CrispyBassist

This, and the "1891" on the TH don't necessarily mean that's the current year, but rather is a reference to the year the building was built. That being said, I agree that the line seems to be designed around the early to mid 20th century. The fairly modern electric guitar in the music shop of AS and particularly what appears to be a microwave oven in the AFOL's apartment pull the time period further forward to the '60s.

Thanks all for the kind words! I'm pretty happy with the way these details turned out. Obviously feel free to use them for your own builds! Agreed, I'll have to get them together at some point. That's a good looking truck, I may have to borrow some of the details in the future. Agreed. My typical builds are boxcab locomotives, so COE trucks are along the same lines!

I've finished my EP-2: As with the other two, this model has two PF train motors powering the large drivers on the outer four axles. The 1-C-1 trucks are articulated in two points to accommodate the motors. It does negotiate all standard LEGO curves and switches happily, as shown in the following video which features all three of my boxcabs: Video: Elephant Style (linked, because I still can't remember how to insert these things...) The lights are by Brickstuff. It looks pretty sweet with the whole consist too These photos and more can be found on my Flickr as well. Comments and criticisms welcome! Cheers.

This is my model of a Ford C-Series truck (prototype here). I tried to cram as many details as possible into it, which was a challenge for this small of a model! Unfortunately minifigs don't fit inside. More pics can be found on my Flickr. Comments and criticisms welcome! -Matt

This locomotive looks great, and that consist is impressive! Those ball bearings make a huge difference. I'm looking forward to seeing long trains like this at shows!

Nice redesign! My only recommendation would be to add a small cab to the back of the trailer. All the tiller rigs I've seen have a second cab back there because the back wheels of the trailer are steerable so that it can maneuver better than typical semi trucks.

I'd say this is a great list of offerings. My thought would be to do the r120 curves to further differentiate from ME Models (and because my long cars want bigger curves). And yes, I would definitely say include the weird length straight with the switches, otherwise there may be groaning about not being able to make switch ladders. I would also agree that the "switch pack" mentioned should be offered in addition to the others, particularly because Kickstarter only lets you chose one reward. This kit would provide multiple options for track configurations, including a passing siding or a three-track yard ladder. My last comment would be that I will want to buy more switches after the Kickstarter

I'm in the PF with switches boat too. As Glenn said, it's annoying to have to deal with standard switches with log passenger cars. Like others have mentioned it seems like some people may be put-off by the delay (to put it nicely) with ME Models track to want to invest in another Kickstarter for the same radius curves. I would guess that the appeal of switches would attract many more people since it's something new that the community doesn't have yet and seems to have lots of desire for. Since it seems many of the people who are upset with ME Models were in it for the 9v track, a successful initial Kickstarter may ease their minds enough that they would support a second 9v-heavy project.

Definitely a nice looking locomotive. I like how you were able to keep the cab open for a minifig or two. Not sure if it's on purpose, but it looks like you have two dark blue minifig hands in the handrails on the left side. I tend to get those colors confused while digging around my parts.

Backed! Twice, actually. I wanted a set of the half and quarter-straights and a loop of r88's to compliment my ME Models r104's, though the next size up (r120?) would've been preferable - my long trains look best on long curves, especially PennLUG's grand curves. I'm excited for the additional curves, but I think I'd be more excited for the switches. To be honest I'm mostly hopeful that this gets funded so that the switches have their chance. Coaster, you've done a great job with these additional geometries, I just hope people aren't so put-off by the ME Models situation to not support this. I'd pay through the teeth for some more-prototypical switches that long cars don't look downright silly going through.

Update to the WIP EP-2: Most of the body is done, save for a few 1x1 tiles and plates that I forgot to order... I need to make a few other orders to finish up the trucks (no, they're not detailed enough for my taste yet), and the roof, plus finish off a couple windows on the body. She runs real happily with the two train motors, just like my other two boxcabs. The articulation of the 1-C-1+1-C-1 bogies allows it to run on standard Lego curves as well. More progress to come!

This looks awesome! I definitely like the cab design on this and your other standard cab locomotives. Any reason you left out the step ~halfway down the long hood?

Thanks all for the positive feedback! Surprisingly yes, all three will run on standard curves, though with huge overhangs. The passenger cars don't like standard curves as much though!

Oh, hey man! Yeah, those were at NMRA. The third is the next one I'm working on. Those bricks you sent go in the low voids on the sides of the body (that pic is a few weeks old).

Thanks! The details on the roof and trucks offset the simple cab design when building these. The wires are sold like that by Brickstuff, though I have been thinking of coloring it black or, purists look away, drilling a hole in the hat that I use for the body of the light to hide the wire. That's something I'd have to fix for all three of these actually. Nice! I grew up on the New Haven line of Metro-North and thus visited Grand Central every time I went into the city. Still a shame about the original Penn Station, even if its demolition did get GCT saved...

After some conversation in another thread I realized I haven't posted any of my more recent builds on here, including one of my boxcab electric locomotives. I figured I would put some details about both of my New Haven electric locomotives, since both fit this category. Many of you may have seen these on Flickr or at shows but I presume that many of you haven't seen them yet, though I could be wrong. First up is the newest one, my New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H) EF-1: The EF-1 class was built in 1912 by Baldwin-Westinghouse and remained in service until 1957 (outlasting their "successors," the EF-2's by 9 years). The were frequently used on the New York Connecting Railroad (a joint venture to connect the New Haven and Pennsylvania Railroads) hauling freight from New England to the Long Island Rail Road's transfer bridges in Brooklyn, NY. Due to the grades on this route they were typically operated in triple, and I've even seen a photo of four of them hauling a long freight over the Hell Gate Bridge. The model is equipped with two PF train motors which power the four large drivers, and Brickstuff lights in the main headlight and four front marker lights. Contrary to everything I've read on here, I've had no problems using large drivers on a PF train motor (well, none yet). My plan is to build freight cars until this can no longer haul any more, then build a second and repeat until I have three of them. My second (well, first) boxcab electric is my NYNH&H EP-3: The EP-3 class was built by General Electric in 1931, and featured both pantographs and third rail shoes so they could run into either Grand Central Terminal or Pennsylvania Station in New York. The EP-3s performed so well that the Pennsylvania railroad borrowed three of them for tests that resulted in the design of the world famous GG1. As with my EF-1 this uses two PF train motors powering eight of the large drivers, and was able to keep considerable speed at Brickworld this past summer with five heavy passenger cars in tow: New Haven Meet at Brickworld Chicago Also I'm working on a NYNH&H EP-2, which is still very much of a WIP: Cheers!

Ah, I see now! I hadn't spotted that at first glance. I guess I could start by posting my two boxcabs here. I think I've only ever posted them to Flickr.

Very nice build! I agree with jtlan that powering the blind drivers won't give you any additional traction but it does make it look better to have all three axles spinning. From your photo it does look like you have enough space to power that first set of drivers, though I could be wrong. What's this and where do I sign up??

Of those two options I'd definitely say the one on the right. I think it looks better as the springs are taller, more prominent, and have something they attach to at the bottom. Unless there was some way to adjust the method on the left to mount the 1x2 plate with bar, and thus the springs, from the bottom of the bogie, but that might run into issues with the 9v motor. If you couldn't tell by now I like detailed bogie designs, I think they take great MOCs to the next level.

Click here for the description, as I suddenly forgot how to link to Flickr with BBCode

Looking good so far! Judging by the 9v motor you're planning to have this run. I'm curious: how did you attach the middle bogie while still allowing it to go through curves? As far as the side frames for the bogies, I usually attach a bar or flex tube to the train motor (or motor-shaped truck buildup) using plates with clips and then attach the side frame there. Part 63868 is great for attaching to the top of the motor and holding the bar clear of the wheels. If this doesn't make sense I can take some pics when I get home from work later today.

I agree with Tenderlok, the pantographs are quite nice! I haven't been 100% happy with the pantographs on my New Haven electrics, so I may borrow this design for at least my EP-3. The others will get them if I can find a large number of minifig hooks...

Looks good! The only comment I would have is that to my knowledge fireboats don't usually have water tanks, but rather just pump the water they're floating on.

Looking at the leaked pic a bit more (found it again on Google) I noticed the car with the tree and presents uses the Technic train wheels (part 55423) instead of the typical metal-axled wheels (2878). This probably means at one of the axles has a gear on it, I'm guessing to make the miniature train on the car rotate around the tree (or make the whole tree-train assembly spin) while the big train moves!

I use a couple under-bed plastic tubs for my rolling stock, lined with bubble wrap of course. The ones I have are just wide enough so fit 5 rows of 8-wide cars fairly snugly, and just long enough for specific pairings of my passenger cars (coach + baggage in the same row, EP-3 + RPO/baggage in another). The length makes them awkward to carry though. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to transport buildings and such.