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This train features the following items from the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. Almost all of them are from one track at the museum, with the two cabeese being the exceptions. They are (from L to R, back to front): Wabash streamlined caboose Burlington Northern wide-vision caboose Monsanto nitric acid tanker Union Refrigerator Transit Lines / Milwaukee Road reefer car American Car and Foundry 70 ton two compartment covered hopper Union Tank Line triple dome railroad tank car Van Dyke frameless railroad tanker Chicago and Illinois Midland 2-8-2 steam loco 551 Now let's see them a little closer up, and with their real world counterparts! Wabash streamlined caboose This streamlined Wabash caboose model is based off one at the Museum of Transportation in Saint Louis, Missouri. I don't have many details about the real world 1952-built caboose's service history... All I know it was that, after being retired by the railroad, caboose 2847 was eventually bought by a suburban homeowner and stored on his property for almost 20 years. It was donated to the Museum in 2013, where it still resides today. Rear of the caboose. (I don't have a picture of this one with the real deal... yet) Burlington Northern wide-vision caboose Built in 1969, this Burlington Northern caboose (originally built for Northern Pacific) was the home away from home for the train crew and also served as the office for the conductor, who is in charge of the freight train. The cupola atop the car is the 'watch tower' of the train. When it is operation, the conductor or brakeman sits in the cupola watching to see that the train is running satisfactorily. This specific sub-type of Caboose is called a wide-vision caboose, which was a type that became prominent after World War II, when taller than usual freight cars became common. The new extra wide cupola allowed the crew to see around these obstacles. This caboose was last used in 1983 after a very short service life of just 14 years. It was replaced on modern trains by the FRED (Flashing Rear End Device) with the conductor's office being relocated to the locomotive cab. You can find the real-world version of this caboose at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. the rear of the caboose. This one was still in the process of being repainted. Note the missing BN logo and reporting marks. Monsanto nitric acid tanker The real version of the freight car that inspired this MOC was built in 1940 by American Car and Foundry for Monsanto. The 8,000 gallon double-hull tank car was designed for hauling concentrated nitric acid, which is extremely corrosive. The inner tank is constructed of an aluminum alloy which is protected by an a cushion of air and steel outer shell. The car was donated in 1961 by Monsanto Chemicals Company to the Museum of Transportation (in St. Louis, Missouri) and you can actually walk through the car via the access hatches at either end. Union Refrigerator Transit Lines / Milwaukee Road reefer car Built by General American Transportation Corporation for Union Refrigerator Transit Lines in 1948, this car is a steel bodied reefer with ice bunkers at each end. These ice bunkers 10,400 pounds of chunk ice or 11,500 lbs. of crushed ice. In the winter, charcoal heaters could be placed in the bunkers to keep the cargo from freezing. Fans are located in the floor at each end to circulate air and keep the temperature even throughout the car. Typical cargo would be fresh fruit, vegetables, or eggs. The car was owned by Union Refrigerator Transit Lines but leased to the Milwaukee Road, which is why that railroad's herald is on the sides of the car. This specific car's real-world counterpart was donated to the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis by General American Transportation Corporation in 1975. The LEGO version of the reefer car is my own design, and the doors actually open on this one! American Car and Foundry 70 ton two compartment covered hopper Built in 1960 by American Car and Foundry, this two compartment 70-ton capacity steel covered hopper was used to carry bulk items which needed protection from the elements. Cement, grain, dry chemicals, and plastic pellets are examples of typical cargo. This car's real-world counterpart was donated to the Museum of Transportation (in St. Louis, MO) in 1993 by ACF Industries. The Lego MOC version was shortened and modified from instructions for a very similar version inspired by one built by Pullman Standard rather than ACF. I found those instructions on this very cool site here. Union Tank Line triple dome railroad tank car Built by Union Tank Line in 1936, this triple dome tank car (UTLX 3882) was typical of most built until the late 1960's. Each dome is the entry and fill point for a separate compartment which is emptied at the bottom. All three compartments were equipped with steam heating pipes to enable the car to haul thick liquids needing to be heated to flow easily, such as tar. Donated in 1983 to the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri by the Union Tank Car Company. Van Dyke frameless railroad tanker This Van Dyke patent frameless tanker (UTLX 14387) was built by the Union Tank Car Company in 1910. The 6,500 gallon petroleum car is an early attempt to build a tank car without a full-length underframe. Short frames at either end attached the tank to the wheels and couplers. The tank itself was constructed of heavy steel plate in order to absorb the movement of the train. The stress caused by this movement cause the tank to flex, loosening the rivets and causing the contents to leak. This problematic design was eliminated by welded seams on modern tank cars. The real car this MOC is based on was donated in 1952 to the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri by the Union Tank Car Company. Chicago and Illinois Midland 2-8-2 steam loco 551 Here we see my LEGO model of a real-world steam locomotive, Chicago and Illinois Midland 551. Here is the info on that real engine: This 2-8-2 USRA light Mikado-type locomotive (number 551) was built in 1928 for the Chicago and Illinois Midland (C&IM) to haul freight. This most likely was coal most of the time, as the railroad was owned by Commonwealth Edison power company to get coal from it's southern Illinois mines to it's power plants nearer to Chicago. This loco is the last surviving steamer of that railroad, and it has resided at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri since 1955. The rear of the loco. Inside the cab. Sorry this one is such a crappy pic, there was a crowd of children coming and I was trying to keep them out of the shot. This train constitutes my last Museum trains for a bit.... I've almost run out of things I want to build from there and am trying to pace myself. Thoughts? -
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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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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Here is my final design of the St. Louis bridge, commonly known as the Eads bridge because of it's designer, James B. Eads. It uses Indiana Jones roller-coaster ramps for the arches, which looks pretty cool. The bridge is nine tracks total in length and 19 bricks high from base to track. (This means about fourteen bricks of clearance between arch top and floor, so some small ships could pass through!) First, a little background info from Wikipedia (which is also where this picture came from): "The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis, connecting St. Louis and East St. Louis, Illinois. The bridge is named for its designer and builder, James B. Eads. When completed in 1874, the Eads Bridge was the longest arch bridge in the world, with an overall length of 6,442 feet (1,964 m). The ribbed steel arch spans were considered daring, as was the use of steel as a primary structural material: it was the first such use of true steel in a major bridge project. The Eads Bridge, which became an iconic image of the city of St. Louis, from the time of its erection until 1965 when the Gateway Arch was constructed, is still in use. The bridge crosses the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, to the north, and the grounds of the Gateway Arch, to the south. Today the road deck has been restored, allowing vehicular and pedestrian traffic to cross the river. The St. Louis MetroLink light rail line has used the rail deck since 1993." This is a rough representation, as it is missing a lot, (I.E. no car deck, missing tunnel under downtown, and lack of the East St Louis ramp approach.) A close-up view of the arches of one of the three identical spans. The bridge as separated out for transit. Here we see the modular connections for transporting dissembling the bridge for taking to shows and such, along with the older deck (the dark bluish gray line) for when the bridge was single track. The modular component of the bridge's design also makes it a LOT easier to carry as the whole bridge with the three sections weighs about 10 pounds total. 4/12/19 BIG UPDATE: Real life pictures / text updated to reflect the newly remodeled bridge. (it now is double track!) Comments, questions and complaints are always welcome!
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My LEGO model of Sabine River and Northern 408 is below the short handrail, just behind the access ladder. This MOC is based on a real loco, one of five NC class switchers built by Electro-Motive Corporation. (which later became EMD when it was bought by General Motors) Some of these five locomotives had General Electric electrical equipment, while others had Westinghouse, since EMC's own designs were not yet ready. Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say on the NC class (it doesn't even have it own page!), but it does give us the history of this specific loco which is the last of it's class (as far as I know): 'EMC S/N 651 (built May 1937): Youngstown and Northern Railroad 202, to Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad 408 in April 1946, to Marinette, Tomahawk & Western Railroad 408, then finally to the Sabine River and Northern Railroad as 408 before being preserved in the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.' In addition, the engine's plaque at the museum says it cost $91,500 when new, and arrived at the museum in 1974. During the summer months, you can climb into the cab... although it is a very steep climb. The Lego model was heavily inspired by a SW1500 (which is a later cousin to the NC type) model I saw here. You can also read more about the Sabine River and Northern here on Wikipedia. I couldn't possibly get Sabine River and Northern to fit on the long hood, so just initials were placed instead. I also used a new printed 1x6 tile from set 60401 (Construction Steamroller) near the cab door. Thoughts?
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The Frisco 1522 loco is a 1926 oil burning 4-8-2 "Mountain" type, (4 leading, 8 drivers, 2 trailing) that was made surplus in 1951, donated to the Museum of Transportation (in St. Louis, Missouri) in 1959, and restored to working order in 1988 by the St. Louis Steam Train Association (SLSTA) for it's excursion career. It's new lease on life lasted until 2002 when rising insurance costs made the engine enter it's second retirement, which will be probably be forever. When the engine was running in it's second career, the SLSTA had four train cars in it's excursion support role. They carried parts, tools, merchandise to sell, and crew members not on duty. After re-retirement of the 1522, most of the cars were eventually sold to Milwaukee Road 261 organization and were renamed and repainted into a different paint scheme more suited to that group. This may not be the best interpretation of the Frisco 1522, but it seems to be the one of the few I've seen built out of Lego. The model you see here has been my dream ever since I was 5 or six years old and rode behind the steamer on one of it's last public trips. (I don't remember much of the trip, but I do remember the sense of awe and respect for the power of steam after seeing the loco pull past us on it's journey back to the museum and into what looks to be permanent retirement.) The cab walls on both model and real engine have the name of the railroad (Frisco) on it's side, while the number of the loco (1522) is on the tender sides. One half of this baggage car (named 'Black Gold' after a train the 1522 used to pull) housed tools, spare parts, lubricants and a fire hose or getting water for the loco, among many other things. The other half (usually closest to the engine) had the souvenir shop with shelves and tables for fundraising merchandise selling. The car is now repainted and named 'Golden Valley'. It has been used with Milwaukee Road 261. The 'Firefly' was the crew car. It was also named after a train the 1522 used to pull. The car has been sold to be used with Milwaukee Road 261. It sits in storage currently. The diner-lounge 'Chouteau Club' wasn't owned by the St. Louis Steam Train Association (SLSTA), but by a private individual who was a member of the club. It now is stored / owned by Illinois Transit Assembly in Madison, Illinois, sidelined by side sill rust. The 'Bluebonnet' was a business car and brought up the rear of the train. It was also named after a train the 1522 used to pull. The car has been sold to be used with Milwaukee Road 261. It has been renamed back to it's first name of 'Milwaukee' and repainted into the proper colors for that railroad. The real engine is publicly displayed at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. The Lego model of the loco is sitting on the front of the loco, just above the cowcatcher. This official Frisco 1522 website gave me invaluable info and pictures of the excursion cars and the loco itself. This page in particular was very helpful in getting the window amount / spacing / 'look' of the excursion cars right. NOTE: Yes, I had a thread made in 2016 for the loco only. That thread was last updated in 2017, and I didn't want to mess with the moderators by bumping it. Thus, this new thread was created. I hope that was ok! EDIT: 9/23/23: Real world photos added!
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This model was inspired by the Siemens SD-460 type light rail vehicles used by Metro Link in Saint Louis, Missouri. They are usually two sets used on every train, so just imagine a exact duplicate of the train above connected to the train you see. Basically it's four cars with only two walkways and four cabs, though only the outer two are ever used on the line. Also, the two cars with the inter-car connection are supposed to share a Jacobs bogie underneath the walkway. I didn't use one because it would cause problems storing the train in my boxes IF I decide to get it. the walkway. I didn't use one because it would cause problems storing the train in my boxes IF I decide to get it. The side of the model. The first set of pantographs on the far ends of the cars are used as ice cutters in cold weather (though they can be used in an emergency for power collection) , while the second, inner pair are actually used as the electric pickup points. This is not my map, I got it off Google. It is used by Metro Link on it's trains to show the stations used by the Light-Rail system. The Metro Bus routes are not shown, as their are too many routes to show on this type of map, though the metro buses usually use the routes of the old streetcars. The train is supposed to feature the "M" logo on it's front and rear ends, but their is no printing on the logo, which is a blue square with a red circle inside, which has a capital "M" in white located inside the red circle. (I used a black 1x1 plate because it stood out more.) Anyone wanting to read more about Metro Link and their plans for any future extensions and such should visit their wiki page here: https://en.wikipedia...ink_(St._Louis) EDIT: forgot to add the LDD file: http://www.moc-pages.com/user_images/80135/1453843587m.lxf
