Cale

Thank you. Indeed. I have quite a few engines in my stable but this is the first time I've made an almost identical pair. It's a great sight when they are both sitting together. Cale

Pennsylvania Railroad K4s class Steam Locomotive #3750 and #1361 These two LEGO models of Pennsylvania RR class K4s #3750 and #1361 are perhaps my most ambitious project to date. I've spent months intensively researching and studying the K4s in order to make the most accurate and detailed engine I've built to date. The boiler design was inspired by my friend and fellow train builder in PennLUG, Nate Brill. What has turned out to be the most difficult part of building these models is the working Walschaerts Valve Gear. My goal was to try and build working valve gear with out modifying any parts, and to keep it as small and proportionate to the rest of the locomotive as possible. This required several weeks of trial and error but I'm reasonably happy with the final result. Video of my K4s #1361 running at BrickMagic 2012 taken by Bob Hayes #3750 and #1361 both represent the K4s class late in their careers. Both engines are virtually identical with the exception of their tenders. #3750 is equiped with a PRR 110P75a class tender while #1361 is equiped with a slightly longer PRR 130P75 class tender. PRR K4s Class Flickr Gallery The Pennsylvania RR's K4 class Pacifics were one of the cornerstones of their passenger service for 41 years from when the first engine entered service in 1916 through the final active K4's retirement 1957. The K4's performed their duties with a superb combination of speed, power and grace. K4's pulled the fastest and most prestigious trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad for many decades, with 425 being built between 1914 and 1928 by both Baldwin Locomotive Works and through Pennsy's own Juniata Shops in Altoona. In the mid 1930s, as the passenger consists grew longer and heavier, Pennsy would double and even triple head the K4s. The K4s class has become an icon of the Pennsylvania RR. There are only two surviving K4s class locomotives, #1361 and #3750. Number 3750 is on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. # 3750 was a typical workhorse, with only two unusual events in its long and productive life.The first came early in its lifewhen it pulled President Harding's funeral train. The second was more unusual. After its retirement from active service in 1957, it remained in storage, first at West Philadelphia enginehouse, then at Northumberland, along with other historic equipment that was destined to become the core of the Museum's holdings. However, the Pennsylvania Railroad, apparently chagrined that the first K4 ever built, #1737, had been scrapped because it was worn out, and decided to "undo" history by placing #1737's number plates onto #3750. #3750 in its masquerade avoided being sent to the scrapper's torch along with hundreds of other K4 locomotives. Upon the PRR's historic collection being acquired by the newly commissioned Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania it arrived at the Museum along with other historic equipment in 1968 as a "ringer" for No. 1737. This was rectified when the newly formed Friends of the Railroad Museum performed the first of several laborious restorations of this beloved locomotive in the 1980s. Subsequently, the true No. 3750 plates were obtained, and this wonderful locomotive is now secure for future generations to admire. Number 1361's fame came after her retirement in 1957. For nearly 30 years, #1361 stood on display at the top of the world-famous Horseshoe Curve In Altoona PA. In 1985, the City of Altoona, Conrail, and the Railroaders Memorial Museum made arrangements to move the locomotive from the Horseshoe Curve to the Museum. The engine was moved to Altoona on September 5, 1985, and work to restore the locomotive began in April of 1986. With the help of teams of volunteers, #1361 was restored to working order in just one year's time. In April 1987, #1361 pulled its first passenger train in over thirty years. In May 1987, Altoona City and Conrail named the steam locomotive the "Spirit of Altoona". The engine later encountered extensive problems of age and wear, requiring major rebuilding. #1361 is under ownership of the Railroaders Memorial Museum at Altoona who is currently working to restore the engine to operation once more. Former Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey signed a bill proclaiming the K4 to be Pennsylvania's Official State Steam Locomotive in March of 1988. l#3750 At the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg PA #1361 at the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona PA I'll be happy to answer any questions. Cale

As a theme Monster Fighters is really growing on me. The figs a cool, there are a lot of great parts, and the sets look like they will be a lot of fun to play with. The train however doesn't thrill me so much. As others have said it reminds me very much of the old Time Twisters train. I'm sure it will be a fun set for the kids but it's not the kind of train that makes the RR geek in me all happy and giddy. There is one bright spot for it though. It uses the Emerald Night drivers and now that the EN is gone this will be the only place to get them. And unless LEGO has changed the mold we'll still be getting a pair of blind drivers too (even though the model doesn't use them) just like we did with the toy story train. We'll also be getting the cowcatcher in black again. Though I don't have much use for that piece it's still great that LEGO is keeping it and the EN drivers available. Now if we can just get a proper steam train set again. Cale

I put this up on the RAILBRICKS blog as well. This is indeed a worthy project. I would love to see this get the 10,000 votes it needs. http://railbricks.com/blog/ Cale

Doing you own thing, building and running your own layout your way is certainly a noble endeavor. But just because you want an empire of your own I wouldn't count out the club experience. Speaking for my own club PennLUG while we are not a train specific club, train layouts do form a big part of what we do. And member participation in our layouts comes in all shapes and sizes. We have some members who contribute significant chucks to our layouts, some who may only bring a MOC or two and some who don't contribute any MOCs at all but help set up and run things at shows. All of these members no matter how great or small are valued and at the end of the day every one has a great time. There is no replacement for the fun to be had hanging out with like minded individuals and no better motivator, inspiration, or learning experience. Most clubs I've found are pretty welcoming of fellow fans. I've had the pleasure of participating with many clubs over the years and have always felt welcome, even if all I had to contribute was a train or two on their layout for the weekend. I encourage you to check out NILTC. I've met many of their members over the years and they're all great people. You can still run your own empire and have fun at the club level too. Cale

We had a HO scale trains set we would set up at Christmas and my Dad had (still has) a really neat Coca Cola themed Lionel Train set. But the first train I could call my own was the 7722 Steam Cargo Train set. My LEGO train career was born. I played with it for hours and hours. I added buildings and vehicles and people. I even modified the engine to look more American and rebuilt the mail car into a caboose. I loved that train and I still have that set today. I have also branched out into other scales. For a while when I was younger I had an N scale layout. It was small even by N scale standards but I had fun with it. Today I'm still interested mainly in LEGO trains but I do collect HO models that catch my interest. I do plan to have an HO scale railroad some day, it's on my bucket list. However I cant ever see myself giving up LEGO trains so the two interests will just have to get along with each other. Cale

Are LEGO Trains considered Real model trains? That's a tough one to answer. I guess it really depends on what your definition of a real model train is. Is a real model train one that must be as hyper accurate and perfectly scaled as possible? A model where every rivet is in perfect scale and every one is accounted for? If that's the case then no, LEGO trains are not real model trains. LEGO will never reach that level, it's just not in the DNA of LEGO. There will always be compromises in the world of bricks that keep us from fully reaching that goal. However I don't think that is what any one is truly implying here. So what really is a real model train? I think one of the things being confused here is the distinction between model trains and model railroads. A model train is just that, a model of a train. It can be a single locomotive, or car, or a full rake, but the emphasis is on a singular model. It can be made out of what ever materials the modeler wants to use at any scale they wish. I believe best model trains should adhere to scale and authenticity as much as possible within their given medium and in that regard I think LEGO Trains can hold their own pretty well. Sure the stock sets LEGO sells are more toys than true models. How ever that's not true modeling, that's just collecting. It's the MOCs, the custom models, that are the true models and there are certainly some absolutely great LEGO train models out there. So yes, LEGO trains in my opinion can be classified as real model trains. Now when you start talking model railroads, that's a tougher row to hoe. A model railroad is made up of the sum of many different parts and model trains are only one small part in the equation. Truthfully model railroads are not very realistic. The modeler always has to make compromises based on space, and budget, and time. There is no way a modeler will ever be able to accurately model the true scale of a real railroad with it's sometimes hundreds miles of main lines and vast operations. The curves will always be sharper the main lines shorter and the faculties compressed to fit the space. The modeler must choose his battles and take artistic license when designing the RR empire. With this in mind I don't believe a model railroad is really a model at all, at least not in the classic modeling sense. I believe that at it's heart and at it's best model railroading is an art. It's an art relief that combines the train model, scenery, structures, details, and and the model railroaders passion to create something that captures a moment in time, and place. To freeze a a little slice of the real and interpret it for it's viewers. Model railroads such as or George Sellios' Franklin & South Manchester do just that and are two of my biggest inspirations.There have been a few LEGO train layouts out there that I would consider true model railroads by my definition. But they are few and are so far the exception. I don't even consider my own clubs PennLUG layouts to be a true model railroad. At least not yet. But that is all part of growing the hobby, and growing in the hobby. We all must start some where as greatness is not achieved with out hard work and dedication. I believe that PennLUG will get there. I'm proud of how far we've come and I'm continuing to drag the rest of the club kicking and screaming toward my nefarious goals. And I believe the rest of the LEGO train hobby will get there to. Can LEGO be a serious model railroad? Yes, I think it can and I'm looking forward to proving it. Cale

Thank you all for the wonderful comments. T be honest I was surprised at how well this was received. Cale

The two green pines are just variations on the old #10069 Tree. The dark green and sand green trees are versions of this tree by Ondrew Hardigan which itself was a variation on the #10069. The 2x2 flowers are actually quite simple. They are just placed over the stalks of the Plant Flower Stem part. Cale

B-OV-21D Friends Tree House in the Garden For PennLUG's January 2012 meeting member Chris Edwards challenged us to build Friends themed MOCs. I only had Olivia's Tree House and Emma's Fashion Design Studio at the time so my Friends part resources were pretty small. I desided to run with the tree house theme and expand on it adding elements from both sets and a healthy dose of my landscaping knowledge. I think I'm reasonably happy with the results. http://www.flickr.com/photos/steampoweredbricks/sets/72157629005805977/with/6752386765/ Cale

You need look no further than this old blog post from Railbricks. It should explain every thing you need to know about upgrading the O-rings. http://railbricks.com/blog/a-power-functions-primer/ Cale

If you want to motorize your Emerald Night the proper way according to LEGO's instructions that list is what you will need. It sounds complicated but at first but LEGO actually shows you how to put it all together in the EN instructions so it's pretty straight forward. 8882 Power Functions XL Motor- This is the motor the EN was designed to use and the engine will run best using the XL. This will actually go in the engine itself, in the cab. 8878 Power Functions Rechargeable Battery Box 8887 Transformer 10v DC adapter- If you are going to be running the EN a lot this is actually not a bad value compared to buying huge numbers of AAA bateries. Alternatively if you only plan to run it occasionally you can substitute the rechargeable battery and charger for 88000 Power Functions AAA Battery Box and 6 AAA batteries. The battery box will go in the tender (that little green car behind the engine. 8884 Power Functions IR Receiver- This will receive the signals from the remote allowing you to control the train. This will go inside the engine as well. 8879 Power Functions IR Speed Remote Control- This is what you will use to control the EN and will be sending signals to the I.R. receiver. This is the controler you want to use. The cheaper one LEGO sells will still allow you to start and stop the EN but you will not be able to vary the speed of the train and as soon as the train is out of range of the remote or you let go of the controls the train will stop. With the 8879 remote you can vary the speed and can set the train to run and it will maintain that setting when you set the remote down or if the train is out of remote range. You may also want to look at lighting your EN with the 8870 LEGO® Power Functions Light. It's not necessary but gives the engine some nice front lights to play with. Instructions for adding this are also in the Emerald Night instructions. If you're not very experience with LEGO trains I would highly advise against trying to use the old 9v style motor to motorize the Emerald Night. That motor is no longer produced by LEGO and can be expensive to buy on the second hand market and the Emerald Night was never designed to use it. Many LEGO train builders have converted the EN to use it successfully but it's not something for the beginner to try. Hope that helps you out a bit. Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions. Cale

Nice. Very reminiscent of the milk platforms that dotted branch lines and short lines in America up to the 1950's. Cale

Very nice. It's great to see a Norfolk Southern locomotive in LEGO. There needs to be more classy black NS engines in brick. Cale

I like the idea you're going for here. Even if the first attempt was a little lacking in performance I think there is potential here. Narrow gauge steam is something I'd love to see attempted more in LEGO. I hope to some day get back to my own narrow gauge engine and and build a full running train. Cale

I use a Canon MX870 but I'm not sure the printer you're using is the problem. Were you by chance using a Clear Paper or a White paper? I've found that clear paper only works well if you're printing color and applying the decal to a white background of if your printing strictly black and applying to a light colored background. Other wise the translucency of the ink will not cover properly. I use white paper for most of my decals. White covers the color underneath completely. The downside is that you will need to print the background color as well for the decal or you will have a white border around everything so you'll need to get good at matching colors. I've found that Peeron's Color Chart is very useful for color matching. Cale

I've said it before elsewhere but I really like the train. Great job Nate. Cale

I print out my own decals at home on my printer. The lettering fonts are sourced from Railfonts and sized to fit the model. I then print them out on 8.5"x11" sticker paper that you can find at most office supply stores. I then spray the decal sheet with a couple coats of a clear acrylic spray to give them a glossy finish before cutting them out and applying them. Thank you and yes I am in fact one of the founding members of PennLUG. Chances are that at least some of those models you've seen may be mine. You can see the rest of my train models on Flickr and some older stuff from me on Brickshelf. I do have some stuff you may see at our displays that I have not officially photographed yet. I tend not to post my MOCs until I'm absolutely happy with the finished product. The other big train builder In PennLUG besides Nate "Shuppiluliumas" and my self is Josh Sanders. He builds mostly Reading Railroad models but he's even worse than me at photographing his MOCs in a timely manner. Cale

Nice. This looks like it would make a great official LEGO set. If only LEGO would come out with more train accessory sets. Cale

Well done Tony. The whole scene looks fantastic. The water tower and the interior detail on the station I think came out exceptionally well. This is going to look awesome with the engine shed added. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this at Brickworld next year. Cale

Thanks for all the compliment guys. Cale

Baltimore & Ohio USRA Light Mikado #4500 Flickr Gallery for #4500 During World War I, the federal government took control of the nation's railroads and formed the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) to efficiently mobilize troops and supplies. The USRA oversaw the mass production of standardized locomotives and operations of all privately owned railroads. Consisting of representatives from ALCO, Baldwin Locomotive Works, and Lima Locomotive Works, the USRA Locomotive Committee designed over 1,800 locomotives using the best of current technology. USRA control ended on March 1, 1920 but its durable locomotives continued to have a lasting influence on the railroad industry. The USRA Light Mikado was one of the standard steam locomotives designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration. This was the standard light freight locomotive of the USRA types, and was of 2-8-2 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation. A total of 625 light Mikados were built under the auspices of the USRA, with a further 641 copies built after the end of the USRA's control. The first, for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was completed in July 1918 and given #4500. The locomotives were considered well designed and modern, and were popular and successful. Large numbers remained in service until replaced by diesel locomotives. With later copies, over 50 railroads used the type. Constructed in just 20 days by Baldwin Locomotive Works, the B&O No. 4500 was the first USRA locomotive produced under federal management. The No. 4500 was equipped with the latest technology of its time, including a superheater and stoker. The weight of the versatile locomotive was considered "light" by most standards, yet it was quite powerful. In the later years of its life, the No. 4500 operated on the B&O's Ohio, Newark, St. Louis, and Ohio River divisions. In 1957, the No. 4500 was renumbered as No. 300 to make room on the B&O roster for four-digit diesel locomotives. That same year, the No. 300 retired from service, and was sent to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. There it was restored to its original number. In 1990, the No. 4500 became a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. #4500 at the B&O RR Museum While building this engine my main goals were to make this a sturdy design able to be handled roughly with out falling apart, and to have a 100% reliable Power Functions drive with a good balance of pulling power and speed. All while maintaining a high standard of detail. I think I've done pretty well in acheiving those goals and this engine has quickly become one of my favorites. This is the first time I've built an engine as it apeared fresh of the erecting shop floor. All my previouse steam engines have been depicted as they apeared later in their carears. Here is #4500 as it apeared in a USRA publicity photo following it's completion. Flickr Gallery for #4500 Nate Brill ( Shuppiluliumas ) was kind enough to take some videos of #4500 at a recent PennLUG display for me. Mikado Video 01 Mikado Video 02 Cale

It was also common practice on North American railroads to leave the side rods on steam locomotives unpainted or bare metal. This made it easier to find cracks or defects when the engines were inspected between runs. The only time when you might see them painted would be for a builder's photo, or when they are sitting in a museum. Passenger engines sometimes had their rods polished to a shine but they we're still bare metal. Of course road grime would make them appear black some times but after a wash they would be back to their normal color. And that is a fine engine Tony Cale

Well I wouldn't expect anything really soon. I have a lot of other projects I should really finish first. But it is in my future plans so some day. Cale

While it's true that in North American practice you'll often find diesel units in multiple locomotive sets, that's not always the case. If a railroad can efficiently move a train using only one locomotive then they will only use a single locomotive. If they need more then they will add units as needed. You'll most often find on the major North American routes though the multiple unit consists. Single locomotives operating by themselves are more common on short lines and local deliveries. Cale