Cale

Thanks. The round house and turn table actually belong to Jeramy Spurgeon. Jeramy and Mark Peterson were kind enough to let me park my engines and rolling stock in Central Indiana LTC's rail yard for Brickworld 2009. I hope to build one of my own some day and I hope it turns out as well Jeramy's. It made a great back drop for some of my steam engines. Here are some more photos I could find. Side View. My Pennsylvania I1sa tucked in one of the stalls. My little Reading #1251 in front of a stall. You may be able to find more photos if you search the Brickworld Flickr Group. Cale Thank You. Unfortunately this engine is ineligible. She's 9 wide (more if you count greebles). And the Round House belongs to Jeramy Spurgeon. See my post above. Cale

Western Maryland I-1 class “Russian Decapod” During World War I the Western Maryland Railway received 10 surplus 2-10-0 steam locomotives all built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. These “Russian Decapods” were originally part of a larger order placed by Imperial Russia with American locomotive builders Baldwin and Alco. But the onset of the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, stranded nearly 200 of these locomotives either awaiting shipment or in the process of construction. These locomotives were adopted by the United States Railroad Administration (USRA), the body created by the US Government to oversee and control the railroads during the War, converted to American standards, and put to use on American railroads.They were well liked by the WM crews for their good steaming, easy firing, and good ride qualities. The “Russian Decks” lasted until 1950/51 when they were finally retired and sold for scrap. I’ve been a huge fan of the Western Maryland but it’s taken me a while to get around to building a WM steam engine. I wanted to put as much effort into detail on this engine as I could. I also wanted to incorporate the new Power Functions system. The PF system allowed me to ditch a bulky more traditional 9v motor under the tender and use smaller brick built trucks. The tender houses the rechargeable battery box and the I.R. receiver. A medium Power Functions motor is hidden in the fire box and geared to the drivers. You can see more on my Flickr Gallery. And some photos of the real WM “Russian Decapods”. #1102 #1108 Cale

Thanks for the kind words guys. The Ma & Pa is one of my home town railroads and a favorite of mine. It was a railroad loaded with charm and I really wanted these models to capture some of that. Cale

Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger Train For those of you who attended Brickworld this year you may have already seen these. I’m playing catch up on photographing my backlog of MOCs so here is you’re chance to finally see them in more detail. Ma & Pa #6 This one has been posted before but she plays an important role with the passenger cars and I’ve recently taken better photos of her and put them up on Flickr. Ma & Pa “Jackson and Sharp” Passenger Coaches The Maryland & Pennsylvania RR purchased 10 coaches built by A.C.F. Jackson and Sharp Works, Wilmington Del built between 1902 and 1913. The Ma & Pa’s passenger cars were originally painted Tuscan Red with Aluminum lettering. Starting around 1914 the Ma & Pa began painting it’s passenger cars in Pullman Green with chrome yellow lettering. Many of these coaches made it to the end of passenger service on the Ma & Pa in 1954. Sister Coach #20 has been preserved is now part of the vintage passenger car fleet at the Strasburg Railroad. Today she wares Strasburg colors similar to the Ma & Pa’s original passenger paint scheme. Passenger Coach Flickr Gallery Ma & Pa Baggage RPO #35 N0. 35 was originally built in 1906 as baggage car #42 at the Ma & Pa’s shops in Baltimore. In 1942 a Railway Post Office compartment was installed and the car was renumbered to #35. Baggage RPO #35 carried milk, mail, newspapers, express, packages, and baggage between York, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland. Its short 50 1/2 foot length was dictated by the Ma & Pa’s sharp curves. #35 worked another 12 years before the Ma & Pa discontinued passenger service. Upon her retirement in 1954 she was donated to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. Today #35 can be seen on display in the historic round house and her interior is open for public viewing. Baggage RPO #35 Flickr Gallery Cale

I never really thought of the Cafe Corner or Green Grocer as European specific in theme. I can visit just about any town around me here in rural Pennsylvania USA and see buildings very reminiscent of the CC or GG. So for me a least the new fire station fits in quite well. To plain you say? I submit to you one Leo Fire Engine House from Red Lion PA. Very plain and utilitarian but still nice looking. Not every building has to be elaborately decorated top to bottom. Buildings come in all shapes and sizes and styles. I think some diversity in architectural styles make a town much more interesting and lively. To American? So what. Does every building have to be European? I realize this is Eurobricks and that is probably a stupid question to ask. Perhaps a better question would be if the next building in the series is say Japanese themed would you guy's still be complaining. Is it the country of origin or Is a continuity thing? As I stated earlier for me the new fire station fits in well with the previous sets in the series. I like this set. I love it a lot actually and will definitely be buying. Now I need to go back to preparing for Brickworld. Cale

Ha ha ha. I only have two hoppers built right now but I'm working on some more. If you're really nice and there is room to pack them in the car I may have some at Brickworld for you to pull. Cale

Very awesome. Now where is the string of coal hoppers for her to pull?

The EN is a much nice steam engine than the old My Own Train stuff. And the solar power is a amusing twist. That's odd. Are your drivers properly quartered? Cale

For all you people complaining about what LEGO did or didn't do or what they should have or shouldn't have done in regards to the Emerald Night set. Remember it's LEGO. If you don't like the way the set is designed you can always build your own. I think the Emerald Night is a great set. It has some short comings but they're not deal breakers for me. It's a set and it's not going to be perfect. When I want a better model than what LEGO can provide I build it myself. Cale

While there seems to be plenty of AS616 photos on the net there aren't any of the Pennsy's. The closest I could find were some diagrams from this PRR Equipment diagrams page. The photos I worked from I found in Pennsy Power Volume 3 By Alvin F. Staufer and Black Gold, Black Diamonds Volume 2 By Eric E. Hirsimaki. Cale

Thanks. The lettering is done with decals printed out on my home printer. I used Ben Coifman's RailFonts to get the proper PRR font. The yellow lettering was placed on a black background and printed out on sticker paper you can find at most office supply stores. After they were printed I sprayed the decals with a few coats of Crystal Clear Acrylic Spray to give them a glossy finish. Once they

For those of you who may not be aware. The Flickr Train Group is holding a Building Challenge for the Baldwin AS616 Diesel Locomotive. So I thought I’d take a break from my usual steam shenanigans an build an entry. Pennsylvania RR #8971 Baldwin AS616 Baldwin Locomotive Works built 12 of the AS616 diesels for the Pennsylvania RR between 1951 and 1954. They used Baldwins eight cylinder 608sc engine and were rated at 1,600 horsepower. Two of the Baldwins were delivered with steam generators for use in passenger service. I modeled the PRR version of the AS616 because I’m a Pennsy fan (It was one of the RR’s running into my home town of York Pennsylvania) and the Pennsy ran their early diesels (including the AS616’s) long hood forward instead of the usual short hood forward that most other RR’s used. The long hood forward practice stems from a nasty grade crossing accident in the 1930s. After which the Pennsy decided it would be safer if the crew cab was moved farther back instead of directly in front of the locomotive to better protect the crew. This influenced the center cab design of the GG1’s, the redesign of some P5’s and the Pennsy’s early practice of running diesels with the long hood leading. I chose to model #8971 because she was one of the two PRR engines built with a boiler for steam heat in passenger service. Unlike her sisters which were freight service only. This gives me the option to pull a passenger consist as well as freight for added variety. I tend to like odd diesels and a Baldwin AS616 running long hood forward and pulling a passenger train would be certainly be different. Flickr Gallery Brickshelf Gallery Cale

Well dang. I guess I was wrong in thinking it's fake. And I'm very happy I was wrong too. This looks like a great set and I can't wait to own one. Cale

I didn't power the engine through the drivers because there was no elegant way to hide the motor with the way the boiler is constructed. And I hate seeing motors, gears, and other drive train parts poking out and marring the looks of a model. Besides this works well and I'm happy with the results. Cale

Awesome. Really awesome. Cale

Ooooh! This is looking really cool. I eagerly await the finished product. Cale

Pennsylvania RR #7688 Pennsylvania RR #7688 was built by Lima Locomotive Works in September 1915. She was one of 445 H10s class 2-8-0 Consolidations built for the Pennsy and one of 45 to eventually receive automatic stokers. She is equipped with a 80P81a class tender. She is now preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Stasburg Pennsylvania and is the only surviving Lima built PRR steam Locomotive. My model of #7688 has a unique twist. It ditches the standard 9v train motors and uses a power functions based drive system inspired by Swoofty. If you want to know all the gory details about it works you can find my article on it in RailBricks #5. Building this engine has given me hope for the future of LEGO Trains. #7688 was built with the PF elements currently available (which aren’t really geared for trains but are very versatile non the less) and has proven quite successful. Hopefully when the actual PF Train line is released things will only get better. Flickr Gallery Brickshelf Gallery Pennsylvania RR F37b class Flat Car The Pennsylvania RR built 17 of these F37B class flat cars between 1948 and 1952. The center of the car was completely open to allow a tall load to be carried as low as possible minimizing clearance issues. The one thing I couldn’t fit in #7688’s tender was the battery box. So I chose to build a Pennsy F37b flat car with an electrical transformer load to hide the batteries. I’m hopping that the smaller rechargeable battery that will supposedly be released with the Power Functions Train line will allow me to eliminate the need for a battery car. Flickr Gallery Brickshelf Gallery Cale

I think some one is pulling a fast one on you guys. There are some thing that look peculiar. The drivers. If these are Ben Fleskies (it's hard to tell from the photo) wheels then what is that red stripe around the tire next to the flange? And if not Bens it seems odd that LEGO would be willing to tool up a brand new mold for steam when in recent years any steam they have done has use the standard train wheels. They are using the RC Train wheels for the pilot truck. If they are willing to tool a new mold for the drivers then why reuse the RC Train wheels (complete with traction tires)? It just seems weird. New 1x2 Curved Slopes used on the smoke lifters? I do bad bad things to get this part but it seems suspect. What part are they using for the stack? I don't recognize it. If it's a new mold then that combined with the other stuff is a lot of new tooling for one set. New molds aren't cheap. The sides of the fire box just look odd. The upper sides of the boiler as well. As a steam fan I would love nothing more than for this to be a real set but I'm just to skeptical. I hope I'm proven wrong. Cale

A string of Reefers would look nice. Especially if they were Billboard Reefers. A few of those circling a layout would be a nice show. As for power the early Geeps are nice but I was never a big fan of EMD's E and F units. Alcos and in particular Baldwin Sharks are much more interesting though I have no plans to model either right now. And since the billboard reefers were banned in the 1930's that would mean using steam power which is much more My Style. Cale

I took a few more pictures of the end construction today. Is this what you were looking for? Brickshelf Gallery after moderation. Cale

Cool! I had hear of Classic Town but never checked it out. Cale

Thanks The trucks run very nice. I've equipped all my freight cars with them and many have multiple train shows with out any problems. I wrote an article for RailBricks Magazine on how they are built. Freight Truck Instructions 2 Axial Passenger Truck I borrowed the Idea for the robot arm sides from John and Ross Neal. I know the axial tube isn't a pure LEGO solution but it works and looks a lot better on my American RR equipment than the more euro style standard wheel sets. Cale

I'm a equal opportunity thief Cale

Thanks Every one seems to like the ice. In the future I'll have to build an icing platform to go with the refer. Cale

Thank You and lift away. I'm always borrowing Ideas from others. Cale