zephyr1934

Drop them an email on the ME web page and perhaps a private message via EB (scroll back a few posts to find one of their EB id's). I received my kit a long time ago and purchased a second round. The seem responsive but a little disorganized and still operating in crisis mode (remember that they are still trying to find a workable solution for the metal rails). Early on they said for backers that ordered metal and plastic that they would wait to ship either until both were ready. When the metal kept slipping in to the future I think they started to send just the plastic portion of an order to those who asked. As far as I know they are still working on a solution for the metal rails so since they do not yet exist those are not ready to ship. While the delay is frustrating, I am very grateful that they took the initiative to make the plastic rails, they are invaluable. Oh, and one more thing, you might have to email a couple of times, I think their inbox is overflowing. So if you don't hear anything within a week write again. While I am not defending the sketchy service, pick two: fast, high quality, inexpensive. It looks like they decided to sacrifice the first, but as others have said, I don't think they are getting rich.

That is a thing of beauty, both the prototype and your incredible capture of all the curves is unbelievable. Excellent work!

Wow! A great design and unbelievable that you were able to decorate it so spot on.

Holly pistons Batman! It's all there! I didn't know that the wayback also grabbed files but it looks like it did.

Well there is one new train in the lego store this month... unfortunately it is duplo.

That's a great compact design. Why just the other day I was wondering why more people have not chosen to use the sides of the PF elements as the actual sides of the train locomotive. Glad to see that great minds think alike. That engine definitely shows some similarities to set 4564 Freight Rail Runner.

Last I heard is that the required bandwidth to serve the demand had grown too large, combined with the need for a major overhaul of the site, and spammers that needed to be eradicated, etc.. Hopefully it is not gone for good as it remains an invaluable archive of great ideas. I think there is an interest to share the content if a viable new server arises. I do have copies of all of the editions, so at the very least if a potential new host arises for the content I could check to make sure there are no barriers to reposting the magazine issues elsewhere.

That locomotive is a nice, eloquent design with good colors, good curves and good use of normally useless parts. I try not to bump old threads like this (I missed it first time around) but you've incorporated an exceptional feature that I don't think I've ever seen before, hiding the polarity switch under the frame.

@mjotrainbrain you are much too kind, but thank you. I am still impressed with this TCLTC well car design (from 2003 no less). My cars are one plate shy of 8 wide, but all of that is low so it is not as apparent when coupled with 6 wide locomotives. The containers are 6 wide and that helps. It also helps that I built the cars to go around R44 curves, so they do not look too long next to 6 wide locomotives.

The loco and cars are looking excellent, you've eloquently mastered some tricky curves, can't wait to see them in brick.

Thanks all, I think simply putting the trans clear panel in makes a huge difference (but I'd suggest making the 1x2 plate blue in this case, or gray for the original Maersk version). So, any thoughts on the height of the windows? As mentioned above, my first thought was to shorten the windows by 1 plate, right now the sticker completely covers the tile below, making the window and frame a total of two bricks tall. Now that I'm looking again, perhaps the two brick tall version is fine. Any thoughts one way or the other? @DPR the second Conrail engine is just waiting for its rebuild, while I have even bigger plans for the Maersk loco... but that will get a new thread when the time comes.

So there was one thing that always bugged me about the Maersk locomotive, and it was the same thing that bugged me about the BNSF: the side cab windows were just flat out wrong. In my various MOCs I had come up with a 5 long cab and side windows that I liked, but it took a ton of bricks and you couldn't see through the windows. Since I will need my GP 40's to pull my new well cars at the NMRA National Train Show in a month I wanted to spruce up the looks and came up with this sticker based solution that replicates the appearance of my earlier brick built solution, compare the stock design on the left and the sticker windows on the right, Now you can see through the entire cab to the other side. Much more efficient in terms of bricks, and the engineer can even sit in the cab with the fancy windows. While I like the direction this is going, I still want to adjust the design, bringing the bottom of the window up one plate and making the frame a little darker. Once I get this in to a final design I'll start figuring out how to also retrofit the Maersk model. A few more shots can be found here.

Beautiful! The fish in the logo were the first thing to catch my eye. But there is so much there to enjoy. The multipart windows with inside curtains are top notch and the extensive detailing is over the top. Excellent work!

An excellent reproduction... aside from the safety stripes on the plow I don't think I can spot anything on the prototype missing from the model. Well proportioned and fantastic detailing!

Finally a train station scaled to actually fit the trains! Excellent work and all of the automation is unbelievable.

Getting all of those curves right in 8 wide (much less 6 wide) is a very challenging endeavor and probably impossible to do without a specialized piece. So every take at an F7 and its kin has to make compromises. Do please be kind in your postings, the 10020 was actually designed by a fan rather than the lego company (in fact a fan who still sometimes posts to this message board). In its day the 10020 was very advanced, while it contains only a small amount of snot, it was still far more than (almost?) any official set that came before it. The 10020 is kind of like the yellow castle of lego trains, it was revolutionary at the time and opened the door to so much more. That set also was the first set specifically targeted at the adult fan of lego, leading to the modular buildings, the official recognition of adult groups (first LTCs then LUGs in general) and eventually LUGBULK. With the tempering a side, you've got some clever tricks there that I have not seen before.

Excellent work, indeed, this might be your best work yet (but the competition is very challenging). Hopefully you'll be able to get a family shot of it next to Nate's NYC Hudson at BW.

Wow! Excellent

Heh heh heh, another builder abandons the instruction sheet to discover his own creations! I like how you have embraced the PF elements in the design and captured the essence of a box cab.

@goody82 It is the tiles with studs on the side that are so uncommon these days, but it looks like the 4x6 might be in one of the new Star Wars sets. While some liberty has been taken with both builds, here's a side by side comparison of the prototype and model for each of the builds, @Rotundus Looking through http://www.rrpicturearchives.net it looks like all of the SP well cars were dark red. @CrispyBassist Oh, that's easy, just pull some out, grin. The least realistic thing about them is how clean the cars and containers are (grin some more)

Oh wow, the detailing is even better with the multiple views, impressive!

Oh wow, you did an excellent job matching the prototype. That is a very colorful engine and well suited for a lego build. Excellent work!

This round of builds looks fantastic! Your 4 wide beats a lot of the 6 wide out there! I can only imagine what you would be capable of building in 8 wide (beyond perhaps having to take out a second mortgage on your home to pay for it all, grin). In any event, excellent work squeezing in so much detail in such a small package. That's a great idea using photo paper to get the right sheen. Another trick is to use plain white paper and then packing tape to get the sheen. In either case super secret trick is to use felt tip markers to color the edge of the paper and eliminate the white lines on the edge. How about the narrow gauge ramp tracks (yuck yuck yuck)

Hey Alco, all of the engines look fantastic, you really need to start a separate thread for each of them and include many more pictures. There is clearly a lot of great details worth highlighting in each of these models. The 0-6-0 slope back tender is great, but the cylinders, pilot and boiler all look like they have a lot of fine detail going on. The way you hid the IR receiver in the cab is neat, has the right shape to look like vent doors in the roof. So where is the motor and battery box hiding? The Pacific is also looking great (look at that dynamo in front of the stack). Great Vanderbilt tender. Here too, seeing more details on the boiler and on how you motorized it would be neat. Any idea if it will go around curves? The cab forward is top notch, it is surprisingly difficult to get the boiler to look right on an engine this long. How many motors do you have in that locomotive and where are they hiding? Any idea if it will take curves? And of course the Daylight is beautiful. Here too details on propulsion would be of interest. More views would be great, e.g., the hints of safety valves and whistle just in front of the cab. Keep up the great work

Looking good, I think I have a photo somewhere with a bunch of these in a dead line. Only one small suggestion for future MOCs. Right now you describe the build details, then show several shots of the prototype before showing your MOC. Why not lead off with a good shot of the MOC before the prototype shots and/or move discussion of the build details until after the prototypes? Just a thought, I still was able to follow everything.