Rotundus

Congratulations on a sweet looking build. We here in Portland are indeed blessed... Not only do do we have the 4449, but also two other fully restored steam locomotives that are housed at our rail museum. If you are lucky enough to be here around Christmas time, you have a 50/50 shot at getting to ride on a "Holiday Train" that is pulled by the 4449. Truely a treat that is not to be missed. (All proceeds go to the Friends of the 4449). If you would like to really make your model POP, I would suggest contacting Zephyr1934 about obtaining some 4449 Daylight stickers. He produces an amazing product. (I hope I have not violated any rules of this forum.) Good work!

It is a good looking model of an unique prototype... Well done! If your going to have a problem at all with the round stuff it won't be with the drivers. Your spacing looks good and the blind drivers look to be in the right place. But unless you are using a "sliding axle", the center wheel set under the firebox/tender is what might bind in the corners. Nice work all around, though.

Hey Capt. Jack... Just out of curiosity, what train did you finally decide on?

Hi all, If your saying to yourself, "Self, I do believe that I've seen and read these posts before"... well, you have. The reason why this topic has cycled back to the top is that I finally figured out the proper way to display the photos here... So I updated the posts with photos in them to reflect the proper procedure. What all that means is that at the moment I have nothing new to show you. Sorry to yank on your chain like that. What I can report is that currently I am working on ver. 2.0 of the handrails, as well as re-visiting the under-chassis details. And lastly, if I have enough time before the stickers arrive, I'd like to look at the engineering of the "fixed position" couplers and see if I can make them more "operationally friendly". Thanks for your continued interest in my MOC. I'll try not to disappoint. Late update: The last of the parts needed to complete my MOC, (including the stickers), are now in the mail. Patience, my friends. Soon I will post the entire story, (complete with 27 8 x10 color glossies with circles and arrows on the back of each one...)... Sorry folks, I got carried away there for a moment... .

Right on! Personally, if I wanted a perfect scale model I would have stuck with kit-bashing in HO. LEGO is an entirely different experience, with it's own set of challenges to overcome. That's what drew me to LEGO in the first place. It was RailBricks Magazine (& the Emerald Night), that got me to look at LEGO as a serious modeling medium. We deserve that kind of a quality publication for our hobby. We hobbyists must face the fact that RB may never rise again. It sounds like there are more than enough hurdles for that not to happen. I think we should look beyond that and concentrate our efforts on having, and supporting, a flagship magazine to carry our L-gauge (and related scales) banner.

Just a side thought on LEGO narrow gauge... If you model in 1 lug = 1', TLG track (2 studs between the rails) is a good fit for either 3' or 42" inch prototype. Or in model rail speak for L-gauge, Ln3 or Ln31/2. : )

Hey Nemo... I like it! A 6-wide "Black Widow", not bad at all. Nice solution for the handrail right behind the cab. Good looking fans, too. I see a couple of details that I'll have to look into for the Mk-II update on mine that I think I'll have to work on.

Funny you should mention that... I was one of those tourists. In 1966 my parents and I went to Alaska with a tour group. After a trip up the "Inland Passage" on a ship that was converted from a WW-II freighter into a passenger liner, We boarded the train and went all the way up to Whitehorse. I've loved riding on the train ever since.

Nicely done! What is the prototype gauge? Also, what technique did you use for the center wheelsets?

I hate to get off topic, (or sound like an ingrate), but does anyone have any hard facts to add to this conversation?

With the recent surge in narrow gauge modeling, it might be worth looking into producing a narrow gauge "universal connector" so we can make our own "L-nx" straight track.

Nice model, with good scaling. Very clean lines. Some well done stickers would finish it off nicely! On the prototype: Compared to the coach it is pulling, that locomotive looks freakishly small... Almost like an amusement park ride. Ah, the joys of narrow gauge. Well done!

I kinda hope the new kit will be a "Herbie". I remember the original "Love Bug" movie with Dean Jones, and how excited I was to see the "real thing" when it came around to my local VW dealer. A few years back I purchased a Beetle... Loved it! I was so disappointed by the T1. The interior was fantastic, but the outside while good, left me a bit flat. And it was not in scale with my Bug. Well, maybe this new version of the Bug will be in scale with the Van (one can hope). One concern, though... Won't the new kit have a negative affect on the value of the original?

This is truly an amazing piece of work! It is just a bit too big to pop in the boot and haul off to a show though, isn't it? :) Indeed you are a master, sir.

If you build a few more of them, you could use them as a basis for a Saturn IV / Shuttle launchpad crawler.

Hi all, Thank you to all of you who have viewed and taken an interest in my project. The prototype photos and ideas have been put to good use. To Nemo57... That solution for the rear end of the dynamic brake bulge drove me crazy... I like the way you made it work. To Zephyr... It is my goal to employ an all LEGO solution as much as possible. But as you'll see in the next photos, I will be bending that ideal just a (wee) bit. As an example of that, I was considering using blank red stickers to cover the "cheese graters". But honestly, I kind of like how they look (now in red), even though it is not prototypical. On the other side of that coin... The rigid mounted coupler is in a good position for the model, but comes up lacking for operations. Since I do not have a layout this will be a "static display" model, so I won't have to worry about that. Like most MOC's this one can be considered the Mark I. I'll continue to think on better solutions for that and other issues, (like motorizing). And your right, a "Black Widow" paint job would look very good indeed. Now on to the new photos: gp-30 shaping-side by Ronald Clark, on Flickr Here is an early phase test build. As long as the brick had the right general shape, (I didn't worry about the color or pesky, unwanted studs), I stuck it in there. In fact most of the long hood sides are made up of bricks with the extra studs turned to the inside. gp-30 top 2nd by Ronald Clark, on Flickr This pic shows my take on the angled roof on the cab. The 2x4 wedge is actually a bit too short, but the 3x6 is too wide... 2x6 would have been just right, but no such animal exists in the LEGO world. Also I am trying out how the top would look covered in tiles. I'm not sure yet if I like it or not. The technic disks are to be replaced by 4x4 round plates, if they fit and look right. gp-30 side w sticker preview by Ronald Clark, on Flickr This next one shows what is a basically completed model, shape-wise, (at least from the chassis plates up). It is my intention to use stickers for a lot of the side details ,so I mocked up their positions with paper copies... (Hey Zephyr, do you do custom printing of stickers, too? I'll contact you about it in a few days.) So there you have it. There is still a lot of work to be done on it, but more parts are in the mail.

10-wide was not my first choice. Originally it was to be built in 8-wide, but some of the elements just kind of worked out better in the larger width. Also, 1 lug = 1 foot is very easy to work with. So, 10-wide it is... And I'll just have to deal with the wheels. The plan for the handrails, is to use 3mm hose and Part #11090 to hold more 3mm hose that has been heated, bent and formed to shape. It should look about right, (I hope). I won't know until it gets rigged up... But parts are on their way! Just wondering... How LEGO is heat assisted shaping? I mean, is it acceptable as an all LEGO solution for the handrails? Happy Bricking!

I finally got off my butt and figured out this photo thing... So, here is a pair of 'em for you to enjoy! gp-30 wip gray side by Ronald Clark, on Flickr I decided to build it in 10-wide. Very much a WIP, I now hope to have this finished some time before Solstice. gp-30 wip greytop by Ronald Clark, on Flickr The biggest area of concern now, is what to do about hiding the wheelsets

I just signed up with Flicker and MOC pages. I'm not happy with having to do that , (control issues I think). I tried to use my "flip phone" as a camera, but the photos are so small... wait, I already said that. Oh well... I'll put them up in their small format. At least it will be a teaser for you all.

Hello to Lone BrickerSG... . Just a philosophical note... Brickheads are never alone !! So much for the deep stuff... Why don't you post a few pics and let your fellow brickers have a look. All MOC's and MODs have merit and deserve to be viewed! Even if you do not think that much of your own creation, your unique interpretation of a subject may inspire another brickhead. And is that really a bad thing? . And to Xbox - JACOB... Hi! Glad to meet you. I really should have noticed your tagline earlier... Sorry . . Just a note... As soon as I figure out how to get photos of a reasonable quality onto this site I will post them. (My phone takes photos of such poor resolution that when I try to enlarge them big enough to see any detail, they break down into a pixel-ated mess). I promise to resolve this as soon as I can.

As soon as I figure out a work-around for getting photos from my phone to my computer, (no data plan), I'll post pictures of my "work-in-progress". Zephyr, I'm sure you will recognize your influence on my model, . THANK-YOU! I'm a lot further along on this project than I thought I'd be at this point. Inspiration can be such a funny thing, you know? Running gear and cab roof are all that's left... and stickers. Currently it is being built as a Southern Pacific "Bloody Nose" unit, But I am considering changing it to a much more colorful Santa Fe "Kodachrome" unit. Happy bricking! Hey Xboxtravis... Have you had a chance to examine that B-unit in your second posted photo? Interesting, eh? It looks like it is a DD-35 or DD-40-b...?... Good catch! ImanolBB: Sorry, buddy... I didn't mean to ignore you... Putting the hitches in the chassis is part of the plan.

. I just KNEW somebody had to have attempted to build this. Nicely done Zephyr! A double header, no less! :thumbup: Thank you for the reference pics. Both you and Hole 521 utilized ideas I had not previously considered... and in 6-wide, too. The "Ldglite" cab is interesting as well, and being that it is in 8-wide, it will be closely studied . . I like your solution for the rear section of the "humpback", and I think I will try a variation of it on mine. Currently I have used part #43710 in an inverted position for the underside... and stagger-stacking several wedge plates for the top will work quite well in solving two issues. . All of the pictures have given me a considerable amount of "thinking material" to work with. Thanks again.

Part #43710 Triple Wedge 4 x 2 (r/l) has been the main focus of my trial builds to date. SNOT for the one on the side, normal positioning for the one on top. But the top one should only have two angled faces, not three. If I go 10 wide, it works well enough, and the third wedge face becomes an acceptable compromise... but then the "too small" wheels are the problem. The octagonal cone has the same problem, only more so. That's really the main hang-up. And rest assured, there will be a lot of SNOT-work, can't get away from that. This is far and away the most challenging model I have attempted so far. When I made the comment about a "Mega-Build", I thought I was only joking... If I brick-build the proper profile for that area the over-all build size would become enormous, but It would eliminate the need for a number of other compromises that I have identified. The main problem I have with a "BIG" build is the money factor... And I would still have to brick-build the wheels.

Hi gang, I think I'm beginning to realize why nobody has built one of these. :| I've just spent the better part of a week staying up way too late test building various ideas, and it looks like if I try to build it in any reasonable L-guage scale... it can't be done. (I hate that phrase!) 6 wide is a no go. It just doesn't look right. 10 wide is great for scale work. But I just don't see a way around the "small wheel" problem. I really like my investigations into 8 wide. The scale is good, the proportions are excellent... everything looks right! Except the wedge shape of the dynamic brake bulge just in front of the air intake. LEGO just doesn't make any appropriate parts for it. I don't have a problem with resorting to the use of non-LEGO construction techniques and materials, its just that if I do so, is it really LEGO? I'm not going to give up on it, though. This one is going to take a LOT more thought and planning... and maybe a bit of time for TLG to come up with more part designs to work with. (Hmm... Maybe if I turn it into a mega-build...... How hard is it to "brick-build" wheels, anyway?) Edited: May 26, 2016... -> Right . This post/rant is kind of embarrassing... But it was accurate, for at the time I was feeling quite frustrated with my inability to come up with suitable solutions. Happy bricking : )

Hello again, After checking on a few MOC sites, it appears that nobody has attempted to build this locomotive. I like this added incentive. Currently my wallet is recuperating from the strain I've put it under building the 4449 Daylight I just completed, but I think this is going to get built by Summer's end (or at least a good start). For Xbox... Here is that front and top view you were asking for. The rear view is a bonus. Although I am partial to the Southern Pacific, that UP machine sure does look good! https://www.the-blue...0_703-16253.jpg