LordsofMedieval

Reminds me just a teensy bit of this:

Okay, this time there is no prototype - just lifting some SNCF practices (valve chamber location; triangular cab; firebox design; 'flapper' stack cap) and producing an Orient Express locomotive that could slot in with the provided tender and won't break the bank (565 pieces total). It's powered by a single medium PU motor, but that's the same thing I expect to see in the OE set, so I don't think there will be any issue (I anticipate that the battery pack will be in the tender). Other highlights: There are no custom pieces. Everything is stock. The valve gear isn't designed to 'work' - just simulate function via motion and gravity. If the color is wrong, it could easily be changed in stud.io (there seems to be a debate on which blue the set will be released in). HERE IS THE DOWNLOAD LINK.

Yes, and this definitely was a black engine. But I went with color simply because I assumed people wouldn't want a match. The file is there for folks to toy with as they see fit. It wasn't intended as an end-all, be-all, but rather just a guide. I'm actually going to do another engine tonight using the stock Lego wheels.

That video glosses over one very dramatic and simple point: people are able to get locomotives built with XXL wheels to run smoothly around Lego's smallest curves. There is nothing technical precluding Lego from designing a satisfactory passenger locomotive with big wheels. The "if it had large drivers, it HAD to be a display piece" argument is a red herring.

I'll look into it. I was really having a hard time coming up with a prototype with drivers that small that was also pleasing to the eye. The other issue is this: I'm probably never going to replicate Lego's driver spacing to the degree that the provided rods would be of any use. The vast, vast, vast majority of steam engines had a wider gap between the big wheels than Lego allows for in a stock configuration (due to many factors including the fitting of brakes). One way or another, anyone building a MOCed steam engine is likely to be greatly assisted by the use of some kind of custom part, even if they aren't wheels.

1) Critiquing a design is not whining. We're all, supposedly, bakers here - we can comment on their cake. 2) Wrong continent and era.

I wanted to throw something together for people who were looking for an alternative to the OE locomotive without breaking the bank on some $400 adventure. My prevailing goals with this design were thus: Simplicity Robustness Low part count. Reuse of the tender (and yes, I know the tender from the stock engine doesn't match the prototype. But we're trying to be budget conscious here and waste as little of the core model as possible). This isn't fancy, and it isn't intended to be. It's designed to be used with #12 (XLL) drivers which, unfortunately, my add-on to stud.io lacks (not sure if this has been rectified in a modern version of the add-on?). This is why the rearmost pair of 'gear' wheels are missing from the engine - an XLL driver would fit there; a gear won't. The wheel arrangement is flange-blind-flange-blind to bring the trailing bogie as close to the trailing wheelset as is possible. This isn't intended as some kind of award-winning build - I just wanted something somewhat respectable looking, era appropriate... and that didn't involve a lot of work and would fit with the rest of the train. HERE IS THE DOWNLOAD LINK.

The cars are intended to represent the pending refurbishment of the train. I agree with you: the entire focus was on the coaches. Sadly, in making this the modern train, it's really kind of pointless trying to imagine it as the 'glory days' OE from a century ago.

It has no firebox. They're industrial engines filled with pressurized steam at a stationary source (generally a factory boiler), and then work yards until they run low. Just one other modding option I thought of before falling asleep: to people who are going to buy 2, you could combine the locos into a 2-6-6-2 or 2-6-6-0. This would require a fair amount of work, but Europe did have some articulated locomotives (not in numbers like the U.S., but it did have them).

I don't know about the first part, but I get a strong sense that they don't sell nearly as well, outside a few standouts. I have this feeling that Lego has a whole warehouse full of Pianos and Globes. Some of the things they choose to produce are really bizarre. You have to assume that even AFOLs have limited shelf-space - we can only accumulate so many big objects over the course of a lifetime. I know I myself have boxes and boxes of sets I 'needed' but will never (and probably can never) build.

*Edit* I would suggest 3 changes to this locomotive for modders to make it look more prototypical (or at least help the situation): 1) If there is any free space at the front of the boiler (re: not occupied by a motor), narrow the smoke box (the black part) to either 5x5 or even 4x4. You did occasionally see a stepped-down smoke box (mostly on narrow gauge, but whatever helps), and this will diminish the overall 'giant boiler effect.' 2) Find a different smoke stack. A tall, 1x1 incorporating some minor flaring at the base and top will similarly 'narrow' the appearance of the engine by making it an overall more vertical vehicle (a chonky spark arrestor could also help, and you saw these a fair amount on Austrian steam from about 1900-1920). 3) Lift the entire engine frame 1-2 plates higher beneath the running board. Even if you aren't going make the wheels larger, allotting more space for the wheels will ease some proportional issues (This will also make the locomotive taller than the cars, which is desirable). If you look at freight locomotives (which, despite being a 4-6-0, we have to pretend it is), their boilers really weren't set any lower than passenger engines, even though the wheels were much smaller. Yes, lengthening the engine is the overall best plan, but that gets expensive fast. Bricklinking, you could easily drop $75-100 fixing this depending on part count and availability.

Yes they did. I am certain that none of them looked like this because, outside narrow gauge, I've never seen a steam engine that looks like this (its proportions remind me way too much of a fireless cooker):

Honest question: are people who plan to seriously model the Orient Express (as opposed to just having this set on a shelf, or do loops around a circle of track [which is fine]) satisfied with these cars? At first glance their proportions look good (and they are certainly longer than normal Lego coaches). But squinting at the photos, I think a lot of that is achieved by having rather small bogies, and a very stumpy locomotive. Like, would you just roll with the shorter-than-prototypical (unless you back-date to about 1900, when rolling stock got much longer) carriages, or would you try to buy multiple-multiple sets and combine cars? Are these 'close enough' for you, or do they need to be modded, too? I couldn't find one either. Very strange. The best I could come up with was maps of the route and the look up passenger/fast freight engines that served in the host countries. It's actually really odd how puny the Wikipedia Orient Express article is.

I am almost certain it can be motorized. It would explain why the boiler is so large. That's where your motor or battery pack is going, and then the opposing part will be in the tender. This is also why the front bogie is so compact - ease of negotiating tight curves when running. The funny thing is, the tender is fine. You could whip up a decent locomotive and that tender would slot right in.

You called someone 'vile' because they had the audacity to demand better from a company. Vile. The individual here who is in desperate need of perspective? It's you, chum. Calm yourself.