I'm fairly new to these forums, but I've been building Train MOCs for several years now. This is my most recent project: Since I joined PennLUG and started doing shows, I've been interested in building full train sets, rather than just locomotives, and I wanted them to run well. When you've got a big crowd at an event you can't be chasing down derailments every five minutes, and you can't have your equipment needing repairs when you're trying to run for 10 hours straight. My first big success in this area was my New York Central 20th Century Limited. I've mostly modeled older equipment up to now, but I live in a major city, so I interact with operating trains pretty frequently, and I do have an interest in modern equipment. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do, though, until I watched an Amtrak AEM-7 pulling a set of Amfleet cars through the station in Trenton, NJ: I've seen trains like this a hundred times before but, for whatever reason, this time I was inspired. So, a little history. Amtrak inherited a whole bunch of equipment from its predecessors, both rolling stock and power, and only introduced new equipment as needed: it wasn't really a fresh start when they were formed. In the northeastern United States, where the main lines were electrified, Amtrak was still using Pennsy's famous GG1s into the 80s. They hoped to get an adequate replacement in the form of GE's E60. The E60 was not originally designed for passenger service, though, and they were not able to safely achieve the 100+ mph speed Amtrak was hoping for. They were mostly retired after a short service life. The GG1s were only finally replaced by the AEM-7, based on a Swedish design, in the late '70s and early '80s. The AEM-7s were smaller, lighter and faster than their predecessors and proved ideal for Amtrak's needs. They are still used in the U.S. Northeast to this day for regular regional service. Much like the AEM-7s, Amtrak's iconic Amfleet coaches were intended to finally replace much of Amtrak's inherited equipment. Their round shape and relatively low profile made them ideal for service through the narrow tunnels and low clearances in the Northeast. For my model, I began with the prototype Amfleet coach, utilizing the new 2x4 curve slope with bottom tubes for the round shape. I felt getting the shape right was more important than the silver color or corrugated texture of the coaches. Silver obviously would have been very expensive, and I couldn't conceive of a way to do the corrugated sides that would even get close to the right shape. From diaphragm to diaphragm, my Amfleet coach is 64 studs long, a similar length to my 20th Century Limited Pullman coaches (both were 85 feet long in reality). I only have one coach built now, but I plan to build three more when I get around to getting the parts. I didn't plan on building the AEM-7 right away, but I was inspired by a new PF powered truck design of Cale's, used in his new B&O Mikado. The truck design allows for gearing up a PF motor with a 20:12 step up in the truck itself. I thought that combining this with some more gearing up outside of the trucks could create a lot of speed. I mocked up the power system fairly quickly as seen here: I have 2 PF XL motors with 36 tooth gears attached to them. These are fixed to the body of the locomotive, and geared up to 12 tooth gears, which transfer power to the trucks. Within the trucks, Cale's design steps up the speed even further. I am very pleased with the performance of this engine. It is most certainly fast, and should have no difficulty pulling the 4 Amfleet coaches I have planned for it. (I tested it on some of my other long coaches.) I'm excited by these results, because it gives me hope that a design like this with two steps up can be used in a more complicated power train, such as might be in a steam locomotive. Here are some more pictures: And more on flickr. I don't consider it 100% finished, especially the coaches, so I am open to any suggestions for improvement!