SavaTheAggie

Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive #5544 version 4 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Sharknosed Greyhound - The Pennsylvania T1 Duplex drive 4-4-4-4 steam Locomotive #5544, a MOC that has taken 12 years and 3 previous versions to get to this state. Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive #5544 version 4 by Tony Sava, on Flickr This MOC represents one of the many "production" T1 Locomotives produced for the Pennsy Railroad, as opposed to one of the two prototypes, as well as representing the "as delivered" version with the "Buick" style front end prior to the retrofitting that occured later. Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive #5544 version 4 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The PRR T1 could arguably have been one of the fastest steam Locomotives ever produced, had they ever officially measures her speed. Anecdotal evidence of timetables of "late" trains suggests she was capable of 140+ mph. (The official record by the Mallard was 126 mph) Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive #5544 version 4 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Version 4 of my T1 includes a rebuild of the entire wheelbase, including XXL boxpok drivers from OKBrickworks, custom rods with oversized bearings from Trained Bricks, extended length, "working" valve gear, rebuilt streamlining, extra details on the tender, and an overall better eye for proportions, scale, and detail. She is a shadow of her original self. Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive #5544 version 4 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Upgrading her to full XXL sized drivers has reduced her ability to handle curves down to r104 or larger, but she's fully capable of navigating r104 switches at speed. Given preliminary testing, she may be one of my best performers. Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive #5544 version 4 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Again, special thanks to OKBrickworks for the XXL drivers, as well as the swank new decals. Special thanks also to Trained Bricks for the awesome rods and valve gear. Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive #5544 version 4 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Version 1: Large Drivers, flat boiler. PRR5544_02 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Version 2: XL drivers, curved boiler Shark of the Pennsylvania Railroad by Tony Sava, on Flickr Version 3: version 1 of the "Buick" front end, streamlined Pistons, etc. LEGO T1 Trust #5550 by Tony Sava, on Flickr --Tony

I've been trying to design something like this since 2013 - a modular, motorized, mini-train layout. I call it "Quarter Scale Rail." The name isn't 100% accurate, but comes from Texas Brick Railroad member Steve Jackson who has built a quarter sized replica of all of his track modules and MOC buildings for planning purposes (as opposed to software like BlueBrick). He calls it "Quarter Scale". My trains as shown are 2 wide, which is one quarter the width of my preferred train size - 8-wide - along with the quarter Scale mini modulars from the one LEGO set. The system uses a chain of 1x2 technic liftarms in a channel built into a MILS base, powered by an XL motor, which turns a large technic motorcycle wheel rubbing against the chain. This layout is 4 modules - 2 double track 32x32 straights and 2 16x32 half loops. I've purposely decorated each module differently and without overlap to emphasize the modularity. --Tony

A simple Flanged-Blind-Flanged setup for XXL drivers is enough to prevent them from navigating r40 curves. It would probably be possible to make a ridged frame navigate r104 curves, and if you can make it work, great. My gut tells me that given the location of the 6 axled pilot truck ahead of the pistons, you may have to resort to articulation of the drivers. --Tony

The skirting is attached to the trucks, with the center attached to the tender, and a half stud gap between them. It still needed to be articulated, so it remains so. However I did have the change the placement of the second flanged driver, those XXL drivers are divas. Thank you all for the kind words, I really appreciate it. --Tony Here's a private video of testing the new valve gear. --Tony Here's a private video of testing the train on a loop of track with r104 switches. --Tony

I would say shut up and take my money, but he's already taken it. :) --Tony

New York Central Dreyfuss Hudson with XXL Disc drivers by Tony Sava, on Flickr I upgraded my Dreyfuss to wear 3D printed XXL Disc drivers some time ago, but only recently took good photos of it. It's hard to tell, but nearly half the locomotive was completely rebuilt to accommodate how XXL drivers handle curves. She can no longer navigate standard LEGO curves or anything less than r88. But she's my fastest and most reliable Locomotive, so I have no complaints. New York Central Dreyfuss Hudson with XXL Disc drivers by Tony Sava, on Flickr New York Central Dreyfuss Hudson with XXL Disc drivers by Tony Sava, on Flickr New York Central Dreyfuss Hudson with XXL Disc drivers by Tony Sava, on Flickr --Tony

Here is the only video I have of the Locomotive in it's current configuration. The audio quality stinks, but that's a problem of my phone which I have since fixed. Here is a video of our test of it wearing the XXL drivers for the first time, but before I installed the custom rods and other details. --Tony

Texas & Pacific - Texas Eagle by Tony Sava, on Flickr Full Gallery: Truth be told, when I designed my Santa Fe Warbonnet EMD F7A, it was actually with the end goal of building the engines to this train. Sisters from another mister by Tony Sava, on Flickr In the first picture, the train was not yet complete. In all, there are 12 pieces - an F7A&B, a baggage combine, 4 sleepers, 1 coach, 1 lounge, 1 diner, 1 planetarium dome, and 1 observation car. All in all some 46 track lengths long. Texas Eagle - a little bit longer than I expected by Tony Sava, on Flickr The coaches are running with BMR wheel bearings, and are boringly hollow. However they could be easily modified to include interiors. Texas Eagle - Planetarium Dome - Ed "Babyface" Chang by Tony Sava, on Flickr Additionally each car has been named after a person or group that has had an impact on my time as an AFOL in the train universe. --Tony

My Allegheny is powered by two XL motors in the tender. --Tony

My favorite way is to pivot above the first set of drivers and above the rear truck. This leaves the second set of drivers sliding freely beneath the boiler, being towed by the first set. This is how my Allegheny is articulated. mOxxLBa5N24 --Tony

Huh? What is the current prototype? The T&P had a set of F7A&B painted in eagle colors, the rest were E7s. No glue. Ever. I had to really change the anchor of his design, but my design isn't possible without Nate's work. --Tony

Hi folks, Sorry to bring up an old topic, but instructions for this MOC are now available at www.SavaRailways.com Available now on www.SavaRailways.com by Tony Sava, on Flickr Available now at www.SavaRailways.com by Tony Sava, on Flickr Thanks! --Tony

TJ Avery inspired Union Pacific GP40 Locomotive by Tony Sava, on Flickr At one of the very first big TexLUG meetings, TJ Avery brought a MOC of a Union Pacific GP40/SD40 hybrid. It was 6-wide, and fits in very well with the BNSF locomotive that came out many years later. Seen here: http://www.texbrick.com/model_diesel/index.html Back then I was only building Castles, and while I loved trains, I never thought of it as a viable thing because LEGO train sets I saw in catalogs as a kid were either very European (I'm in the US), or just kind of terrible. TJ's locomotive was the first time I'd ever seen a train made from LEGO that looked like anything I recognized. We lost TJ this year. As a way to remember him, I've designed an 8-wide Union Pacific EMD GP40 as an homage to his model. It's certainly not a copy, but I feel TJ helped pave the way for me to move from Castles to Trains. It's power functions with 2 motors, and had an inverted battery box that I'm not sure how it'll get it to stay just yet. I'll figure out that and a few other details when I get physical bricks in hand. TJ Avery inspired Union Pacific GP40 Locomotive by Tony Sava, on Flickr It needs the red pinstripe between the yellow and dark grey, but that'll have to be done with stickers. --Tony

Are you entering the switch by directly exiting a curve? I have to separate my curves from switches by at least 1 straight track. --Tony

I apologise in advance, I know this isn't quite a kosher topic. However, I wanted to let people know that after Bricklink took down all custom instructions and custom parts off their website, I now finally have my own commercial website for my custom train instructions. www.SavaRailways.com (If it takes you to Facebook, the domain hasn't propagated to all the servers yet) And thanks to everyone who has supported me and my hobby through my instructions sales. --Tony Here's a direct link until the URL above resolves correctly: https://bonahoombuilds.com/srw/ --Tony

SantaFeUnionTerminal_13 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Full Gallery Several years ago,.I attempted to design a LEGO version of the former Santa Fe Union Terminal on Galveston Island, Texas, now known as Moody Plaza and home to the Galveston Railroad Museum. That digital MOC was too large, 2x5 baseplates, and would have taken up almost an entire club table to itself. So this last summer/fall I decided to redesign it selectively compressed so that it would fit on 1x3 baseplates, and after placing many Bricklink orders it is complete. SantaFeUnionTerminal_01 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The finished MOC is too large for my house, so I can't set it up for pictures there. Fortunately the Galveston Railroad Museum was generous enough to allow me to set it up on their property, allowing for a great backdrop. SantaFeUnionTerminal_23 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The terminal building served as the headquarters of the Santa Fe Railroad, and was built in three phases. First the southern office building was built (on the right, above), which stood for several years. Next, the original red brick terminal building was replaced with a building matching the art-deco stylings of it's neighbor. Finally, the road between them was closed and a central, 13-story tower was constructed. SantaFeUnionTerminal_16 by Tony Sava, on Flickr This is why, from the front, the building looks unified as a single whole, but I'm the back it looks disjointed. SantaFeUnionTerminal_14 by Tony Sava, on Flickr I wanted to mimic the texture of the real building, so the white areas of the building made with larger stones was built with all 1x2 white bricks... SantaFeUnionTerminal_18 by Tony Sava, on Flickr And the tan masonry bricks on the rear of the building done using all 1x2 tan plates. SantaFeUnionTerminal_20 by Tony Sava, on Flickr I also built passenger platforms and the courtyard just as they are now, with artistic license. SantaFeUnionTerminal_21 by Tony Sava, on Flickr There are several out-buildings I did not include due to size restraints, some are historical, some were built for the museum. I was able, however, to capture the palm tree lined courtyard and gazebo. SantaFeUnionTerminal_24 by Tony Sava, on Flickr I even went so far as to build the locomotive and caboose the museum calls "The Harborside Express", which takes visitors on short excursions. SantaFeUnionTerminal_32 by Tony Sava, on Flickr I even attempted to include the original cobblestone platform leftover from the original Terminal building, which can be seen at the real museum at the end of the platform between tracks 4 and 5. SantaFeUnionTerminal_37 by Tony Sava, on Flickr All told, not including the trains and figs, there are over 20,000 parts invested in the entire complex. And while I set out to build a MOC of the Santa Fe Union Terminal building, I ended up making a MOC of the Galveston Railroad Museum itself (mostly). --Tony

Thanks! Houston is just too geographically large for public transportation to make sense. It's bigger than the state of Rhode Island. There's a park and ride (I take it everyday to work), but I don't think it runs in weekends and only gets you halfway there. All told.its about 46 miles from the heart of Downtown Houston to Downtown Galveston. If you don't have a rental car your best bet is either Uber or find a local to drive you around. A trip to Galveston is nothing to us. LaKings is just a block or so from the museum, and is a candy store that harkens back to the early 1900s. Most of what they sell is made in-house, but they're most famous for their salt water taffy. If you show up at the right time you can watch them pull the taffy on a century old equipment, and they toss free samples to the visitors. My favorite flavor is either watermelon or strawberry. My wife's is the peanut butter and the chocolate (two different flavors). They also make Purity brand ice cream, which is a recipe from the early 1900s. Super premium ice cream that "stretches" as you pull out your spoon (very little air mixed in). My favorite flavor is the lemon custard. The mint chocolate chip is good too. --Tony

Bricklink has removed all of my locomotive designs. There is no future for my shop on Bricklink and will be looking for a new place to sell instructions. --Tony

It's a bit more complex. The museum doesn't own any tracks off the museum grounds, and there's only one track off the island. They have to get permission and/or pay to use the lines, and prior to a hurricane the rail companies are more concerned with their assets and customer property than the museum's. As for San Diego, I'm focusing mostly on Texas buildings and rail lines. Depends on your definition, I suppose. Longest would be my Yellowstone. Widest and strongest would be my Allegheny. Definitely worth the trip. Also be sure to stop at LaKings Confectionery. Thank you, everyone, for your kind words. I appreciate it. --Tony

I was given the notification, too, that my shop would be purged. All I have are custom instructions, So I thought I would be safe, since the TOS specifically allows for custom instructions. Per their direction I emailed the Bricklink admin contact and asked that my shop not be purged, since I was not in violation. A few days later he replied. After reviewing my shop, his concern was not the instructions themselves or what parts I used, but the copyright of the Locomotive designs themselves - the actual, full sized, 1:1 scale locomotive designs. He didn't think the steam engines would be a problem because they would probably have moved into the public domain. But the diesel engines he was afraid would fall under the copyright of the original... What, builder? Owner? That's a bit of a grey area I don't have expertise in. Builder for the shape, owner for the paint scheme? I don't use any logos. Maybe the names "Santa Fe" or "ALCO" is what's the problem? He said he'd mark my shop to not be purged, for now, until the lawyers could look things over. In the meantime it's got me looking at alternatives. I will admit the idea of having a fully automated purchase process where I don't have to email individual instructions does sound appealing. --Tony

SantaFe_F7_315-01 by Tony Sava, on Flickr I have finally finished my F7A locomotive, just in time for the NMRA National Train Show in Kansas City. Full Gallery SantaFe_F7_315-18 by Tony Sava, on Flickr My design started with modifying the windscreen design pioneered by Nate Brill, working it around the Technic element I chose for the headlight shroud. She runs well, powered by two standard PF train motors. Building the Santa Fe version was actually more of a proof of.concept, my ultimate goal is to build a full Texas and Pacific "Texas Eagle" consist. I may also build a Texas and Pacific freight F7, as they were painted differently. Video of the Warbonnet in action may be found here: --Tony

#6191 is pretty easy to find in light bluish grey, so you can build the fuel tank in that color. I was unaware of the scarcity of the part when I built my original model, mainly because I had 40+ of them on hand, and assumed they weren't rare (LUG support, who knew?) I had a similar issue with my North Pole Limited instructions, but not at first. The 2x4x1+1/3 curved slopes in black were available when I first offered the instructions, but LEGO discontinued the part a year later, and Cale always blamed me for creating an artificial shortage because of my design requiring something like 60 of them (I don't remember the exact count, it was a lot). Fortunately there are alternatives, and lately LEGO has brought the part back. This is also a reason why I've been hesitant to finish the instructions for the Eagle coaches - I don't want to create more scarcity for parts used en mass in my designs. As it has been said, the minifig lance is easy to find in pearl silver, and that works pretty well. --Tony

Bluebonnet Station by Tony Sava, on Flickr A few weeks ago I posted LDraw images of a station I was designing. I have now finished it in real Bricks, with some changes to the original design. FULL GALLERY Bluebonnet Station 4 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Bluebonnet Station 5 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Bluebonnet Station 7 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Bluebonnet Station 2 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Bluebonnet Station 12 by Tony Sava, on Flickr --Tony

The platform is 3 studs away from the rail. We run 8-wide trains, and some of our steam engines can exceed 10 studs in some places. --Tony

I apologise for the necropost, but I didn't feel like this deserved its own post. I've taken this 4 year old veteran of TBRR layouts and have given her new life with LEDs. Bluebonnet Station at night by Tony Sava, on Flickr More Bluebonnet Station at night by Tony Sava, on Flickr More Bluebonnet Station at night by Tony Sava, on Flickr More Bluebonnet Station at night by Tony Sava, on Flickr It was a lot of fun. I used Brick Loot's new Light Linx products purchased at Brickworld 2019. --Tony