Monthly Archives: June 2018

Events

Brickworld 2018 Event Report

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Brickworld 2018 is now in the books, and things are starting to return to normal again here at BMR. Once again I made the trip to Chicago to attend, representing both my club, PennLUG, and Brick Model Railroader. Brickworld is a premier LEGO® fan event taking place at the Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL and is one of the largest LEGO fan events  in North America. It draws some of the best builders in the country, and even a few from over seas. It is also typically the largest gathering of LEGO train fans, and train clubs in the US. If you love LEGO trains, you’ll be in good company at Brickworld.

Union Pacific EMD E9, ABB set by Nathan Flood.

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LEGO Train News, Model Design, Models, Products, Track

BrickTracks Announces The R104 Switch Tracks KickStarter Campaign!

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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:

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Models, People

Community Interview – Stefan Erismann of SwissLUG

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Today we interview SwissLUG member Stefan Erismann.  Stefan’s unique builds include interesting rounded shapes and realistic proportions.  For more, see his wonderful Flickr stream.

BMR: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you most enjoy building?

SE:  I am 22 years old and I study electrical engineering. I am a member of SwissLUG, the first Swiss Lego user group. Since I was a small child, I was interested in trains and railways, and so am I today. I enjoy building models of existing rolling stock and the challenge to build the round train fronts and other things which do not fit in the “regular LEGO geometry”. This can be the tilted walls of the ETR 610, or the round front of the Trans Europe Express (TEE).

BMR: Your Flickr photos show a number of small studies of building techniques, as well as computer renderings. Can you tell us about your design and building process?

SE: I normally start with pictures of the real thing, e.g. a locomotive. I also look for blueprints and especially pictures from the side, to get the proportions right. Then I build a prototype with the bricks I have at hand. Often these prototypes are quite colorful. Depending on the size and bricks I already have I build the MOC with the LDD to calculate the bricks I am missing. On the other hand, I cannot build everything I want, so a lot of MOCs will stay in the LDD. That is also the point where I put pictures online. I hope that my building techniques can inspire other people to build their MOCs.

The models I finally build with real bricks however seldom look like the LDD prototypes. I often change things if for example some new bricks appear, or some bricks become available in a certain color.

BMR: In addition to trains, you have built some beautiful models of public transportation buses. Do you enjoy building these a individual models, or
are they part of a larger layout?

SE: The correct answer is both. I started with a coach, which then turned into a small layout with the coach, a bus stop and a campsite.

There are a lot of members in SwissLUG who build trains or modify the train sets from Lego, so there is never a lack of trains on an exhibition. However, there are no buses. So now I am planning a big bus station and I have now six buses, from commuter service buses to a double deck coach. I also enjoy that every bus manufacturer has their own details, like the front or the shape of the bus itself. That is something I try to capture with my bricks.

LEGO Train News

The Coming of a New Era in LEGO® Trains

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last several months, you’ve probably seen the new LEGO® train sets coming out in August. We here at Brick Model Railroader have been quiet on the subject so far. The LEGO Group has been very quiet themselves on the new line until very recently, and in light of the lack of information, we decided to wait before publishing anything of significance on the matter. Wild speculation and secondhand rumors are not the kind of news we wish to write about; we would rather wait until we have accurate information and can make a fair and educated assessment of the facts. This hobby is very important to us, and we wish to be good stewards of it.

Now with the release of the new trains coming closer, LEGO has begun to open up a bit about the new sets, and the new Powered Up system that will be replacing the Power Functions line as the power/control system for them. LEGO has even released a handful of sets to LEGO Fan Media organizations for them to examine in depth. And while unfortunately we here at Brick Model Railroader have not been able to see a set in person yet, we are grateful to those who have for sharing their findings with the train community. There is enough information out there that we feel we can talk about the new trains in a hopefully informed manor. The two new trains sets in question are of course the 60198 Cargo Train, and the 60197 Passenger Train. While we could say much about the designs of the new sets, we will wait until we have them in person before writing a full review. Rather what concerns us today is the new Powered Up system that is behind them and what it means to us LEGO train fans and our hobby.

These new train sets, more than any others in recent years, will have a huge impact on the way we experience the LEGO train hobby. That is because for the first time since the end of the 9v train era, the LEGO Group is introducing a new power and control system for their train line, the Powered Up system. On the surface, not much may seem to be changing, the trains are still remote controlled, the track is still all plastic, and the trains receive their power from on board batteries. The Power Functions system we’ve had since 2009 has been governed by the same principals. But when you dig deeper into the new system, you’ll find that it has a number of key differences. So let’s take a look at what we’re getting so far.

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History, Model Design, People, Prototypes

Conway Scenic Railroad by Dawson Santoro

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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.