train to pull, so I devised some cars for him:

This 5-car train includes the following:
- a flat car with a Rolls Royce Phantom III load (this is actually prefect as the Rolls Royce has issues that prevent the wheels from turning)
- two privately-owned vans (these will bear the Rust-eze printed panel piece from the Cars 3 theme)
- OCTAN tanker (slightly based off CITY set 7939's version)
- brake van (based on the Toy Story 2 caboose from set 7957)

Two of these above cars are finished IRL except for the wheels and magnets. I still need 49 more parts (10 magnets and 10 wheels are included in this total) until I can call the freight cars complete. Besides the aforementioned wheels and magnets for everything, the brake van and loaded flat car are done. The OCTAN tanker is missing the eight quarter-circle "tank" parts and printed identification markers, while the two Rust-eze branded vans are missing the logos and a few other parts.

NOTE: The 1930's-styled Phantom Mk. III used in this model was heavily modified from Rebrickable instructions by Dongeraldo that were originally based off @ER0L's model of the car from the James Bond film "Goldfinger". The instructions can be seen here at Rebrickable.

Thoughts?

Edited September 12, 2022 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

The final batch of parts have been ordered for Murdoch as of today! (special thanks to my brother for helping me out with some of this project's parts-finding)

Here we see the real world progress so far, with the frame and running gear of the original grayscale version ripped off and grafted onto Murdoch.

[Murdoch17]

Still waiting for one more order to arrive, which should be here in about two days, with photos probably being taken the day after that... if everything goes according to schedule, or course!

Until then, I've made some more progress with the parts that have arrived. Here's a list of everything I did today:

I added the final parts to the loco frame, placed most of the running-boards, and started on the cab. For the tender I started work on the long sides and rear wall. (I had to remove the back wall from the frame to attach the SNOT-ed stripe-work parts.) Also, the lead pony truck has been detached so it won't get in the way / break when I build the boiler.

You can compare it to my previous photo on the matter from five days ago in case I missed anything else in the list. (seen in comment directly above this one) Side note: The tender wheels and underframe are still on the old grayscale loco, along with a few other parts so I don't lose them.

Thoughts?

[Murdoch17]

Sorry I'm a bit late, but here it is! (the first post has been updated as well)

Front view of Murdoch.

The rear of the tender with the number 17 on it.

Cab view.

Any and all thoughts are welcome!

Edited September 24, 2022 by Murdoch17