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This long journey started in November 2021 with a used copy of Toy Story 3 set 7597 - Western Train Chase - bought from a local Lego resale shop here in St. Louis. I quickly expanded the loco to have a tender, then working pistons, and finally rolling stock. I was then inspired by the original 1955 engines from Disneyland for a second coal-burning loco, (the C.P. Jupiter and U.P. 119 from the Last Spike Ceremony of 1869 was also an inspiration!) and then awhile later a 4-2-4T styled after the C.P. Huntington. (This became a 2-4-4T last December.) The 4-10-0 was originally 8-wide, and was built before I got the 7597 set in August 2021. I never liked it in eight wide, (I never even photographed it in that form) and when I was taking apart all my eight wide MOCs recently, I took pity on it and converted it into 6 wide to preserve it. Then, I took photos of all the locos... I still haven't finished some of the freight cars, so the rolling stock will be added later. (I promise it won't be three more years!) All rolling stock added 6/1/24! The trains all together, minus the rolling stock. This 4-4-0 pulls my passenger train This was the first engine finished. Rear of loco No. 1. It's styled as a mid-to-late 1860's wood burning loco. You could also say it is likened to the Jupiter and the Gov. Stanford of Central Pacific Railroad fame. The passenger cars were styled after three sources: the one in set 7597 - Western Train Chase, set 10015 - Passenger Wagon, and the Disneyland and Santa Fe 'Retlaw 1' MOC's made by @TJJohn12. This is my coal burning 4-4-0 (numbered 8), and pulls my railroad executive's train. The front of the coal-burning locomotive. This MOC is modeled after a early-to-mid 1870s loco, but it could be considered to partially resemble the Union Pacific 119 from the Last Spike ceremony of 1869. The combination baggage / sleeper car is for my railway executive's train. This car's purpose and paint scheme is actually inspired by a car owned by the (fictional) Wasatch and Nevada Railroad in the 1975 Western / thriller 'Breakheart Pass', based off the novel of the same name by Alistair MacLean. This private car was based off the same source material as the tan sleeper / baggage car, which is the film Breakheart Pass. In the film, the car was named 'Fairchild', after the fictional Nevada Governor played by Richard Crenna in the film. As to why Abraham Lincoln is standing at the back of the car even though he is actually long dead by the 1870's, I have but one answer: because it looks cool to have him there! The 2-4-4 tank engine I'm using as a switcher, and is seen here moving a cut of freight cars. In my fictional backstory I wrote, loco No. 4 was originally a 0-4-4 Forney loco that soon needed a leading two wheel pony truck to operate better at speed and keep wear down on the front set of driving wheels. Of course, in reality, it was first built as a 4-2-4T like the C.P. Huntington you can still see in the California State RR Museum, or at you local Zoo / amusement park, as smaller-scale replicas are made by Chance Rides for places like that. This coal-hauling hopper car was modified from 2007 set 10183 - Hobby Trains - specifically, it was alt model 28 - Gondola. The tanker car you see was inspired by part of the 1997 set 2126 - Train Cars. This green boxcar was taken directly from 2011 set 3677 - Red Cargo Train. The caboose was inspired by set 10014 - Caboose - and set 7597 - Western Train Chase. This monster of a steam engine hauls my freight train. This loco (No. 3) is modeled after the only 4-10-0 to ever run on US Rails. This, of course, was the 1883-vintage El Gobernador. (Spanish for "the Governor") The real locomotive was a colossal failure, but this one is (in my fictional backstory) built from the plans with the mistakes corrected, making the loco a good drag-freight engine. The rear of the engine, with it's tender being two studs longer than the others. The cannons on this flat car were inspired by 2013 Lone Ranger set 79106 - Calvary Builder Set. This drop-side gondola was inspired by the one in 2022 set 60336 - Freight Train. This red boxcar was lifted from 2006 set 7898 - Cargo Train Deluxe. The caboose was inspired by set 10014 - Caboose - and set 7597 - Western Train Chase, but done in yellow instead. This loco (No. 5) is a 4-6-0 wood-burning steam loco. The 'look' of the engine was inspired by the Baltimore and Ohio loco 'Thatcher Perkins' from 1863, but with a different, more colorful paint scheme. The rear of the loco, which does not have a train assigned to it... yet. Anyway, that's all I got. Comments, questions, and other things like that are welcome!

This Blacktron 1 colored passenger train is modeled after the General Motors Aerotrain concept of 1955. I modified the engine to have two bogies (one of which can be replaced with a 9V motor to power the train) instead of the one bogie and one fixed axle of the original. The passenger cars were lengthened from 16 to 24 studs and Jacob's bogies placed in two spots to lessen the part count. (Yes, it bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain other space train of mine... let's just say some espionage was involved concerning the CS design plans for that train!) The train will be used on my Blacktron space base, shuttling VIP's around on tours of my base. Alternatively, it could be used to get personnel to / from the base and the off-site living quarters. (you can read more about my Blacktron fleet in it's own thread in the Sci-Fi forum.) The windows in the train were difficult to get right, but I managed to attach them. Inverted trans-yellow 2x2 slopes that would make this way easier are coming in a set releasing in March, but I'm not waiting that long! (The tail car is currently missing a few parts for the roof.) The cab roof is removable and a driver can be placed at the controls, but the coaches are totally impossible to get into due to the construction techniques used. (Also, two control panel double-cheese slopes, two 1x1 number tiles, and two radiator donut tiles are missing from the model, among a few other parts.) As for when this will be built in the real world, it will be soon. The last few parts for the train were ordered 1/14/25. Update 1/15/25! This space train station (named 'Base Terminus') is to be used with my retro-futuristic Blacktron passenger train to get staff and VIP's to and from the space base. (Some printed parts are not in the picture, but they will be when it's built in real life.) Thoughts?

"Sometimes, late at night, you can hear the whistle wail with a spooky, screechy sound like a wheel gone off the rail; and up in the smoky clouds, you can almost recognize the ghost of a crazy engineer with fiery cinder eyes; I say, Whoo-whoo! Can't you hear the haunted train? Whoo-whoo! Waiting on a haunted train I'm gonna, crash that engine, you know, only sticks and stones and old conductors' bones remain..." This steam loco was from the first animated train cartoon I ever saw when I was very small (three years old, from what I'm told), and is one of my favorites, easily beating The Brave Engineer (1950's Disney cartoon) and only being bested by The Polar Express film! I got the basic looks for the model from a single screenshot of the 1990's Nickelodeon cartoon show "Hey Arnold!". The engine seem to be based on Norfolk and Western K-1 class 4-8-2, but is apparently owned by Great Northern as evidenced by the tender writing. You can read more about the haunted engine, it's known story, and even potential theories for why it crashed here on the Arnold wiki. (yes, that's a thing, and credit to Paul Welch on Flickr for bringing this info to my attention.) The following text is from the wiki page for the episode: "As shown in the episode of the same name (Haunted Train), the legend concerns the phantom locomotive, Old Engine 25. Forty years ago (from original broadcast date, so November 1956), during a movement from the train yard to Union Station, Engine 25's engineer suddenly went insane. Defying signals and warnings to slow down, he intentionally derailed the engine and its train which slid down a high embankment. However, no wreckage was found beyond the engineer's severed hand, still clutching a part of Engine 25's throttle. According to the legend, the engineer drove the train straight to the fiery underworld, and now once a year on the anniversary of the engine's derailment, returns aboard Engine 25 with the intent of collecting new passengers to return to the underworld with him." There is even a song used over the closing credits of the episode, sung by the ghostly crazed engineer who drove his train all the way to hell (see first portion of post for that song!) And yes, I know a steam engine is not a entire train... it may partially make up a train, but it itself is not a train. The front of the ghostly locomotive. The engine's boiler is a highly modified version of one seen on this Rebrickable MOC by @Plastic_Goth (only the boiler is partially reused, I designed everything else myself). The rear of the engine. Inside of the engine's cab. The baggage car. Three coaches. The observation-lounge car. Yeah, I know the engine from the Hey Arnold! cartoon episode 'Haunted Train ' only had a ghost engineer. But I thought a ghostly conductor would be a good addition, and I just couldn't resist. You will note the loco's fireman is not present here; he must've jumped off just before the wreck and survived, so he isn't a ghost. (some fan theory's say Arnold's grandpa was the fireman, as he did work for the railroad and saw first hand what happened during the wreck) ...Would you look at that! It's the anniversary tonight of the wreck! Won't you go on a lovely train ride with me? Thoughts welcome! UPDATE 1/3/25: Whole post updated with pictures of the train, including the new passenger cars!

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

This 7-wide steam loco began life as a 2-8-4 Berkshire type built by @Plastic_Goth and purchased from Rebrickable a seen here. This train features an 4-8-4 "Northern" -type steam engine that was purchased and modified a month ago from the link posted above. However, it still hasn't been bought parts-wise IRL. The coaches are just recolored and modified versions of my dark green / black Emerald Express cars, with the rear car having a rounded window instead of a open platform. I upped the wheel count by another leading axle, making it into a 4-8-4 Northern-type from the original 2-8-4 Berkshire. The pistons are entirely my own work, as is the 7-wide tender. I chose the Wabash Frisco and Pacific as the name of the owner of the engine, because the real world ride-on 12-inch gauge railway is re-opening soon (Yay!) and because I felt the shark-nose Baldwin diesel units (plus the passenger train as well) I made in a similar paint scheme could use some company. The coal tender will have the letters W-F-P on the side, standing for Wabash Frisco & Pacific, while the cab will feature the number 2980 on both sides. This is a scrambled homage to real world WFP 4-8-2 engine 928, which is so strong, it's pulled every piece of rolling stock the railroad owns -at one time- with ease! The inside of the cab features two gauges and the firebox door. This combination baggage and passenger car (known as a combine) relies heavily on techniques taken from Retlaw baggage car built by @TJJohn12, as seen here. The three identical coaches have inset doors I designed myself. The streamlined observation car of this train should feature two of these windows in white (which sadly aren't in LDD).

I'm working on an open summer wagon. The prototype has an overhanging roof with a horizontal blue support running under it. I've used jumpers on the end windows and on top of each vertical support to centre a 7w roof. Then I've used jumpers to fill in the rest of the horizontal support between the windows. Is there a better way to do this?

Here in Portugal I've always felt alone when it comes to model trains, I've never had other people who could discuss ideas and improve my constructions, there are people who have tried to make replicas of Portuguese trains, but actually here it's everyone for themselves and I feel I have nothing new to learn with them. I aspire to know more and I've been following the work of Dutch colleagues for a long time, I decided to send a message to a distinguished builder, who has works that I love, @raised I told him I was interested in taking the leap to 8wide and if I could make some constructions inspired by his ideas. The answer was positive, and he present me to another two great builders, Erwin and Nicolas, since then after some study I have done my first 8 wide project, Replica of newly recovered Arco carriages. Biggest challenge was making the sides of the carriage. on the boggies I got some help from Raised. The first pieces are already on their way to make this real. Lego - CP Arco by Sérgio Batista, no Flickr CP 2627 by Nelso Silva, no Flickr

The Interstellar Zephyr transports Nexus Force personnel as a very high-speed, high-security ground transport between the northern-most city of St. Nicklaus and north-pole-hugging outpost of Ice Station Odyssey, around 500 miles away. (this all takes places on the ice-bound planet of Beta Polaris, which orbits what we here call the North Star, far away from Earth.) Unlike the slower Earth trains, this Zephyr type of space-train is super-streamlined, and can go up to speeds of up to 110 MPH (135 is the loco's top possible speed) on it's special track, with super-elevated curves and long straight-a-way's over hundreds of miles, all while using Positive Train Control (PTC) on the the mostly double-track mainline, where all vehicle crossings are flyovers and switches virtually non-existent once out of St. Nicklaus city limits. This train runs along with nine other identical versions of this train (10 total trains in all) on the route with up to seven in running order on the route and at least two in the maintenance shed / in emergency backup storage at any one time. You may have noticed the train model is NOT in the original light gray "stainless steel" of the original Pioneer Zephyr on which is was (kind-of) based. The orange and white color scheme is because it's for my Nexus Force theme... to be honest, it's not even really a Zephyr that much anymore. It's more of a mix of the Pioneer Zephyr and several other concepts that began in the 1930's - '50's era, like the dome car. (To call it a hodgepodge would be accurate!) This model features three joined cars, with the power car up front, a coach, diner-dome in the middle, another coach, then the observation lounge at the rear. None of the car's roof sections come off, and their is no interior, to save on costs when this model is built in real life. The repurposed 2014 CITY Arctic logo slope on the rear of the lounge car is a missing print, as are the three dark bluish gray "donut" tiles on the loco unit. (these parts should have a engine fan / rotor print) The train uses only a few magnets to sperate the train in the middle, as having Jacobs bogies throughout with my current storage setup would have been unwise. This also leaves open the possibility for future expansion of a car or two... maybe a dome car could be in the cards somewhere down the line? (Yes, I know no shovel-nose Zephyr ever had domes... but this isn't a normal Zephyr, now is it?) You can see more details on the arctic / space base shown above in this thread in the Sci-Fi forum. Be warned, it needs to be updated with some newer pictures of stuff I designed! Thoughts on this model? EDIT 5/10/22: model completely revised and updated. EDIT #2 5/11/22 Three hundred parts found, 737 left to go on my space Zephyr. (the wrong colored window glass will be popped out an replaced when it's needed) The dome car, is not included in the totals either way as I'm still not sure it would work out to build it... even if I did make it work, I would be buying almost every single part on it. So, basically, it won't even be attempted for a while. Also, I got the shovel-nose built except for two orange slope parts.

These two trains comprise my space-train fleet for the Nexus Force, one streamlined passenger train, and one generic freight train. You can see more the Nexus Force stuff in this thread here in the Space sub-forum. It features a modular base, trucks, crawlers, and several spaceships, along with the mini-figures. (human or otherwise!) The Moonlighter train is owned by the Nexus Force, and is a retro-futuristic stream-liner mix of old-school steam technology, but with hyper-modern safety features designed specifically for use by Nexus Force personnel as a very high-speed, high-security ground transport between the northern-most city of St. Nicklaus and north-pole-hugging outpost of Ice Station Odyssey, around 500 miles away. (this all takes places on the ice-bound planet of Beta Polaris, which orbits what we here call the North Star, far away from Earth.) Thus this makes it a space train! Unlike the slower Earth trains, the Moonlighter type of space-train is super-streamlined, and can go up to speeds of up to 110 MPH (135 is the loco's top possible speed) on it's special track, with super-elevated curves and long straight-away's over hundreds of miles, all while using Positive Train Control (PTC) on the the mostly double-track mainline, where all vehicle crossings are flyovers and switches virtually non-existent once out of St. Nicklaus city limits. This train runs along with nine other identical versions of this train (10 total trains in all) on the route with up to seven in running order on the route and at least two in the maintenance shed / in emergency backup storage at any one time. They are numbered 200 through 210. The Nexus Force logo on the nose of the Moonlighter streamlined casing, (near the smokestack) and the rear of the observation car, while the engine's number (207) goes under the cab windows. The two forward tanks are for oil, and the rear tank is for water. The engine is equipped with a water scoop (like on the old New York Central steam locomotives) for refilling the water tank on the fly. There is a ladder from the tender-top deck to the coupler level behind the engine for access to the trailing passenger cars, and two ladders on either side of the steam loco for entry into the enclosed control cab. Three of these passenger cars go on the Moonlighter, with two before the dome car and one immediately after it. The recessed panels are the platform doors. One of these vista-dome cars goes in the middle of the train. (You may have noticed there are no exterior platform doors on this car. I decided not to add them because they didn't look good with the dome.) The rear observation car is currently missing it's rear curved windows, but it will have them when built IRL. The Nexus Force logo goes on the rear of this car, as previously mentioned above. After 45-ton locomotive 2011 has arranged a freight train in the Nexus force spaceport's yard, a electric main-line loco has arrived on scene to pull it's train to the some 500+ miles distant city of St. Nicklaus. This larger locomotive is numbered 99, and is running with a mobile armored cannon unit for the journey ahead, as it runs through some areas that could be ripe for an ambush by enemy forces, as you never know where the Maelstrom might have agents in deep cover or have planted ambushes alongside the line. A train was derailed and attacked last month in Avalanche Canyon by pirates, which is why the railroad is taking no more chances while it's position is being currently fortified all along the route. The other cars being pulled are: a flatcar carrying Commander Bob's 1960's sports car (going for it's yearly tune-up in town), a fully-loaded gasoline tanker, bathtub gondola with ice boulder load, and a bay-window caboose for the train's rear-end crew and a few more soldiers... just in case! This orange and white electric locomotive was inspired by the preliminary version of set 60198. (2018 Freight train) The inside is accessible via the removable roof sections. This model was inspired by this armored train MOC, that was itself inspired by the movie "Castle in the Sky" and it's armored train therein. The road vehicle model is partially inspired by Lola the car from the TV show Agents of Shield. (although this one doesn't fly) The sports car doesn't have great off-road capabilities, so it has to be trucked in on a flatcar to the remote space base. This fuel tanker is filled with gasoline or diesel fuel for use in the space base's land vehicles. Usually two or three tanker cars are sent into the base every couple weeks for refueled the on-base supply. This bathtub gondola is filled with ice boulders that have frozen ancient lifeforms trapped inside. The Nexus Force is sending them to a specialist laboratory off-world to have the DNA decoded and the beings themselves studied. Due to height clearance issues in St. Nicklaus city, regular-height cupola caboose types are forbidden. So, the bay window type is used instead. This moon base-like space base model is where the Moonlighter travels to, and was inspired by set 60036 (Arctic Base Camp), with a rooftop shield generator partially lifted from set 75098 (Assault on Hoth) and a sensor array inspired by set 76157 (Wonder Woman VS. Cheetah) The base consists of eight separate, interchangeable, modular sections, all of which have opening roof / wall sections for ease of access. These sections include (but are not limited too): a common bunk room, a spaceship control tower, a fusion generator, communications room, break room, and several more. As you can see, I joined the base to the rail-line with a short siding for freight deliveries, and for the servicing of steam locomotives on services such as the Moonlighter.

Hi there! This is my debut publication and let me present to you this Swiss Electric Locomotive, reproduced as faithfully as possible from the SBB Be 4/6 locomotive. This is a minifig-scale model. The model has a removable roof. Inside the model are: two electric motors, transformer, tools (4 pieces), compressor (x2) and a tool suitcase. The set includes a figure of a train driver with a briefcase: Inside the cab Front view New design of pantograph - first variant: ... and second variant: The first variant is not pretty enough, but it allows the pantograph to fold. The second variant is more elegant and plausible, but does not allow the pantograph to fully add up. This model can be motorized with the 1x 8809 and 2 x88013 Powered Up kit. Model info: Length: 50 cm (45 studs), Width: 9 cm (6/7 studs). Total parts: 1140. If you like this model, you can support it on LEGO IDEAS Thank you for your attention! I hope you enjoy this locomotive!

The engine seen below originally came as a generic British 2-6-0 from the Block Junction website, to which I added two extra leading wheels and a new paint scheme inspired by that found on London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway locomotives around the turn of the 20th century. But wait, you say, there were no 4-6-0's in that time period on that railway, or even ever painted in that scheme later on! I know that, consider this a experimental one-off that was a hushed-up trial in superheating. (or something similar they were trying back then) Anyway, a group of close friends and business leaders bought the one-off loco from a backlogged scrap dealer in the early 1930's and preserved it. (These people later became the LEGO Rail Transportation Society in the late 1940's, saving more and more rolling stock and locomotives before saving a to-be-torn-up branch line during the Beeching Cuts of the mid-1960's.) The engine was repainted to LBSC colors somewhere in that time, and re-allocated it's old number X1, designating it as a experimental engine. Over the years, the engine was restored to working order, and had it's troublesome super-heater removed entirely and replaced with a better one. It now runs as a mixed-traffic loco, puling tourist passenger and freight trains alike, just as it was designed to do in the late 1890's / early 1900's. The letters LBSC will go on the tender walls, while the engine will feature X1 on it's side. The block junction page I bought the original 2-6-0 from is seen here. Close-up view of the three passenger coaches, from which Annie and Clarabel (from The Railway Series / Thomas and Friends) contributed their designs to the look of. …and here is a close-up view of the guard's coach, which features a compartment for luggage and the guard himself. (That's a UK version of what we call the Conductor here in the States.) NOTES: Now, I know the coaches are a bit short in height by a single brick (or is the loco to tall?) but otherwise it looks odd if I change it to be taller / shorter. Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions? They are all welcome!

The model seen here is originally based upon the Brick City Depot "Winter Village Train Station", which can be seen here. I recently (2018) updated windows and doors to be white to give better contrast to the other chosen colors, and I extended the platform clock away from the wall and double-sided it so both ends of the station can see it. The following is a fictional backstory on Barretts station that I have written. (Their is a real Barretts station in Missouri, but it looks nothing like this an is not as old as my model is supposed to be. That station's history is nothing like this one!) This station was built in 1901 in Barretts, Missouri for use by Brick Railway Systems. It stands on the old Pacific Railway of Missouri right-of-way, which first ran through the area in the mid-1850's. The station is a wooden structure with a stone fireplace, indoor waiting area, and a freight storage room that was added to the station in 1928. The upper floor is for the telegraph operator, which as of 1977 the telegraph has been replaced with a computer for the dispatcher to locate any train in his sector at any time using advanced software. Here is the street side, with the date the depot was built proudly displayed. The upper floor has the computer for the dispatcher. In true Lego City style, their are no stairs to the top floor. (Though I still need to add the coffee machine up here.....) This is the lower floor, with a waiting room and ticket seller. The freight storage room off to the right was added later in the 1920's, and connects to the station via a door cut into the wall. Two sliding doors allow for cargo to be loaded onto the platform side, or out the street side for loading onto a truck. (This freight room also conveniently features a ramp for wheelchair-bound passengers to ascend into the building.) Here is the modular side of things: One left and one right platform, the station proper, the control room and it's roof are all connected by either pins or a very few studs. As usual, comments questions, and complaints are always welcome! EDITED 2/20/17: Updated the screenshots into real-life pictures. EDITED 7/24/18: Updated the model's real-world pictures and associated text.

Welcome aboard the Astro-train! This stream-liner was a mix of the 1910's Earth train called the "Bipolar" built specifically for use by Classic Space forces as high-speed, high-security ground transports for senior level officers such as Benny. Unlike the Earth version, the Astro-train is super-streamlined, and can go up to speeds of up to 400 MPH on special track, with super-elevated curves and long straight-away's of tens of miles.\ BUILDER'S NOTES: In reality, I liked my original take on the Classic Space Aerotrain, but it can't be built due to design and motorization issues. thus, I stretched the design into the model you see here but with my Super Bipolar at the head. This will be able to allow the engine to pull freight cars, (such as Benny's road car on a flat car) too. This model was inspired by both a 1999 version of the original, real-world Bipolar engine built by user Legosteveb and by a digital-only design by @Sunder to create the Super Bipolar you see in my picture above. Note, the two 4 x 2 slopes should have this CS print while the four white 1 x 1 tiles should have this "60" print. Also, a bonus for this engine model is if I ever show off this train at a LEGO show, I can replace the middle wheel-set on the loco with another person's 9V motor swapped in to power the train. This is the baggage car, and like the rest of the train, all the doors open. (Although there are no interior details, so it can be whatever you want it to be inside!) These are the two passenger cars. The observation car. This is the complete train. I'm planning on building this in 2019 in real bricks, at some point, hopefully. Anyway, comments, questions, complaints, and suggestions are always welcome!

This fast electric locomotive and it's train was inspired by sets 4511 (2003's "High Speed Train") and sets 4561 / 4560 (1999's Railway Express), and has been dubbed the "Sunset Streak". The orange stripe on the train can be replaced with green, blue, red, black or yellow, while the white can be replaced with black, if you so desired. This model features two locomotives, each with either red or clear lights for either rear or head end duties. This print here is for the two windscreens (they aren't printable in LDD), while the train's number tiles (12 on one cab car and 16 on the other, for example) printed 1 x 1 tiles are not there and are missing from the file. Four of this print go on each power car, (on the left and right sides) like this: <- -> This is supposed to make the classic Lego train logo in tiles, which sadly has never been available in printed form at all. Each locomotive has an abundance of control tiles and two pantographs per cab car for power pickup from imaginary wires. Also on the train is four passenger cars with no interior and four half-stud recessed doorways per car. However, as it is LEGO after all, you could easily modify the cars to have removable tops, inside seats, and even and opening doors (Emerald Night style). The LDD file is available for download here. Comments, questions, and complaints are always welcome!

This model was inspired by set 10199 / 10249, Winter Village toy Shop. I originally built this as an open-back building in 2013, and scrapped it in 2015 for a larger, full-bodied station. I never did forget about this model, and rediscovered it while looking for my Hogsmeade station to go with my Hogwarts Express model I had designed. The model will be finished in real bricks very soon, and as such I have tweaked it again by adding stairs to the top floor where the station master's office is. The track side also features a space for eight printed 1 x 1 letter tiles to be placed to designate the station name along with plenty of passenger seating along the five-track-long platform. That's three tracks longer than the new Winter Village train station, and mine also features a rear wall and second story! Here is the street side of the station. This side includes an overhang that protects passengers entering the structure from the rain along with a wheelchair / luggage ramp access to the platform. The model features two modular lift-off levels and two split-away platform sections, along with some inside details. The lower floor features a fireplace, four chairs, and a desk for workers to hand out tickets. The top level features the station master's office, which is accessible via the staircase from the lower level. Here is the complete LDD file. I already have 95% of this model collected IRL, and I just need to order the last 500 parts early next month. Comments, Questions, and Complaints are always welcome! UPDATED 8/23/17: added new pictures and staircase to the model. LDD file also updated!

These two rail vehicles are a type of railcar called a Galloping Goose, and are slightly inspired by seven real vehicles built and used by the Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge railway back in the 1930s to 1950s, when the little railroad was torn up. Six still exist in original form, with one being a reconstructed replica. These machines are really something Doctor Frankenstein would love - a bus body or boxcar welded to a road vehicle (usually a Pierce Arrow limousine, though bus bodies were later used) for the front end, with train wheels added underneath. My interpretations of this type of vehicle are built in freight (red) and passenger (blue) versions, even though the real-world ones are all silver / light gray painted. (NOTE: This vehicle's front half was inspired by @hachiroku and his Indiana Jones "Raiders" staff car MOC from 2019.) The rear of the Galloping Geese. As a play feature, you can open the doors to the drivers compartment and place a driver at the wheel. The back half of either vehicle is not meant to be accessible. The free LDD file for both Galloping Geese can be found at my Bricksafe page. I'm currently building the blue Galloping Goose in real life, so keep your eyes peeled for that separate thread later! Thoughts, questions, complaints, and suggestions welcome!

NOTE: The steam loco itself began life as a 2-8-4 Berkshire type built by @Plastic_Goth and the instructions were purchased from Rebrickable as seen here. To make this steamer my own, I upped the wheel count of the original locomotive by another leading axle, making it into a 4-8-4 Northern-type from the original 2-8-4 Berkshire as built in the instructions. The piston / wheel assembly is entirely my own work, as is the completely new 7-wide tender and the train the loco pulls. The whole train, with the steam loco and five cars - a baggage car, three coaches, and a observation lounge. This engine originally pulled my MOW (Maintenance Of Way) train when it was built three years ago. Now, it's been upgraded to passenger train service. I also updated the front of this 4-8-4 steam loco model to have a smaller cowcatcher, as opposed to the original one-piece cowcatcher I originally had installed. The rear of the loco, which is lettered for my railroad, Brick Railway Systems. Inside the cab of the engine. The baggage car. All five cars use roller-skates for door handles. These three identical passenger cars are also in the train. The observation car on the tail end of the train uses four of the new 3x3 macaroni brick parts in trans-clear for the back window. These parts are actually the reason I didn't upload this a month or so ago when the rest of the train was finished - I had to wait for them to arrive from Pick-A-Brick. Thoughts? Comments are always welcome!

Originally, me and my dad made me a train way back in the early 2000's as my first train MOC. (you can see it as the last photo of this post) At my request, he got rid the bright colors of the original 1980's train sets it was inspired by with more subdued tones. The black and red are what became the standard color scheme for my fledgling railway for a good many years. And now, two decades later in 2024, I'm updating this original train again. This time, I've Americanized them. Before they were more European looking, with a baggage car at the rear - now, they will have an observation car with a platform at the back and the baggage car added to the front of the train instead. I also added a updated 4-6-2 steam loco with a 7-wide cab and tender inspired by the works of @SavaTheAggie. I really liked the cab and tender from from the 2-6-2 steam loco I recently built (which was originally a Sava design) so I decided to make another engine that uses them too. I took a 4-6-0 frame (originally from the 2023 Hogwarts Express loco) model, stretched it out a bit and added the 7-wide cab to make it a 4-6-2 Pacific (the 2-6-2's tender design was stretched out quite a bit too!). I also put on a bucket as a funnel like in the Orient Express LEGO set. Rear of the loco, with the stretched tender design mostly taken from a few Sava models. (his 2-6-2 for the basic look, and his 4-6-0 for the stripes) BRS stands for Brick Railway Systems, which has been my railway for twenty years. This anniversary prompted me to make this revised MOC. Inside of the cab, which has also been lengthened by a stud since the last time I showed it off. Inspired by set 7722 (steam cargo train set) and the red / yellow guard's van. These three coaches were inspired by the red and blue coaches of set 7715. (Push along passenger train) The observation car is my own design. ...and here is what it all looked like originally. (picture circa 2017) The diesel at bottom left is long scrapped, but the original 0-4-0 steamer survives to this day. This tiny loco was inspired by set 7722 (steam cargo train set) while the steam engine's tender was inspired by 3742 (My Own Train series) from 2001. Thoughts?

Sorefame (an abbreviation of Sociedades Reunidas de Fabricações Metálicas) was a Portuguese manufacturer of railway rolling stock and industrial equipment, such as dam gates equipment. The company was established in 1943. From the 1960s the company specialised in the manufacture of stainless steel carriages, principally for the Portuguese Railways (CP). The stainless steel carriages were built at the company's factory in Amadora under licence from the Budd Company of the US. (By Wikipedia) In a perfect world, this should be built in Metallic Silver, But I'm not rich, so I use several shades of grey (LBG. old grey, burned by UV grey, vanish by age grey, etc.) to give an old aesthetics. Initially, I had planned to make interior details, but this coach has already 1 KG and will be part of a train with 6 coaches. so no more bricks on it I'm using bricktracks train wheels with bearings and neodymium magnets fun fact, most of the build is an upsidedown building :P (By Wikipedia)

The whole Merrimac River Runner passenger train, headed up by Baldwin RF-16 "shark-nose" A +B diesels number 3701 with assistance provided by 4-8-4 "Northern" steam engine number 2980. The name of this train is a play off the Missouri River Runner, a real train that Amtrak runs from Kansas City to St. Louis. The Meramec River is a body of water that runs next to the real world 12-inch gauge Wabash Frisco & Pacific, so I switched the name to the Meramec River Runner. Never mind the fact the Missouri Pacific used to run on the roadbed the WFP now uses up from the 1850's until about the 1940's, when it was rerouted to it's current alignment and abandoned the old one to the eventual WFP use from the late '50's to today. These Baldwin diesel RF-16-like locos were inspired by set 10020, (Santa Fe Super Chief) for most of the basic body work and and fellow Eurobricks user @Legownz for the knife-like Sharknose front end. (Thank you for that ingenious design!) The cab and booster units feature no interior details because I have no need for such items on my layout.. that and retrofitting all my trains with inside details would be quite costly. The rear of each of the locos feature doorways to the next engine compartment, and / or the passenger train itself. This 7-wide steam loco began life as a 2-8-4 Berkshire type built by @Plastic_Goth and purchased from Rebrickable a seen here. I upped the wheel count by another leading axle, making it into a 4-8-4 Northern-type from the original 2-8-4 Berkshire. The pistons are entirely my own work, as is the complete tender. The coal tender will have the letters WFP on the side, standing for Wabash Frisco & Pacific, while the cab will feature the number 2980 on both sides. This is a scrambled homage to real world WFP 4-8-2 engine 928, which is so strong, it's pulled every piece of rolling stock the railroad owns -at one time- with ease! The inside of the cab features two gauges and the firebox door. This is all the interior the whole train features. Combination baggage and passenger car three identical passenger coaches for the train The observation car of the Meramec River Runner. (This car is to become fully enclosed soon, with a wraparound rear window provided by two of this piece.) Any thoughts, comments, or complaints? EDIT 5/11/21: Added 4-8-4 steam loco to this post. Real life pictures coming soon.

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.

I've been split in scale since I began building LEGO trains with all my shunters, freight wagons and latest passenger train being 7-wide or 1:54 and all my older locomotives and passenger wagons being 6-wide or 1:60. With almost all of my buildings close to true minifig-scale, I've been contemplating to unify my scale for a few years now but I couldn't decide to go for either 7 or 8-wide...in addition to being pretty much satisfied with most of my 6-wide models as they are. Well, no more Presenting my favourite Danish State Railways’ (DSB) locomotive redesigned to 8-wide and digitally rendered in two versions and liveries... DSB Litra MZ The powerful Litra MZ locomotives were built by Swedish Nydquist & Holm AB (Nohab) and Danish subcontractors on license from General Motors. 10 MZ (I) were built from 1967-1969. 20 MZ (III) were built from 1972-1974. 61 in total were built across all four variants (I-IV). Quite a few are still used today by private railway companies either domestic or abroad, in Iran, Norway and Australia. My model of DSB Litra MZ (I): DSB maroon livery used in the 1960/70s with the highly recognizable crown and wing logo on the front. Scale: 1:46 Length: 56 studs from buffer to buffer Width: 8 bricks Bricks: 1.264 Powered: 2 x L-motors, 2 x AAA battery boxes + 2 x SBricks, 1 x AAA battery box + 1 x SBrick/PFx Brick or 2 x BuWizz battery boxes Control: PF with SBrick, PFx Brick or BuWizz Designed: 2020 My older 6-wide version from 2016: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/119474-moc-the-danish-state-railways-dsb-locomotive-litra-mz-i/ All renders are done on the very high setting in Stud.io with all of my own custom decals added in the PartDesigner tool. Upgearing from 20 to 12 teeth with a ratio of 5:3....more speed, less power PF L-motor design with good advice from some of the Brick Train Depot guys. Credit to Duq for coming up with the original idea of using the T-piece. 3-axled bogie: The center wheel will utilize a black hockey puck as a blind driver or a 2 x 2 round tile with open stud and 1 x 1 round tile placed on top on it as the alternative. https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=47576#T=C My model of DSB Litra MZ (III): DSB "modern" red & black livery used in the 1980s. Scale: 1:46 Length: 56 studs from buffer to buffer Width: 8 bricks Bricks: 1.331 Powered: 2 x L-motors, 2 x AAA battery boxes + 2 x SBricks, 1 x AAA battery box + 1 x SBrick/PFx Brick or 2 x BuWizz battery boxes Control: PF with SBrick, PFx Brick or BuWizz Designed: 2020 My older 6-wide version from 2011 and redesigned in 2015: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/172599-moc-herningværket-vestkraft-is-complete-set-of-locomotives-and-wagons Part of the fun and what set LEGO trains apart from pure model railroading is the inclusion of minifigs, so whenever and whatever I always try to make space for them and also keep on some play features and interiors. The 8-wide body is quite roomy and has a fairly correct interior. 2 x PF L-motors with either 2 x AAA battery boxes + 2 x SBricks, 1 x AAA battery box + 1 x SBrick/PFx Brick or 2 x BuWizz battery boxes can be utilized: Both locomotives with DSB Litra MZ (I) in front of the later version DSB Litra MZ (III) in the background: Technical addendum: For the first time ever I have used technical drawings overlayed with LEGO scaled grids to get the dimensions right or as close to right as possible. The models haven't been built yet but some smaller builds have been used for testing during the design phase. My slightly shorter test train didn’t really like driving through R40 curves, no surprise there Too much length overall and the wheel sets in both ends of the bogies are also pretty far from each other producing some drag. Going through isn't impossible though but rather uneven and a tiny bit struggling, especially with added wagons. There are no problems driving on straight tracks and through larger radii curves. To my surprise however was the finding that the total number of parts were the same or even slightly less than a similar 7-wide model So henceforth, 8-wide it is

I originally got this basic model from a page on Bricksafe by user @sed6 as seen here. I revised the freight door to be movable, changed the roof color to dark red from black, building color to sand green from tan, plus I added a "cast iron" heating stove and it's chimney flue to the model for late-1800's period look. This station will go along with my western stuff on my layout as seen in this topic here. The platform side of the station. There is plenty of outside seating on both the left and right sides, yet they are still under the roof awning to be protected from rain. (three seats per side) The model features the separate entry doors to the station premises for cargo and people on the both the street and track sides. Inside we have the freight area (on the left) and the passenger area (on the right) with a connecting door between the two. The passenger section also has the heating stove which currently is keeping the coffee hot. (or is it boiling the water for tea?) This part of the station also has three inside seats for weary passengers and a cash register for ticket dispensing. The station is modular, and comes apart in four sections: - Left platform end - Right platform end - Station roof - Station building I was originally going to build the Disney station in blue, but the projected price was out of my budget, so I settled for this one. This is is just as good, if not better, because everybody's got a Disney station now, but nobody but @sed6 has one of these custom depots. (and mine is different from his to boot!) - Real life pictures to come: December 25th, 2019.- Real life pictures added, 12-16-19! Thanks for stopping by, and if anyone needs bigger versions of these pictures, they are view-able at my flickr feed. Comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!

As seen here on EuroBricks, user @Carefree_Dude tried his hand at making the new Disney train have working pistons and getting rid of the hideous no-metal-axle wheels. I was very much impressed with the results, and took the pictures and reverse engineered them to have a similar 4-6-0 of my very own. (If the tender looks familiar, it hasn't changed at all from the last version.) However, as you may have noticed, the pistons are different, as they gave me a ton of trouble figuring them out, so I imported a design of my own previous use that I know works. The rear of the loco features a ladder to the tender-top, where the hatch to the water tank is found and also where the neatly stacked wood pile is located . These passenger cars were mostly inspired by set 10014 (Passenger wagon) but repainted red instead of green and with fancy part 30613 "Brick, Arch 3 x 6 x 5 Ornamented" on the end of the cars. I might be mistaken, but Flickr user The Shubes (Isn't he on Eurobricks too?) may have been the one to inspire these coaches with his own red versions of set 10014 as seen here. The end of my passenger train features this little four wheel caboose. It was designed after set 10015 (Caboose) with some features taken from set 7597 (Western Train Chase) This design is now finished in real life, after a record six days from designing on 10 / 20, ordering on 10 / 21, to being built on 10 / 26. That's really fast service by my standards!

This modular Victorian-era train station was inspired by set 71044, Disney train and Station. It now has a chimney flue featuring two fireplaces, freight area with dual sliding doors, and three loading platforms under a large canopy. The street facing portion of the station should have the year 1891 on the studs above the two main doors. (This was the year the 100% fictional station was built.) The large clock on the tower is gone, replaced by a smaller version above the main door to the platform, while the word GLENNCOE (a slight misspelling of a real Missouri town... the real town only has one "N" in it's name.) goes above the right hand door, as this is the name of the station and the town it serves. Also in that general area of the model, you can see I removed the second floor balcony, as I thought it looked better being replaced by a window. The upper floor features the station master's office with desk and telephone, along with a much later addition than 1891, a computer to track train movements. The lower floor features the cargo depot with opening mailbox, and passenger waiting room with ticket desk. Six public waiting chairs are also included on this level. The station comes in several large, easy-to-take-apart sections: -tower roof -second floor hallway roof -second floor -first floor Train track 3-way switch designed by 4DBrix, printed by OKBrickworks. It works like a charm, and is used on the station as a funnel for trains to be switched to the proper platform. NOTES: This real-world picture of the REAL Glencoe station is from 1910. It no longer exists as a building, and this is the only known photo I could find, taken from the Facebook group, "Missouri railroad depot's and structures". (I had to ask if anyone had seen a picture, and this was it.)The rail line passed through there from the mid-1850's to the mid-1940's, when it was moved to it's current alignment, and the old one abandoned to nature. However, a little 12-inch gauge ride on railway now calls Glencoe home, as it has since the late 1950's. This station (and any of my LEGO trains lettered for the Wabash Frisco and Pacific, the name of the small 12-inch gauge line) are a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the rail line that has had such an impact on me growing up.. and still inspires me today! EDIT 5/4/21: Added real life pictures of the canopy and updated train station to this post. I also changed the formatting a bit. Some pictures of the inside details remain to be changed over to the newer style. (I.E. with the canopy showing, not the old singular platform) As usual, comments, questions, and complaints are always welcome!