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So as promised I finally got some pictures of it on a layout. But first some back story. The EN was released during my dark period and I had no idea it existed till early this year. I was fortunate enough that a coworker was getting out of Lego's and got one for a decent price. So I dug out an oval of track and much to my dismay the engine ran horribly or simply derailed. It was a good looking engine so I pulled the PF and made it a static model. A month went by and I had decided I will make this train run come Brickworld Ft Wayne. I tried the motorized tender option but did not like the look. So I ripped the thing apart and put her on a diet all the center section came out and a L motor went in. A custom "gearbox" needed assembled. I rebuilt it 13 times before I found a solution I was both happy with overall speed and torque, also that didn't blow apart after an hour of running lol. The front trucks have been reworked to not derail and @zephyr1934 worked with me to get his custom rods and valve gear running good. After many hours on the test oval I felt she was ready for the show. Once at the show I soon discovered she hates switches... So much help was needed getting her on the main off the siding. Then I found she hates uneven track lol so I did some more reworking and that solved most of the wheel slip (the front and rear boogies would lift the drive wheels) allowing the front to pivot seemed to resolve most of this. So it ran around our Lugs layout and ran into the first issue (my train was the first steam train to ever run on this layout) the rods hit the station platform! So we moved it a stud and a half back and it was good but then it came to the elevated section. It ran up the hill (fairly steep) without issue but once at the elevated station its canopy hit the light guards then the rods the platform. So it was committed to a siding as the elevated would take too much rework. Fortunately another steam display was willing to let her stretch her legs. First we ran it with the stock car that came with the set ... then we hooked her up to a rake of coal. (I won't mention his name as I'm not sure if he's OK with being mentioned but I'm sure many of you know him... Hats off to you sir) It was great to see her run and my boys loved watching it run! Again thanks to all! I am working with a light company to light the firebox and the rear tender. Now to work on my Lug to increase track clearance for steam lol. Update: as she currently sits. Added brickstuffs custom lighting. Replaced the original pf lights with LEDs' installed flickering fire in the firebox and a rear lamp on the tender.

The Frisco 1522 loco is a 1926 oil burning 4-8-2 "Mountain" type, (4 leading, 8 drivers, 2 trailing) that was made surplus in 1951, donated to the Museum of Transportation (in St. Louis, Missouri) in 1959, and restored to working order in 1988 by the St. Louis Steam Train Association (SLSTA) for it's excursion career. It's new lease on life lasted until 2002 when rising insurance costs made the engine enter it's second retirement, which will be probably be forever. When the engine was running in it's second career, the SLSTA had four train cars in it's excursion support role. They carried parts, tools, merchandise to sell, and crew members not on duty. After re-retirement of the 1522, most of the cars were eventually sold to Milwaukee Road 261 organization and were renamed and repainted into a different paint scheme more suited to that group. This may not be the best interpretation of the Frisco 1522, but it seems to be the one of the few I've seen built out of Lego. The model you see here has been my dream ever since I was 5 or six years old and rode behind the steamer on one of it's last public trips. (I don't remember much of the trip, but I do remember the sense of awe and respect for the power of steam after seeing the loco pull past us on it's journey back to the museum and into what looks to be permanent retirement.) The cab walls on both model and real engine have the name of the railroad (Frisco) on it's side, while the number of the loco (1522) is on the tender sides. One half of this baggage car (named 'Black Gold' after a train the 1522 used to pull) housed tools, spare parts, lubricants and a fire hose or getting water for the loco, among many other things. The other half (usually closest to the engine) had the souvenir shop with shelves and tables for fundraising merchandise selling. The car is now repainted and named 'Golden Valley'. It has been used with Milwaukee Road 261. The 'Firefly' was the crew car. It was also named after a train the 1522 used to pull. The car has been sold to be used with Milwaukee Road 261. It sits in storage currently. The diner-lounge 'Chouteau Club' wasn't owned by the St. Louis Steam Train Association (SLSTA), but by a private individual who was a member of the club. It now is stored / owned by Illinois Transit Assembly in Madison, Illinois, sidelined by side sill rust. The 'Bluebonnet' was a business car and brought up the rear of the train. It was also named after a train the 1522 used to pull. The car has been sold to be used with Milwaukee Road 261. It has been renamed back to it's first name of 'Milwaukee' and repainted into the proper colors for that railroad. The real engine is publicly displayed at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. The Lego model of the loco is sitting on the front of the loco, just above the cowcatcher. This official Frisco 1522 website gave me invaluable info and pictures of the excursion cars and the loco itself. This page in particular was very helpful in getting the window amount / spacing / 'look' of the excursion cars right. NOTE: The excursion cars will be built as funding allows. ...and yes, I had a thread made in 2016 for the loco only. That thread was last updated in 2017, and I didn't want to mess with the moderators by bumping it. Thus, this new thread was created. I hope that was ok!)

One of the reasons I'm excited about the 2023 Hogwarts Express is that I hope it gets people into building steam locomotive MOCs. This happened for me by modifying it's predecessor, 75955 20230508_162151 by Sam Szeto, on Flickr I got two copies of 75955 cheap on eBay. My aim was to make the locmotive look more like a GWR Hall Class, whilst keeping it "LEGOish". I wanted it to be able to run on R40 tracks, with power functions. I also wanted to mainly use parts from the sets, with some from my own collection, and not have to Bricklink anything. This meant it had to be 6 wide, and use a similar boiler design. Also no custom wheels/rods/stickers. 20230508_162212 by Sam Szeto, on Flickr The original locmotive's proportions were rather tall and not long enough. I extended the boiler by 4 studs, and the firebox and the smokebox by 1 stud. I need to take a better photo, but I'm quite proud of the taper on the boiler. It extends by 1 plate, over 12 studs. The rear of the boiler is clipped to the firebox and the smokebox. The smokebox is not attached with studs to the running board, but on a Technic axle, so it can legally be a fraction of a stud off grid. I also added droid arms to create break rigging and sand pipes. 20230508_162243 by Sam Szeto, on Flickr 20230508_162447 by Sam Szeto, on Flickr 20230508_162508 by Sam Szeto, on Flickr The biggest challenge was getting the pony truck to go around R40 curves, and not interfere with the cylinders. This was an absolute headache - a lot of MOCs I've seen in recent years, are designed for wider curves, or they have the second set of pony wheels fixed, and only have one set of flanged drivers. I didn't want to do this so I created a pony truck with a sliding front axle. The pony truck can pivot to a fixed angle, than there are stoppers under the cylinder, which stop it moving any further. As the axle is free to move axially, it will un-centre itself to go around the bend. It works, but looks a bit strange, and is something I want to improve on the next version. 20230508_162221 by Sam Szeto, on Flickr Tender has all the PF components. Again for simplicity, I used the normal train motor guards (and mimicked the design around the front wheels), but I want to improve this in my next version. Also, for part reuse, I'm using the trap door from the original's tender to mount the train motor and thread the cable. 20230508_162629 by Sam Szeto, on Flickr 20230508_162711 by Sam Szeto, on Flickr The coach isn't meant to be a BR Mk1. I don't have any dark red parts, so I just decided to extend the official coach out to use a proper train base, whilst keeping the removable wall from the playset. I also have some older windows in my collection which were quite useful. If interested, their are more photos on my flickr. When I have the time, I'd like to do a full rebuild in 7 wide using custom wheels, with dark red Mk1s. But for now, I'm happy with this - I'm glad LEGO's play set was mis-proportioned as it inspired me to do this. Already working on a proper MOC now . References A lot of inspiration was taken from Phil B's incredible MOC/MOD @Phil B, particularly with the tapered boiler using the original set's design

Hello all, I have recently built a model that might actually deserve a post. This is a working, running (albeit only on R104 curves) 1:48 scale model of the Pennsylvania Railroad Q2 duplex. PF or PU motors power all five driving axles, and the design uses no third party parts besides #11 drivers. See the video for a more detailed description.

Hello together, we have the beginning of October, so time for an new OcTRAINber ;-) Whereby I will be honest: I started with this project already at the beginning of September (after the announcement of the topic for this OcTRAINber) and thus in the construction a month ahead. But I first wanted to get a feeling for whether I can even create such a project in the short time. I therefore show here in the first days the construction progress of September and then approach after a few days the actual state on my desk. Ps: for the readers from a German forum: please do not spoil ;-) Thomas

Updates! https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/design.page?idModel=418816

Builders note on the following models: These engines were my most beloved thing to watch in childhood up until the Polar Express movie came out to displace it in 2004. I loved to play with my wooden railway models, and would have thought I'd have died and gone to heaven if I'd had the Lego models described below when I was little, around the time the movie came out when I was 6 or 7 in 2000 / 2001. So, in short, look on, younger Murdoch17 and gasp at what you've been able to accomplish with the help of many others and quite a few years of knowledge and learning. I still am a passive Thomas fan, BTW, (my collection of books is still around somewhere!) but everything after the switch from the models to CGI turns me off., so I haven't watched the show in 10 years, just in case anyone is wondering. Oh, and the Polar Express models by @SavaTheAggie were what inspired me to get this serious into LEGO trains in 2011 or so, so I've come full circle - from Thomas to Polar Express from the movies, then from Polar Express and back to Thomas the long way round via LEGO. LADY the magic engine + coaches Here is Lady the steam loco and her train consisting of two (custom) coaches Victoria and Elton, driven by Burnett Stone and Mrs Conductor. They travel between the worlds of Sodor, our world (circa the year 2000), and many other rail-gateways, to bring the vital magic gold-dust, paying passengers and small amounts of cargo to their respective destinations in the multiverse. It's a difficult and dangerous job (especially with Diesel 10 on the prowl) , but somebody's gotta do it. This model was originally Hunter Dobbs steam locomotive and is based off of "Lady" from Thomas And the Magic Railroad (you know, the 2000 Thomas And Friends film that sadly, flopped horribly.) I redid the boiler using @ScotNick design from the BR Class 9F 2-10-0. Here is a link to Hunterdobbs' original engine. Fictional background (from Thomas and friends wiki) for this engine, as seen in the Magic Railroad movie. (Also, the figure in the cab of the engine is a representation of Burnett Stone, caretaker and driver of Lady, as played by Peter Fonda in the 2000 movie.) Lady once came to the Island of Sodor a long time ago, when she was found by Diesel 10, an evil diesel engine who wanted to destroy her. Lady and Burnett Stone both ran away from Diesel 10, but during the chase, Burnett used up all her coal and made her go too fast, causing Diesel 10 to catch up and crash her. Lady was taken back to Muffle Mountain and stored inside Burnett's workshop, where he spent years desperately trying to restore her to working order, but he did not have the right coal to make her steam. Years later, Lady was still out of service, and without her, the Magic Railroad began to lose its magic. That all changed when Lily, Burnett's granddaughter, and Thomas brought a truck of coal from Sodor to Muffle Mountain, which proved to be the correct coal necessary to make her steam. Lady came back to life and returned to Sodor, where she was once again chased by Diesel 10. Lady, Burnett and Thomas successfully managed to escape Diesel 10, and she gave the Conductor Family the Gold Dust they needed. As a side note, while watching Thomas and the Magic Railroad as a kid back in the early 2000's, I always wondered how it was supposed to be a technical railroad if Lady (the magic steam engine who powered and ran the warp-gate railway) had no coaches for people to sit in. She had a station on Sodor, and one on in the real world in the form of her owner's workshop, (as explained in the movie) but where were the coaches she most likely used to deposit people at these points? Well, now there are two brand-new coaches ready for service! The rear of the loco, with the red headlamp. These cars have been named Victoria and Elton. These names were chosen for several reasons, but mostly for these facts: Victoria was because of when Lady was supposedly built (in the 1890's) in "Thomas and Friends" canon and that is who was Queen at that time. Elton because I was listening to a good Elton John song ("This train don't stop here anymore") and decided then and there he was going to model the second car. So, we have a stuffy, quiet-loving type coach of the late 1800's, and a flamboyant, lovable, with a passion for singing out load coach from the 1890's, but with the heart and soul of Elton John. Oh, and they are both painted bright magenta to match Lady, who is still driven by Burnett Stone, but conducted by a female version of the Mr. Conductor character from the Magic Railroad film. Burnett Stone (Played by Peter Fonda in the 2000 movie) and Mrs Conductor (played by a actress as yet unknown... fill in your favorite one!) DIESEL 10 the antagonist of the Magic Railway film This 6 wide BR "Warship"class with hydraulic claw (AKA Diesel 10) model has been heavily modified by me from a old Class 37 file by LazarusBricks to have new removable roof sections for the cabs with seats for figures and cab controls. As you can see, I chose to leave off the face to keep the engine more in line with the rest of my locomotives. The rear of the locomotive. This in-universe background info is from the Thomas and friends wiki and concerns the events of The Magic Railroad movie (though he is still in the TV show to date, unlike his opposite number, Lady the magic steam engine): Diesel 10 once visited the Island of Sodor a long time ago, and caused trouble for the steam engines while he was there. During his visit, he found Lady, the engine responsible for keeping Sodor alive, and chased her, making her crash. Following the accident, Lady's caretaker, Burnett Stone, hid Lady in his workshop and tried to restore her, but failed to bring her back up to steam. Several years later, Diesel 10 came back to Sodor when the Fat Controller was on holiday, intending to destroy Lady forever. He was first seen by Thomas and Gordon when he raced past them at Killaban Station, and brought his two lapdogs, Splatter and Dodge, to the railway, who were present when he was scheming. He caused several problems for the steam engines, such as dumping sneezing powder around Tidmouth Sheds and later destroying the scaffolding that had been placed beside the shed. When Mr. Conductor travelled across Sodor to find the windmill, Diesel 10 found him and held him over the Big Dipper, intending to drop him. However, Mr. Conductor managed to escape by cutting one of the hydraulics hoses to his claw with a pair of wire cutters, causing him to fling Mr. Conductor across the island and to the windmill. Diesel 10 was later present at the Coaling Plant, where he was covered in coal when he was teaching Splatter and Dodge “how to stop being stupid”. After Junior flew in the air after riding the windmill's sails, he landed on Diesel 10's cab, who raced across the island and to the smelter's yard, where he tried to push James and Junior into the melting pit. Fortunately, Junior and James managed to escape by using the last of the former's gold dust. After Lady was brought back up into steam and returned to Sodor, Diesel 10 found her and began to chase her, Thomas and Burnett across the island, until they reached the viaduct, but not before Splatter and Dodge betrayed him. Lady, Burnett and Thomas managed to cross the viaduct safely while it was collapsing, but it had already done so by the time Diesel 10 came over it and he plunged into a barge of sludge below the bridge, and was sent away in disgrace. The roof of both front and rear facing cabs can bee removed to place figures in the driver's seats. The rooftop arm can raise and lower, and the claw itself and open and close. Here we see it in the raised and open position. THOMAS the tank engine + coaches My newly revised Thomas is based off these instructions from Block Junction, albeit in heavily modified form. Thomas' two coaches Annie and Clarabel are my own design, and were built almost totally from my own parts collection - only wheels and buffers were purchased for them. The front of Thomas is lacking a face, but I'm not concerned about that... I says he's sleeping when kids ask at trains shows. The rear of the famous tank engine. There is a bit more inside printed details this time for his cab controls. The car on the left (Clarabel) is mostly passenger seating in the front three-quarters, with the guards compartment (and luggage storage) in the rear-most section. The other coach (Annie) is meant for passenger seating only. PERCY the small engine This rendition of Percy, the 0-4-0 saddle tank steamer from the Railway Series books and Thomas and Friends TV show was heavily inspired by the Lgauge website's Percy model (as seen here) However, I added Big Ben Bricks green medium wheels to make it stand out, plus working pistons whereas the original had only 9v powered wheels and no real pistons. Rear view, with the cab controls visible. As for cars for Percy to pull, I have two mail cars already built from late last year. MURDOCH the heavy goods engine I originally built the model in late 2013 based off this unfinished 9F Murdoch model by @ScotNick. It was uploaded on Brickshelf first, and later on Flickr after I uploaded my copy (LDD only, at first) in November 2013. When I had redesigned the engine to build it IRL, I realized orange had virtually been eliminated as a color choice at that time. Windows were (up until that summer when CITY Arctic dropped) only from the 2004 BNSF loco, and orange was VERY expensive as a color. It was impossible in the correct color. Orange's pallet of parts would increase in the intervening 8 years, culminating in 2022 with every orange part I needed being buyable! The rear of the tender with the number 17 on it. A view inside the cab. GORDON the big engine + coaches First off: I did not design this steam engine! I modified it heavily to suit my tastes from this Eurobricks post (link) from user @damangos. I did, however, rework my original 7 wide Emerald Night tender from 2014 instead of the 6 wide tender used by damangos in the original model, and I also reworked his model to suit my tastes and be cheaper, although it has one set of wheels too many. (it should only have three axles) The tender has also been changed from a corridor tender to a Fowler tender, with the flared ends added on. The engine on the other hand, is modeled in blue, and is numbered "4". As you can probably guess, this is Gordon from the Railway Series books and the Thomas and Friends TV show. Cab details include opening firebox and space for a shovel. These five passenger cars (four regular coaches, and one guard's coach) are inspired by the 2018 Hogwarts Express coach, to save money on wheels and train car bodies / frames. They don't have any of the interior details the Hogwarts Express has, though. I based the colors of the coaches on a inverted set 10194 (Emerald Night) coach color scheme. I always thought the colors looked better like this, and it avoids the problems of the tan 1 x 4 x 3 train windows used in the original set. (which are very expensive!!) (EDIT 3/523: added real world photos of my completely-updated Thomas and his finished coaches.) Have any Thoughts, Comments, or Questions? All are welcome here!

Hello Again. I have a rather iconic piece of railroading equipment for you all today. It is the oldest engine on the Strasburg railroad as well as the only operating 4-8-0 mastodon operating in the United States, it is 475 herself. She is a rather unique piece of equipment in more ways than one. Built as part of a series of locomotives in 1906 for the Norfolk and Western Railroad, they were the answer for increasing train loads. The 4-8-0 was utilized over the 2-8-2 because of adhesive weight. The M class was a deckless locomotive where the cab was alongside the firebox with the crew literally sandwiched between them. They were at first given Stephenson Valve gear but were later on given Baker valve gear 10 out of 125 ordered was superheated and all were fired by hand. Nicknamed "Mollies", they may have not been the prettiest locomotive created, but at over 40,000 lbs. of tractive effort for something made in 1906. However, when the Norfolk and Western started ordering new Y Class locomotives a decade later, it downgraded the Mollies to branchline work. 475 still runs to this day at Strasburg About this model: With my plans to start a company now taken seriously, I decided to build another and this time a smaller locomotive to complement Santa Fe 3463 and the C&O Allegheny. All I have to say was HOLY HELL, it was a bigger challenge than I thought it would be with its "distinct" shape of the boiler. But with a little help of brackets, I was able to complete it. However, it renders part of the boiler to not be as aesthetically pleasing, primarily along the bell area and below it. This model is equipped with Baler valve gear, but I also want to apologize for the lack of complete valve gear, for I had technical issues that saw my last computer's boot device fail, and it is only compounded by PartsDesigner being temporarily disabled at least on my side. Therefore; I am unable to make the new parts required to complete it. I do plan to have that resolved in time) With that being said, here is the photo gallery: As stated before, these locomotives were deckless. I did try my best to cover every square inch as possible, even the "backhead" to this locomotive. If I offer this as a product, the only thing that will be added aside from crew members will be the Reverse gear and the train brake. The throttle is also present but it is attached to the cab roof.

First, some context: Here's a shout-out to Daedalus304 and his ATSF #2926 4-8-4 locomotive, for this locomotive of my own shares quite a lot of cosmetics with 2926. Onto my project: Santa Fe 3463 was built on October 30th, 1937 for the Santa Fe Railway as a passenger locomotive and was assigned to crack passenger trains that ran from Chicago, IL to La Junta, Colorado along with its sister locomotives. 3463 was assigned to lightweight trains such as the Chief when they first rolled out, but given their power, they were assigned to heavier trains on the Chicago-La Junta Division in January of 1938. This locomotive pulled trains like the aforementioned Chief, the Scout, The Oil Flyer, and even the Fast Mail Express. In fact, one of these 3460 class Hudsons', No. 3461 set a record for the longest run without any maintenance stops, the only exceptions of course were fuel and water. No. 3460 was given a very special streamline shrouding which earned it the nickname "The Blue Goose" and was the ONLY streamlined locomotive to run on Santa Fe rails. 3463 would soldier on until 1953 when it pulled its last train The Antelope. In 1956, it was put on display outside what is called the Stormont Vail Event Center in Topeka, Kansas, and has remained since. There was an attempt to get this locomotive restored by the CSR in 2012, however, legal issues plagued this for 5 years and after that, the favor was to go to the CSR in 2018. But even then, there were more turn of events that still render the locomotive dormant. To me, the poor girl's restoration was doomed from the start and personally, I would like to see her back in operation someday. This model demonstrates the Hudson in 1/35th scale, it is roughly 11-12 studs wide, approximately 17 studs tall and 113 studs long. This thing is LOADED with details, even an (almost) perfect valve gear system. 6 L-motors are the current power source in place, 2 in the locomotive to keep the drive wheels in order and 4 in the tender, this may be upgraded later but I doubt it. This train HAS been assembled before, however, it was HEAVILY flawed. Faulty drive design with the side rods and gear ratio, too small drive wheels of the incorrect design (I ordered #13 boxpok drivers a while back) which as far as design goes to the wheels, drivetrain, and cosmetics has been resolved. You can check out my wheel by searching for Baldwin Disk Driver. That very same driver will also be going on this locomotive in the future. I even went ahead and designed some special parts that will be incorporated into the locomotive as well. This locomotive is a design that dates back to October of 2021 and by spring of 2023, I plan to have it completed by then unless something comes up. Who knows, I may enter it into the Brick Train Awards if the timing is right and I may have a consist running by the summer of 2023 as well, but I cannot say for certain because the locomotive and tender will come first. For the most part it is complete, but still could probably use a few tweaks before being finalized. With that out of the way, here is the photo gallery of my engine. Here is the valve gear on the LEFT side of the locomotive Here is the valve gear on the RIGHT side of the locomotive I did my best to capture the cab. Unfortunately, I could only find ONE picture and the picture in question is the one with the locomotive in its current condition, that being derelict. Here, we have a water glass on the left, In-Cab signals in the middle, Steam pressure gauge is located below the signals, Speedometer is to the right of the firebox followed immediately after the throttle. The brakes are located below followed by the power reverse on the cab floor. Oil "stoker" is located under the water glass along with gauges.

My Favorite Be forewarned, this post will undoubtedly be lengthy. On April 9, 1915, Baldwin Locomotive Works completed serial number 42000, a 90 ton, 2-8-2 mikado locomotive (class 12-34-1/4-E-30) for the Caddo & Choctaw Railroad Company, subsidiary of Caddo River Lumber Company in Arkansas. Originally numbered 4 and named "R. L. Rowan," the engine served the logging industry until 1920 when it was converted to burn oil (instead of coal) and sent to Mexico. Upon arrival at the Compañía de Real del Monte y Pachuca, it was renumbered to 105. 105 operated northeast of Mexico City where silver mining was the main industry. In 1924, 105 was sold to the McCloud River Railroad, which would be home for nearly 30 years. Upon arrival at McCloud, shop forces found bullet holes in the boiler jacket. The rumor formed that the engine served with Pancho Villa during the revolution, however the revolution was over before the engine arrived in the country. The story stuck, and earned the engine the nickname "Pancho." McCloud renumbered the engine to 19 and upgraded the engine over its time there to roughly its current appearance. The 19 was involved in a three-way tender swap before leaving McCloud, and it ended up with the tender from the 18. 19 still uses this tender today, identifiable by a plate with welded letters reading "T-18" affixed to the tender frame. The original tender was scrapped along with the 16. The Yreka Western purchased 19 from McCloud in 1953 (and would later purchase the similar 18). The engines operated between Yreka and Montague where the road interchanged with Southern Pacific. In 1971, Yreka Western owner Willis Kyle purchased 51% of the Oregon Pacific & Eastern in Cottage Grove, Oregon. 19 was leased from Yreka to the OP&E and in 1971 began operating the "Blue Goose" excursion trains over the line using a large variety of passenger equipment. In 1972, "Emperor of the North" was filmed on the railroad, using a mix of OP&E equipment and some purchased specifically for the film. 19 carried the iconic "State of Oregon" herald on the tender, designed for appearance in the film, during this time and into as late as 1974. It was then repainted to use the "Blue Goose" logo used by other Kyle-owned roads. 19 continued to pull Blue Goose trains into the 1980s when Hollywood once again came to the line and parts of the coming-of-age classic "Stand By Me" were filmed. 19 appeared in the movie in the scene where Corey Feldman plays chicken with an oncoming train. In 1987, 19 returned to Yreka and continued to pull Blue Goose trains on this line, and was occasionally used in freight service. 19 stayed in Yreka into the 21st century. It became the subject of several legal battles where some work performed on the engine was never paid for. Eventually, it was auctioned off in a sheriff sale where it was purchased by Jerry Jacobson. 19 is currently in the backshop at the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum undergoing its 15-year inspection work for return to operation. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I can't quite remember when exactly I began this model, but it came together digitally in late 2019, and I began ordering parts and assembling the locomotive in early 2020. It's taken a while to complete, mostly due to the refining of several details, not the least of which being the running gear and artwork. The details on this engine are particular, especially given my familiarity with the real one. I modeled 19 to accurately portray the engine as it appeared in Emperor of the North. I'm using a Power Functions L motor driving custom wheels at a 1:1 ratio. It gives the engine a good speed but enough power to pull a realistic number of cars. I'm using a Power Functions I.R. receiver and a 7.4v 700mAh battery due to limited space. I'll write more about every detail on the model in accompanying photos of the model. I say it every time, but this time, I really mean it: I'm incredibly happy to have the model complete. I should call it version one, as I'll undoubtedly build another copy of this model with new techniques in the future - I already have a few ideas. I've learned a lot between the time I started designing this and now, and I'd love to have more than one model of 19 anyway. It may never be as big or technically impressive as some other models I've built, but 19 will always have something the others don't. It is, by far, my favorite steam locomotive. I'd write about why here, but I'm already putting a lot of words under this photo, so I'll invite viewers to see the next photo for why 19 is my favorite. As always, I've shared more photos to my Flickr in this album: And I've uploaded a video to YouTube detailing the model here: *** I have omitted a large chunk of this post for sake of brevity. If anyone would like to know the reasons why 19 is my favorite, I invite you to enjoy this photo and its description: Thank you for reading. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year. Glenn Holland

"Masterpiece" Spending so much time at the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, one will really begin to appreciate everything in their collection, not to mention the facility itself. Everything from the extraordinary to mundane will find its way into your mind and heart. I must admit that in my years of steam locomotive research and enjoyment, the Nickel Plate 700's did not strike me. For whatever reason, they just didn't click with me. I'm not sure what it was, but obviously, that's changed now. Cale and I modeled 765 way back in 2017 when we were still figuring out Brick Model Railroader. It took some convincing, but we eventually decided that Nickel Plate Road 765 would be our first collaborative steam locomotive model. We had a running model that needed some adjustment, but quickly became disinterested in the project due to external factors. We were never quite happy with where we left this project, and vowed to each other that we would return to the model some day to do it again, properly. Several years later, in late October 2021, and on a whim, I laid out a scaled wheelbase in stud.io, just to see what it would look like. I left the file alone for a couple more months until the Holiday season of 2021. I began thinking about a Nickel Plate Berkshire running around a Christmas tree, inspired by the amazing "Travel Refreshed" speculative project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2mU6jVcv4w&ab_channel=FortWayneRailroadHistoricalSociety This set my mind racing with thoughts of the late 1940's when large mainline superpower led "hotshot manifest" trains through the heart of America. If there was ever a perfect depiction of postwar steam railroading, it was this, and the Nickel Plate Road was the poster child. The Nickel Plate Road connected the farms of the Midwest in St. Louis and Chicago to Buffalo in the east. The road took a fast, level route along the southern edge of the great lakes. A direct competitor to the New York Central, it was purchased by the Vanderbilts in an effort to remove competition. As such, the line was never optimized and operated with older and slower equipment. The Nickel Plate was purchased by Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen, brothers from Cleveland who had controlling interests of several other roads including the Chesapeake & Ohio, Wheeling & Lake Erie, Pere Marquette, Erie, and more. The "Vans" would lead efforts to completely transform the Nickel Plate into the powerhouse bridge road it is remembered as today. One of those efforts included the creation of the Advisory Mechanical Committee (AMC), which served as a design bureau for the roads under control of the Vans. One of the first projects for the AMC was the design of the C&O T-1 class 2-10-4 engines, the largest two cylinder steam locomotives when built. Continuing in efforts to rejuvenate the Nickel Plate, president John Bernet assigned AMC officer William Black the task of designing a super-power locomotive. The result was the Nickel Plate S class of 2-8-4, built by ALCO Schenectady in 1934. The AMC, capitalizing on their winning formula for the T-1, maintained the factor of adhesion just above 4 while scaling down the rest of the locomotive: eliminating the fifth pair of 69" drivers and creating a locomotive with 70% of the tractive effort and 70% of the weight. Unbeknownst to Bernet, Black, and the AMC, they had just captured lightning in a bottle. To truly appreciate why the 700's were such good locomotives, the operating mentality of the Nickel Plate must be understood. The road was a masterpiece of engineering, maintaining a very flat right of way along the mainline, running shorter but faster trains handling bridge traffic over the line. Operating conditions like these coupled with the high-horsepower 700s, there has hardly been a more perfect match of locomotive and railroad. The Berkshires were so effective and loved, the Nickel Plate laughed away EMD diesel demonstrators multiple times until the end of steam in 1958. Even still, several of these locomotives were stored serviceable in anticipation of a traffic spike that never occurred. 763, part of the third batch of Berkshires in total (S-2 class) and second batch from Lima (Works #8671), was one of these locomotives. Officially retired a few years after the end of steam, it stayed in Conneaut, Ohio until 1966 when it was purchased by the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia. 763 remained in Roanoke for several years until it was towed to New Jersey for inspection to pull the American Freedom Train, but other locomotives were selected., and 763 returned to Roanoke. Ohio Central and Age of Steam founder Jerry Jacobson purchased the locomotive from the museum in 2007, returning the engine home to Ohio. It is currently stored inside the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in stall 4, a regular favorite part of any regular public tour. All that to say: I never expected to have such a deep, genuine understanding and appreciation for these engines. It says a lot when someone can connect with a piece of machinery in such a way, and gain understanding of its purpose and reason for existing. The 700s were truly magnificent machines. So, in deciding that I was going to model one of these amazing locomotives, I began working in stud.io, and over the course of several months, I came up with what must have been at least a dozen iterations of the rough shape of the engine solely to achieve "the look." With 765 currently operating and with countless fans of the locomotives, the 700's are well recognized and people are going to be able to pick out the details, so any model of one has to be done properly. Once I had the correct shape and proportions, I filled in gaps and rebuilt section after section until I had a completed digital model in June of this year. By then, I had just seen 765 operate in person for the second time and was feeling inspired, so work on the custom wheels and connecting rods progressed alongside. Refining, trial, failure, adjustment, and testing continued until December 2022 when I completed the physical model. Naturally, I had to model 763 specifically, being the preserved example at Age of Steam. Under the hood this model is identical to my Mohawk: a pair of Power Functions L motors geared 1:1 driving the third axle, each operating from its own Power Functions IR receiver, and powered by a Tenergy 7.4v 2200 mAh battery. 763 operates smoothly and without issue thanks to the drive train design and high-quality printing of the wheels, rods, and valve gear. Drivers and trailing wheels designed by me and printed by Rob Hendrix, all rods and valve gear designed by me and printed through Shapeways. All artwork was faithfully recreated by Cale Leiphart. Decals printed by OKBrickWorks and UV printed number boards and bearing caps are from Richard Glatter. Thank you all for your help with this project. Having completed and published Buffalo Creek & Gauley 13, Morehead & North Fork 12, and now Nickel Plate Road 763, my Age of Steam collection grows. Those who know me personally understand that I'm not one to brag about my work. However, I feel I must say that I think I've outdone myself with this model. I would say this is the most new, ground-up design of locomotive I have built in a while. I've achieved detail and accuracy that I haven't seen on even some traditional scale models, and it all works together to make 763 perhaps my best model yet. A masterpiece of a masterpiece, if you will. As 2022 winds down, I'm elated to publish this locomotive and check it off the list. As I mentioned earlier this year, I've had a lot in progress recently so wrapping something up feels fantastic. There's a bit more in store for the immediate future, but we'll get to that later. As always, thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone for their support of my work through comments, questions, and compliments. It is always sincerely appreciated and I am thankful to be a part of such a fun community. More photos here: Video here: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Glenn Holland

Of all shown below, credit is due to Zephyr1934, SavatheAggie, and TJJohn12 for making awesome models / instructions that helped me with this. Below you will see breakdowns of all these trains. Conjunction Junction, Katy Caboose, and 2-8-0 "Consolidation" This 2-8-0 engine pulls the Conjunction Jct. freight train along with Katy Caboose, who brings up the train's rear. In 2010, I bought instructions for @SavaTheAggie's "2-8-0 Consolidation" six-wide steam locomotive from Bricklink. I never really used them beyond learning techniques for useful building steam engines that could actually take curves - unlike my own late 2009 4-4-0 MOC that worked well only on straight track! You can see Sava's original 2-8-0 model here (in red / yellow with oil tender) at his new-ish online home for his awesome instructions. Both sets of instructions were dusted off recently, and I used the boiler design for this loco seen here. I had to shorten the engine to make it fit in a three and a half track space, otherwise the original cab and other items would be here. (Basically, all that remains from those instructions is the boiler.) The tender is smaller than the one Sava used, but it must fit inside the loco shed I'm building. The first two (NOT + THIS) are obviously Boxcars. The BUT tanker (most likely hauling Butane) and THAT boxcar. Next up, AND (which is possibly a refrigerated goods wagon) plus an OR (ore) hopper. Heavily inspired by a @zephyr1934 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, from which mine was reverse-engineered via pictures. Emerald Express and 2-6-0 "Mogul" This 2-6-0 engine pulls my Emerald Express heavyweight passenger train. I had to change out the Pacific as the Sava-inspired 4-6-2 wouldn't fit in my train shed as it was too long for the stall. So, I slapped a new boiler (identical to the style used on the 4-6-2 Pacific) on my older set 7597-style 2-6-0 and thus this Sava-style 2-6-0 was created. As for the 2-8-0, I removed the walkways on that locomotive to make it better match the 2-6-0. The tender is the same one I used before on my newer 4-4-0's and 2-6-0's and is identical to the 2-8-0's as well.  This combination baggage and passenger car (known as a combine) relies heavily on techniques taken from the Disney Retlaw baggage car MOC instructions by @TJJohn12.  The two identical day coaches have inset doors I designed myself.  The observation car of the Emerald Express. The rear deck isn't the best, but it works using the parts available in dark green... a not too common color in some brick varieties! 4-8-2 "Mountain" Eight years ago, I bought instructions from @SavaTheAggie's Bricklink shop (back when you could sell custom instructions on the site) for a green 4-6-2 'Pacific' type steam loco. I never really used them, up until now. I added a more modern frame, smaller wheels, pistons and my own tender. I also added 2 more driving wheels to make it into a 4-8-2 Mountain-type steam loco. All that remains from those instructions is the boiler and basic 7-wide cab "look". (I also obviously changed the color to be mostly red.) You can see Sava's original model here (in regular green with oil tender), at his new-ish online home for his awesome instructions. The tender is basically the same one I used before on my newer 4-4-0's, 2-8-0, and 2-6-0, although it's been stretched two studs for this loco. It's actually not much smaller than the original one Sava built for his Pacific. The cab controls. As you may have noticed, I'm using parts stolen from my 'Haunted Engine' project all over this engine as it wasn't exciting me that much anymore and I was running into issues with finding parts. NOTES: 2-8-0 and 2-6-0 Models completed as of 7/19/22. Two orders down, two to go! (The rest of the parts are coming today / tomorrow.) I will update this thread when it's done as soon as I can. Thoughts?

The 4-10-4 (four leading, ten driving, four trailing) "Rainhill" wheel arrangement was so named after the Rainhill Trials of October 1829 in Rainhill, England of which the famous Rocket was the only entrant to complete the Trials. The Rainhill type was designed in 1927 and built in early 1928, though it was originally called the "Gigantic" type, but the planned Centenary of Steam celebration sealed the deal on the naming of the type. (Unfortunately, the plans for the potential celebration were postponed in July 1928 and finally cancelled one day before the Stock Market Crash of 1929.) The steam locomotive prototype of the 4-10-4 Rainhill type was painted a dark red and gray color-scheme with a light gay box on the tender and was sold by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1928 to Brick Railway Systems, but due to technical teething troubles and because of it's unusual color scheme was nicknamed the Red Demon. The engine worked the trans-continental route on the "pan-American Limited" passenger train from New York to Los Angeles, with the Red Devil or one of it's type worked the portion west from St. Louis to Las Vegas. The Red Demon original engine (number 7957) worked this route from 1930 until being bumped to freight duties in early 1958. The engine then worked freights with it's thirty-nine brother's in diminishing numbers until this one was sidelined in 1971, the last of it's kind. The Red Demon was pulled out of the mothballs in 1973 for potential use on the 1976 American Bicentennial train but politics intervened and Texas and Pacific 2-10-4 number 610 got the job instead. After that, the engine's future looked bleak until the "Save the Red Demon 7957" Committee was formed which raised enough money to restore the engine to working order by 1978 and has kept the engine indoors and in tip-top shape ever since under the Red Demon Incorporated moniker. This company uses five former Brick Railway Systems-styled coaches on fan trips, but they are wholly owned by Red Demon Inc. The tender features the name of the railroad (Brick Railway Systems) on it's side, with a light at the rear and a ladder to the top deck. In reality, there was no 4-10-4 type of steam locomotive. It was strangely skipped over in the age of steam... none of this wheel arrangement were ever built. The name Red Demon was chosen because the 4-14-4 type of Soviet Russia was the closest analogy to my loco... except mine works fine, while the Russian one never did much as it spread the track, ruined switches and pulled the freight cars' couplings apart due to it's raw power. The second reason for the name is the Red Devil, a heavily modified South African 4-8-4 engine with a gas producing combustion system and many modern improvements. That cape gauge engine worked beautifully, but was mothballed in 2003. As of 2018, however, the Red Devil is again puling fan trip trains in South Africa! The three regular coaches, all in the same color scheme as the engine. The Pan-American Limited's observation car. The whole train. Comments, Questions, Complaints, and Suggestions for the future are always welcome! EDIT: 12/8/22: There really is a prototype for everything! I designed a 4-10-4 steam locomotive in 2019, thinking it was a complete work of fiction, as no class had been built to that wheel arrangement. Turns out, I was partially wrong - no class had been built, but one had been designed by Baldwin Locomotive Works, as seen in their online archives! It was a three-cylinder beast drawn up for a road called The Monon (otherwise known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railroad) back in 1928 - not very far off my fictionalized backstory year of 1927 as written by me in 2019.... spooky, right?

DISCLAIMER: This steam locomotive featured below was heavily inspired by pictures of @SavaTheAggie's 4-4-0 from 2007, visible here. I added a tender inspired by another Sava loco (his 4-6-0, also from 2007) as seen here. I also made the front bogie actually connect to the front of the loco. (before, in the original design it was totally free-floating) I also made a few structural / style tweaks here and there, to make it "my own". My dad is getting this loco for his 65th birthday, as I wanted to make him something he would find relatable to his own collection of 1990's / early 2000's 9v era trains, of which he has most of what was released. This engine is meant to go with a few copies of 10015 - Passenger Wagon, and a single 10014 - Caboose will accompany this engine. The loco isn't motorized however, but it can be by removing the tender's wheels and adding in a 9v motor instead. Sadly, when I gave it to him I forgot to get pictures of the whole train together... this older picture will have to do until I can get a proper one taken. Thoughts?

Hi all, since I read the very, very interesting thread about Torben Plagborg creations, I've been trying some new designs (some are just sketches, just to understand how things could work). Now, in this nice thread some nice 12v creations can be seen - but one captured my interest more than others. It's a little blue steamer with a black 12v motor. It seems pretty big, so I'd say it was an 8-wide experiment. In general, all the top shelves are very interesting. Starting from that little steamer, I began to think about a 12v locomotive in 8-wide. So I started designing another small steamer (I'd say a well known prototype): the great Deutsche Bundesbahn BR-80. 8-wide is not a common scale for me - I only tried it two times in my whole life, so it was a trial and error process. I tried to use parts that could have been available in the last 80s /first 90s - during the Phase II of the Gray Era and the advent of 9v era. And here it is...it recalls me a "fat" 7727/7730, with a touch of 7810... 8-wide gives some possibility also to work with odd number of studs (boiler is 5 studs wide instead of the classic 4-wide used in standard 12v steamers). I kept the standard cylinders, the ladders, rods, red buffers and magnets, which fit nicely an keep the 12v feeling alive. I used Some SNOT for the doors, using headlight bricks. Everything was already experimented at the time (e.g. the B-model wagon with horizontal sliding doors in 7735 instructions). Right side is quite symmetrical to the left one, apart some details. 12v motor looks nice, now that the body is correctly larger. Weights can sit on top of the motor - but the model could already be sufficiently heavy to have some decent traction and pulling power. I think adding lights won't be a problem nowadays, but for sure at the time (80s/90s) it could have been an additional challenge ! But...there are some issues that must be noted: The buffers overhang is quite...massive - and this SURELY will create problems with 12v switches, since the buffers will collide with the switching electric mechanism. Coupling wagons on R40 curves could be impossible...since this BR80 is longer than any other 12v locomotive or wagon not based on bogies chassis. Weight of a complete train could be excessive for the poor 12v motors. I think it has been a very fun experiment, a real "12v+" MOC...but being realistic - in my opinion it's too limited by the motor, wheels size...and 12v track geometry itself . Maybe, with 3d printed 12v wheels and a PF-based motor it could work on PF flexible track - but it would then loose 90% of its "vintage" appeal. I'd classify it as "Virtual Shelf Queen" ! Ciao! Davide

Stupid name, I know. It wasn't intended to stick, but here we are... This MOC started out as a chassis test and grew from there. I was trying to build as compact a steam based driveline as possible, similar to my Powered Up Shunter from a while back. While that was the smallest I felt I could go with a Diesel (using strictly LEGO parts and legal techniques only) this was kind of the same exercise but with a steam locomotive. Obviously I couldn't hide a battery box in the loco anywhere, so I made a tender. Not prototypical, I know, but this isn't based on anything in particular. It's fantasy for a fictional railway that doesn't really even exist outside of a couple of locos with the WFLR initials on them! That being said, here is my design process so far. Power Tank Engine MOC on Imgur. Sorry for the whole external host thing. Maybe I'll modify the post once I get time to manually resize all the images and embed them from the Imgur links. For now, the external link will have to do. Sorry! I may convert this into a proper tank engine at some point with a coal bunker on the back and a boxcar for the battery box, but I'm pretty happy with it for now.

This railway engine shed was mostly inspired by user @lightningtiger, who designed the basic Technic frame on his own smaller shed for his town in 2018, and I ran with the technique to create this wooden western-style steam locomotive shed. It is also slightly inspired by by the shed used to store the replica Union Pacific "119" and Central Pacific "Jupiter" 4-4-0 steam locomotive's over at the Golden Spike National Historic Park. (link is to Wikipedia article on the site) located at Promontory Summit, Utah. The shed is 3 1/2 tracks long with a total of 56 studs from back wall to the leading edge of the baseplate. (I ordered 3D printed half-track segments for the model, which aren't in LDD. The model shown uses a full length straight instead, and is thus much longer than it will actually be when finished.) The building also features a cow skull on the front between the locomotive stalls, just to give it that Wild West flair. The roof of the shed is not removable, but it can fold open a bit on clips on either side. The model neatly fits both 4-4-0's I recently made that were inspired by 7597. (These loco's also are heavily inspired by 119 and Jupiter, in case you couldn't tell!) The rear of the shed features a personnel door for workers. Up on the roof, you may have noticed those round black things: they are the vents for smoke and soot from steam engines to exit the building. Slight update to train shed as of 7/14/22: The 3D printed half-track pieces I bought didn't want to attach to the baseplate properly, so they have been removed. Also, the 8x16 bricks were hitting the side-rods of the steam locomotives, so they were replaced with a multitude of 6x8 plates to lower the platform to a height where they wouldn't collide. ...And that's all I have done for now. More real world WIP pictures will comes as soon as possible. As usual, comments, complaints, and suggestions on this model welcome!

I will be taking the Daylight to Brickworld... [to be continued] [album on flickr]

The look of this train was partially inspired by several 4.5v and 12v-era sets, such 7715 / 7818 for the color scheme and 7740 along with it's supplemental sets 7815 and 7819 for the general look of the coaches. Some parts of this train (the coaches) have already been built from about five years back, while the loco is still a WIP for now. This steam locomotive was slightly inspired by the Rhodesia Railways "15th class" that was used in what is now Zimbabwe. This 4-6-4+4-6-4 Garratt type was 74-units strong and was built by Beyer-Peacock and Company starting in 1940, and after WWII from 1947 to 1952 in seven total batches. You can read more about this specific loco class on Wikipedia. My LEGO MOC version is 'fueled' by oil, whereas the real-world 15th class was coal fired. This is one of the reasons why I said it was "inspired by" and not an exact duplicate of a 15th class. However, the front unit does features a prototypical streamlined casing, and the rear unit partially does too. This LEGO model can take some serious curves (much more than what's shown above!), but that's what you get for building a Garratt: it's one of this type of locomotive's strengths. This picture just shows off the articulation points of my MOC, but technically it could split a switch* and still work just fine with the front engine on one track and rear unit on a second one! *NOTE: Don't try that with a real-world steam loco! The doors on the cab of the loco are supposed to be the 1980's ones with blue print on the lower half. Another missing print is on the oil tank hatches, while number / letter tiles go on the front and rear units. (The front unit gets the numbers, while the rear section gets the letters saying LLR, which stands for LegoLand Railroad.) This baggage / passenger car is called a combine which is short for "combination". All the doors can open on this train, even the sliding ones shown here. The three passenger coaches are identical in every way. The observation car, the rear-most coach on the train, features a platform for sight seeing. The steam loco is still being parted out using pieces from the previous streamlined electric engine and from parts from my collection. Until it's done this is a WIP thread, but suggestions / comments / questions are always welcome no matter the project stage. Drop your thoughts below!

(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!

Today i would like to present you a steam powered machine shop like they used to exist before electric power was widespread. It includes a powered up medium motor hidden in the side building and a train hub for powering the line shaft and making everything move. But without further talking here are the pics: as you can see it is still in the wip phase but you get the idea here is a view of the inside. you can see the powered up motor + hub in the small side building. there is a steam engine, its boiler, the line shafts to transmit the rotary power throughout the entire shop,a drill press, a workbench table complete with a benchvise and a lathe. i am planning to add more tools like a vertical mill and/or a shaper to it. a closeup of the steam engine: it features a moving piston rod and crank/flywheel, a flyweight governour and the various oilers necessary to keep the engine running. a closeup of the drillpress: it also has an oiler to oil the bottom bearing and it features an arrangement of belts (not shown here) to get the power to the head of the drillpress to get the drill spinnnign a closeup of the lathe: this one was inspired by nwbricks on rebrickable but was modified to work and look like a belt driven lathe with its two pulleys for selecting different speeds for turning various diameters and the obligatory oilers that these early bearings needed to keep running smoothly. the build was heavily inspired by Dave Richards from youtube who has built himself a workshop just like back in the steam era days complete with various steam powered metal working machines. Hope you like my model(s)!

Ever since buying my first copy of Toy Story 3 LEGO set 7597 in May / June 2010, I've wanted to make the steam engine in the set look more realistic. The lack of tender bothered me greatly, and so did a few other things I talk about below. I created my first steam loco MOC I could call my own from it's framework, but that failed hard to even make turns at all when built in real life. (I suspect R120 wouldn't even work with that model.) So, it was scrapped in 2012 after sitting around for two years despite my best attempts to get it working. The Lone Ranger sets came out the following year, and I forgot about the odd 7597 engine as years went by and my skills increased. Then, in July / August of this year, a decade after I bought the original copy, I saw set 7597 sitting complete in a window of my local LEGO resale store. It was purchased, and I started working on a design soon thereafter. Of course, the person who purchased it for me (It cost a bit) wouldn't let me get at it physically until November, but nonetheless, here is that design all polished up and ready to roll into your collection via the free LDD file you can find at the end of this post. The locomotive as it is in LDD upon opening the file, which you will find at the bottom of this post. Almost all the needed parts for this MOD are grouped in the file. Everything else should already be on the stock loco model from the set, though it will need to be mostly taken apart to allow you to rebuild it with my changes. if you are building the MOD from set 7597, there are only two printed 1 x 4 green bricks on the tender that should be printed like so. However, if you are building the loco from scratch, use four of the above parts, (two on tender, two on the loco) and one of these 2 x 2 red printed bricks for the number on the headlight. 99.8% of the parts needed for the conversion from the set are shown above. The printed parts are unprinted as shown, and the red wheels are shown, but not available from BrickLink. You will need need one of these custom wheel parts packs in red color (plus 4x part 2878 for holding said custom wheels) for the tender wheels from BrickTracks to complete the tender. Among my changes, I lowered the loco cab floor of my copy of 7597 (Western Train Chase) loco by a brick or so to compensate for the roof being a brick fewer height-wise and to better match the floor of the tender. This still allows for the taller 2010 Toy Story figures to still fit inside the loco cab, and also making for a smoother transition from train cars to steam engine. This change also made the left-to-right swiveling driving wheel section impossible to keep, (I didn't like it anyway!) and by extension the front bogie had to change too. Thus, the connection to the leading wheels from the driving wheels was changed to a 10194-syle design to allow for you to push the train on the track without derailing. I also never liked the awkward original piston design in 7597, so I changed it to have a more stable, non-floppy connection to the engine via a double Technic pin connector. Actual working cylinders connected to the new side rods will never be a thing on this engine due to the way the pistons are attached to the new moving front bogie instead of the boiler, but I can mimic the effect pretty well with the design I have here. You can find the LDD file here at my Bricksafe page for it. I haven't quite finished taking pictures of my version of the model, but this photo of it and it's sister loco (dark blue steamer NOT Included in file!) will do for now. Please note, the model shown has color changed side-rods and "pistons" due to parts I had on hand from my collection. It isn't quite like the LDD file because the parts in said file are cheaper when colored like they are. (Thought I'd save you guys a couple dollars / yen / rubles / euros, etc.) Plus, it makes my different than everybody else's! Thoughts?

Hello, our latest moc train-base, we tried a 0-10-0 and it works fine in normal lego curves :

Hello guys: today i would like to present you a small steam locomotive based on the ones used in industrial or logging settings in the early days of steam locomotives. it isnt based off of any real prototype, i just wanted to capture the look and feel of one of these locos. it features a moving piston that moves up and down as the locomotive moves. sadly it is not motorized as there was just no space to do so. Hope you like the model and happy new year to all of you!

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.