billbarman

Sorry to dig this old thread up but wow! I really love these designs! I'd like to try and bricklink these, but do you sell the custom stickers you made for them? Those really complete the look and the cars just wouldn't look right without them!

I've always been obsessed with trains, even from a really young age. One day my grandparents dug out my mom’s old 004 master builder set from 1966. I had a lot of fun playing with the Lego, however what really struck me was the booklet that somehow was still in the box 30 years later. It contained a lot of photos of multiple blue track train sets from the 60s. I was 3 or 4 at the time was fascinated, I didn't realize that stuff hadn't been produced in decades! From that point on, I became infatuate with Lego Trains. I would often build Lego trains of my on out of parts I had during the mid 90s, my parents thought was too young for the 9v stuff out the time. However, this changed Christmas of 1999 when I received the 4561 Railway Express set for Christmas. I had never really seen the 9v stuff up until this point (the only Lego trains I had really seen were the old 1960s ones I mentioned before) and was thrilled to have it. Although the design was kind of odd to me at first (I always was a fan of steam and the small locomotive didn’t really look like anything to me) I grew to love it and had a blast with that set. In the catalog that came with 4561, I saw the 4565 freight and crane railway. As soon as I saw it I was obsessed. My parents called every store and checked every web site looking for it, but by 2000, it had disappeared from store shelves. Then in 2002 I got the set 10205 large black steam locomotive and tender. This really thrilled me as it was a big steam engine (although it would have been better if it had connecting rods and valve gear) but nevertheless I was thrilled. I would get other stuff through the 2000s, such as the Super Chief (which I loved to death) and 2 passenger cars to go with it, 1022 and 1025. Eventually all this stuff got wrecked and mixed in with all the other parts I had. It’s not that I stopped caring for it or wasn’t into it anymore, they got wrecked one by one time (especially because of brother, 7 years younger then me). I was too young to take the time to sift through all my pieces and make them again. Then in 2006 I wanted to start over so I managed to get a 7898 Cargo set, which I loved, and the 10173 Holiday train later that year, but they suffered the same fate as my earlier trains as the years went on. Then in 2009 when the Emerald Night came out, I knew I had to get it right away, that was the lego train always dreamed of. I got the Maersk when it came out in 2011 as well, and knew to keep them safe so they wouldn’t suffer the same fate as my previous trains. However, I became frustrated having only these two trains built when I knew I had a lot more so in 2014 I went on a tirade sifting through my thousands of pieces to rebuild my collection. I also discovered brick link and ended up order the stuff I just couldn’t find. It took months but I managed to re build literally every single train from my childhood. I thought the time was right to start adding to the collection and since then, have bought the 4.5v 7722Steam Cargo train, 3225 Classic Train, 10001 Metroliner, various 9v rolling stock, and yes, even the 4565 freight and crane railway I wanted all these years.

Fantastic job, I really love the locomotive. I've been trying to build a similar one myself for a while. looks really great. The station is also wonderful, best of luck to you!