Category Archives: LEGO® News

News about LEGO® sets, set reviews, and other stuff from the company

The Brick Train Awards, the global awards for LEGO® fan train builders. Are open for entries!

February 1, 2021 Enrico Lussi Leave a comment

The Brick Train Awards is a global virtual competition to showcase LEGO train builders around the world. The Awards where founded in 2020 and with a surprising 732 entries last year, the organization decided to run it again this year. Like previous year, the Brick Train Awards is a collaboration between LNUR, Bricks McGee and BMR. The awards are free to enter and judged by members of the LEGO® train fan community worldwide. The entries are op from 1st – 28th February 2021. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on March the 5^th.

Enter a category.

Entering a category is really simple. Email your entry, including photographs – to bricktrainawards@gmail.com. You must include:

Your name (or alias, handle or pseudonym)
Your country and region
Which category you are entering. Please submit one model per email only.

And that’s it! We’ll announce the winners for each category once judges have made their decisions. You can follow a selection of entries on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. We try to upload as many entries as possible. You can enter models per category. And best of all, it’s all free to enter!!!

Rules

We tried to keep the rules a clear and simple, if you still have questions about the awards you can check out the FAQ page , or contact us trough e-mail or Facebook messenger. Due to time zone differences, it may take several days for us to respond.

Entries for all categories are open 1st – 28th February 2021. Entering the awards is free of charge.
Models must be built with LEGO® bricks, either physically or in digital format (eg, using LDD, Bricklink’s Studio LDraw, or other software). Customized bricks and third-party elements (e.g., custom track, rods, wheels, bearings, power systems) are permitted, but clone bricks are not permitted; please read the FAQs on this page
Models must have been completed in the last 24 months / 2 years (i.e., since February 1st, 2019).
You can enter up to three models per category.
You can enter more than one award category so long as you submit a different model for each category you enter.
You cannot enter the same model in more than one category in the awards.
All award categories accept digital renders, except the Group Display and Individual Display categories. We permit the use of colours for elements that are not made in production in digital models.
You cannot enter a model which won any category in a previous Brick Train Awards event.
Each entry must contain a maximum of 6 photographs, renders or images, and a maximum of 1 video (see “how do I submit video” below)
Builders must be aged 18 years or older at the time of entry. Those aged 13 years – 18 years may enter the TFOL (Teenage Fan of LEGO®) award categories with permission from a parent or guardian. By entering the awards, you agree that you have consent from your parents or guardians.

TrixBrix designs, 3d print and sell LEGO® compatible replacement and custom parts for LEGO® train fans. The also design and print parts on order. TrixBrix has sponsored prizes for each winner in each category, for both regional and Global winners:

Every regional winner will receive:

1x double straight tracks Box 10pcs
1x R56 curved tracks Box 8pcs (half circle)
1x half straight tracks 10pcs
50EUR gift code for trixbrix.eu

Every global prize winner will also receive:

2x double straight tracks Box 10pcs
2x R56 curved tracks Box 8pcs (half circle)
1x half straight tracks 10pcs
60EUR gift code for trixbrix.eu

We would really like to thank TrixBrix for this amazing amount of prices!!

Silver Sponers:

BrickTracks™ is dedicated to manufacturing high quality custom track pieces for use with LEGO® trains and bricks. Whether you’re building a detailed layout or just laying tracks on the floor, BrickTracks™ tracks expand beyond the standard LEGO® offering to help you get the most enjoyment out of your creations.

BrickTracks have sponsored prizes for all Americas category winners:

2x BrickTracks r104 left and right points / turnouts

Bronze Sponsors:

TrainedBricks provides custom LEGO®-compatible rods and valve gears for LEGO® train fans.

TrainedBricks have sponsored prizes for all Steam Locomotive category winners:

$50 USD store credit; this can be used on products and shipping costs.

A word from Bricks McGee.

BMR spoke to the brainchild and co-founder of the awards, Richard, aka Bricks McGee.

“The idea to hold the awards started after Covid meant all of the LEGO shows my LEGO train club, LNUR, had planned to attend were cancelled. We usually attend an event or two a month, so this left us with quite a gap on the calendar.

From that, the idea of the Brick Train Awards started to form. We talked to Cale and Glenn at BMR about adding their support from America and started to approach judges in the LEGO train community, adding Ryan Evans in Australia, and Masao Hidaka in Japan.

The awards allow us to see some brilliant railway / railroad related models from builders around the world and proved much more popular than we suspected they would. This year, we’ve also invited LEGO User Groups and LEGO fans in Africa and the Middle East to participate, expanding the reach of the awards to new builders.

We had some amazingly generous sponsors last year in TrixBrix, BrickTracks, BrickTrainDepot, and BMR. TrixBrix have stepped up again to sponsor prizes globally, with BrickTracks supplying their track packs to winners in the Americas region, and TrainedBricks adding prizes for winners in the steam locomotive category. The awards would still work without the prizes, but I think they add a nice incentive for builders to enter.

This year, we added more categories for Teenage Fans of LEGO (TFOLs), as I think it’s important to involve younger builders in the community: they become older members of the fandom at some point!

The awards were a lot of fun (and hard work) last year, and I’m sure they will be this year. I love seeing LEGO fans from around the world entering, and the huge range of talent from builders everywhere.”

Bricks McGee favorite winner of last year: Best LEGO® Steam Locomotive 2020, P2 “Prince of Wales” by Samuel Sims from Australia, Australasia.

Announcement video:

A couple of days ago members of both BMR and LNUR recorded a video about the BrickTrainAwards, where we discussed this year awards, check out the video on our BMR YouTube Channel here:

You can find out more about the awards – and enter for free from 1st – 28th February 2021 – at bricktrainawards.com. Were really looking forward to all the entries this year!! Keep on building!

Ciao,

Enrico.

Contests, LEGO® News

OcTRAINber 2020: The Results

January 25, 2021 raised 2 Comments

In 2017 we published the results on November 17th, in 2018 on December 9th, and in 2019 on January 6th of 2020. This year it is January 24th. Partly this is due to ever more busy lifes of our editors and judges, but partly it is also due to the ever increasing level of the builds. Every year it seems to be more difficult then the last year to judge the entries, which is great to see!

Just as the previous years we really enjoyed all the WIP stories of this year, and the entries as a whole. Making OcTRAINber a two-month edition really worked this year, both for the quality of the builds, the ammount of entries, and the higher quality WIP stories. This means we are pretty sure that a two-month OcTRAINber will again be a thing in the coming installment.

Prizes & Judging

In total, there are five prizes to be won in this years OcTRAINber. One Grand Prize (meaning the winner of winners) and four category prizes: Small, Medium and Large Real Life Entries, and one Digital Entry. The Grand Prize this is the Lego Crocodile 10277, this year sponsored by BMR. The other four prizes are a PFx Brick + XL Speaker (two times) and a set of R104 switches by BrickTracks (two times). Also, all winners will get one set of BMR Knuckle Couplers. Lastly, and this is new this year, all winners will receive a BMR OcTRAINber printed brick.

For judging, we have set up a couple of rules to give every creation the best chances of winning. We decided on 3 categories on which we would assign points:

Credibility of the prototype. This means we will be looking at how much the build represents the real life prototype. Both the diorama itself, but definatly also the train that is on it. If you are sending in a fantasy model, we will look at how credible the build is; would it fit in, does the backstory make sense?

WIP story. This refers to both showing off your building process, but also to how and why you decided to model a certain prototype. The better the story and the more updates you give and the more elaborate your building story is, the better.

Diorama Factor. This is all about how you build your diorama. is it extra funky, does it have strange connections, is everything build on it’s side, is everything off grid… The more creative, the better, but as always with OcTRAINber, it’s about quality first, and quantity second.

Every of the three categories were assigned points between 0 and 10 by our 4 judges, independent from each other.

Due to unforseen circumstances, Glenn Holland had to decide to not take up his Jury duties this year. We were very sad to hear so, but in the person of Erwin Jacobs (Ervvin) we found a very fine replacement.

Prizes will be handed out on basis of total points given by all four judges. This means that the Grand Prize Winner will be the entry with the most points aggregated. When there is a tie with a Digital Build, the Real Life Entry will always have priority, because of the mission statement of BMR. The other four prizes will be on bases of choise by the winners, with the builder with the most points having priortiy, then the one with the second most points, etc.

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

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Hod Carrier: „Home Signal“ – 100,5 points

Robwd12: „Point of Rocks Station“ – 102 points

OcTrainber 2020: Point of Rocks Station (1)

Popider: „Mini Ludmilla“ – 99 points

FlipUS: „Hogwarts Express on Viaduct“ – 98,5 points

MTM_Leipzig”: „Marten Brewery“ – 95 points

Thomas Reincke: „DB Trolley Klv12“ – 93 points

ocTRAINber 2020: Klv12 geht auf große Fahrt

Denis Garnier: „Gantry“ – 92 points

WINNER: SMALL DIORAMAS

Britishbricks: „The Quarry“
104,5 points

Erwin	Falk	Gerbrand	Cale
The diorama has a really organic feel to it, and feels like something one could see at a modeltrain show!	+ Very detailed + very realistic/natural + interesting building techniques + technically well done + Motors in engine and dispenser + lighting + good WIP story + Nice presentation, inkl. Video	This builder shows an amazing WIP story, where you can see that even his terrain kept on evolving. The use of mock-ups is pretty inspiring as well. The quarry itself really looks like one of those model railroad diorama’s, and I can see myself play with it the whole day. The only thing it lacks is a little bit of backstory, but hey, beggards can’t be choosers.	There are several neat details to this diorama. The track has that barely maintained, sparsely used, industrial track in the middle of nowhere look. There is animation and lighting, The structures are as ramshackle and rundown as the track serving it, and the little engine servicing the quarry is quite charming.

WINNER:MEDIUM DIORAMAS

Narrow_Gauge: „Woolshed Flat“
111,5 points

Erwin	Falk	Gerbrand	Cale
Narrow_gauge: The round shape and rotating base make it a real display piece. I keep on finding new details to explore.	+ interesting building techniques + very good WIP story + very Nice presentation + Train model designed specifically for diorama + Train motorized despite small size/gauge + Landscape itself rotating	Amazing WIP story, that does everything a WIP story should do: Show the lowest lows and the highest highs of a build. The builder really showed how he came to his design. For a pizzadesign this is very credible, and its definatly a diorma. Impressive stuff. No wonder the builder tends to end in the top 3 of OcTRAINber every year he enters.	Alexander is no stranger to OcTRAINber, he has won previously, and for good reason. His models are always stellar. His Woodshed Flat diorama is no exception. It’s an amazing little fully operating layout. His back story and documentation is second to none, and there is just so much great detail picked into the small space.

WINNER: LARGE DIORAMAS

Scruffulous: „The 17th Hole“
116 points

Erwin	Falk	Gerbrand	Cale
WOW, what else can I really say, I love everything of this!	“+ funny idea for a diorama + nicely composed landscape + very detailed, fun stuff + great train model, built especially for the diorama + Wip story + good presentation ⁃ trees	This builder shows that you can achieve the full 30 points in OcTRAINber. Thanks to the backstory with pictures, the layout is very credible, even though normally a train running through a golf course should make no sense. The WIP story really shows the hurdles the builder had to take, and also the corners he had to cut due to time constraints. As a diorama it also sticks out, it really is a stand-alone piece with a story. I’d like to ace that hole, or whatever you should call it.	Just epic! I’ve never been to Australia, but this is what I imagine Aussie railroads to be like. The scene just goes on forever, the landscape has that perfect Australian character, and the back story is as good as the model. The diorama is huge, but all the detail is there in perfect ratio. Amazing!

WINNER: DIGITAL DIORAMAS

2007_boy: „Newcastle Castle, Black Gate and Railway Viaduct“
116 points

Erwin	Falk	Gerbrand	Cale
Excellent use of colours, the fact the base isn’t round too really adds! I keep on returning to see what I’ve missed.	+ wonderful buildings + incredibly creative story + incredibly realistic build, „off the grid“ + very thoughtful use of different techniques + nice vehicles + great presentation & storytelling + Wip process This model defines a league of its own in terms of both creativity, presentation, designing and building skills!	Stunning WIP story, stunning diorama with a lot going on, and pretty credible as well, seeing how the prototype looks like. Also, with a lot of interesting building techniques and also a lot of off-grid building, AND incorporating 7 wide building plus the Legoland / Miniland athmosphere (without making it feel unbelievable) this one really tops the charts for me.	A digital model that does not look like a digital model. The rendering quality is top shelf. The structures are huge but so well detailed, the train is full of character, the landscaping works perfectly with the scene, and there are some great hidden Easter Eggs scattered around. Everything is so well presented, and well thought out. I would love to see this as a real model.

WINNER: GRAND PRIZE OVERALL

Scruffulous: „The 17th Hole“
116 points

OcTRAINber 2020: The 17th Hole - "Hole overview"

Both 2007_boy and Scruffulous had exactly 116 points, proving that big diorams, real life builds and digital builds are all succes factors. Knowing the layouts that our community builds, shouldn’t be a big surprise to anyone! Since there was a tie between both, as per the rules we have decided that Scruffulous, who build an amazing IRL diorama, will be the winner of this years OcTRAINber!

Excel File

Different from previous years, we also have compiled an Excel file with all of the aggregated scores, and remarks from all judges. This to inspire all contestants and to give them feedback, so that hopefull next year they will be on top of the boards as well. You can download the file here.

Final words

We cannot say this enough, but we would really like to thank all contestants. We as BMR had a blast seeing all those entries, and we as judges were actually happy that with many of the entries and categories it was such a close call.

We are very gratefull for our two sponsors, BrickTracks and FX Bricks. Without them this would have been a contest without prizes, and what’s a contest without prizes?!

Last of all, we would like to congratulate all the winners of OcTRAINber. Also, we will contact you on short notice on picking your prize and shipping it to you.

https://i2.wp.com/i.imgflip.com/4hsbrg.jpg?w=474&ssl=1

LEGO® News

OcTRAINber 2020 – Dioramas, dioramas everywhere!

September 1, 2020 raised 2 Comments

Due to COVID-19 a lot is different this year. However, we didn’t want the community to miss this years OcTRAINber due to that. So, we decided that for the fourth year in a row, OcTRAINber will go on!

This years theme will be “Dioramas, Dioramas Everywhere”. Like the previous installments of OcTRAINber, the idea of this building challenge is to actually challenge builders. To get us out of our comfort zones. We Trainheads build a lot of trains, but we tend to put less emphasis on the stuff that goes next to a train, the stuff that really makes or breaks a picture. And, we must admit, most of us at BMR do exactly the same. In fact, almost all of my pictures are just trains with a white background… So, we decided that building train themed dioramas should be the ideal theme for this years OcTRAINber.

After last years OcTRAINber (The Technic Challenge) we did a little evaluation to find out what things we could improve upon. Two really stood out: The re-introduction of a Digital Builds category, and an extended timeframe to plan and build. And since you, the community, make OcTRAINber, we decided to go with both.

So yes, that means OcTRAINber officially starts today!

The idea is simple, from today onwards you as a community have one month of pre-building in which you can already do your planning, post your WIP stories or just start hyping yourself up. Everything is allowed to do already as if it would be last years OcTRAINber, with one small difference: The Entries page will only go live on October 1st.

Rules

Just so you have some guidelines on what to build, we have made a set of rules that should be enough to get you building. The first two rules are a bit different from previous years, where we had some really though rules about what qualified as an Entry. This gives builders more flexibility, hopefully you will also be able to apply this!

We will keep the idea of what a “diorama” is on purpose as vague as possible. Just go all-out with your creativity.
Every diorama must have some form of track, and some form of a train. It’s an Bulding Challenge hosted by Brick Model Railroader after all. Just go all-out with your creativity here as well.
Entries must be original models. No stealing. This also means no MODs (thus also no sets), only MOCs.
Third party parts are allowed, clone bricks aren’t. We know this can be a thin line, just walk it wisely.
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 August 1st 2020 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! These threads will open on October 1st.
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.
NOTE: If this is the case, please let us know at least one week (ie. 7 days) before October 31st, so that everybody has a fair chance to use this extension.

Points

Points will be awarded in three categories: Credibility, WIP Story and Diorama Factor

First of all, credibility of the prototype. This means we will be looking at how much the build represents the real life prototype. Both the diorama itself, but definatly also the train that is on it. If you are sending in a fantasy model, we will look at how credible the build is; would it fit in, does the backstory make sense?

Second of all, the WIP story. This refers to both showing off your building process, but also to how and why you decided to model a certain prototype. The better the story and the more updates you give and the more elaborate your building story is, the better.

Third and last, the Diorama Factor. This is all about how you build your diorama. is it extra funky, does it have strange connections, is everything build on it’s side, is everything off grid… The more creative, the better, but as always with OcTRAINber, it’s about quality first, and quantity second.

Prizes & Winners

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.

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.

Final Words

So, that’s it for now. OcTRAINber has officially started, even though it’s just September. Now the only thing you have to do is start building, and show those diorama’s everywhere! Happy OcTRAINber!

https://i0.wp.com/i.imgflip.com/4hsbrg.jpg?w=474&ssl=1

LEGO Train News, LEGO® News, Products

LEGO Announces 10277 Crocodile Locomotive

June 15, 2020 raised 1 Comment

After several weeks of (intended?) leaks and gossip all over the internet, Lego finally does what we all expected it to do a week before Fathers Day: It released the much anticipated Crocodile! As expected, it’s based on the Swiss Railways Class Ce 6/8 II. The model will be 7 wide, which is a first for TLC, and is meant both as a display model and combined with the Powered Up! Hub (88009) and a L-motor (88013), controlled by the Powered Up! app.

Here’s what Lego has to say about it:

Remember those happy childhood hours spent playing with toy train sets? Now you can escape your responsibilities and head back to those joyful days with this LEGO® Crocodile Locomotive Building Kit – but this time, it’s strictly for adults! Take your time with the build, then immerse yourself in the sublime engineering as you explore the features and functions packed into this impressive model.
Build and display a railway icon. Unwind with this rewarding building challenge as you create an authentic, displayable, LEGO® model version of the iconic Crocodile Locomotive.
Clear your mind and escape the daily grind with this fulfilling building project. If your passion for toy train sets has never really left you, you’ll love recreating the amazing details of the Crocodile Locomotive, a vintage classic from the golden age of rail travel. Impressive attention to detail Inspired by the Class Ce 6/8 II locomotive, first built for the Swiss Federal Railways between 1919 and 1927, this beautiful LEGO® model is packed with realistic details. With side rods that move as the wheels turn and posable pantographs that move up and down, there’s lots to explore. Lift the roof to access the crew compartment and use the 2 minifigures to bring the story of this iconic train to life. Add the Powered Up components (sold separately) to motorize your locomotive. Spark your passion for building The Crocodile Locomotive (10277) is part of a collection of LEGO® model building kits for adults who love beautiful design. This model also makes a great gift for anyone who loves model trains.
• This LEGO® Crocodile Locomotive (10277) model kit is perfect for adults looking to build a vintage locomotive model or for anyone who loves trains and is looking for their next hobby project.
• Enjoy a rewarding challenge as you bring this buildable model train to life. Then explore the features and functions packed into this set, which celebrates the classic Crocodile Locomotive train.
• Discover amazing details with authentic features true to the original Crocodile Locomotive. The 2 LEGO® minifigures with tools, display track and plaque provide lots to explore after building the classic train.
• Ideal for model train fans, railway enthusiasts and LEGO® lovers, this building kit for adults makes a creative gift or birthday present to transport building fans to a world of total relaxation.
• This train model measures over 6” (16cm) high, 20.5” (52cm) long and 3.5” (8cm) wide, making it a beautiful display piece to show off with pride.
• You can jump right into this immersive building project since no batteries are required. To motorize your locomotive, add 1 x 88009 and 1 x 88013 Powered Up components (sold separately).
• This building set for adults comes with coffee-table-style building instructions with design details to encourage and inspire you.
• Part of a series of inspiring LEGO® building model sets for adults, designed for LEGO building fans, and hobbyists who love elegant design, beautiful architecture and models packed with detail.
• LEGO® building bricks meet the highest industry standards, which ensures they are consistent, compatible and connect and pull apart easily every time – it’s been that way since 1958.
• LEGO® bricks and pieces are rigorously tested to ensure that every building set meets the highest safety and quality standards, so you can be sure that this set is designed to last.

If you want to read more about the design process of the Crocodile, we recommend you to have a look over at The Brothers Brick, where they have an interesting interview with Jamie Berard about the design!

Now, let’s just dive into the pictures, shall we?

The box art, with the new classy “Adults Only” design:

Lego also made some great photorealistic renders of the Croc:

This being a product meant for adults, TLC was so kind to also send some pictures of an actual adult playing with Lego trains.I can almost see myself pictured in it, hooray for that!

The model can be motorized with the Powered Up! Hub and a motor

And yes, it’s Lego, so you can break it apart!

I’m for one pretty sure I will get one of these, but what do you think? Is this a set that all of you want in your collections? And is the “adults only” label a good thing for the L-gauge community, or not? We look forward hearing from you!

About BMR, Events, LEGO® News

BMR and Community Updates: May 2020

May 15, 2020 Cale Leiphart 3 Comments

Hello again, LEGO train fans and Brick Model Railroader supporters! We’ve got some great new articles in the works for you, but today we wanted to update you on a few things going on here at Brick Model Railroader. Let’s dive in.

Train Community Roundtable

There will be a Train Community Roundtable for the Brickworld Virtual Event coming up this Saturday, May 16th. Brickworld Virtual features LEGO artists, engineers, and vendors showing their creations via Zoom meeting rooms. A new twist to the Brickworld public shows will be a presentation room where you can learn from the experts. General details about the Brickworld Virtual Convention can be found on the Brickworld website below.

Brickworld Virtual May 16 Web Page

BMR has been invited to participate along with several other LEGO train community members. The Train Community Roundtable is scheduled for 1:00pm – 2:50pm Central Time. The tentative topic list is as follows.

1. Introduction – LEGO Train Roundtable.

– Bringing the LEGO Train fan community together
– Open conversation and sharing ideas

2. LEGO New Developments

– Powered Up?
– 40th Anniversary Train Set
– Ghost Train Express ( # 70424)

Brick Model Railroader Updates
Brick Track Updates
Other Updates
Show off your MOC’s!
Open Forum – Train Talk!

Come join us for two hours of talking trains.

Brick Model Railroader Podcast

We recently posted an article announcing the Brick Model Railroader podcast, a short live-streamed discussion on various Lego and train topics. Our Pilot was hosted by Enrico, and all regular episodes will be hosted live on the Brick Model Railroader Youtube channel. Podcast episode announcements will be posted through our social media outlets a few days in advance.

While primarily hosted on Youtube so we can answer questions from viewers, our podcast episodes will also be shared to and available on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcast (pending approval) and iTunes. Just type “Brick Model Railroader” in any of those apps and you should be fine!

New Premium Instructions

The Gunderson 60′ Boxcar, ACF 1958 Cu. Ft. Covered Hopper, and Pacific Fruit Express Reefer.

The BMR model team has been hard at work designing new Premium Instruction Models. Three of which we will be releasing very soon.

The Gunderson 60′ High Cube Plate F Boxcar is our first BMR model designed by Aaron Burnett and is our most modern freight car to date.

The modern 100 ton, high-cube, 60’ boxcar has become ubiquitous in the modern rail scene. These cars are designed to carry a myriad of loads, from auto parts to forest products and are a fixture to any modern freight train.

The American Car & Foundry 70-Ton 1958 Cu. Ft. Covered Hopper is our first BMR model designed by Matt Csenge.

American Car & Foundry recognized the need for a mass-produced covered hopper car to transport goods and bulk flowable commodities that needed protection from the weather. In 1936 ACF began building this 70-Ton 1958 cu. ft. capacity covered hopper for task. The cars quickly gained wide-spread appeal, with 59 railroads and 16 private and leasing companies purchasing them throughout their lifetime. Many of these car lasted well into the 1970’s, some even into the 1980’s in revenue service. Some of these cars are even still used today in maintenance-of-way service.

Designed by Cale Leiphart, The Pacific Fruit Express R-30-9 and R-40-9 Reefer is a classic wood reefer from the golden age of ice cooled railroad refrigerator cars.

In 1936, Pacific Fruit Express began a program to recondition a large part of its aging wood refrigerator car fleet. These cars had their entire wood superstructure rebuilt above the frame sill, giving them another 10 to 15 years of service life. These cars became the R-30-9 and R-40-9 class cars on the PFE. Around 7,000 cars would go through this reconditioning program and many lasted into the 1950’s with the last being retired in 1966.

As usual, we have a wide range of decal sets lined up for our new models. Final release date for these cars is still pending. We are currently waiting for the new train wheels from Bricktracks before setting the release date.

The three cars talked about above are not all we’ve been working on. Here is a sneak peak at two more models coming later this year.

EMD SD40-2 diesel locomotive designed by Chris Stone.

Budd Rail Diesel Car by Matt Csenge. (yes, SIX variants!)

Coming Soon, The New BMR Online Store

Speaking of things on the Brick Model Railroader storefront, we will be debuting a new online store for Brick Model Railroader soon. While it’s served us well, we’ve outgrown the old store design. The new store will be much nicer to look at and easier to navigate. We’re still putting the finishing touches on things, but we plan to have the new store ready to go by the time the new Premium Instructions are released. In the meantime the current store is still up and running with all our current products.

Preview of the PCF decal section for the new store.

New Bricktracks Products

Lastly, we have two brief updates from our friends at BrickTracks, everyone’s favorite injection-molded track supplier.

The final mold for the R104 turnouts is in the process of being made. The last details have been tuned and we are closer than ever to having these turnouts on our layouts.

The second update regards the new replacement wheels for bearing wheel sets. The first batch of wheels has been produced and is en route to BrickTracks’ home base. However, the shipment is on the proverbial (or perhaps literal) “slow boat from China”, to quote BrickTracks.

There is certainly plenty to look forward to for fans of LEGO trains.

Thank you for reading.

About BMR, LEGO® News, People

Introducing The BMR podcast

April 3, 2020 Enrico Lussi Leave a comment

Finally, after having this idea stuck in a drawer for far too long, we would like to introduce the BMR podcast: a fun and entertaining hour with, surprise, surprise, LEGO trains!

Pilot Episode

Last Sunday we had the pilot episode of the podcast. In case you missed it, it can be viewed here. The episode was on The Grand Brick Tours YouTube channel (Enrico’s Lego channel). The following episodes will be on the BMR YouTube channel.

Not only was the pilot episode longer, but the amount of podcast guests was a lot more than we were planning for the standard episodes. The builders featured in the pilot episode were:

UrbanErwin
Glenn Holland
Raised
Tijn
Big Daedy
Aloisvanesterhazy
Enrico

Thanks to them the pilot episode was a great success and a fun 1.5 hours, and hopefully the start of a fun new project.

Schedule

The podcast itself will be a hour long. The schedule for the podcast will be the following: 5 minutes of short introduction, 30-40 minutes of discussing certain topics, 10-15 minutes of answering question of our viewers. During the entire podcast there will be a live chat were viewers are able to ask multiple questions they would like to be answered by us. .

We will try to post new podcast episodes on a regular basis, aiming for once monthly. We may need to modify or deviate from this schedule, but for now this is our plan.

New episodes will be announced at least three days in advance along with the date and times for different time zones. This information will also be shared across our social media pages.

The Crew and Guests

The crew will always consist of at least one or two BMR team members. Enrico will always be present as our host, since the podcast is his brain child. However, we will have more BMR members involved to keep a fresh and different cast of for each episode.

We will also be inviting other builders from across the world to join our podcasts and join in the conversation.

Topics

We will try like change the topics around just like the crew members, and will be top priority. Topics of discussion will include BMR specific subjects, but also Lego community and train related items. We don’t want to give away to much, since were currently working on multiple fun and interesting topics.

We are excited to move forward with our podcast an we hope you are excited to watch. Please stay tuned for the notification for the next episode.

-Ciao

Enrico

LEGO Train News, LEGO® News, Products

40370 Steam Engine Promotional Set Review

March 12, 2020 Cale Leiphart 1 Comment

For March of 2020, LEGO® has released gift with purchase set, the 40370 Steam Engine. The set is available until the end of the month at LEGO.com and through LEGO brand retail stores for via qualifying purchase. The set is a replica of 7810 a push-along steam locomotive that was released in 1980, and commemorates the 40th anniversary of the 12v train line being launched worldwide.

I recently picked up a copy through an order to LEGO.com. Let’s take a look at this set now.

Continue reading →

Events, LEGO® News

ANNOUNCING the L-Guage Modular Standard COLLABORATIVE Layout for BrickFair Virginia 2020

February 24, 2020 Cale Leiphart 2 Comments

Announcing an L-Gauge Modular Standard layout for BrickFair Virginia in Chantilly, Virginia 2020. BrickFair Viginia is one of the premier LEGO® fan events in North America, bringing together hundred of LEGO builders and their creations. The dates of the show for 2020 are July 29th to August 2nd.

Call for Participants

Cale Leiphart will be layout chief for this event. He is responsible for the layout plan, securing space at the event, set up coordination, and operating schedule. Anyone interested in participating should contact him directly:

Cale Leiphart – cale@brickmodelrailroader.com

Participants must be finalized by the end of May 15th in order to coordinate a layout plan and submit it to Brickfair for space approval.

The LGMS layout must conform to LGMS v1.3, which has been uploaded to our LGMS page and to the LGMS Facebook group.

LGMS V1.3 Standard

Events, LEGO® News

2020 Winter Train Show Report

February 10, 2020 Cale Leiphart Leave a comment

Recently I had the pleasure of participating in LEGO train displays at two train shows here in the Northeast United States. The first was the annual Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show with the New England LEGO User Group. The second was the Great Scale Model Train Show with the second ever L-Gauge Modular Standard display. These were both great shows, and were a lot of fun. Here is a report on both these events.

Continue reading →

LEGO® News

OcTRAINber 2019: The Winners!

January 6, 2020 raised 1 Comment

Last year we published the results on December 9th, this year we are doing so on January 6th. Not everything can be a tradition after three years, but it seems that slow judging is definitely one of them.

So, I’d say it’s nothing more than fair to cut the chase and just announce the winners of OcTRAINber 2019: The Technic Challenge!

Grand Prize Winner

The entry that got the most votes from all four judges on all three categories aggregated is none other than the Canadian Pacific 414501 250 ton Industrial Brownhoist Wrecker Crane by The Brick Files!

Our Guest Judge Mahjqa had the following to say about this build:

“TheBrickFiles; Wonderful looks and great functionality; this is pretty much everything I’d wish for in a model.”

Grand Prize Runner Up

The entry that got the second most votes from all four judges on all three categories aggregated (by a very close margin!) is Casey Jr. from the Dumbo movie by Narmot (Chris Stone)!

OcTRAINber 2019 - Cartoon Train: Casey Jr.

Our Guest Judge Mahjqa had the following to say about this entry:

“Narmot: Impressed by all the functionality, the writeup about animation principles really sold it for me. “

Winner of Movement-Factor category

The entry that got the most votes from all four judges on the main category, the Movement Factor, is the Railway Moving Box by FlipUS (Phil B)!

Our Guest Judge Mahjqa of course also had to say something about this design:

“FlipUS: great concept, fun to see everything in motion.”

Winner of the Credibility category

The entry that got the most votes from all four judges on the Credibility of the build, is the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge by Robwd12 (Robert D.)!

OcTrainber 2019: Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge

As per tradition, our Guest Judge Mahjqa had the following to say:

“Robwd12: Solid model, very interesting function. Most novel movement function this year. “

Winner of the WIP-story category

Last but not least, the builder that kept us in the best way up-to-date about their build, but also tried to explain some of his building behind the scenes, is the Railway Test Bench with SNCF 140 C 314 Ajecta by denis.h.garnier (Denis Garnier)!

And, ofcourse, our Guest Judge Mahjqa also had something to tell about this design:

“Denis H Garnier: Very unique concept, good looking model. “

Prizes

Yes, prizes, the most important part of any contest! This year we have been able, thanks to our sponsors FX Bricks, BrickTracks and TLC, to arrange five Prize Packs. Since we know that every builder might have some different ideas how to use any of these items, we are giving the first winner the first chance to pick one of these five Prize Packs, the second winner the second chance, etc. etc. all until the Winner of the WIP-story category, who will receive the final Prize Pack. One of us here at BMR will reach out to you on short notice (we promise, it won’t be as long as you have been waiting for the results) to arrange things with all five of you!

PFx Brick XL Package	PFx Brick M Package	Bricktracks Parts Pack 1	Bricktracks Parts Pack 2	TLC
PFx Brick 16 MB (new injection molded case!)	PFx Brick 16 MB (new injection molded case!)	1 full circle (4x boxes) of BrickTracks R120 Curved Track	2x boxes of BrickTracks Short Straight Track	LEGO 71044 Disney Train and Station
XL Speaker	M Speaker	2x boxes of BrickTracks Short Straight Track
pinLABsolo Light Accessory Board	pinLABsolo Light Accessory Board
4x Bright White Fx LEDs	4x Bright White Fx LEDs

Words from the Guest Judge

In fact, Mahjqa reviewed all posted models, so we thought it would be good to post these as well, just so you guys know what to do to score even better next year!

“ColletArrow: Solid model, lots of functionality in a small package.
Brett Wiebold: Gorgeous model, doesn’t skimp on functions.
The Chestertonian: Very entertaining concept, works like a charm.
Sparks Again: Great concept; wish the function was more functional instead of just decorative.
William.Cooper: Love that you managed to fit a very functional mechanism in such a tiny model.
Beck: A very solid effort overall.
JMChisel: Very out-of-the-box, it’s obvious a lot of effort went into this.
Brickmodder: Hilarious function, very appealing.”

Final Words

First of all, you guys might remember we had a Direct Drive and Indirect Drive category where entries could be submitted. In the end we decided to combine both categories, because it turned out our differentiating between both categories was very unclear, even for us…

We were again stunned by the high quality of the entries and the amazing functionality that you managed to cram into your designs. Even though some of you weren’t able to finish in time, and some even weren’t able to do so after the extension, we have seen some great stuff from all of you. Even after three years of OcTRAINber, the creativity still amazes us. Congrats to the winners, but definitely also kudos to all other builders that participated!!

It has been a lot of fun for us here at BMR to organize this event for the third year in a row now. Yes, some things could have gone smoother, and we apologize for this. Running BMR, writing articles and also keeping a contest afloat takes a lot of time, definitely because it’s just as much a hobby for me as it is for any of you.

Oh, and yes, we still very much would like to receive some feedback on this years OcTRAINber, and the two previous editions, so that we can come back with an even better OcTRAINber 2020. Feel free to drop your feedback in the comments!

Categories

Enter a category.

Rules

A word from Bricks McGee.

Announcement video:

So yes, that means OcTRAINber officially starts today!

Rules

Categories

Entries

Points

Prizes & Winners

Final Words

Train Community Roundtable

Brick Model Railroader Podcast

New Premium Instructions

Coming Soon, The New BMR Online Store

New Bricktracks Products

Finally, after having this idea stuck in a drawer for far too long, we would like to introduce the BMR podcast: a fun and entertaining hour with, surprise, surprise, LEGO trains!

Pilot Episode

Schedule

The Crew and Guests

Topics

Call for Participants

Grand Prize Winner

Grand Prize Runner Up

Winner of Movement-Factor category

Winner of the Credibility category

Winner of the WIP-story category

Prizes

Words from the Guest Judge

Final Words