Selander

I also vote for the Super Chief, simply because it was something completely new and brilliant in Lego Trains theme.

FANTASTIC ! really nice video - good work ! thanks for sharing ! ;-)

That's creative and it looks really good. Since I am not a fanatic purist I like these solutions (though I try my best to avoid them). One more question: how is your "croc" going through curves and/or switches ? The mid section with all linked driver-wheels looks long (?) no problem to articulate ?

Thanks for voting on my SNCF freight train set !! I am equally surprised and happy for my third place when seeing all brilliant creations in the competition. Also all credits to the suberb winning creation by BMW

This is nicely done ! I like your modern-looking train sets. Also I paid special attention to the close-coupling technic. I gather some ideas for making something similar one day. So special thanks for showing it so clearly.

Just like to say I really enjoyed looking at your model. Nice work. You have used a lot of fine SNOT technics I have tried to make my own croc as well, but mine is a complete disaster compared to yours. What part did you use for the upper central light in the front ?

I also thought of SMART when I saw the little car. ALSO, If I am right, my eyes caught a nice thing: Green doors 1 x 3 x 1 on the OCTAN tanker. Those will be perfect !!! can't wait to get my hands on a couple of those.... hope I am not mistaken now....

Really beautiful !! I love this I like to know how long the passenger wagons are? I tried to count...40studs ...or ?? Are they OK to run in curves and switches ? I've never built a wagon longer than 34 or (36?) studs because I feared it would create problems to run them... =please comment, you who know this !!

Hello everyone, I am Selander from Sweden and here are some words about me: History: My Lego train interest started already in the early 1970’s. I remember I was eagerly studying brochures with pictures of 12V trains (from the blue era) and dreaming of having my own some day. I later got set 171, (also from the blue era) which could be powered with the 4,5V Lego motor and a battery wagon just behind. After passing my dark ages, I re-discovered Lego trains (now 9V) in the mid 1990’s, and my very first purchase was freight train set 4564 and some extra tracks. After that, my collection quickly grew with crane set 4552, cherry picker 4541, snow remover 4533 and manual crossing 4532 and later another freight train set 4565. After that sets have been constantly coming in, I’ve got multiples of all My-own-train items, several Santa-Fe locomotives and wagons, as well as the BNSF engine. My most modern-looking Lego train is the High-speed-train 4511 incl an extra wagon 10158 and another loco 10157 to form a complete set. After that I didn’t buy any Lego original train set until the Emerald night came only this year….. Building MOC’s: Around 2003-2004, I discovered Lego trains clubs and forums (mostly from USA) on internet, and I was particularly fond of some German inspired James Mathis designed MOC:s, so I decided to start trying to make something similar. I quickly found out that building MOC’s was super interesting, as you have to do a lot of research, thinking and planning. When creating MOC’s I normally start by studying pictures of real locomotives, and try to choose only those which are possible to replicate reasonably well in Lego. (i.e avoiding very rounded designs) I then start making simple hand sketches of critical details and overall proportions, and then gradually use some CAD (Autocad) to be able to draw in correct scale, to see that proportions look good. As skills (hopefully) enhanced with practice, I decided to start building Swedish locomotives, as I found out there was almost no one doing that. My philosophy is to only design train MOC’s in 6-wide, for several reasons: 6-wide is the Lego original width, hence it is easy to combine MOC’s and Lego originals. 6-wide means it is more challenging to recreate designs looking like those in real life. 6-wide means lower weight, and fewer pieces needed, hence lowering price. Check out some of my designs here: Visit My Website

Great entry !!! Fantasic little scene you have put together, I love all details you managed to sqeeze into a limited area.

Carl Greatrix has some stunning pictures, where he has combined lego with (non-lego) grass and tunnels. Personally I think it looks GREAT(rix), and I agree with Carls comments about Lego elements most often beeing too shiny to get that natural look on grass and trees. So, I'd like to try something similar See Railbricks article about Greatrix display.....

Really nice work again ! Interesting to see how you incorporated the PF lights with such simple but effective method I like the engine the most. It's got very nice proportions. One comment though, which in fact has nothing to do with your fantastic creation: I think it is too bad Lego hasn't released any sleaker rods for the driver wheels. Technic beams looks too bulky......(same comment also valid for Emerald night...)

Holger, you are such a talented builder. I have seen and admired many of your former creations, and really dig your crocodile. Hope you will post more stuff here on eurobricks.

super cool and nice house !!!

So here's the problem: I wanted to re-create in Lego a Swedish famous electric locomotiv, namely the DA-class engine. The original engine has a small "lip" (or edge) along side its base, which covers the wheels just a little, so the ideal lego base would be a 6x24 train base plate in dark-red (or reddish-brown), which has the same kind of lip, when the wheel boogie is assembled under it. But, Unfortunately a dark-red train base plate is a not-existing combination.... After some creative thinking I found out that dark-red panels 1x2x1 mounted upside down, gives the same look and overall dimensions as a train base plate. So this is how the upside-down built baseplate looks: And this is the final result, a Swedish class DA engine. Please share your own solutions, for this kind of "problem" :

ENTERED Since I allready entered one locomotive in category 2, I had to build a whole train set to be able to compete with this French class BB7200 freight train hauler. The idea with this creation was to make a classic lego freight train set, like 4563, 4564 and 4565. So in my imagination this entry is the logical "lego set 4566"...... The locomotive is intended to be a French SNCF BB7200. This is a truly classic locomotive design with that inverted cab window, and a colour scheme of grey/dark grey/orange that is perfect to recreate in lego. Unlike many designs I have seen before, I use a brickbuilt, tilted, cab window. Also I strived to keep the original long and sleek proportions. (it's easy to build this loco too high and short = out of proportions). Note the 1/2 plate (1,6mm) offset of the "dark grey grill sides", same as the original loco has.....also special attention has been given to the roof and the snot:ed front parts, to make them look like the orignal. But, of course, I have to compromize a lot, due to my obsession to only do MOC:s in 6-wide.... There are totally four wagons as: A tan flatbed 6x28studs, with two SUV:s. A brown classic open freight wagon, 6x18studs. A container wagon 6x28, with two white "DB-Schenker" branded containers each 6x14studs. A brown classic boxcar, 6x18studs. And as a bonus. I also designed a special orange forklift using the new orange doors and a black cab from power miners. So, that concluded my SNCF freight train entry......enjoy..... A few more 640 x 480 pictures can be found here: Visit My Website

I like both, but I prefer the set from 2007, for two reasons: 1) The boat is much larger = meaning it has a much more realistic minifig-scale. 2) Containers are 6-wide. I could write a long novel about containers....but bottomline is that a container to my opinion shall be 6-wide. I have experimented a lot with various sizes and my favorite is 6 studs wide x 14 studs long, with approx 5-6 bricks height.

This is surely one of the most simple designs I have done, yet I concider it beeing a perfect addition to create realistic cargo scenaries, when loading/unloading small pallets on trucks with a rear backlift. The small pallet (tan plate 2 x 4) is a bearing element to keep the two hinge brick top plates holding together. Also, I think it has that correct minifig size.... Original item looks like this:

At this stage there are no doors on the blue engines, however it would be easy to modify them to have doors like the orange RC-4 engine.

Great entry in the competion, but I thought this was a complete set, hence for category 1 ? Nevertheless it has a very nice modern, sleek look. Good job !!!

I added a few more pictures of my locomotive. I think its easier to see all SNOT technics I applied on those pictures. Hope you enjoy

RC-class engines are Swedish company ASEA's most successful locomotive. Not less than 366pcs were built between 1967 and 1993. It is still the by far most common locomotive in Sweden, and is used both for freight and pasenger transport. It was also exported to USA and called, Amtrak class AEM7. Original colours were orange-white, but most engines later got a blue-red colour scheme. Below my attempts to create those fantastic engines in 6-wide. (as for all my engines...) Originals:

ENTERED Here is (perhaps) the first entry overall in the new competition. I really enjoy participating, though I understand my changes to succeed with this model are small.... I wanted for a long time to make a MOC locomotive in dark green, and this set 4564 inspired diesel shunter became the result.... I strived to make a clean and elegant engine with limited number of details. Also, I designed a new "train base plate" using these light bluish gray pieces which gives a nice edge and a stud-free surface....I like...what do you think? Anyhow this is my entry in category 2: (there is one more picture in my Brickshelf account, with a view from behind)

This competition sounds interesting. One thing I didn't get though....where do I send my picture/-s ?? -Do I just start a new topic and refer to the competition in the headline...? -Or, should pictures be sent by e-mail ? If so, to whom ? =Pls clearify. Thanks in advance.

I used a transparent, Lego item no 42445 to position the hat over the head, that way shading and colours get natural. As you suspected, after that it was easy to clone the near background in photoshop, to make the holder disappear....