Search the Community

Meet Linus, the Brave Locomotive from Andrew Chatsworth's "The Brave Locomotive" animation on YouTube. I decided to make this 2-4-0 out of LEGO after watching the short over and over, as it's an inspiring tale and very well done animation-wise. (Shout out to Peter, a friend of mine who showed me the short in the first place!) I did make some changes to Linus' design, such as adding a number to his tender and cab. (He's become engine No. 2, in case you were wondering) I also borrowed heavily from the 2019 Disney train and 2010 Toy Story Western Train Chase sets. In fact, the Toy Story loco is engine number 1 on my railroad. The rear of the steamer. (handrail parts and some printed tiles are missing in LDD) Linus' engineer from the animated short, Henry, will be built as well at some point too. (probably by using most of the CMF series 25 train-suit kid figure) The whole train together. Once Linus is built in the real world, he will be added to my Conjunction Junction train, which also has Katy Caboose (from the book 'The Caboose Who Got Loose', and heavily inspired by a @zephyr1934 MOC.) featured as well. Fun fact: This is almost a Disney train - Linus from "The Brave Locomotive" was started by Disney animator Andrew Chatsworth before he got hired, Bill Peet wrote "The Caboose who Got Loose" some years after being let go from Disney, and Conjunction Junction (part of "School House Rock!" educational TV series) was created by ABC, which is now owned by Disney. Thoughts?

(Built and designed for my father, not for me) The Disneyland engines with consists in order from Left to Right: 4-4-0 "C.K. Holliday" (engine 1) from 1955 pulling the my semi-fictionalized version of the Retlaw 2 freight train 4-4-0 "E.P. Ripley" (engine 2) also from '55 is pulling the post-1971 fictionalized Retlaw 1 passenger train 2-4-4 "Fred Gurley" (engine 3) started service in 1958 and is pulling the Holliday Blue excursion train 2-4-0 "Ernest S. Marsh" (engine 4) began service in 1959. Most of the 4-4-0 models use 9v motors, as my father has that system as his preferred train propulsion type... and GatewayLUG uses the 9v style-track / motors too, so it makes it runnable at shows. The Fred Gurley is not able to be powered this way, sadly. C.K. Holliday 4-4-0 and Retlaw 2 freight train There were two trains at Disneyland opening day in 1955, and these were the Retlaw series. Retlaw 1 was the passenger train which was pulled by E.P. Ripley and consisted of one baggage, four passenger cars, and the observation car. Five of which are no longer used or were sold. (but the observation car is still used - as the Lilly Belle parlor car as seen in the official set) Retlaw 2 was the freight train, pulled by the engine as shown above - C.K. Holliday - and consisted of three cattle cars and three gondolas, plus the caboose. As you may have noticed, I chose to only use two cattle cars from that train, and no low-side gondolas... There are no pictures of those as far as I can tell before the freight cars were all converted into another train type, the same as are in LEGO set 71044. The tanker car and coal hopper are my own invention. The two cattle cars. The two doors on each side of the identical cattle cars fold down. The roof sections come of now as well. As you can see, no seats are inside these cars as there were none installed in Retlaw 2 on opening day 1955! The two gondolas have been shortened from the original versions on the original Retlaw 2, but they are pretty close to it in looks! The caboose. I made up this car, as I couldn't get the real four-world axle caboose to look good in LEGO. The caboose has a removable roof too. E.P. Ripley 4-4-0 and Retlaw 1 passenger train (fictional post-'71 rebuild) Retlaw 1 was the passenger train which consisted of one baggage, four passenger cars, and the observation car, which were pulled by E.P. Ripley on opening day in 1955. Five of which are no longer used or were sold. (but the observation car is still used - as the Lilly Belle parlor car as seen in the official set) However, in this fictional revised version of the train, this retirement didn't happen, though they were modified to suit side-seating. The real Retlaw 1 was originally a yellow painted train, featuring front facing seats until it was mostly retired in 1971. The observation car of Retlaw 1 then became a parlor car known as the Lilly Belle after Walt Disney's wife Lillian. This fictionalized train is in the revised, post-1971 color scheme of the Lilly Belle, (which is in set 71044) and also has two passenger cars plus a baggage car with opening side doors. These cars all have side facing seats, as if Retlaw 1 were around and used in modified format after the 1971 overhaul of the Lilly Belle. As a side note, each of the cars feature a removable wall for getting at the inside details, as in set 71044. My revised version of @TJJohn12's MOC of the Disneyland number 2 steam loco. I made it using parts ordered by my father, but it's still missing the 9v motor in this picture. As you can see, the loco is mainly dark blue, as it swapped colors with the originally dark green real-world engine. This is because the C. K. Holliday model in the Disney train Lego set is also color swapped, from what should be dark blue to dark green. So, basically, Lego used bits from both engines for the set, and we continued this trend here. The baggage car features two sliding doors in red, though other colors are an option to stand out more. (I prefer black doors, but that's not prototypical!) The side wall comes off, as it does on all the cars, to reveal seating. In this car, that means luggage room and two seats. The two coaches are identical in every way, and are also quite similar to the parlor car at first glance. The inside features side seating, as in the Disneyland park... this also allows for easier moving of figures, and placing them in any of the five seats per car. This car is in the LEGO set 71044, but I thought you guys would like to see it alongside everything else. Fred Gurley 2-4-4 and Holliday Blue excursion train The Holiday Blue train was added in early1966 to replace the original Retlaw 1 passenger train which was going to be being pulled from service due to slow loading / unloading at stations. (It is also notable as the last consist added to the Disneyland Railroad.) Here it is being pulled by the Fred Gurley, also known as Disneyland number 3. Here is my Dad's (now finished IRL!) third Disneyland loco, to accompany the C.K. Holliday one in set 71044 and the E.P. Ripley MOC I just finished for him: it mimics the real world Fred Gurley pretty well too. The real 2-4-4 loco has been at Disneyland since early March of 1958. This paint scheme isn't 100% accurate (black boiler / black domes are dark green / red here), but IT IS in line with the modification my Dad and I have already done to the other locomotives. The roof lifts up as normal for this series. This loco is one of my Dad's few unpowered engines, as it is impossible to fit a 9v motor underneath... or any motor block, really! The "Holiday Blue" car by themselves, with only tail-lights added to them. The Disney train my father bought has added three Bricklinked cars with some new cartoon passengers courtesy of "The Minifig Shop" LEGO resale store in Kirkwood, Missouri. Still need get the 4th car and the Lilly Belle car built from the actual set, and add the Star Wars characters to it and the empty one on the right. I should probably put Donald Duck as a he fireman as seen in the cartoon short 'Out of Scale" from the late 1950s. Ernest S. Marsh 2-4-0 Just to complete the first four locomotives from Disneyland, here is Ernest S. Marsh. It's a 2-4-0 based off the 1871 Denver & Rio Grande loco number 1, "Montezuma" and was readied for service at the California park for the first time in late April 1959. This LEGO version is also inspired by LEGO set 71044 for the two-axle tender, piston design, and general look of the engine, while the boiler design originally hails from set 7597. The tender is powered by a 9v motor, and weighed down for traction by a standard weight brick. Notes on the post and future additions: Real life pictures will be added whenever possible. Also, Disneyland RR Number 5 - Ward Kimball - is a relative newcomer to he park and is a 2-4-4 like the Fred Gurley. It would not be interesting to have two more identical locos on the roster, so it is not included, and as it arrived in 2005, it's not quite from for the time period my dad and I are attempting to model. (He is kind of not sure if he wants another loco after Fred Gurley, so the 2-4-0 steamer Ernest S. Marsh might not get built either!) Any questions, suggestions, or complaints? Let me know below! EDITED 8/26/21: added Fred Gurley (Disneyland number 3) steam loco's real world MOC pictures to this post!

This is *almost* a Disney train - Linus the 2-4-0 steam engine is from "The Brave Locomotive" that was started by Disney animator Andrew Chatsworth before he got hired, Bill Peet wrote "The Caboose who Got Loose" some years after being let go from Disney, and Conjunction Junction (part of "School House Rock!" educational TV series) was created by ABC, which is now owned by Disney. What am I talking about? Keep reading to find out! Meet Linus the Brave Locomotive, and his driver Henry! (from Andrew Chatsworth's animation on Youtube as seen here. ) I decided to make this 2-4-0 out of LEGO after watching the short over and over, as it's an inspiring tale and very well done animation-wise. I did make some changes to Linus' design from the cartoon, such as adding a number 2 to his tender and cab. I also borrowed heavily from the 2019 Disney train and 2010 Toy Story Western Train Chase sets. (Linus is actually missing one part - the smokestack from the Orient Express. The stack seen above is a stand-in and will be replaced at some point.) The rear of the engine. Sorry for the color issues with some of these photos, it's because my phone camera doesn't like taking pictures of blue objects.... no idea why. On September 29th, 1973, a new School house ROCK (link to wiki page for those unfamiliar with what that is) music video was played for the first time alongside your regular American Saturday morning cartoons such as Scooby-Doo, old Rocky and Bullwinkle show episodes and maybe some Johnny Quest. This new music video featured a diminutive stereotypical train conductor, two hobos (one fat and tall, and one small and skinny), and a train with words on it... not just any words, but CONJUNCTIONS, as the name of the video and location is Conjunction Junction. This train is shown in order above, with comments about what it could possibly be carrying in the fictional ROCK-verse. The first two (NOT + THIS) are obviously Boxcars. The BUT tanker (most likely hauling Butane) and THAT boxcar. Finally, AND (which is possibly a refrigerated goods wagon) plus an OR (ore) hopper. All together, these train cars taught (and entertained!) generations of school-age children and some older adults about Conjunctions, and other videos taught about American history, the environment, math (multiplication tables up to 12 but skipping the number 1), science, money and even early home computers! (among MANY other subjects) All of them can be found on Disney +, as Disney owns ABC, which is who made the original music videos. Heavily inspired by @zephyr1934's MOC of "Katy" from the classic children's book "The Caboose who got Loose" by ex-Disney animator Bill Peet. Zephyr's version can be seen here in his own topic. I didn't want to use stickers for Katy's eyes like what's being done by the original builder, so I decided to use the eyes from set 43186 (Bruni the Salamander buildable character) from the Disney Frozen II line . I also added a actual mouth, as just the two eyes without something between them looked kind of odd, most likely because of the specific eyes I chose. The MOC I based this on used a different method for the mouth using a lot of SNOT-work.... I used a brick with 2 studs on the sides and two quarter tiles to give her a open mouth. The roof has also been modified, and a different stove pipe added compared to what the original MOC has. However, what's a freight train without someone or somewhere to tell it where to go next? Enter the railyard dispatch center, which is not just any old building: it's the Conjunction Junction dispatch office as seen in the education cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock "Conjunction Junction" episode from September '73. I've made some changes to the original cartoon design, such as adding a removable roof to the building (for getting access to the inside details), and placing a water tower nearby for thirsty steam locomotives. The tower top rotates a full 360 degrees with the water pipe, allowing the engineer to pull up, get his loco full of (imaginary) water, shove the pipe away, and move on. Also, there is a dilapidated boxcar behind the water tower for the Junction's two resident hobos. Inside the openable building is a typical furniture for the 1930-'50's time period which I think the cartoon takes place in. This includes: - corner desk with telephone, a railroad oil can, and lantern, plus two chairs - oil fired heater / stove - time clock next to a day-at-a-time calendar showcasing a exotic locale - potted plant, just because! EDIT 11/28/23: Added Katy caboose and Linus - the brave locomotive to the main post, which has been completely redone! Thoughts welcome!

In this latest model series, I decided in order to keep the "toy like" proportions of it's inspirational genesis, set 71044. (Disney train) Now, people who know my design style are probably scratching there heads right now in confusion, as I don't EVER build in 8-wide for trains. But in order to make it look as good as possible with the original 2010 Toy Story figures and their stretched appendages, I had to do 8-wide. My current setup... minus a few things on the other table not shown. This scene will change, as the freight 4-4-0 needs revision on the tender, and the passenger 2-6-0 and it's train need heavy work done, as you will see! Loco Number 1 - 2-6-0 Mogul w/ passenger train This 1890's style train is to be pulled by my revised Western 2-6-0 steam loco, and will be made from my older three yellow train cars. These newer cars are four studs shorter, so I can fit a fourth car in the storage box with the extra space. Also, the sidewall closest to the camera comes off on all the cars so you can get at the inside details. The coal-burning straight stack-styled locomotive is a mish-mash of two steam locomotives, the 4-4-0 from the Toy Story 7597 set and a British 2-6-0 train model designed by Block Junction. I repainted the British engine into a Toy-ish color scheme, then added 8-wide late 1800's American-style features with printed parts from set 7597. Oh, and I built a brand new small size tender from the rails up, which uses new red wheels from BrickTracks.. The rear of the engine features a coal tender with a ladder from the water tank-top down to the magnetic coupler. This tender is smaller than before, as it looked very silly next to my 2-6-0 IRL, and even worse next to my blue Western 4-4-0, which currently has an exact copy of the earlier tender version as well. The baggage car features two sliding freight doors in red along with two non-functional passenger doors in black. The side wall comes off, as it does on all the cars, to reveal seating. In this car, that means lots of luggage room and two seats. The two coaches are identical in every way, and are also quite similar to the parlor car at first glance. The inside features side seating, as in LEGO set 71044's Lilly Belle car... this also allows for easier moving of figures, and placing them in any of the five seats per car. The observation car features a rear platform, plus a red drumhead ready for the train's logo. The inside is the same as the two coaches, with five seats. Loco Number 2 - 4-4-0 American w/ freight train This freight-hauling locomotive is meant to be built from sets 7597 (Western train Chase from Toy Story 3), 71044, (Disney Train and Station) and set 10014. (Caboose from the My Own Train series, albeit a bit bigger width-wise!) I also used set 10013 (Open Freight Wagon, also from My Own Train) as a guide for the pipe-carrying car, plus model 15 (Tanker) from set 10183, Hobby Trains for the tanker car. This loco shares the same tender as my other Western 8-wdie loco from this time period. The engine itself, however, is an enlarged version of 7597, in yellow and blue. It's also meant to have inside pistons as it's an early-to-mid 1860's locomotive. (thus the lack of visible pistons!) The locomotive is missing these printed parts. They are as follows: The four yellow 1 x 6 bricks are supposed to be printed with this number 2. while the headlamp is supposed to have two of these printed yellow 1 x 1 tiles. The firebox door requires this print. This boxcar is an enlarged to 8-wide and recolored boxcar from set 3677 (2011's Red Cargo Train). The printed doors (not shown) and from set 7597. (2011's Western Train Chase) The coal-filled 8-wide gondola was inspired by a sub model from set 10183. (2007's Hobby train) This water tanker is a version modified of set 2126's (Train Cars) design with newer reddish brown tanks instead of the vintage 1998 brown of the original model, and now in 8-wide. This model was built from instructions seen at the Old Workhorse's Lego Ideas page as seen here. (I am not affiliated with the creator of that page, I just used their free instructions, visible further down in the updates section, to build the traction engine seen here.) This car is a mashup of set 10013 (2001's Open Freight Wagon) and the bed area from set 60059. (2014's Logging Truck) This caboose was inspired by set 10014 (Caboose) except this versions is 8 wide and the main two colors are reversed. Loco Number 3 - 4-10-0 Super Mastodon w/ military train This entire eight-wide military transport train was inspired by sets 71044, 60052, 79106, and 79111. It is inspired by the 1975 film "Breakheart Pass", which features an US Army resupply train traveling to a Western frontier Fort under siege. This train also has a couple play features, such as a rotating Gatling gun, moving steam engine side rods, and a exploding jail car wall, among a few others. This engine is basically a stretched version of my Western 2-8-0, with another driving axle and a four wheel truck in front. The wheel diagram show which six wheels will be blind and which four will be have a flange. I've tried a similar (albeit reversed) setup on my UK 2-10-0, so I know the wheel arrangement works in it's basics, I'm just not sure how the magnetic coupler will like this new arrangement. (My 2-10-0 doesn't like having a magnet, so it's hard-connected to the tender by a lift-arm on that MOC.) I included the working pistons, and a more cohesive color scheme of red and green, with a splash of yellow as on the previous 2-8-0 steamer. Big Ben bricks' medium size wheels, 4 with flange and 6 blind, are meant to take the place of the gear wheels in the order shown above. You can buy them at his site here. The tender and cab walls are supposed to have four of this printed red 1 x 6 piece inserted into them: The front headlight is supposed to have two of this printed 1 x 1 placed on it. This horse car was originally a cattle car from set 60052, (2014 Cargo Train) but I've re-purposed it for my Army officer horses. These cannons are from set 79106 (Calvary Builder Set) and were placed on a generic two-axle flatcar for transport by rail. The rotating Gatling gun you see here was taken from set 79111. (Constitution Train Chase) This car has the basic "look" of the Lily Belle parlor car from 71044, (Disney train and station) but is less ornately furnished due to be a second-hand coach refurbished cheaply for use by the US Army of the 1880's. The right-side wall is removable for access to the inside. The jail / baggage car you see was originally from set 79111, (Constitution Train Chase) with the basic coach styling of set 71044. This car has one play feature that is sure to blow you away: the back wall can be removed to get at the jail cell via the "dynamite" on the outside of the back wall. When pushed back towards the other end of the car, the lever on the left side pops the back wall out and the bad guys can escape! Also, the right-side wall is removable for access to the inside. Loco Number 4 - 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt w/ rotary snowplow train This blue train is marked (2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt, for heavy duty rotary snow plow jobs) number 4, and joins the family of similar mid-1880's engines such as the large 2-8-0 for military transport, the inside-piston 4-4-0 for freight, and the fancy 4-6-0 for passengers. This 8-wide Garratt-type steam locomotive is perfect for use on the mountainous terrain of Colorado Rocky Mountains, with it's double steam locomotive pistons sets. (Before anyone says anything about Garratt loco's not being ever sold into the North American market, I'll say it's an lost experimental prototype to help with a motive power shortage. It may have been seen by the owner as a economical way of sending one locomotive to do the job of two.) This steam powered rotary snowplow was inspired by the real-world Denver and Rio Grande's narrow gauge plow "OY", as now seen on the Cumbres and Toltec RR in New Mexico / Colorado. I've decided to name my plow "YO" in tribute to my inspiration, using four of this part from the original Toy Story sets as a sort of marker. The rear of the plow features the coal tender. This 8-wide engine was originally a SRW locomotive works product, (made by Anthony Sava and formerly available on Bricklink until LEGO sadly removed most of his models.) I reworked the engine to have working pistons and side-rods plus a longer frame. This made it from 2-4-0+0-4-2 to a 2-8-0+0-8-2, among other smaller updates to the engine. I also substituted a Disney train-style boiler onto the engine to backdate it to the mid-1880's or so. Even with the added pistons, the engine can go around corners and switches quite easily. A simple caboose, for the snow plow train. I used a pair interesting windscreen parts for the cupola windows. Loco Number 5 - 0-6-0ST shop switcher Locomotive number 5 is an eight wide model of a generic 0-6-0 saddle tank steam engine from the later half of the 19th century, and was inspired by a @ScotNick build of Stanley from Thomas and Friends for the stripe work, and this build of Percy (also from Thomas) from the L Gauge site for the front of the boiler/ piston assembly. Here is the coal bunker / driving controls shot for this 8-wide yard goat. NOTE: The color scheme is red and yellow, though sadly here red looks pink. Loco Number 6 - 4-2-4T w/ RR office car I created a more realistic version of the 2016 Winter Village holiday train (set 10254) for all the train fans who didn't like the engine. I added working pistons, and more colorful (and less festive!) color scheme plus two more sets of fuel bunker-based wheels on the rear of the engine. The accompanying business car is for the WXYZ railroad president, and features a accessible interior, like the Disney Train (set 71044) it's modeled after. This private car has been given the name "Mount Clutchmore", after the tallest peak and highest point on the WXYZ line, at the tunnel under said mountain in Colorado. This locomotive is modeled after the unique C.P. Huntington of the Central Pacific railroad. The model will be numbered 6 for use on my Wild West railroad, and and features a (small) balloon stack, yellow and blue paint scheme, with red accents. This railroad office car is modeled after the dark red observation car as seen in the Disney Train LEGO set. It has been changed to a blue paint scheme, with red doors/ windows and brown trim, with a black roof. As the car has been stretched by four studs to fit the longer frame, there is more room inside. The Mount Clutchmore office car features three chairs, a table with drinks for investors / newspaper reporters, and a planter on a table at the rear-most end. Almost the whole wall is removable to get at these inside details. Loco Number 7 - Automotive Rail-Speeder The early '50's automotive rail-speeder is inspired by this fairly recent @hachiroku build here and by @Cale's pictures of Ma & Pa RR 101 as seen here. The vehicle is numbered "7", for use on the WXYZ Railroad, and rolls quite well on the track with no problems in stock switches or standard R40 curves. The rear has two coverings almost fully obscuring the rear wheels, in true retro style. This model is designed for track inspector's and high-up executive's to get up close and personal with the railroad. The roof is removable and the doors open, with seating for two figures side-by-side. Loco Number 8 - Galloping Goose (freight version) This Galloping Goose's front half was inspired by @hachiroku and his Indiana Jones staff car MOC, as seen here. The rear of Number 8, with all the doors open. Loco Number 9 - 2-4-0 Old English w/ silver ore and mine payroll train This very short train is based off set 7597, Toy Story 3's Western Train Chase, which my dad purchased for my birthday gift for later this year. I digitally converted the 4-4-0 "American" into a 2-4-0 "Old English" type which I then based off the real world 2-4-0 'Montezuma'. That 1871-vintage engine was the Denver & Rio Grande's first steamer. (which was the basis for the fourth Disneyland loco, the Ernest S. Marsh, by the way.) I had a real urge to name the LEGO version of the engine after Achu, the South-American tribal leader from the Adventurers' "Jungle" subtheme as a tribute to the real-world Montezuma engine and it's namesake Aztec leader. But I didn't think anyone would get the reference, so I didn't... at least not yet! The locomotive as it will be later in the year. I used the basic look of the Disney set 71044's engine for the two wheel tender, as it was too good an opportunity to pass up. (and it's accurate to the real engine it's based on, too!) I also managed to add working pistons, though quartering was not possible, sadly. The rear view of the engine, which will be numbered 9 in my numbering scheme for the Wild West-era W.X.Y. & Z. Railway. (This means it is replacing the 2-6-2 loco on the wanted list.) These three silver ore cars are taking their loads to the U.S. Mint in Denver to be made into coins. The mine payroll boxcar will feature dollars signs on the doors, as in the Toy Story 3 set. The caboose will have printed parts on the sides, saying "GREAT WEST". The inside with the roof removed. The Wichita Xenia Yazoo & Zephyrus Rail-Road (Stock market trade name WXYZRR) was a mid-19th / early 20th century enterprise also known as the Wasted, eXausted, Y bother & Z*. (*No one could figure out an insult to the railroad that started with the letter "Z") The railroad started in Wichita, Kansas in 1868, then went straight through Xenia, Oklahoma, while then meandering into Yazoo, Colorado and barely making it into Zephyrus, New Mexico by 1875. Other stations included several army forts dotted along the route through Oklahoma and Colorado, along with scattered mining camps and agricultural towns across the maps of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The railroad is hardly mentioned anywhere in writings of journalists, except in scathing "letters to the editor" of various newspapers about lack of the promised service on the line in the early years. Also, the much derided company slogan "last railroad you'll ever need" did not work out well for the new railroad, but it did vastly increase questions fielded to the main office about coffin, headstone, and various other memorial shipments from all over the area from which the railroad served. It is therefore shocking the railroad lasted as long as it did, a substantial fifty-six years from incorporation in 1867, to it's sale at auction in 1923! The old WXY&Z railroad had about 35 locomotives on the books at the maximum, but most of these were already very old when purchased and broke down frequently so they were chronically in the workshop for some reason or another. In fact, the seven additional 4-4-0 locomotives purchased third-hand from engine dealers were of the long-obsolete inside-piston variety of the mid-1850's, yet were bought in the early 1870's! However, what the railroad lacked in regular service motive power, it made up for in the snow plow-train department. A single prototype of what would later be called a "Garratt" (a doubled-power-unit steam loco with a single boiler not normally found in North America) was first run on the "High Line" between Fort Legoredo, Colorado and Glencoe, New Mexico in the steep Rocky Mountains. This is where the railroad really shined, in keeping the trains running through steep mountain passes with a single experimental train with a rotary snowplow at the head end... of course, there were other plow trains, but only two rotary trains. (One would work from either end of the Glacier Gulch Pass, and meet in the middle on a passing siding. The Garrett would be on one train, and two regular locomotives pushing the other.) After 1923's closing of the railroad, it was bought wholesale by a consortium of stock brokers from Denver, with plans to redo the line with less sharp grades and more snow sheds. However, during this reconstruction, the 1929 Great Depression began, leaving half the line with old grades though most of Colorado mountains, but new grades on New Mexico were finished in time. The passenger car fleet was upgraded, but the freight engines (downgraded passenger power, really) and rotary plows remained vintage as far back as 1878 for motive power. The older inside-piston locomotives went for sale once the Depression really started up, and one was snapped up for a potential history museum in Glencoe, while the rest were scrapped. Then, a miracle happened: the movie industry intervened, and several production houses bought some of the oldest rolling stock, engines, and the line was given enough cash to stave off it's dismantlement until 1941, when trains of heavy munitions from companies on the line came rolling through for the War effort, making the line the busiest it had ever been. The profits from this, and the later 1950 / '60's movie companies use of the stunningly scenic "High Line" line for motion pictures saved the line. When the good times started to dim in the early 1970's, the railroad was jointly bought by the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, & New Mexico for tourists, occasional movie trains, and the freight that still used the line, as the original stock broker consortium had by then been dissolved. The "new" WXYZ railroad, (the town names were shortened to just the initials for simplicity's sake) was thus founded in March 1st, 1971. It has been running, mostly non-stop and is closed during the three winter months of December, January, and February for running of the single remaining rotary snowplow to get the line ready for opening day on March 1st of every year since the early 1970's. (NOTES from the writer: Only Wichita (Kansas) and Xenia (Illinois) are real-world towns, with them being based in name ONLY on real places. Yazoo, for example, is really a river in the state of Mississippi, while Zehyrus was simply because I needed a "Z" name that sounded plausible, and the Colorado Zephyr train was on my mind at the time. The rest of the story is also fiction, as no Garratt ever rode the rails of North America.... ever. Also, the WXYZ logo is an old Union Pacific logo from the early 1910's, while the railroad name's initials have never been used ANYWHERE on a railroad in the USA.) EDITED 8/3/21: added screenshots of engine No. 9 and it's train. I still need to take real-life photos of the private car and 4-2-4T, and now the blue 4-4-0 and it's freight train require photos too.