3D LEGO

#17 - 2 points #32 - 3 points

alanyuppie, I see what you did there. Clever. As others have already pointed out, I myself had to do a double take. Though it might be a bit too showy for Han's tastes. "She's fast enough for you old man" (Han Solo - Episode IV A New Hope) 3D LEGO

Murdoch17, I say that is about right for a typical western American/Canadian train tunnel from the mid to late 1800s. Bored through whatever hill, mountain, etc that stood in the way. Braced internally only when the conditions dictated it. (Yours would make it more of a fractured rock composition. Full wooden liner was used on lose rock and dirt tunnel bores, essentially unstable ground.) But obviously a safety hazard due to wood rot and ember-induced fires from steam locomotives. (Concrete Tunnels were a luxury not common until later. Mass adaption on mainlines can be found in the likes of the former Milwaukee Road and Virginian railroads - late comers who built to the latest technology standards.) Actually, I would venture to say that it is almost too wide. Take one stud from both sides and you would be set, making it nice and tight... No room for smoke, persons or anything for that matter other than the train. (The idea of safety was not exactly standard back then. AAR Janney couplers had yet to really replace the hook and pin connections.) 3D LEGO

lookl, Fabulous tractor! Unparalleled in detail, aesthetic and presentation. (I love the farmer! ) I went looking for things I could recommend but my critiquing process turned into something like this: But... Ah.. Um... Maybe... Still... Alas I have none that I can offer, only praise of a model well done. Detail in simplicity that conveys the intended purpose and robustness of the prototype. Now you just need a few cows, a quaint farm house and an aged barn and you will be set. 3D LEGO

ShrikeArghast, Ah, I see. Neither A (Oversight) nor B (Shop rebuild.) but C! (Whatever I want to fit my theme.) Works for me. Thank you for the insight. My only worry is with that caboose/brake van. I do hope you do not have any low bridges, low tunnels or truss bridges on your fantasy line... Else you will be replacing that cupola topper quite often! 3D LEGO

ShrikeArgast, Beautiful wagon|carriage|coach! All the effort spent on the details really paid off. The colors blend together very well to create the look of a royal coach. My guess from the dithering on the roof bricks that you were going for dark pearl|dark metalic grey bricks? If so, that is a nice subtle touch. I have one critique on your design that I am not sure if you considered or not. The coach you have designed carries a very mid 19th century and later design with the addition of a clerestory as common in the wood coaches. However, the platform door has the appearance of a recessed version of a lightweight commuter such as a Budd Comet I|Comet II. In addition you included an enclosed gangway however those did not come about until the heavyweight streamlined coaches. Though its elevation lends itself to the current design trends of today. Of course this could be due to heavy rebuilding. (Workshops were known for this, some more than others.) I thought I would point this out in case you had overlooked it. If not, then I would be interested to know your reasoning for including it. Here is a very applicable image to compare to your project. (Note: these are standard gauge coaches.) Note the access steps and the single entry door under the porch. Traversing between wagons, if possible, involved walking the steel plank in open weather. Definitely not for the faint of heart: Yellow caboose, yellow passenger car and olive passenger car 3D LEGO

Let me guess, this services the Raptor Express? Otherwise I like some of the ideas you incorporated. It has a almost remote area depot feel to, like a branch line out to the woods that passes a complex that for reasons unknown may or may not exist. Okay conspiracies aside, you fleshed out a lot of little details that add a lot to the model. It has a solid industrial feel that has seen heavy use and a long battle with the environment. I like it! 3D LEGO

WhiteFang, Excellent review as always. While I personally do not have much, if any interest in this series there are a few things that struck me. Is it just me or am I feeling old but I was under the impression that Minnie Mouse wore red with white polka-dots. Did something change without me noticing? Moving on I would have preferred a smaller Cheshier Cat but oh well. Lastly 18? Mmm... Perhaps the top brass only gave their stamp-o-approval for one series so it was a mad race to see what made the cut and what got, well, cut. (Or I could be wrong and this is but the tip of the ice berg...) The Genie? Ah yes, the Genie. Robin Williams; you got your Minifig! 3D LEGO

ALCO, Yup, that is the one. Not pretty but it got the job done. Did you build that digital model? (Funny thing is that I have seen E70 but I did not know about the critter being in Deer Lodge as well. Then again I was going off the book I had and well... E70 had moved from the courthouse lawn down next to the old jail. But I luckily managed to find it.) 3D LEGO

Electricsteam, I stumbled onto this... er, how do I put it? Pancake cabin on rollers? It is a Breuer Lokomotor or Traktor and its sole existence is to move things around the engine house|round house. Maybe shed on rollers might be a more fitting description. WLE in Germany owns one that they use: http://www.wle-onlin...okomotiven.html But then again, the Milwaukee Road built this critter on top of a truck and made a very long extension cord for it. (Apparently it got run over some...) One ran around the Deer Lodge, MT shops. The other made its home at the Harlowton, MT shops. http://www.railpictu...o.php?id=361108 Or there is always this Conrail special: 0 shop bug. And old EMD powered truck|bogie with a battery pack on top. Don't forget to plug it in after use. http://www.railpictu...t/photo/251258/ 3D LEGO

Murdoch17, Hum... The version 2 coaches most certainly look good and are an improvement. I had not thought of the black and red combination but you did a really good job with keeping the styling. Well good luck on the building! By the way, that Australian locomotive you mentioned reminds me of a Pennsylvania T1. Oh well, here we go around in circles! 3D LEGO

Murdoch17, This reminds me of the Chesapeak & Ohio No. 490 streamlined locomotive that I saw a number of years ago at the Baltimore & Ohio museum in Baltimore, MD. It is a 2C2 (4-6-4 Hudson) arrangement so slightly different than yours. But swap the colors around and it speaks the same feel as your design. Otherwise you have a very simple yet strong model. Somethings the bigger challenge can be not to provide more detail but to simplify. You did and excellent job here. I am slightly torn by the lower blue band on the cars|wagons|carriages. Perhaps red with additional grey accents be more fitting? (Okay red with peal silver and more smoothing would make this a streamlined beauty... but there also goes the price tag.) 3D LEGO

Ashi Valkoinen, Ah, my bad. I had forgotten about those parts shuttles for VW in Desden. Maybe they will get a chance at a second life like they are doing down in Vienna. (As far as the article goes, someone else made the error.) But it is like you say, luckily the cheap parts are what you would add if you ever wanted to expand it. Oh, there is an idea: do they ever cover them with full body advertising decals? If so then you could... I think you get my point. As I stated previously, it is a very well done model and you have given the real tram credit where it is due, in all the right places. 3D LEGO

legoman666, Compromises must be made sometimes as color can do that to you. But the colors, that is a sight to behold! We do not see a lot of people experimenting with less mainstream colors here regularly due to obvious reasons. But your rendition is beautiful. 3D LEGO

Ashi Valkoinen, Now this is ironic. I was just looking at an article about the latest CAF Urbos trams entering service in Budapest, specifically the 55.9 m long, 9-unit models. Longest tram enters service in Budapest I see you went for the more economical 5-unit variant instead! I do recall having seen this MOC back when you first posted it. Its great to see that you were able to bring it into brick form. From what I can tell it runs like a champ though I am sure on tighter track geometry it would benefit from closer axle spacing on the trucks|bogies. Now the city running awaits! 3D LEGO PS: I am not sure why but it makes me think of a yellow snake when I watch the video. It probably has to due with the close coupling and the segments moving in such fluid movement. (I am sure the 9-unit variant would feel even more so.)

Elroy Davis (TaltosVT), Duq touched on something that came to mind while reading though the additional comments since I last posted. As seen here in Eurobricks, the LEGO train community is spread across thew globe with different tastes and preferences. Being able to reach out to the different communities would be a large benefit to a new magazine. I fully realize that this would be more work to do but the benefit would be having something that I do not think readily exists in the model train world. I feel such an effort would work to further unify the hobby and inspire others. I for one, enjoy learning about new and previously unknown locomotive designs and technologies. I admit the types of trains I draw at any given point continues to expand the more exposure I get. Geo-blocking and intellectual property licensing are two things that make a lot of fans in the digital media world mad. This is something I encounter all too frequently in the anime world and unfortunately there are series I really like but that are next to impossible to get due to such issues. Taking an open, region independent approach that exposes more people to things that they might not otherwise encounter serves to inspire people just like featured excellent creations do. Featuring works from all over the world can give builders tips on find solutions to design challenges. Maybe a Chinese builder can find a solution to a model by looking at an American builder's model. Or maybe a UK builder fixed his panel issues by taking a tip or two from a Russian builder. You never know. Then there is the design similarities that exist between the different parts of the ward. For example: many of the Eastern|Russian manufactured locomotives (Transmashholding for example) are full hood units, similar in many ways to the Electro Motive Diesel - General Purpose units (EMD - GP) and American Locomotive Company - Road Switcher D units (ALCO RS, Denotes all axles powered, UIC: Co'Co) but differing in the number of axles. Other examples include the ALCO RS, RSD & RSC units (C denotes unpowered center axle, UIC: (A1A)(A1A) ) that have many similarities to the low-hood design road switchers seen all over Europe built by the likes of Voith Turbo, MaK|Vossloh Rail|Stadler Rail. Sometimes though, technology or designs are very region specific and almost never move outside of their origin. American geared steam locomotives or Garrett type steam locomotives (Much more broadly adopted yet still only found in select areas) are examples of this. Another example goes back to the anime world, where I learned recently that what I thought was an odd, unique steam locomotive design in a series turned out to be some late steam modifications of french design for super-heated steam that routed the exhaust pipes to right in front of the cab. Chances are that I would have never encountered that technology here in America as to my recollection I have never seen a steam locomotive with those modifications made. (I hope I did not lose you with the whole geo-blocking and intellectual property licensing thing.) If you take a quarterly approach to the magazine, with deadlines, then time can be allotted for localized translations to be completed for the publication date... (No, thats not the word I want. Upload date?) Perhaps region specific advertising could be used but that is a topic for another discussion. To my knowledge no translation attempt was taken with RAILBRICKS but feel free to correct me if I am wrong. This may in part be due to the American oriented content. But there are some amazing builders in Japan, Germany, UK, etc to name a few countries that also need recognition and could well serve to inspire the next round of LEGO train fans. I seriously hope my idea train is still in comprehendable shape or form. 3D LEGO

snowvictim, I have seen several attempts to do this very thing before. They showed up after the release of the first new 8-wide body planes. A quick search lead me to them and another one as well. The one thing to note with your design is that is rides high. It also has the characteristic feel of English rolling stock in how it narrows down at the truck|bogie level for tighter clearances. Here is a link to an older MOC that is just what you are proposing to do. If you scroll down further, someone posted an image of one that sits lower to the ground. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3898 Another example, scroll down to find it as it is the white train, uses the top curved pieces only. It was an attempt at creating a second generation JR 100 Series Shinkansen: http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/319974 3D LEGO

LEGO Train 12 Volts, "Sirs, that is what you call a track straight'ner. Lett 'er get away and you'll have rails running straight up the mountainside." (A little something that came to me while looking at the pictures.) I am curious to know what kind of pulling power it has. though just like in real life, the tractive effort will be limited by the weight of the boiler. Otherwise a very solid model and smooth construction. Forward and REVERSE functionality are definitely a plus. Its funny how many a steam engine excelled at going forward but going in reverse was where the real fun begins. There are those notable exceptions that could go ether way and then there are those where the logic makes sense but aesthetically you wonder what they were thinking. 3D LEGO

Elroy Davis (TaltosVT), I know that you wanted to start fresh but I am wondering if is it at all possible to re-use the name RAILBRICKS again? It is the name most are familiar with and it sets it apart from other model railroading magazines. (I am sure an added bonus would be that TLG is much more happy with people not using LEGO in titles.) So if this is possible, then you can trim back on all the other stuff and focus just on the magazine. As someone who has participated in numerous train shows, having copies of a magazine that does what xboxtravis7992 suggested would be a great way to bridge people into the hobby. "Hey, well if you are interested in getting started, here is a magazine that..." 3D LEGO

Thank you for answering my question. Thank makes more sense now. (It seemed off a bit.) Right-o; 10 gold bricks into the daddy pale for you my good sir. (Alas, I poses no such gold bricks to give but I do take heart that my gesture is understood at least.) 3D LEGO PS: there could be some serious future collaborations ahead!

BenA, Compromise? Limited pieces? I think those words fail here. Perhaps these might work better: Beautiful masterpiece! Majestic simplicity. I love how instead of building another grandiose castle, you took the small approach and integrated it well into the surrounding environment. You have done the theme and its overall art style justice. There are little details popping out of hiding at every turn. The roof ornamentations, the chain railing, the torches on the stone arch bridge, the different trees, the angled upper window and that swing speak volumes for all the detail and thought that you put into this. My only inquiry would be the cavern area below. Could you elaborate on what its purpose is? I think that you were going for an underground area with glowing flora but I am not sure. It gives me some ice cave vibes so I thought I should ask. Der Steinmeister

garethjellis, I am sensing a strong need for the god hand here. But brilliantly designed none the less. With the ballasting it almost hides its multi-faceted capabilities as if to detract fro its intended purpose while hiding in the guise of yet another run of rail and ties. I wonder how prevalent such configurations are in real life application. It seems to me that it would be one of those evils to avoid if at all possible yet learn to live with if no other choice was available. (Cost, room constraints, etc.) Now lets hope that that is not the junction switch where the mainline diverges into three separate directions. I would hate to be the man in charge of that switch. An untimely sneeze, a momentary memory lapse and the president and his entourage are long on their way to New Orleans... and not Chicago. 3D LEGO

Murdoch17, You did an excellent job in rendering the Siemens SD-460 LRV in brick forum. Your simplified approach may very well be a blessing in disguise seeing as many more prototypical approach models tend to be a bit... how should I put this: fragile. I have a few simple suggestions that could help improve its appearance. The first was previously inquired about by fellow user THERIZE and relates to the black band. My suggestion would be in addition to the swapping the white for black brick, swap out the trans white panels for trans brown|black ones. This combined with the black brick will help you fully realize the black band on the prototype. (A note regarding this: window tinting of side windows is usually much higher then the next to non-existent tinting on driver window.) My second suggestion would be to remove the slope brick roof and in its place add several layers of plate topped by large plate to cover the body. On this you can add slope bricks to simulate the shrouded A/C units and power inverters that are mounted on the roof. My only other suggestion which is more involved would be to design a shared truck|bogie which would allow you to ditch the fourth truck|bogie and match the real LRV better. Any other suggestions I have chose to abstain from as they are very involved. Oh an I almost failed to notice this: I suggest replacing the blue with white except up near the front as that will give you the characteristic red stripe. You could play with the front a bit if you where up for a challenge to mimic the wide red and blue stripes. Oh, how did I fail to see this! A top headlight would be your maraschino cherrie to top it off with. If you would like to see some examples on implementation of the ideas that I suggested, you can take a look at these pictures of a MOC I made of a similar Siemens LRV, the SD-160. (For reference the SD-160 has sliding doors whereas the SD-460 is a bi-fold door) Note: I used varying window tint on the model Bi-fold door detail: https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink Lower angle doctored picture: https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink By the way, LRVs usually don't look pretty from the topside, if anything they are quite messy. Believe me, I have seen it. Even the sleek S-70 is a mess between the shrouds up top. But hey, thats the whole reason why we love electrics now isn't it?! 3D LEGO

ALCO, Your models are suburb. I agree that the two-tone grey with yellow stripe looks good on the challenger. "Hey, UPRR: you know that challenger you have! It would look great you..." Regarding your 4-4-0, in all the old pictures that I have seen, most often they would take the antlers/horns and mount them to the top of the headlight. I do not think I recall having seen a full skull. But maybe you have. Then again it is your creation and it adds a nice finishing touch. But one thing I just realized while looking at your pictures again is that I have seen that Shay model of yours in brick-built forum. And it indeed does work. (I forget who it was but one of the SEALUG members brought it to the last meeting.) One thing the person explained to me is that it can have issues going in reverse. That and it seems to catch a little on the underside so maybe it there is a way to increase the tiled surface/adjustments to bottom side of plates to help alleviate that would be in order. 3D LEGO

A quick search revealed this to be this specific Amtrak Horizon car: AMTK 53503 (Or in this case, LEGOLand 53503) You can find several pictures of it here: Amtrak Photo Archive - hebners.net While the Horizon|Comet cars are simple to design and build, the vinyl wrap is a completely different story. Truth be known, though most would dread such an idea but covering it with a giant decal just like the real thing is probably the best option. Otherwise it is going to look either very busy or like the product of some strange graffiti layering. I guess building studs out would be one way to approach it... 3D LEGO