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Showing results for tags 'real world moc'.
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This through-truss bridge design was originally downloaded by me (I don't remember the name of the original designer who created the bridge) from the LEGO Factory / Design By ME page in 2010-ish and was never built in real life due to questions about it's strength. I came across it again while looking at my MOCpage account's older files and made it into the version seen above using newer parts and a longer frame quite a while ago. (and as to those original questions about it's strength: It's built like a safe, yet I can pick it up with a single finger by the top.) More recently, I revised the deck where the track goes to be able to take the RC track up and be able to put down 9V down more easily. (We run 9V trains at shows in Gateway LUG.) In short, the track is now more easily removable to become 9V, 12V, or even a road bridge. The bridge fits any of my trains, and should fit all official LEGO trains except for double stack containers such as sets 10219 (Maersk Train) and 10170 (TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car). Comments, questions, and complaints are always welcome! UPDATED 5/29/25: Sorry for the six-year bump, but this model has been torn apart to be made double track! Here we see how it will look when finished, as viewed in LDD. ...and here's the current progress on my double track revamp of my Western truss bridge. Most parts have arrived, but one of the orders is still out... not sure when that's gonna arrive. Thoughts on this new development? EDIT 6/29/25: Sadly, this project is dead. I tried to get it together and couldn't manage it (something was wrong with it), then I had to move and the box of parts got dropped outside. So this upgrade isn't happening. sorry everyone! -
I found a builder named jwolfe7 a decade ago who made some instructions for a President's Conference Committee (also known as 'PCC') streetcar. You can see his work here, (including multiple different PCC liveries!) on Flickr, though the instructions link is dead. This particular car that I've constructed based on those instructions is a St Louis one, and is wearing the St. Louis Public Service Company paint scheme worn on PCC's from around the 1940s up until service was discontinued in 1966. This particular car is modeled after one at the Museum of Transportation, car No. 1743, which is operational there but needs some slight work. The LEGO version features two rear lights, one headlight, trolley pole, a accurate number of windows, plus some neat sideways building techniques. The rear of the streetcar isn't totally accurate to the real deal (I'm looking at you, rear window!) but it's close enough for me. Thoughts?
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The model seen here is originally based upon open-back instructions purchased in 2012 from Brick City Depot. The 'Winter Village Train Station' can be seen here and was first built in real bricks by me in 2017, but then torn apart only three years later in 2020. Well, I regretted that decision to dismantle the model from the moment I did so. Thus, I've rebuilt it using newer techniques and a few modifications. Some examples include (but are not limited to): two new ramps at the ends of the slightly-shorter platform removal of the second story seats have been redesigned vintage Coca-Cola vending machine added new signage, posters, and billboards station master mini-figure new chimney flue Here we see the track side of the station. Two benches are placed outside, and another is inside. Also visible is a chalkboard showing arrival and departure times from this station, along with each train's destination. Here is the street side of the station, with a Coca-Cola machine and a Radiator Springs poster visible. Empty bottles are in the wooden crate next to the soda machine. The inside of the MOC has a waiting room and ticket seller one one side, and a baggage room on the other. Shown here is the passenger waiting room. (yes, the clock is 90 degrees out of place. I didn't realize until after I had made the pictures that it was incorrect compared to the other two clocks) Here we see the baggage room, used for express freight, passenger baggage, and the mail. Two big sliding doors allow for cargo to be loaded onto the platform side, or out the street side and onto a truck. Here's the late 1930's / early '40's era station master of the small town Mount Clutchmore train depot, who I've named named Robert. Robert has seen a lot of changes in his 25 years of railroading. He's seen the Boys go 'Over There' to fight in the trenches, survived the Flu Epidemic of 1918 around when they came home, witnessed the golden years of the Roaring Twenties end with the economic Crash of '29, and saw masses of hoboes riding freights through his town, while sleek streamliners flash by. Now, another war is starting abroad and he's also seeing the diesel-electric locomotives for the first time as well. Simply put: the times keep changing and the calendar marches relentlessly forward. Robert isn't sure what tomorrow will bring, but he's certain the railroad will get us there. That's all I got for this MOC. Thoughts?
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This streetcar (alongside several others) was built in 1914 by the St. Louis Car Company for use by the Saint Louis Waterworks Division to transport employees and pull freight cars of equipment from the Baden Waterworks to the Chain Of Rocks Water water filtration plant near St. Louis, Missouri on it's own private railway line. These interurban streetcars were also used later by fun seekers going to the then-new Chain of Rocks Amusement park, which was near the plant. Over time, the cars got so full of park-goers, they doubled the ticket prices (to a whopping ten cents!) to deter the public... which did nothing to stop the torrent of people riding the cars! In 1936, the streetcars were replaced with buses, until in 1944 when World War II rationing of gasoline and tires forced the Waterworks Division to un-retire the trolleys until they were finally made permanently redundant on April 30th, 1955 - 70 years ago this month. Cars 10, 11, and 17 were then donated to the Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Missouri. Only cars 10 and 17 survive to this day, as 11 was in very poor shape and was scrapped shortly after donation, with a few parts saved, while 17 is in long term storage out of public view. Car 10, however, was totally restored from 1997 to 2001 and has been run at the Museum by trolley volunteers since then on the demonstration line. Sadly, in January 2025, vandals broke into the museum and damaged / graffitied this car plus a nearby PCC streetcar that also runs at the museum. These two will have to be repaired before they can run again and who knows how long that will take to complete. As such, I don't have my typical picture of the real world vehicle next to the LEGO model... but I do have an old book about the Waterworks Railway featuring the car on the cover, so I used that instead. This LEGO MOC of the 111 year-old Waterworks Car No. 10 has been made in tribute to the blood, sweat, and tears of the Trolley Volunteers who restore, maintain, and run this car and several others at the Museum. I must admit I was inspired by the cable car in set 10308 in several places while designing this MOC. Several differences from the real-world streetcar exist on this model because of issues stemming from this decision. Side view of the streetcar. I used eight XS wheels from Big Ben Bricks for this MOC, as using regular official LEGO wheels would have made it much too tall. The car with one of it's trolley poles raised, ready to depart on it's next journey. Thoughts on this MOC are greatly appreciated!
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'It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...' This is a MOC of the Neighborhood Trolley, a model streetcar first used to get from the Kingdom of Make Believe to Mister Rogers house in the PBS show 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'. This version of the show ran from 1968 to 2001 in the USA, while an earlier version ran rom 1962 to ~1966 in Canada. Both shows were created and starred in by Fred Rogers, who sadly passed away in 2003. Even though the creator has passed on, and the original show ended, the story lives on in it's animated successor show: 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood', which started in 2012 and is still going. This new show also features the Neighborhood Trolley. For this 6-wide MOC, I added some trolley poles to the design from the show, because it's got to have a way to get power, right? The MOC itself is partially inspired by an old MOC from over 20 years ago I saw on Brickshelf (R.I.P.) that was by user J-2, and by the streetcar in set 10308 Holiday Main Street plus a lot of my own work. This model replaces my earlier 8-wide version, and reuses a number of the parts of that four-year old MOC. front view of the trolley with one of it's poles raised, ready for travel to the Kingdom of Make Believe. side view of the trolley The Daniel Tiger and Mr. Rogers minifigures by themselves. Thoughts on the MOC?
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I remember when the original BNSF Lego set was delivered back in 2004 to my dad's house. (for him - not me, sadly!) That set, along with the complete Super Chief he already owned from two years prior, got me even more psyched for LEGO trains. Granted, I couldn't afford the set at the time, but now I'm 20 years older and have money! Thus, I decided one day late last month to redesign the 9v Train set 10133 - Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) GP-38 Locomotive - into the modern paint scheme of the BNSF railroad. In short: I took the dark green and made it black, as that's the way the railroad has painted their engines since 2005. As I couldn't possibly get the yellow train baseplate, I used Dark Bluish Grey, and since I HATE dealing with flex-tubes, I used premade fence parts for the walkway railings. I also revised the rooftop fans, the bogies, and the fuel tank. The front of the loco. The rear of the loco. The three 2x2 DBG donut tiles on the roof are missing fan printing here in LDD. The cab roof is still removable, just like in the original set. This area seats one mini figure at the controls. Only 126 bricks remain to be found or bought for this diesel locomotive in the real world at this time. (NOTE: Some differences exist between the digital model and the WIP.) Thoughts?
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This loco was originally from the 2010 CITY set 7939 - Cargo Train and first designed in red for my brother. (who ended up not building it in real life after all) I removed the rear cab and replaced it with a personnel door for access to the train and recolored it to yellow for use by me. I then looked back on what I made, and realized it actually resembled a real engine completely on accident! It appears I made a General Electric 'Genesis' series loco, specifically a P42DC as those were the most common of the sub-types. The Genesis types weren't used by freight railroads - just passenger-only carriers like Amtrak or VIA - but this is my railroad and what I say goes! Here we see the front of the locomotive. The rear side of the loco with the crew access door at the very back. The cab front flips up to put a figure at the controls. (I removed the cab roof here to make taking the picture easier.) To read more about the Genesis locomotive types, check out this Wikipedia link. Thoughts?
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I've finally encapsulated / finished the mountain-less tunnel my dad first made back around 2000. I played with the tunnel a LOT as a kid. It did many tours of duty under his Christmas tree, interacting with the Santa Fe Super Chief and when not doing that, it was with my train MOC's in my room's floor layout at his house. During this period, he always stated he wanted a mountain around the tunnel, but could never figure out a design. Fast forward to 2021 when he finished his newer twin-bore tunnels. During this time, he gave me his now-surplus original tunnel, which I then expanded to be two studs wider to fit more of my custom trains through it. The main view of the mountain tunnel. The left / right and front / back sides are identical to their direct-opposite counterpart. The inside of the tunnel. The mountain-less tunnel as it was. It was 98% old light gray, as I had to use from new gray for my upgrade as I expanded it by two studs in width from the original 2000-era MOC. EDIT 4/1/25: mountain finished today, with new photos and text posted! Thoughts?
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I like the late-1930s car from 2015 San Diego Comic Con set 'Action Comics 1 - Superman', but didn't particularly care for the garish colors of green and yellow - or the insane price! So I used the instructions and built my own normal version in dark blue, then this black one with XS Big Ben Bricks train wheels instead of rubber tires as a railroad inspection vehicle. This rail mobile has a number of changes from the set, but it still seats one figure at the wheel. Speaking of which: the person in the picture is a division superintendent, and he is wearing green in tribute to the original colors of the SDCC set that inspired this MOC. The rear of the rail mobile. (apologies for the dust - I just built this two days ago!) Inside the vehicle, featuring the drivers seat. Thoughts?
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Here is my recently completed 19th custom modular building (if I counted correctly) which is inspired by a 2012 Haunted House LEGO model - set number 10228, to be precise. I made the Victorian-styled house un-haunted, changed the colors and made the house have lift-away floors instead of a opening like a dollhouse. The back door was removed in order to fit the house on a baseplate, and each floor has detailed furnishings. For this car model I took another set of free instructions from user @Leewan and modified them in major ways. You can view the original MOC here on Rebrickable. This picture is a little washed out... the actually-yellow car looks almost bright light orange. (Sorry!) The house's front, without the car and figures. The rear of the house. The ground floor has a fireplace, chairs, couch, a phonograph, and a grandfather clock. The upper floor has a bed, organ, and a trio of bookcases, among other things. I put a seance table in the attic. Why, you ask? first, a bit of background info: Following The First World War and the loss of so many people to the meat grinder known as trench warfare and the following influenza pandemic, spiritualism saw a resurgence in the 1920s and mediums were called into houses across the country to have the dead family members speak through them. (Naturally, this was a bunch of feel-good hocus pocus mixed with disguised party tricks - the 'mediums' usually hoodwinked the families while making them believe the dead have been reached, all while making good money off the bereaved families.) The long and short of it is, the couple who own the house lost a son to the Great War, and are trying to communicate with him in the beyond. For my changes to the car I turned the color from white to yellow (red and black copies have also been built), replaced the Speed Champions wheels, saucer hubcaps, and teacup headlights with other parts that suit my tastes more. I also substituted the older one-piece Racers grille with cheaper parts as well. The 3x3 round dish on the back end is supposed to be a spare tire cover. The removable roof design was also changed from the original MOC to be stronger. There is also a bit of space behind the headrest for some luggage. The couple who own the house and car. Thoughts?
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For this car model I took a set of free instructions from Rebrickable user @Leewan and modified them in several major ways. (You can view the original MOC here.) For my changes I turned the color from white to red (yellow and black copies have also been built, with pictures coming soon!), replaced the Speed Champions wheels, saucer hubcaps, and teacup headlights with other parts that suit my tastes more. I also substituted the older one-piece Racers grille with cheaper parts as well. The car without the driver, who can fit in the seat - but just barely. This is because there aren't many hairpieces that can be used with this car due to the low roof. Originally I wanted Cruella De Vil to be the driver (as this looks very much like her car), but she doesn't fit due to her hair being too big. The back of the car. The 3x3 round dish is supposed to be a spare tire cover. The removable roof design was also changed to be stronger. There is a bit of space behind the headrest for some luggage. Thoughts?
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This building is my latest custom modular. (my 18th, actually) The MOC is a New York City-inspired 16x32 corner modular building that's modified from some instructions I bought from Brick Artisan over on Rebrickable (seen here) which is itself inspired by 2025 Marvel set 76311 - Miles Morales vs. the Spot. Anyway, I decided to change the colors around and make the bottom floor into an OCTAN-branded corner shop. As this is a 16x32 corner, this model is meant to pair up with a 16x32 straight module on the long side to make it info a full corner module. The rear of the building. The OCTAN mini mart is fully stocked with a lot of stuff. (I removed the ATM ejection feature from the set, though.) Looks like somebody made this apartment into an office. I'm not sure the zoning board is going to like that... This apartment has got a TV, bed, desk, and typewriter. The roof has a hatch for access, along with a water tank and billboard. Thoughts?
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This vintage automobile was inspired by two other builder's car MOC's. One is @The Reader who builds amazing Adventurers stuff over in the Action & Adventure forum, like this, which has instructions here. The other builder is @SERVATOR, who makes a ton of old-fashioned cars like these ones here, here, and here, among others. The front of the car, with it's owner. Any resemblance to any fore-mentioned person's sig-fig is purely coincidental. Rear view of the vehicle. The car seats two figures. Thoughts on this MOC?
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This MOC of author H.G. Wells' time-traveling vehicle from the novel 'The Time Machine' (specifically this MOC is inspired by the excellent 1960 movie version) was designed by user D3ner over on Rebrickable. You can see those free instructions here, though it requires major modifications to be buildable in real life. My brother re-built that MOC digitally in Studio and edited it for me to make it more stable and look better. This model completes my Time Machine collection* and has technically been built since mid-December, but wasn't completed until today when my brother found me an Steampunk Inventor fig from CMF series 27 at Walmart. (Thanks bro!) The Inventor fig fits perfectly with the time machine, and his hat just barely fits over the top of the seat, almost like they were made for each other. *My five time machines include: Bill & Ted's Phonebooth The TARDIS BTTF Time Train BTTF DeLorean H.G. Wells' Time Machine Thoughts? (Also, @Peppermint_M, if you think this belongs somewhere else, feel free to move it where you see fit. I honestly wasn't sure where to put this MOC.)
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(I was torn between Train Tech and Town forums for this thread, so if it needs moving - don't hesitate to move it, mods!) Recently a Flickr user named elijahleestewart commented on one of my riverboat pictures asking about me making a Ninjago ferry from season 4. I said I already had City set 60119 (Ferry) and was not interested in making another. But this conversation got wheels turning, and about two hours later I came up with this vessel you see here, which was made by tearing apart my original Ferry to revise it. The port / left side of the vessel. From here you can see the ladder to access the bridge. The starboard (or right side). The opening gates no longer fold down (as in the original set 60119), but they do split apart to allow train cars to be loaded two at a time. You can load two of the bigger cars (24 or 28 studs long), three 16-long cars, or a single 34 stud long depressed center car on this ferry or you can mix and match. (The last 34 stud long car type is too long to have two of it's kind on there, but it can fit one 34 long and another of anything shorter than that such as a 16, 24 or 28.) The roof section of the bridge is removable to place figures at the controls. Another source of inspiration was the Albatross, a former Vicksburg-area railroad ferry from 1907 that was converted to a St. Louis river cruising ship (one of the largest vessels ever on the river) called the Admiral in the late 1930's which then became a casino and then was sadly scrapped in 2011. You can read about the Admiral here on Wikipedia, and view a picture of the Albatross on Flickr here, courtesy of the Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library. (You can loose a few hours perusing through steamboats on that Flickr page!) ...That's all I got. Thoughts, comments, opinions, and questions welcome!
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I've had this MOC (originally inspired by the bank from set 79109, Colby City Showdown from the 2013 Lone Ranger theme) made in the real world for about a decade, and I thought it was high time to redo it into a modular style, as it is very close to that scale / size. I added a new neon sign out front that says 'piano bar' to the model, as the old 'saloon' one was removed seven years ago and it didn't look good anyway. You can view the original 2015 neon sign here. The 1890s-style building has two floors, a flat roof, and a removable base for easy conversion from modular to non-modular. The rear of the building really hasn't got any details. On this level are the bar where drinks are served, a few tables, and the stairs to the second floor. Of course, with this build being set in the 1920s, all the drinks are non-alcoholic. (...or at least they're supposed to be!) On the second floor is the piano and more tables. I can just about hear the piano player now... Thoughts, comments, questions and so on are welcome!
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This modular building-style corner LEGO store was heavily inspired by set 31105 (Townhouse Toy Store from Creator) while the LEGO delivery truck is modified version of the postal vehicle from set 10222 (Winter Village Post Office) whereas the sidewalk burger stand is directly taken from 60404. (City Burger Truck) The building also draws from some free Rebrickable instructions you can see here. The building is a bit short in the height department compared to official modulars, but when next to my custom buildings it fits right in! On this side we see the second-floor patio. The lower floor is the shop's sales floor, and also has a enclosed delivery area off to the side. The shop sells all manner of Lego sets and pre-built models for sale. The burger stand's roof also is removable. The second floor is a apartment, and features a bare minimum of features to sustain life, but it does have a gigantic Lego train layout in the corner. (somebody has their priorities in order!) This truck is heavily inspired by the 1920s truck from the first Winter Village post office. The doors on both sections open, and the truck seats one figure at the wheel. (Oh how I wish those rear doors came in yellow!) EDIT 11/16/24: Models finished in real life - pictures added, and text updated in the first post! Thoughts?
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This is the fifth version of my modification of set 7997 (Train Station). Here are my notes to recap my progress from stock set to version five: I got the original set 7997 (shown above) in 2007, along with a double rail crossover for my Birthday. I wanted to make it a full building but didn't have the parts. By 2008, I had discovered Bricklink, but the station was in pieces by then and was not re-created until early 2012. The station was a stock set, while I searched for ideas. Eventually, I came across a build by a fellow Eurobricks user named Lazarus that incorporated a modular basis, a full building (street & track-sides) & a appealing design. I saved a picture of it and made my own design based on his. I included really neat features, (such as the arched lattice windows made with a fence) but I went too far and made it impossible to transport to train shows and LUG meetings. The platforms were very flimsy, and during the move to a new house in 2013, it shattered into small chunks. So, I went back to the drawing board, scrapping everything but the building itself. The 2015 version of the model was eventually scrapped in 2020 after it was accidentally dropped and destroyed. However, now in 2024 I made a red version of that model, with a few new parts added on. It has one platform, plentiful outside seating and a removable roof with second floor office. There are many other changes from the set, but the heart and soul of that 2007 set is still there. The name of the station is Edgewood, and it is staffed by the two figures standing on the platform. Here is the street side of the station, with the brick-built LEGO railway logo plainly visible. I decided on the swapped color scheme because of the similar yellow-to-red color swap sets 4554 - Mero Station / 2150 - Train station from 1991 / 1996 respectively. Upstairs is the station master's office. (Don't ask me how he gets up here - I don't know!) Here we can see the interior of the station's main floor, with ticket machines and refreshment stand. Here you can see the modular breakdown of the model, which includes the following: -Station building (lower floor) -Station roof and Tower control room (upper floor) -Tower roof -left platform section -right platform section ...Thoughts?
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So after looking at my 2-6-2 steam loco a bit harder late last month, I decided the tender for that loco was too small by two studs length-wise. Thus, in order to make it more proportionate in relation between engine and tender, I made a longer tender for that loco (which is already uploaded to EB in it's final form in this thread) and added the old tender to this brand-new 0-4-0 yard goat. This oil-fired switcher shares a piston design with my MOC of Lady from Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The rear of the loco. Credit where it's due, the cab design and some of the tender were inspired by @SavaTheAggie's 2-6-2 design from over a decade ago. Inside the 7 wide cab. This tiny loco might also be my last Brick Railway Systems engine as the letters / numbers on my engines are getting WAY too expensive, and my stash of them is practically empty. I'll still build other stuff, (probably freight cars, which I don't have a lot of) but I have too many locos as it is, so this might be the end of that. It's kinda funny though, as my locomotive collection started with a 0-4-0 twenty years ago, and it just might end with this same wheel arrangement! Thoughts?
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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!
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I originally built this 103-stud long 1920's Adventurers tramp steam ship from two Adventurers sets: I enlarged the ship from set 5975 - T-Rex Transport and modified it to resemble the vessel from set 5976 - River Expedition. The resulting ship (which is named the Eastern Star) features a lifeboat, steering wheel, and a smokestack plus I have the bridge with removable roof for the top deck of the ship, and captain's quarters for the lower floor. Currently, an ornithopter (inspired by set 70913 - Scarecrow Fearful Face-off) is being transported, as well as a live T-Rex in a cage. The ladders hanging on the side of the lower deck lead the way to the ship's bridge on the upper level. The life boat is also located back here. This T-Rex (from set 6720 - Tyrannosaurus Rex) looks none to happy about being caged! The bridge features a nautical telegraph / engine controls and the wheel. The lower level features the captain's quarters, with a table full of priceless relics and ancient maps... plus a dynamite plunger. NOTES: I built this ship in 2018, added the dinosaur and cage in 2022, and finally got around to taking photos in 2024... sorry for the 6-year long wait! Thoughts?
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Notes: For the sternwheeler, I saw a similar steamboat on LEGO Ideas a number of years ago and in 2019 I finally got around to recreating it from the pictures provided. (the project sadly never made it past several hundred votes, it my memory is correct.) I modified it heavily into the version you see far below with my own tweaks and twists in the design installed, such as I added a second funnel, revised the placement of said funnels to the front of the ship, and removed the roof off most of the second deck. Oh, and I added three whistles to the top of the pilot's cab like those in set 21317. (Steamboat Willie). The sidewheeler model (seen directly below) was created in 2024 out of my desire to have two very different styles of steamboats in my collection, with this one being a sidewheeler, and the other a sternwheeler. (I also have a 1930s towboat and a few tows to complete the scene, but those are too modern for this thread.) The sidewheeler has no interior, just like the sternwheeler, and was also inspired by set 21317. I named this later vessel Lodi and the first one Proud Mary - both of which are Creedence Clearwater Revival rock-n-roll songs from over 50 years ago. Lodi (sidewheeler, built 1869) "...Just about a year ago I set out on the road Seekin' my fame and fortune Lookin' for a pot of gold Thing got bad things got worse I guess you will know the tune Oh! lord stuck in Lodi again..." This notorious side-wheel steamboat, named Lodi, was named after the city of it's construction in 1869. But unlike the strict city of Lodi, with it's anti-gambling stance, Sunday no-business laws and abstinence from alcohol attitude, this boat thumbs it's nose at those rules, resembling the city in name only. It's a haven for card-sharks, shady ladies, pick pockets, and con men selling 'medicinal' snake oil cure-alls. Why would anyone take a ride on the Lodi, you ask? Well, the only other steamboat plying Rapid River is the slightly older Proud Mary stern-wheeler, which takes about a two weeks to get from one end of the river to the other. (not including stop times at towns and villages) The Lodi then has a sweet spot when the competition is out of the way: it's the only other steam boat in town, making it very easy to attract potential customers. The ship is captained by a man by the name of James Dagny, who is known for taking serious risks without a second thought to safety of his ship, passengers, or crew. This has earned him the nickname of Jim Danger, but don't call him that to his face if you value your life! (You can see him above standing by the second deck's railing towards the stern of the ship) The rear of the sidewheeler. Proud Mary (sternwheeler, built 1867) ...Left a good job in the city Workin' for the man ev'ry night and day And I never lost one minute of sleepin' Worryin' 'bout the way things might have been Big wheel keep on turnin' Proud Mary keep on burnin' Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river... The captain of the Proud Mary is Thaddeus Sweeney, better known as "Old Man Sweet-tooth", for his habit of chewing saltwater taffy when the going gets tough and and giving candy out to the little children whenever he lands at small towns and native american villages such as Lone Tree, Nebraska, or Fort Legoredo, Colorado. He usually plies his stern-wheel steamboat up and down the Rapid River, with the Missouri River landing at Kansas City at one end, and the the mighty cliff face of Showdown Canyon Springs at the other end in the middle of Colorado. Thaddeus is the only one he trusts to handle his ship, as he says the Rapid River is too treacherous for many newer pilots, as the wrecks that litter the shoreline prove. However, even Captain Sweeney admits from time to time that age is catching up to him, and he has been looking for a suitable first mate for the Proud Mary for some time. The rear of the sternwheeler. Captain Thaddeus Sweeney, also known as Old Man Sweet-Tooth. Thoughts?
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Recently I reverse engineered what I could of the 1950's-styled 'lead sled' in upcoming summer 2024 set 60408 - Car Transporter. I didn't have pictures of the rear (and obviously instructions were also a no-go at this time), so improvised as best I could using what I thought looked reasonable for a fifties car. I managed to get 99% of the car built from one picture. The front of the car with the vehicle's owner. I can build the car in other colors, (yellow and red are among the possibilities currently) but I'm keeping my lips sealed on what the future holds... The rear of the car. Admittedly, I stole the taillights design from this old @hachiroku MOC. The inside seats one figure at the wheel. Here is the original car from set 60408, which releases this August in the USA. This is the one picture I used to build the car MOC, which was cut from a much larger picture and greatly expanded in size. ...That's all I got. Thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions, and complaints welcome!
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This 7-stud wide diesel is modeled after the General Electric (GE) 44 ton switcher locomotive made between 1940 and 1956. The little diesel is bi-directional, and doesn't have much to differentiate between the "front" or "rear" expect for the air horn on one end in real life. My LEGO model lacks these, so it is totally symmetrical. You may be asking yourself: 'Why 44 tons, what's so special about that number?' I give you the answer from the Wikipedia article on this loco type: "This locomotive's specific 44-short ton weight was directly related to one of the efficiencies the new diesel locomotives offered compared to their steam counterparts: reduced labor intensity. In the late 1930s, the steam to diesel transition was in its infancy in North America, and railroad unions were trying to protect the locomotive fireman jobs that were redundant with diesel units. One measure taken to this end was the 1937 so-called '90,000 Pound Rule' : a stipulation that locomotives weighing 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg) – 45 short tons – or more required a fireman in addition to an engineer on common carrier railroads. (Industrial and military railroads had no such stipulation.) The 44-ton locomotive was born to skirt this requirement. The 45-ton rule was eventually repealed in 1963." Side view of the loco showcasing the symmetry of the model. In-universe, This diesel is painted as Brick Railway Systems loco 97 in a throwback black / red paint scheme to celebrate the railroad's 130th anniversary in 2024. (In reality, it's my fictional railroad I made up when I was a fourth grader, which is having it's 20th anniversary this year, so I've been feeling a bit nostalgic recently.) Thoughts?
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This late-1930's American-styled coupe car model is heavily modified and recolored from these free police car instructions as seen at this Rebrickable MOC by user Leewan. I remade it into both yellow (not shown) and blue varieties from the original black-and-white, removed the doors, and revised some other stuff "under the hood". Also, the model bears a resemblance to the titular car from the 1952 Disney short film 'Susie the little blue coupe'. The front of the car. The rear of the car. The inside can seat two figures and the roof is removable. (Picture from Wikipedia - the short's music is still under copyright, but the pictures are not, strangely!) I couldn't do the radio antenna on my MOC, as it changes sides on the car from scene to scene. Also, I couldn't get the eyes on the windscreen. Fun facts: - The design of the Disney / Pixar 'Cars universe' characters was inspired by Susie. - Bill Peet wrote the story treatment for Susie the little blue coupe. (he was quite prolific as a writer and animator for Disney, see his wiki page) Later, he also write the book 'The Caboose Who got Loose', another one of my favorite books - and MOC's! ...and that's all I got. Thoughts, comments, suggestions and questions are appreciated!
