The Denver & Rio Grande Western, while perhaps more remembered for it’s famous narrow gauge operations, is also famous for it’s extensive passenger service through the Rocky Mountains. One such train was the Royal Gorge, which was operated from 1946 to 1967. During the final year of operation, the train was operated between Denver, Colorado and Salida, Colorado and was run daily. The train was typically run with two or three cars.
“Royal Gorge” near Cotopaxi, Colorado. Photo by Steve Patterson
Wil Hata has chosen to model the 1967 train, consisting of an F7A and F7B unit with a baggage car and Pullman passenger car. Bright light orange was used as the DRGW’s signature orange-yellow color combined with light bluish grey. The results are, there’s no other word for it, awesome.
Happy New Year to our followers and supporters. The Brick Model Railroader team hopes you had a wonderful holiday season.
Today we celebrate our third birthday. 2019 was filled with many new experiences, some old ones, new challenges, and new opportunities. We’d like to reflect on some of that today.
We start with some statistics. Below are current statistics for our website and social media outlets:
249 articles posted (this one not included)
446 comments on articles
921,124 views on our website
6 more Premium Instructions produced
2,821 people who “like” our Facebook page
125 followers on Twitter
335 posts on Instagram
2,273 followers on Instagram
26 videos uploaded to YouTube
1,530 subscribers on our YouTube channel
Our 1,000th Premium Instruction Kit Sold
We averaged almost one article a week, which is hitting our goal compared to last year. We’ve also added a new writer to our staff, Enrico Lussi. We’re happy to have Enrico with us and glad to be growing.
Kevin Johns was the lucky buyer of our 1,000th Premium Instruction Kit sold.
Shows Attended
We were able to make it to several shows and conventions this year, some were planned trips, and others less so.
At Brickworld this years, trains were also some of the hot items donated to the Charity Auction. Together, trains brought in more than $4000 for the The Esther Walner Memorial Charity Fundraiser, with Tony Sava’s Warbonnet F7 locomotives bringing in $2700 alone. Cale is looking forward to donating more trains to the 2020 auction in hopes to raise more money than Tony in a friendly challenge. Cale says he’s “GOING FOR THE RECORD!”
Tony’s F7A and F7B model set from the 2019 Brickworld Charity Auction brought $2700. How much will Cale’s train bring in 2020?
In 2019, Brick Model Railroader assisted with publishing the new standard for modular LEGO train layouts, the L-Gauge Modular Standard. So far we have had a successful first layout at Brickworld Chicago 2019, but another LGMS layout is planned for the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, Maryland this coming February. Cale will be attending the show and contributing to the layout, and we are looking forward to seeing LGMS grow. Cale and Glenn are both members of the standards committee and work to refine and improve the standard.
New Products
This year also saw the continuation of our original Premium Instructions products by adding five models to our regular lineup and one exclusive model.
We’re pleased with our models this year and look forward to adding more this coming year. We have some already in progress, and we hope to also have our first Premium Instructions locomotive available this year as well.
Reading T-1 4-8-4 Premium Kit
Speaking of locomotives, this has been the primary focus of our work this year. Putting together a plan of action for a big kit, then following through and producing it, has proven to be a huge task with a lot of challenges we planned for and some we could not think of. Regardless, we’re happy to be in the phase of putting kits together to deliver. Our 3D printer has been printing parts as fast as we can use it while getting quality parts in the end, and part sorting has begun though there’s still plenty to do. We look forward to wrapping up the T-1 project in 2020 so we can continue on with other projects.
We’re all looking forward to our fourth year, and we’re excited to see where we go. Thanks to everyone for their support.
On December 14th and 15th, Brick Model Railroader members Cale Leiphart and Glenn Holland were once again invited by the Northern Illinois LEGO® Train Club to attend the annual Cantigny Park Christmas Train Show in Wheaton, Illinois .
2019 Cantigny Show Flyer
Cantigny Park is a 500-acre park in Wheaton, Illinois, 30 miles west of Chicago. It is the former estate of Joseph Medill and his grandson Colonel Robert R. McCormick, publishers of the Chicago Tribune, and is open to the public. Cantigny includes large formal and informal gardens, two museums, a 27-hole golf course, a picnic grove, a playground, hiking paths, restaurants and a gift shop.
Each year, for the past 18 years, the Northern Illinois LEGO® Train Club has been invited to set up their train display for a special Holliday event the second weekend of December. Over the years the show has grown to include vendors and special displayers in addition to NILTC’s own ever growing display. Vendors at this year’s show included Brickstuff, Brickmania, EclipseGrafx, Citizen Brick, and Abbie Dabbles.
Trains and Christmas, A Perfect Combo
There is no better time of year for a train show than Christmas time. Ever since Lionel Cowen began persuading department stores to incorporate his toy trains as part of their Christmas tree displays, making them into popular Christmas presents, model trains and Christmas have been linked together in the childhood dreams of every train fan.
The Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club brought out an amazing display for this year. Their display featured everything from winter scenes, cityscapes, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, a massive train yard, and a little bit of everything in between. Of course some pretty cool trains were on display as well. Cantigny Park itself was beautifully decorated for the Holliday Season, and Christmas music was playing the whole weekend.
The members of NILTC were warmly welcoming to us and made us feel right at home. It all made for a truly fun and memorable weekend, and we are thankful for the club’s hospitality.
Extracurricular Activities
Beyond attending the show for the weekend, we also had the opportunity to visit some other cool places. After set up on Friday we left Cantigny to visit the Brickmania Chicago Store, and Des Plaines Hobbies.
This was the first time either Glenn or myself had seen the Chicago Brickmania Store since moving to it’s new location earlier this year. The new store had much more space than the old store at the Woodfield Mall. All of the current Brickmania kits were on display and for sale, including many currently sold out online. Also there on display was Brickmania’s model of the World War II destroyer USS O’Hare, and Nathan Flood’s model of the German U-boat, U-505.
World War II destroyer USS O’Hare
German U-boat, U-505
After leaving the Brickmania Store, we traveled to the legendary model train shop, Des Plaines Hobbies.
If you’re in the Chicago area and love trains, this hobby shop should be a must see on your list. It’s tucked away in a little shopping center, and while the store may not seem big on the outside, the inside is packed with some very cool model train treasure. Models from almost every scale can be seen in the display cases, hard to find books line the book shelves in the back corner, and a full range of modeling supplies can be found throughout the store with a friendly and helpful staff waiting to answer any of your train hobby needs. This is the old school hobby shop done right.
Another Great Show
Once again, we can not say enough about how awesome NILTC and the Cantigny Train Show was. This year was every bit as cool as last year for us, and we hope we can make the trip again for 2020. We already have an open invite to come back, and we will be making plans as soon as we can. In the meantime, here are photos from myself, and from NILTC of this year’s display.
Everybody who exhibits at a convention or show with their LEGO models is probably asked this question multiple times: “How do you get your trains running so good?” There are multiple answers to this question, and it’s difficult and annoying to summarize them all. At conventions, I probably answered this question 10 times an hour, so I decided to compile it into an article: a small list with tips and tricks to make your trains run better.
Control Systems
There multiple control systems in for LEGO trains. For the sake of this article I will skip the old 12V system. The 9V system is one of the most reliable in the LEGO world. Plug them in, turn the dial, and it goes. The biggest problem with the system is that it’s been decommissioned around 15 years ago. So, the prices are getting quite high and parts are difficult to come by. Beside that, it’s one of the most reliable and easiest to use.
The Power Function system was introduced back around 2007. Let’s not get into the complicated history, but in short, the system used a receiver and a remote. The first version of the receiver had a very complicated fail system intended to make sure no child (or adult) was able to overload the train. By having that fail system, the older PF receivers aren’t that useful for powering trains. Newer versions of the PF receiver’s including the V2 version could handle more power. The biggest problem of PF is that it uses infra-red, which has only got a range of around 3-4 meters.
Using a different receiver isn’t the only option you have when using the PF system. There are multiple third-party options. Including Sbrick and PFx brick. These third-party options give the option to drive your train by using Bluetooth instead of infra-red (with PFx offering both). Therefore, you have more range than the 3-4 meters infrared has. Secondly, there are more options for setting up the drive abilities to achieve greater realism for your trains. It’s difficult to describe that in one article, so I’ll leave a couple of links down below to websites that provide more information.
Powered Up is the newest option for powering your models. I don’t have a lot of specific tips and tricks for this system but I highly recommend using the “The Lego Train Project” control software.
Ball Bearings
Ball bearings are small metal rings that make your trains wheels roll with almost negligible friction. Because of this, the wagons ride smoother and don’t put up as much resistance behind your locomotive. Therefore, your locomotive can pull more wagons at a higher speed.
I personally use the MR52ZZ ball bearing. There easy to come by ad specialize stores and online website. If you want to safe time and energy. BMR provides fully assembled sets.
Weight
One of the biggest problems that train builders face is that trains have problems with friction. A good example is the official Lego Christmas Train (10254), the trains looks beautiful but the train can’t run at high speed. The reason for this is quite simple, the engine itself is light so it’s not able to grip the rails and get enough traction.
A simple solution for this is making your locomotive heavier. For this there are multiple solutions. Here are some that I know off and have used in the past:
Battery box: One of the easiest options is placing the battery box on top of the motor. This provides enough weight for the motor to get enough traction, biggest problem is that most of the locomotives don’t have enough room for the battery box to be on top of the motor. This usually works best with a PF train motor or similar setup.
Boat weights: LEGO has made a couple of weights in the past for their boats, one of the best to use for trains is part 73843.
Spare change: Tape some rolls of spare change together and place them on top of the motor.
Weights for fishing rods: These are small and easy to come by.
Gerard Salden rebuilding his “FLying Dutchman” Vectron. This model is a great example that even in small moc’s you can use weights.
The finished model, the model uses multiple weights for fishing rods and it’s thereby able to pull rater large trains compared to it size.
Rubber Bands
The second method for gaining traction is using small rubber bands. By placing small and thin rubber band around BBB (Big Ben Brick) wheels, for example, give the wheels more grip with the track. There are different rubber bands you can use. I personally use old bicycle tires (since I live in The Netherlands they’re are easy to come by here). I cut them in small pieces which can be easily placed around a BBB wheel.
The inside of old bicycle tires create more traction for your models who use BBB wheels.
Illegal Tricks
Reader be warned: unconventional techniques lie ahead. The main reason I call these techniques “illegal” is that there is possibility to damage your LEGO.
Glue: Yes, glue might be one of the most hated things to use with LEGO. It has pros and cons, but sometimes LEGO itself does not have enough clutch power. So, glue may be a good option.
Silicone spray: silicone spray is corrosive to Lego so it’s dangerous to use with Lego. But if you use caution you can use it as lubricated with Technic gears and make them run smoother.
Editor recommendation: I prefer Labelle 107 lubricating oil, which is safe for plastic. – Glenn
For more information, I redirect you to the following websites:
Our friends across the hobby have been working hard to deliver new parts for the rest of us. Here is a small update on a couple of them, and a small announcement on BMR’s next show appearance.
New Products from Big Ben Bricks
Any steam locomotive builder is familiar with Big Ben at this point. Ben Fleskes was one of the first people to pioneer realistic steam locomotive driving wheels made specifically for LEGO models, even going back before the Emerald Night. The hobby certainly wouldn’t be where we are now without Ben’s efforts.
Ben has been working to add some new products to his lineup, and they are now ready and available for purchase on his website:
XXL Size Wheels, Flanged and Blind
XXL wheels are available in black, dark grey, light grey, red and dark red.
M Wheels with Grooves and Traction Bands, Flanged and Blind
These wheels are available in red and black and include traction bands of the same color.
New Color: Dark Red
Ben has also added a dark red color option to all wheels on his site.
This is exciting to see, I personally would love to try out some injection molded XXL wheels. So far, I’ve only had experience with Nate Brill’s wheels from Shapeways for XXL wheels. This is a great solution due to the higher level of customization and cost (it costs a lot to create molds), but injection molding always has a better quality, especially for moving parts.
Now I just need to find a suitable locomotive to use M size wheels and give those a shot too…
BrickTracks Progress on R104 Turnouts
BrickTracks is another known name in the community. Scott Hoffemeyer has been working to bring new track geometries in high quality molded parts to the LEGO train third party market. Recently, Scott has shared with us a video showing some testing of his molded R104 turnouts.
Scott tells me that there is still some work yet to go with the molds, a few minor fixes here and there, but very good overall.
Test parts, November 2019. Photo by Scott Hoffemeyer.
R104 Left Hand Turnout. Render by Scott Hoffemeyer.
I’m sure I’m not alone in eagerly waiting for these turnouts to become available.
This year’s convention is at the Wyndham Lancaster Resort & Convention Center on Route 30 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We have the honor of having a booth right next to the American Steam Railroad, with whom we have been working with to produce our model of a Reading T-1 4-8-4.
An L-Gauge Modular Standard layout will be present at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, Maryland. The dates of the show are February 1st and 2, Saturday and Sunday from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Monty Smith will be layout chief for this event. He is responsible for the layout plan and operating schedule. Anyone interested in participating should contact him directly:
Monty Smith montyslegotrains@cox.net Facebook / Instagram: @montystrains
Participants must be finalized by the end of November in order to coordinate a layout plan and submit it to the show coordinator.
The LGMS layout must conform to LGMS v1.3, which has been uploaded to our LGMS page and to the LGMS Facebook group.
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:
“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.
Enrico Lussi has officially joined Brick Model Railroader as a contributor. We’re happy to have him on our team!
Saturday, June 29th was the third annual Lego Trains Day at BrickKing. This year UrbanErwin, raised, and Bananenbuurman showed up to help me transform a Lego Shop into a train exhibit.
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