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Showing results for tags 'consolidation'.
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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? -
Rotary snow plow YO with 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt (Double Consolidation) and caboose - finally FINISHED!
Murdoch17 posted a topic in LEGO Train Tech
This rotary plow-fronted train is ready to keep the other trains running in the worst winter weather using good old-fashioned steam power! 100% fictional history of the steam engine type (and the whole train, really): In late-1929, Thomas Carter was Chief Mechanical Engineer for Brick Railway Systems (BRS), and on vacation to visit family in New Zealand. He was about to get on the train in Christchurch, when he was passed by a new NZR "G" class 4-6-2+2-6-4 Garratt steam engine. Remembering how he was having problems getting the next "big thing" built back in America, and that he was having a steam power crunch when it came to rotary snow plow duty up in the Rocky Mountains, he contacted the engine's manufacturer, Beyer, Peacock and Company, and talked about a possible contract in America using the New Zealand "G"class as a starting point. Once he got home to BRS company HQ in St. Louis, Missouri, he got the upper management's final okay, and began final design on the new "DC" class of Garratts. (DC standing for Double Consolidation, as it is really just two Consolidation 2-8-0 type loco wheel-set's back-to-back with one boiler.) All in all, six of these (assigned numbers 4834 - 4840 by the railroad) were made as a trial run in 1930, but the Great Depression worsened in 1931-33 so no more were ever ordered. (originally, 10 locos more were planned for general freight service but were never built, which would have brought the grand total up to 16 engines.) Six engines were permanently paired off of with a dual snow plow team: two DC engines on each plow, with each engine team working the two track main line, one team per track, one way, until they met at the halfway point of Continental Divide (also known as the town of Summit Point), which was a vital steam-era crew exchange and refueling point near a inter-state highway. The third team of two engines and it's plow (The one marked YO seen above) was used as replacement engine for the two crews already mentioned, and were only used if another rotary crew was down for regular maintenance or due to an accident. After diesels came on the scene to replace the steamers (plows and engines alike) in the mid-to-late 1950's, the only two steam engines left of the DC type in North America were pushing the spare steam rotary plow YO. One of these locomotives (no. 4840) was found to have a severely rusted water tank and front engine frame, and was thus kept for spare parts to keep the other loco (no. 4839) running. This severely impacted the surviving engine's ability to push the rotary plow hard enough to make it through the dense banks of Colorado snow. After a few unsuccessful modification attempts to keep the 34-year old engine going, it was decided to send the entire train (plow, engine, and caboose used for the train) to a railroad museum in Missouri. They would also be sent with all the remaining parts from engine 4840 as it might be prudent to re-steam the engine in the future. So, in 1963, the YO and 4839 were sent to National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, where it still sits today. (The following part of the story is actually true!) 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 a 2010 Toy Story printed part for the "YO" designation. Oh, and yes, the front "blade" does spin around, but is not motorized. This model has been updated since the last time I uploaded this, with a better plow shroud because the old one would fall off when I looked at it funny. This one is not upside down on the bottom half like the old one, but it is MUCH more sturdy. (I was inspired by @dr_spock's rotary snowplow to build my own plow. Take a look at his Flickr as he's got a bunch of cool designs there!) The rear of the plow features the coal tender with a ladder from the water tank-top down to the magnetic coupler. (Before anyone says anything about Garratt loco's not being ever sold into the North American market, I'll say this is not from our reality, this is my own railroad mirror-world and does not follow our history as closely as it could. I mean, I've got steam loco's running into the 1970's on main lines hauling premier passenger trains for goodness sake!) This engine was originally inspired by two SRW locomotive works products. (Both were Garratt models made by @SavaTheAggie and formerly available on Bricklink until LEGO sadly removed his instructions) I reworked the model from Sava's 4-6-2+2-6-4 to a 2-8-0+0-8-2. I also added the forward water tank and aft coal bunker from his 2-4-0+0-4-2 Garratt, a custom boiler designed by me and medium Big Ben Bricks drivers to make it from a fast passenger loco into a slow freight hauler. (or in this case, a snow plow pusher!) The engine is flexible to a degree more than this, but not by much. It goes though R40 curves and switches just fine, though. A simple caboose, for the protecting the rear of the snow plow train. I used a pair interesting windscreen parts for the cupola windows. Inspired partially by 2001 My Own Train set 10014, (Caboose) but in blue. NOTES: Finally finished 10/7/2020!