Tag Archives: LEGO Train

OcTRAINber 2018: The Foreign Challenge has officially started!

As we announced a bit over a week ago, this year BMR will again run the OcTRAINber contest. Just like last year we have chosen a subject that will hopefully get as many of our fellow trainheads out of their comfort zone and build some truly original and special models. 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 yet. Why OcTRAINber? Well, because it’s a great intermediate month between SHIPtember and Novvember. Also, TRAINS.

“The Foreign Challenge” Continue reading OcTRAINber 2018: The Foreign Challenge has officially started!

OcTRAINber 2018: The Second Challenge!

New year, new competition!

Hello everyone, and happy Autumn!

With September drawing to a close, and October quickly approaching, the time has come to announce our latest installment of our OcTRAINber build competition!

This year, the challenge is…

Continue reading OcTRAINber 2018: The Second Challenge!

Why Am I Here?

Following the AWESOME events of NMRA 2018 in Kansas City last month, there’s been a lot of discussion about what people are trying to get out of the hobby, defined as “LEGO Trains”. Put another way, why are we (you, me, etc.) here? What kind of reward do we seek from this niche hobby within a niche hobby?

Allow me to offer a few of my own thoughts and experiences which remind me why I’m doing what I am.

The participating AFOLs from the 2018 National Train Show

Continue reading Why Am I Here?

Review: 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up System

At long last, way too long probably, Brick Model Railroader has built and reviewed the new Powered Up train sets from the LEGO City line!

The complete 60198 Cargo Train set.

Unfortunately, and quite obviously, we are pretty late to the review party for these new trains. While BMR is a Recognized LEGO Online Community (RLOC) and we do have some benefits from that, we were not able to obtain the new train sets before the official release, but we did try. Cale ended up buying one of each anyways so we could provide a decent review for our audience, being the only Train-specific LEGO media around.

Let’s dive into the new 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up!

Continue reading Review: 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up System

BrickTracks Announces The R104 Switch Tracks KickStarter Campaign!

And now for some awesome news!

BrickTracks, the company behind those injection-molded R104 and R120 (with R56 now available for pre-order) curves has finally launched a Kickstarter campaign for R104 switch tracks.

I won’t be going into every detail in this post, as everything is explained on the campaign page, but here’s a run-down of what’s going on:

Continue reading BrickTracks Announces The R104 Switch Tracks KickStarter Campaign!

Conway Scenic Railroad by Dawson Santoro

If you’re in the Jackson, New Hampshire area this summer, swing by the Jackson Public Library and check out this awesome LEGO rendition of the Conway Scenic Railroad by Dawson Santoro.

The Conway Scenic is a a tourist line in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire, offering passenger excursions through the White Mountains.  Their colorful consists include a number of vintage locomotives and cars, including the 0-6-0 Canadian National 7470 that Dawson chose to model for his display.

I asked Dawson a few questions about his very professional build.

BMR:  What was the original inspiration behind choosing the Conway Scenic as a prototype to model?

DS:  I’ve been following PENNLUG for a few years now, the models they build are truly amazing and they inspired me to build a train with that level of detail. And since I’ve been coming to Jackson, New Hampshire every summer for the past fifteen years, I chose to build the Conway Scenic Railroad which is a major tourist attraction in the area. by invitation, for the past two summers, I’ve had some custom LEGO builds on display and for this year I chose the Conway Scenic because everyone here in The Mount Washington Valley, knows about and has seen or been on the real thing so it’s relatable to everyone.

BMR:  What is your design process? Do you work with virtual models on a computer first, or do you work more hands on with physical bricks as you build?

DS:  My design process was to first look at a lot of close up pictures that I took of the real train last summer and I tried to figure out what LEGO parts I could use for each feature of the train. I also looked at a lot of LEGO models from other builders to get ideas. I designed one of the coaches on LEGO Digital Designer to get an idea of how each one would look and have a rough list of parts I would need. I modified each coach as I built them and I would often take apart a lot of the detail and rebuilt it differently to get it as accurate as I could. For the steam locomotive, I designed the boiler, cab, gearbox and coal tender on LEGO Digital Designer. Since it was my first locomotive I’ve built there was a lot of trial and error with building with physical bricks. I much prefer actually building my models and being able to see how it’s going to turn out and what works and what doesn’t.

BMR:  How long was the design and build process?

DS:  I started building this model in November 2017 and finished it at the beginning of May this year which is about six months from designing it to applying on the decals at the end. Before I started designing it I already knew how I was going to power it so I ordered the power functions I needed back in September. I first started building the locomotive which took me about a month and a half to complete the rough shape and functions of the gearing. Throughout the rest of the building of the coaches and the track, I didn’t stop working on the locomotive, adding small detail or changing details I didn’t like or thought I could improve on.

Visit Dawson’s Flickr page to see more, including Conway Scenic’s beautiful Dorthea Mae dome Car.

Brick Model Railroader May Updates: Moving Cabooses and Building New Things.

Hello out there to all our readers. We wanted to take a little time to update you on a few things with the store side of BMR.

Northeastern Caboose Shipping

We had a very successful pre order for our North Eastern Caboose kit and we are great full to all of you who placed an order. We know many of you out there are waiting to hear when they will be shipping. Things are nearly inlace, we’re just waiting on instruction books, and lighting kits from our suppliers. Both of which should be here sometime next week. In the mean time we’ve been getting wheel sets, and kit boxes ready so that when everything comes in, we’ll be able to start shipping right away. Which if everything goes according to plan, should be next week. Thank you all for your patience on this.

The Northeastern Caboose model

And the next BMR Premium Instruction Kit will be?

Continue reading Brick Model Railroader May Updates: Moving Cabooses and Building New Things.

Premium Instruction Restocks and New Decals Added to the BMR Store

Premium Instruction Restocks

Many have been asking when we will be restocking our first four Premium Instruction Kits, and we’ve been listening. Previously, we’ve made a batch of kits to sell, and when they’ve sold out, you would have to wait until we could restock again. We’re going to do things a little different this time though. Since it’s hard for us to gauge demand for each kit, this time we are going to do a pre-order run. So we are opening up pre-orders today, February 5th and will keep it open until March 5th, and how ever many orders we have for each kit is how many we will produce. Once orders are closed, we will need a little time to get the instruction books in from the printer, parts for the wheel sets, and assemble kits. We hope to start shipping orders in mid to late March.

We are doing this for two reasons. Firstly, we hope by doing this that every one who has not had a chance to buy one or all of the cars yet will be able to get them. Second, as we are looking to produce new Premium Instructions for 2018, we want to focus most of our energy toward those new projects, so we are hoping we can do one last big run of the four original cars before diving headlong into new ones. Don’t worry, the original four won’t be gone for good by any means. We hope you’ll agree with us when we want to offer more exciting and new stuff, ideas for which are more than plentiful.

You can find the Pullman PS-1 Box Car, USRA 55ton Hopper, ACF Type 27 Tank Car, and AAR 70ton 53ft Flat Car in our online store.

Brick Model Railroader Store

Continue reading Premium Instruction Restocks and New Decals Added to the BMR Store

Expert Rebuilder Contest!

Ready for another contest?

The LEGO company is sponsoring a new contest, BE AN EXPERT REBUILDER.  Each contest participant must create a short 15 to 30 second stop-motion film, featuring an original model built using parts from the Creator Expert Modular, Holiday, or Fairgrounds sets.

How does this appeal to us train fans?  Two of the three Holiday sets have train themes!  Check out the LEGO Creator Expert sets online at the U.S. Shop at Home site: https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Creator-Expert-Sets

For complete rules, see the LEGO Rebrick “Be an Expert Rebuilder” contest website: https://www.lego.com/en-us/rebrick/contest-page/contests/expert-rebuilder

Let’s show the world what train builders can do!

BMR’s New Premium Instructions, Restocks, Locomotive, and More!

Hello everybody again, and Happy OcTRAINber!

We hope everyone is having fun building their entries for our first build competition, OcTRAINber! Be sure to read the rules if you have any questions, as well as this one, and check out this article for a description of the AWESOME prizes we have to offer for the winners! I’m enjoying seeing the entries so far and I’m looking forward to seeing what else is entered as the competition draws to a close in a couple weeks. remember, entries are only eligible for prizes if they are submitted to the Brick Model Railroader Flickr group.

The back of the tank car premium instructions box.

Continue reading BMR’s New Premium Instructions, Restocks, Locomotive, and More!