Category Archives: Contests

Announcements and news about contests that may be of interest to BMR readers.

New BMR Store, New Premium Instructions, and Community Updates: June 2020

Today is the big day. Brick Model Railroader is launching our new and improved online store. And we have three band new Premium Instructions for sale along with an array of new decals for each.

Our old store served us well, but we we starting to out grow it. As we added new products, it was increasingly hard to navigate and find what you were looking for. Also the look was growing stale, and our products were not being show off to their fullest potential. So one the last few weeks we’ve been moving our store over to a new platform, one full of shiny new widgets, and hopefully a much better buying experience for you.

Click Here to Check Out the New BMR Online Store

The new BMR store front.

New Premium Instructions

Continue reading New BMR Store, New Premium Instructions, and Community Updates: June 2020

OcTRAINber 2019: Second Service Announcement

Just a very short update from our side regarding the wrapping up of OcTRAINber 2019. Just like last year it has proven to be a quite busy number of months here at BMR, specifically for me (Legoworld, our biggest show of the year in the Netherlands, plus the whole aftermath of that) which means the judging has taken some delays again since coordinating the judging is my little task. However, last night I finally finished the Judges Excel Sheet so final judgement has just commenced. We will try to get it done in maximum 2 weeks, so hopefully we will be able to announce the winners before the end of 2019. We will keep you updated on this proces as much as possible.

In the same time, we would also like to ask you guys for some feedback. OcTRAINber has been a succes for three years in a row for us over at BMR, but we are wondering how you actually think about OcTRAINber. What do you guys like about the contest? What are the reasons to participate, or not to participate? What do you guys think could be done better next year?

We look forward hearing from you, to make sure OcTRAINber 2020 will be even better!

OcTRAINber 2019: Service Announcement

Happy last days of OcTRAINber! We hope you are enjoying this month as much as we are. In the last couple of weeks we have seen a lot of great WIPs and even some amazing entries being posted in the Brick Model Railroader Flickr Group. We are again stunned by the amount of creativity that the community has to offer.

However, we also saw several not-yet-finished builds, that look very promising, but might get into trouble finishing before the end of the month. We know this challenge, due to the heavy involvement of Technic and moving parts, is a bit more out of the comfort zone for many builders than the previous two installments of OcTRAINber. In fact, some of us here at BMR (being me) try to ignore all of Technic when it’s possible, so kudos to you all for trying!

So, anyways, long story short: we have decided upon a grace period of two weeks, to make sure all of the current WIP builds will be posted in the respective entry threads. Even though this means OcTRAINber will now end in the middle of November, but hey, space already had their month with this years SHIPtember!

NEW DEADLINE FOR OCTRAINBER:

Novvember 14th, 23:59 PDT!

Please be sure to ONLY post entries in the appropriate thread on our Flickr group. This is the only place where we will look for entries – showing us an entry on social media or elsewhere does not count.

Good luck finishing up those builds!

OcTRAINber 2019: The Technic Challenge – The Prizes!

We’re halfway through the month already and we’ve seen plenty of unique and interesting looking WIP stories so far. This is shaping up to be a great year so far, and we’re looking forward to seeing the final entries!

Of course, what would any OcTRAINber challenge be without prizes? We have some new prizes this year from our good friends across the community.

PFx Brick XL Package

This prize was donated by Fx Bricks, and includes the following:

PFx Brick M Package

Also donated by Fx Bricks, and includes the following:

  • PFx Brick 16 MB (new injection molded case!)
  • M Speaker
  • pinLABsolo Light Accessory Board
  • 4x Bright White Fx LEDs

BrickTracks Track Packs

BrickTracks has donated plenty of track this year! We have split it up as follows:

R120 + Short Straights Package

Short Straight Pack

  • 2x boxes of BrickTracks Short Straight Track

Lastly, and certainly not least:

LEGO 71044 Disney Train and Station

Prize allocation will be covered in the wrap up article before winners are announced.

We hope everyone is having a great OcTRAINber!

OcTRAINber 2019: The Technic Challenge Has Officially Started!

As we announced a bit over a week ago, this year BMR will again run the OcTRAINber contest. OcTRAINber is a contest meant to get outside of your comfort zone and build something you haven’t thought of before. You know, that one truly special build that will spice up your layout like no other has before. All within the realm of Lego Trains, but with a twist. So, let us officially introduce you to the contest and let’s get rolling!

OcTRAINber

First of all, the name. It’s called OcTRAINber, if somebody had not noticed after two years. Why OcTRAINber? Well, because it’s a great intermediate month between SHIPtember and November. Also, TRAINS. Mostly TRAINS. TRAINS.

“The Technic Challenge”

Second of all, the subject of this years OcTRAINber. Why the Technic Challenge?

Two years ago we had a ‘build your longest’ theme, and last year we were all about ‘building that foreign dream of yours’. Both of them produced some really nice models, but, in essence, they were all static. Yes, some of them were motorized, and yes, some of them even had very fancy motorization that not even us had thought of before. However, in the end motorization was just a nice have-to, not a requirement, which is strange when you think about it. Therefore, we have decided that this year everything is forced to move. The more movement, the better!

Continue reading OcTRAINber 2019: The Technic Challenge Has Officially Started!

Announcing OcTRAINber 2019: Three in a Row!

“Everything that happens once can never happen twice. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”

If there is one thing at BMR that this could apply for, definitely now that September is coming to a close, it would be the month of OcTRAINber. And yes, just like last year, we would like to announce that this year there will indeed be another OcTRAINber building challenge!

Just like last year and the year before, OcTRAINber isn’t just a regular challenge, it’s a themed challenge. Two years ago it was all about ridiculous long trains, last year it was all about foreign trains, and this year the challenge is…

The Technic Challenge!

As you know, OcTRAINber is all about building outside of your comfort zone. Ofcourse, all of us motorize our trains, be it with PUP, PF, IR, 9V, 12V or anything in between. But in real life, not only the wheels move. There is so much more going on in trains and trackside structures that moves around, or wiggles, or turns, or whatever it does, as long as it makes a movement.

So, for this year, we thought it would be fun to challenge our Lego Train community to come up with as much train-related stuff that makes movement, other than just the regular motorization of a locomotive. And, different than the last two years, this time it doesn’t have to be a train, it can also be a trackside structure! As long as it has a form of movement not necessary to let it run on the tracks, you are good to go!

Rules

As per tradition, we won’t tell you as of yet any of the specifics we will use to score builds until October 1st, but, as per tradition, we will give the general rules that are necessary to enter your builds and start planning!

  • “Moving” is defined as: A movement of any locomotive, rolling stock, structure, or other railroad-related item that is NOT indented to propel the item forwards or backwards on track. Of course, the item can have these movements (we even recommend doing this, because static trains are soooo boring), but you will only be scored on extra movements, like doors opening, or running vents, or a moving telehandler on a goods dock… So, you can enter your newly build Acela Express, and it can be 9V powered, but it needs to have some extra modes of movement included as well, otherwise we will disqualify your entry. I’m sure you get the point.
  • Entries must be original models. No stealing. This also means no MODs, only MOCs.
  • We are making no rules for the scale you choose to model in. We are welcoming models of 6, 7, and 8 studs, and anything in between or beyond! However, we appreciate detail and accuracy. Reasonably sized models are usually better for that, but we don’t knock anything or anyone with serious skill.
  • NEW BUILDS ONLY. We are willing to accept anything unpublished or anything that was not published before September 1st 2019 as new. We want to inspire and promote a challenging build, entering an old model doesn’t quite work in that regard.
  • Entries MUST be made on our Flickr group in the appropriate thread. This is the ONLY place we will be looking for entries, nowhere else. Sending photos to us on social media or showing us in person do not count as entries!
  • We will be accepting entries from Midnight on October 1st to Midnight on November 1st (meaning October 31st, at 23:59 PDT). There is possibility of a grace period to ensure those that need that one final Bricklink order have a fair chance.

Entries and Prizes

Keep in mind that OcTRAINber is a ‘quality over quantity’-building event. This means that we rather encourage you to build one amazing build than several sub-par ones. That’s why, just like last year, we will restrict the number of entries to only one per person. We are not accepting digital entries this year to emphasize the spirit of the challenge.

We haven’t finalized on prizes yet, but since this is a building challenge, we will for sure have some, just like in previous years.

Just like last year, we want to encourage you to show off your WIPs this year as well, to make OcTRAINber really a month that is all about trains within the Lego community. Therefore, extra credit will be given to the best WIP stories and/or pictures during the event. Specific information about WIP points will be mentioned in the kick-off article, but the rules will be pretty much in line with last year’s event.

We will pick the winners after we have announced the official close of the competition and have stopped accepting new entries, which will be some time after November 1. Once the judges (who, just like last year, will be announced in an upcoming article) have come to a sound conclusion regarding the winners, we will post one final article announcing them, and then we will be in contact with those winners regarding their prizes.

So, that’s it for now. We are very excited about this years’ installment, hopefully the same goes for all you train-heads out there! Stay tuned for updates on the start of the challenge, the judges and the scoring when OcTRAINber starts on October 1st.

So pack your gear and all aboard OcTRAINber!

OcTRAINber 2018: The Results

Good news! It took a bit longer than expected from our side (and we again apologize for this), but we can finally reveal the winners of this years OcTRAINber!

First, let us again say that we really enjoyed all the builds, the WIP stories and all those beautiful pieces of foreign rolling stock. I’d say it’s no strange thing to say that the community really added the TRAIN in this years OcTRAINber again! And yes, just like last year it was a challenge to judge them, but just like last year, in the end we managed.

Prizes & Judgement

Due to a difference in prizes compared to last year, we have come up with some new winning categories for this year: Grand Prize for Real Life Entries, Grand Prize for Digital Entries, Prize for best Foreign Factor and Prize for best WIP Story. The winners of the Grand Prize are allowed to choose between the new Powered-Up Cargo Train and the PFx Brick Holiday Train Conversion Kit, with the winner of the Grand Prize Real Life having first pick. The winners of the categories get two prizes: First a choice between PFx Brick 4MB + XL Speaker and Bricktracks R56 curved tracks, and second a choice between Lego Rails and PF pack, with the winner of the Foreign Factor category having first pick in both. Oh, and ofcourse you can only win once. So if you win in one category, you are obviously out for any other prizes in this years’ OcTRAINber.

Just to shortly tell something about the judging itselve: All four of us (being Cale Leiphart, Glenn Holland, Holger Matthes and me) gave all entries points between 0-10 in three categories: Credibility, Foreign Factor and WIP Story. These points were added up (meaning you could get a max of 120 points for the Grand Prize, and 30 for a “Best of” Prize) and then compared between all the entries, with the one with the highest number of points wining. Yes, it’s that simple 😉

So now that we have established the prizes and the judging, let’s go on to the awards!

GRAND PRIZE REAL LIFE

It’s Hod Carrier with his amazing Ferrobus!

Everything just worked in this entry. The WIP story, the credibility, the scale, the little pieces of rust and chrome, but definately also the absolute amazing foreign prototype. Who would have ever thought that a bus would win in a train contest? Well played Hod Carrier!

GRAND PRIZE DIGITAL

Congratulations Bricknerd with his FM H15-44!

A great WIP story from day one, including microscale and Halloween versions of his build, but also one of the stranger diesels that have been running around in the US (if you are familiar with those boxes on wheels, that is) that was captured really well with some great sideways work. A true digital winner.

BEST FOREIGN FACTOR

That’s ofcourse no other than Alexander with his Lartigue Monorail!

Most probably the most wonky Foreign build of this year. Yes, some of us had once read about this thing. And yes, even back in the days when it was build it was weird. But seeing it build in Lego, with a functioning drive unit? Thats a whole other trainyard!

BEST WIP STORY

Lastly, it’s Donát Raáb with his Wiener Linien ULF tram!

Even though he came pretty late to the party, Donát Raáb gave us a really good insight in how he build that thing. Including puns like “Flag Day” and how he managed to keep it just also Ultra Low Floor like the prototype, it was awesome seeing his updates coming in day by day.

HONORARY MENTIONS

Just like last year, some builds came really close, but just not close enough. These are our honorary mentions. No prizes, but just a proper reminder to keep up the good work!

A Hudswell Clarke “Ganges” class with skips (part of his full narrow gauge consist) by Mike Pianta

KП4 by Erik

Korail V-Train (aka Baekdudaegan Canyon Train) by kellelely5

Lencse-005 by Nicholas Bond

DRG Class 99.22 HSB 99 222 by Robert D.

Lastly, we would like to again thank our sponsors;  FX BricksBricktracks and The Lego Company. Without them these awesome prizes would have never been possible. We are really gratefull for their effort in supporting the community!

And, ofcourse, we hope to see all of you again for OcTRAINber 2019!

OcTRAINber 2018: The Round-up

Now that OcTRAINber 2018: The Foreign Challenge is officially over, we first would like to thank all the participants who made this such a great month again. It was amazing to see all the WIP stories showing up on the Flickr feeds, FB timelines, but also on the well-beloved Train Tech forums over at Eurobricks for example. So thank you all for that!

Now, let’s go over the timeline. In the next coming weeks our judges will go over all the entries and score them according to three criteria: WIP Story, Credibility and The Foreign Factor. This might take a while because BMR is a labour of love, meaning we all do this stuff next to our real life lives.

However, for now we would like to make a short round-up of all entries and also to show you some of the key statistics of this years OcTRAINber.

Continue reading OcTRAINber 2018: The Round-up

OcTRAINber 2018: The Final Pieces

Now that the last weekend of October is (almost) over, it’s time for a preliminary recap post.

First of all, we have already seen a lot of great entries and some awesome WIP stories. Great to see everybody enjoying this challenge as much as we do!

Second, as we said in our first post, we do have the possibility for a grace period in case some BL orders were delayed. Question now is: Does anybody need this grace period? If yes, please let us know asap so that we can make this official. This can be done by just posting in the comment section below. If nobody replies, the deadline stays at October 31st, at 23:59 PDT.

UPDATE: We have decided to extend the deadline untill the end of Sunday November 4th. Hope this will be enough for all to finish your builds!

Third, we have seen some people entering several builds. In the announcement for OcTRAINber we however said the following:

“We are allowing digital entries and real life builds, but everyone is limited to one entry only to keep things fair.”

To indeed keep things fair (definately with all these prizes) we have decided to stick with this rule and limit to one entry. This means that we would like to ask all contestants that entered more than one entry to decide which is their ‘official’ entry. Feel free to do this in the respective entry threads at the BMR Flickr Page.