FAQ

BMR Frequently Asked Questions

You have questions? Hopefully we have the answers.

 

Q: What is Brick Model Railroader?

A: Brick Model Railroader is a news and information resource for all things LEGO® trains. You can read more about our mission here.

Q: Who runs Brick Model Railroader?

A: The Brick Model Railroader staff is made up of LEGO train fans just like you. Go here to find out more. Maybe you’ve even heard about some of us before.

Q: What is BMR?

A: The commonly used acronym for Brick Model Railroader

Q: How do I get my train model featured on BMR?

A: Generally we here at BMR follow the same guidelines that many other LEGO blogs do. Best summarized in three easy steps.

  1. Build something cool.
  2. Take good photos and present your creation well.
  3. Put your models somewhere we can find them.

#1 Build something cool.

Since BMR is a train news site, we of course are interested in train models. But we are also interested inTown/City, or any other theme that can compliment trains. From medieval mine carts, to space monorails, from 2 wide to 16 wide, we don’t discriminate. If it’s on rails or beside them, It’s fair game. It’s quality of models that we look for.  Our goal is to grow the LEGO® train hobby.  We want to present the best LEGO® train models out there as example of why our hobby is great.

#2 Take good photos

The Brothers Brick provides some excellent advice on this subject.

TBB, How to get Blogged

#3 Where we find them.

The staff at Brick Model Railroader follow the main train community hangouts, Flickr, Eurobricks, Facebook, pretty closely. Here are some places we frequent most.

Flickr – We follow all the major Flickr train groups. This is the best place to put your photos where we can find them.

LEGO® Train MOCs

LEGO® Train Ideas

LEGO® Train MOCs: Layouts and Dioramas

LEGO® Train Builders

Eurobricks – We regularly check in on the Eurobricks forums, especially the LEGO® Town, And LEGO® Train Tech sections.

Eurobricks

Facebook – We check into LEGO® Train Fan Club on Facebook.  But please know that Facebook is difficult to reference photos and information from for external sites like ours without being logged in. Please don’t host your photos only on Facebook. Hosting your photos on a site like Flickr (it’s free so why not take advantage of it and can easily link back to FB), or Brickshelf, that allows easy linking, makes our job much easier.

Q: Can I suggest a feature, or even write an article for Brick Model Railroader?

A: Yes. We are always looking for models to feature, and for people to share their knowledge, and experience with LEGO® trains. If you have an idea for an article, or even have an article you would like to write, contact us here.

Q: Does the BMR staff ever feature their own creations?

A: Yes and No. We generally leave it up to each member as to wether they post their own stuff. Some never do, some will. All of the staff here at BMR are here in part because they are talented builders in their own right. And they all know the quality we are looking for when we feature some ones creation. If they feel their model is worthy of being on BMR then we trust their judgement. And there is nothing stopping a BMR staffer from writing about another staffer’s model if they think it has merit. But we’re not here to just stroke our own egos. You can be sure that we don’t care who built it, if it’s a great train model, that is what matters.

Q: Does BMR ever feature LEGO® Ideas projects?

A: Yes. If it’s a great model or idea we are open to featuring it BMR. Contact us here, and we’ll take a look.

Q: Are instructions available for the models featured on BMR?

A: The models featured on BMR are all fan made. Some do make instructions for their models but we do not normally host those instructions on our site. If we know that the builder has instructions available we will include a link. Otherwise all models we feature include links back to the original builder where you can contact them directly.

Q: Can I get the Brick Model Railroader to feature my product, website, or service?

A: Possibly. If it is relevant to LEGO® trains and fits within our mission we may be able to help. Contact us here with your proposal.

Q: What is a MOC? Why on earth would I want SNOT on my model?

A: LEGO fan acronyms can be a little puzzling to new people. The Brothers Brick has a great list of fan acronyms to help get you use to our jargon.

The Brothers Brick Glossary

Q: How do I get my event on the BMR calendar or featured on the site?

A: Send us a press release here.  Specifically we’re looking for this information:

  • Dates and a location.
  • A brief summary of your event.
  • Are there public/open days?
  • A link to a website and or email for people and groups to contact.
  • A flyer or logo image if you have one.
  • And if it’s a returning event, a few photos from a previous event always helps.

Q: Can I get my link added to your site?

A: Have a link that we could add to our site? Contact us.