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MOC: Amtrak AEM-7 and Amfleet Coach

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I'm fairly new to these forums, but I've been building Train MOCs for several years now. This is my most recent project:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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And more on flickr.

I don't consider it 100% finished, especially the coaches, so I am open to any suggestions for improvement!

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This MOC is outstanding! *oh2*

Not only a perfect shape for this beautiful locomotive but also an icredible propulsion system! :wub:

The wagon is a great MOC too: I love the round section! :blush:

It would be great see this amazing creation on the frontpage! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

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I've seen both pop up in the LEGO train MOCs group on flickr and took a brief look at them there. I didn't realise they belong together until reading this thread. I'm not familiar with the real trains, being from Europe, so the reference picture helps. I also didn't realise that it had Power Functions. The whole package is very impressive and I am looking forward to seeing the full rake.

Cheers,

Ralph

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Thanks for the comments! I hope to have the full train done in the next couple months. I need to get a bunch more 2x4 curves and train wheels to do it, though. I've actually started to run out of stock train wheel sets to pull apart.

The locs looks sweet, but the windows on the coaches seem a bit small :)

Yeah, when I did the math on the windows originally, I realized they should be about 3.5 plates tall relative to the car height I have here, rather than the 3 plates tall I went with. I chose not to make them taller because it would make the car sides overly complex.

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I'm very impressed by this creation. I have to admit that my favorite part is the locomotive. By the pictures, it looks like you were able to keep a high degree of accuracy. I love the way in which you were able to curve the front of the train. To tell you the truth, this is one of my favorite train MOCs so far. Thanks for sharing!

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Absolutely brilliant model, especially the front of the locomotive looks great! :thumbup:

In your reference pictures the coaches look as high, or even slightly higher then the loco, so I'd consider making them higher. I'd use the extra height to make the windows 1 plate higher.

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Absolutely brilliant model, especially the front of the locomotive looks great! :thumbup:

In your reference pictures the coaches look as high, or even slightly higher then the loco, so I'd consider making them higher. I'd use the extra height to make the windows 1 plate higher.

I could. That probably would improve the overall look. The coaches are even a bit wider than the AEM-7s as well. The problem is that, by the numbers, it's not really the coach that's too short; it's the locomotive that's too tall, and that's to fit all the PF stuff, so it can't be made any shorter. If anyone was looking for a prototype to render 7-wide, this would probably be it. AEM-7s really are pretty small. At any rate, a height change to the coach will require scrapping it and starting from nothing, so it'll have to wait for another day.

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Awesome. :thumbup: I love Amtrak. I used to watch the trains entering and leaving South Station in Boston.

If I recall, the Amfleet I cars had smaller windows than the Amfleet II cars.

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Great job on the locomotive, it's an impressive powertrain you squeezed in.

I've built a few of the Swedish original design (class RC-locomotoves), and really appreciate your AEM-7.

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These are the best designed Amfleet coaches out there. Do you have any instructions on how you hold those curved sides together?

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That's a beautiful train! A fittingly clean design with lots of nice details. Don't worry about those windows being a fraction low; nobody bar the most hardcore train-nuts will notice so I'm sure the public at shows will love your train.

You must be running this on tracks with only 'grande curves' though. That carriage is about 60 studs long!

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PLEASE do not bump two year old posts just to say "nice job", now the post is up at the top of the board and generating chatter. Instead, with such an old post it is better to send a PM to the author asking for instructions.

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Never noticed the date when I replied. Having missed this moc the first time around I don't mind it getting a bump....

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Hi, I really like this. I have tried to build my own Amfleet but Epically Failed. Could you upload your Amfleet to Lego Digital Designer Gallery or post instructions please?

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Old post or not I can see why someone bumped it.

Impressive work.

One question, I'm having trouble figuring out how wide it is?

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Hi Amtrak186, welcome at Eurobricks. Why don't you introduce yourself in our introduction forum?!! It is a nice train indeed.

@v6TransAM: let the moderators decide about bumping that's their function ;) I don't think it was wise, one can better start a new topic about this, but Amtrak186 is a new member so he needs to be patient first.

You can see in the third picture that it is a 8-width train (with overhangings that make it effectively 10-width). The advantage of this is that you can add more details, but: one also needs to take measures for other buildings / track side structures.

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