SteamSewnEmpire

Oh, hey, wow! That's awesome! Thanks! And thanks whoever put it up there!

Is there an interior?

Thanks. I think there are other solutions that are equally good or even better. The thing about E and F unit noses is everyone sees something different that they want to emphasize, and you can only do so much with Lego's limited parts. Perhaps one day the company will revisit the Warbonnet units and design specialized pieces for the job, and everyone's will look the same thereafter :P.

I'm not a hundred percent satisfied, but I'm done messing with it. It would require custom windshields.

I LOVE your grass and ground clutter. That's a model done right!

Gap removal is a really nice improvement.

It's a pity that someone technically minded couldn't take up the LDD torch.

There's a line of about 30 of them stored in my town - pass them on the way to Starbucks most days. Off topic, but the yard they are stored in used to have a dedicated switching crew. No longer :/. At least it's still busy with freights waiting to depart.

I mean, some of the best space mocs I have ever seen shamelessly use third party parts, and I feel like those builds are a lot more flexible (since the people are making the designs up as they go).

Oh, wow, you built it! How does it run?

It's such an odd prototype for them to select for this treatment. While I understand that the crocodile has its fans - even some here in North America - I would not label it as a locomotive with broad appeal. It's a slow, "un-sexy" electric motor from a small country. The croc is quirky and unique, but it doesn't look much of anything like what a lot of American, Canadian, Australian, etc. grownups - much less children - would regard as a train. I know this is a product that is aimed at adults... but I'm an adult that's a pretty wild railfan, and this one a must-miss for me - it's just too much dough for something that's going to sit on a shelf, especially at a time when money is particularly tight, and the future is rather uncertain. And... I have a feeling that this is a rationale that will be shared by many other would-be - possibly more casual - purchasers. Basically, when presented with a big-buy product like this, I typically default to my HO scale rationale: 'does this belong on my model railroad? Would it run on these rails?' If the answer is a definite no, there's no reason to pick it up. And this isn't me saying "IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A GP35" or something like that. Why not, like, a German or French steam locomotive? You know, something that - while it might not be totally familiar - at least has the "it's steam" appeal going for it? Something that, while maybe I myself wouldn't buy it, a lot wider audience would identify with? The popularity of this thread not withstanding, the conspiracy theorist in me is wondering if the croc was chosen because Lego knew it wouldn't sell well, so as to serve as an example for them to wave at AFOL's in the future and say "hey, we TRIED to sell you a nice, detailed train, but you didn't want it!"

That was the first thing that came to my mind, too. Always loved the Star Viper. This thing is neat, too.

It's a hard life, but somebody has to live it.

It's a centerbeam lumber car - very common in parts of the Pacific Northwest and southeast US. Empty they look like this: Full like this:

Wow, this is so clean. Love the red stripes. It just looks smart.

I can't take credit for that. I saw a 6w moc where someone had done it using that same part. Getting them to work in LDD was... something of a trial (they're not set on their sides - they are angled about 16 degrees off center, and then pushed out slightly from where they are affixed to the car). It was too good an idea not to borrow - in fact, I think it's the best possible solution to that car (though, again, was not my idea). The real problem was when I need to do the framing above that part - the 1x8 tiles? I had to use 1x1 round plates stacked 2 deep, 5 in a row to allow those tiles to adhere. Was a mess. That's actually my favorite piece of rolling stock, though. However, my fiance likes the dome the best.

I didn't make that. I'm putting you on ignore. Sorry, but the harassment has got to stop.

It almost looks to me like you had a little more room to play with - the hood of the real locomotive looks a bit longer.

Great model. Boy is the original a boxy design. Lends itself well to Lego.

I think so? But I use LDD, so those are the best I can do.

I just eyeball things. I think they're fairly tall cars - I drive past a row of them almost every day.

Loosely based on the B&O's Thatcher Perkins.

Pricey, though. I think Lego track - even custom stuff - is still cheaper than the larger-gauge track. That's part of what has stopped me from switching to 2-rail O - the hobby is just prohibitively expensive when you go big. Well, frankly, a purist would tell you that any custom part isn't Lego - custom steam locomotive driving wheels; custom track; custom sails for pirate ships, etc. Given the exceedingly limited toolkit Lego provides us with when it comes to model railroading, I think you have to just leave baggage like that behind at the door. It's not our fault that we don't have the pieces - it's theirs. You can design your way around the vast majority of problems in this hobby, but wheels and track aren't one of them. At some point, if you want something that's done properly and functions, Lego's box of tricks will be empty.

This isn't particularly exciting. There are dozens of different variants of these cars out there, and, as such, I didn't model this based on any specific one. There are also probably better ways to achieve the shape. But I wanted something that was relatively simple and low-parts, since it sucks blowing nearly as much as it costs for an engine to build a single freight car.