In the last 5 years, me and BigDaedy have been desiging our own takes on the Bombardier Traxx in 1:45 scale. The Traxx runs both in the Netherlands and in Germany, and is, together with the Siemens Vectron, one of the two truely “European” Electrics out there at the moment. While we had very different starting points, we more and more converged to a same type of design, but we’ll get back to that in a future post. Since both of us have just finished our respective versions, we thought it would be nice to present them together in one post.
The Bombardier Traxx is the current workhorse on most of the Cargo trains in Europe, but next to that, it also has seen a fair share of use in passenger trains. In the Netherlands the High Speed Line – Zuid between Amsterdam Schiphol, Rotterdam and Breda is their main operating ground, but there are also several private freightcompanies that run Traxx’es. In Germany almost every Rail Cargo company uses Traxx’es, plus several of the big passenger train companies like Deutsche Bahn and Metronom.
Between our two models there are some very big similarities, which (most of the time) are intentional since we worked very closely together on this design, sharing WIP pictures quite often. Some differences are the vents on the side of the roof, the pantographs, the sidepanels and a different motorization option. Whereas I (raised) chose to go all-in with two 1:2 geared PF L-motors for extra speed, a PFx Brick (with the potential to include lights) and an additional XL Speaker for sound, all build in, BigDaedy chose the always reliable 9V motor. Who says Modern European Elecitrics can’t have some heritiage in them? (In all fairness, with the future arrival of FX Track, a hybrid of both might not even such a bad idea to begin with…)
Even though the most beloved scale of BMR is somewhere in the lines of 1:45 (Europe) or 1:48 (US), that doesn’t mean we don’t try go give some love to other scales as well. Today, over at the Eurobricks Train Tech Forums, Sérgio Batista showed us what you can do if you go a little bit bigger, by presenting his 1:20 Siemens CP4700 in Medway Livery. And with “a little bit” I mean more than doubling the size to 16-wide compared to 8-wide, and more than 2.5 times the width when compared to the 6-wide trains by TLC! And yes, you can definately see that.
When it comes to this size, it’s mostly the numbers that say it all, so I leave that to Sérgio himself:
“1:20 scale replica (16wide, 128 studs long) more than 5000 parts.”
By the way, this isn’t the first time that Sérgio made this loco. In fact, the Medway version of the CP4700 is ‘nothing more’ than a reskin of his previous incarnation, when Medway was still owned by CP, the National Railways of Portugal, and named CP Carga. In my opinion this is an even better loco, and it’s a shame that Medway decided on this absolutely boring livery, but hey, it did give Sérgio a chance go build this beauty, so I guess that’s something.
Every now and then our readers themselves get so excited with BMR that they send in their own articles. This is of course something we really appreciate, so please keep them coming! Today it’s Enrico Lussi’s turn, who has written an article about his MILS layout “NeuKirche”. You might have already seen his layout before in our coverage of Legoworld 2018, but today he will give some more insight to how this layout came to light. Enjoy, and thank you Enrico for this entry! Please feel free to keep them coming!
Introducing Enrico
Well I can’t believe I’m actually writing a post for BMR! What a honor. First I would like to introduce myself. My name is Enrico, 18 years old and currently studying to become a civil engineer at the University of Applied Sciences in Rotterdam. I have been building 1:45 scale trains for the last 3 years (could be 3,5 already). My passion is history and especially train related history. So I build a lot of steam locomotives and historic railway wagons.
My current collection is 7 steam locomotives, 4 diesels, 1 Intercity train (ICM 4001), 2 diner wagons, 1 postal wagon, 2 passenger wagons, 5 closed freight wagons and 4 flatbeds. My biggest project is my Bahnsbetriebswerk. In this article I would like to take you through the design and building project. I hope you enjoy this article as much as I did building my layout!
About two year ago, I started a three-parter series about designing and building an European railcar, more specifically the SDGGMRS type of trailer railcars, meant to transport trailers over rail. Due to reasons like “life”, “work” and “priorities”, I never got around finishing part three of that story. However, today I will finally do so.
First of all, a short recall of part one and part two. In part one we looked for a prototype and some drawings, in part two we actually tried to build and go through several iterations before finally settling for a design. In part three, we will look at the finished product (which has been finished for some time now, to be honest…), but also about the best part of this whole series: The inspiration it gave to others to build their own versions!
The Final Build
As promised two years ago, the final part of this three-parters would be known as The Bragging (also known as “Hey, I actually finished something again!”) and even though this isn’t the official title, I think the pictures below do pay hommage to this:
Full frontal view of the SDGGRMS3/4th view. As you can see, the sleek design I was going for did work out in the endWithout trailers it’s indeed a bit boring…Less than 1 plate of clearance. That’s the beauty of building with Legos!
These pictures have been taken about two years ago now, and since then have run hunderds of very reliable rounds on the layouts I was part of. At first, I wanted to have them close-coupled with elastic bands, but due to reliability issues I in the end decided against this, so nowadays they are just hard-coupled on the Jacobs Bogies in the middle with two 2×2 turntables. Nowadays I have 3 sets, one of them empty, one with trailers, and one with three TEU containers.
As said, it turns out that since my initial posts, several of our readers got very excited and decided to give it a try themselves. Something I really like seeing (Just give credit where credit is due), this is exactly the reason why I made these posts to begin with!
Version 1: Dennis.P
First up is Dennis.P aka TECHNO, a German builder who not only was inspired, but also decided to add some extra details, and decided to change the way how the couplings work; where I had them directly connected to the trucks, has Dennis.P decided to attach them onto the frame itself.
Topview. The 1×2 technic brick at the end of the carriage shows the different way how Dennis.P attached the couplingsDetails. Dennis.P added some pretty nifty little details that really give some extra characterA rake of six (6!) SDGGRMS. A beauty, beyond doubt.
Version 2: Pehter Abrahamsson
About a year ago, I was browsing online and by accident came across an event by SWEBRICK, the Swedish LUG. It turns out that Pehter Abrahamsson read the post as well, and decided to try to build the SDGRMRS for himself as well. Since he never saw the final product, he decided to change several little parts to create a subtle different model. As he said it himself: “I passed the train station when these wagons passed by and remembered seeing something simular in Lego earlier, after some digging I found your posts but no finished result. You saved me some trial and error 🙂 “
The sheer beauty of absolute grey boredom!The sleek design fits perfectly in the yard of SWEBRICK
Version 3: Peter Schmid and Michael Katzmann
The third one is the newest. This one is build by German AFOLS Peter Schmid and Michael Katzmann, who run a Flickr account together. The nice part of their design is that they actually took their cues from both the models of Dennis.P and myself!
The sleekness is uncannyAs you can see, they actually decided to use Dennis.P’s design for the couplings and details.
Conclusion
Two years later than planned, but I can finally say I finished this this threeparter. When I wrote the first part two years ago, I never in my wildest dreams had expected that anyone would actually try to copy or redesign my carriages. Yes, my intention was to inspire people to build their own goods waggons, but I had never expected that my own model would be perceived as such a beauty that they actually decided to copy it, instead of designing their own… But hey, everybody knows that copying is the most sincere form of flattery. So thank you all, I’m honored!
As some of you might know by now, I’m one of the few Contributors (the only?) of BMR that lives on the other side of the pond, ie. in Europe and more specifically in The Netherlands. Compared to the US, some things in Europe are a bit different structured when it comes to running a Lego Train Club. For one, there are no such things as LTC’s in Europe. Second, instead of organizing in regions, we tend to organize ourselves per country. This means that most of our LUGs are bigger and more diverse than in the US, with builders doing Space, Castle, City and all others in one club. Third, since train builders are a minority in most of these clubs to begin with, we tend to not do big layouts like the US-based LTC’s. Fourth, most of our exhebitions are part of bigger Lego festivals, but almost never part of a Model Railroaders event. This means that one a whole, most of the European train layouts are or one-off builds by 1 or maximum 2 builders, or are static displays on a kid-centered event that don’t really give the love that our scale-craziness “deserves”. Deserves obviously in quotation marks because indeed, we do get credits for our trains, but on a different level than US LTC’s that might show off at the NMRA for example.
Trains at Legoworld
The standard pre-show day at Legoworld in Utrecht, NL. Tables with shrouding, supplied by TLC.
However, that all doesn’t mean we don’t build elaborate layouts. It just means we do it a little bit less often, and when we do it, it’s mostly because of some huge show that wants to show off the best there is when it comes to AFOL building. For us in The Netherlands this typically means Legoworld, a yearly one week event that is held by TLC in Utrecht, the so-called center of our little country. Legoworld actually used to be organized by one of the local LUGs, De Bouwsteen, in Zwolle, but at one point after some intense co-operation with TLC, it was decided to hand over the organization to our favorite commercial plastic bricks producing company.
Anyway, in the last several years there always have been some kind of group train layouts, most of them organized on an ad-hoc basis (which is partly also due to the way my own LUG, Lowlug, is organized) but with some standard rules, the major being the use of MILS and the Lowlug Lego Train Standard for connecting track between modules. In the previous years this was a six-wide style layout, but for 2018 we as members of Lowlug decided there should be a layout specifically for eight-widers as well, and the rest is history.
I can now ofcourse keep on telling how this all came to fruition, but to be honest, one of your fellow members is currently writing something like that, so I’m just going to leave you with one fact: Before setting up the layout at the show, we had never tested if everything fit together. It actually did really well, proving once and for all that the internet has some great promises for us in the future.
It seems that lately TLC is really trying to release train sets outside of the Lego City theme and by doing so, trying to tap in more different categories of kids that come into contact with Lego trains. All of them use train wheels and fit on Lego track, which is great compared to the old times (I’m looking at you, Time Cruisers 6497!) For example, we have seen several Hogwarts Expresses, but also the Lone Ranger and Toy Story trains. Of course, even more than the Lego City trains, these are aimed at kids as a toy, to actually play with them, and just have them run around. Also, they tend to not have any PUP or PF on board, but can be motorized quite simply (it’s Lego after all).
This week, Lego released a new child in this family, as part of the Hidden Side-theme. Lego is planning to have this theme be a fusion of Real Life and augmented reality (AR), by using apps and whatnot. For more information on Hidden Side, I recommend you have a look over at TBB, who posted the whole press release plus some extras.
For us here at BMR, there is of course only one important thing: set 70424, better known for it’s highly creative name: “Train”.
So, what’s new, and what’s interesting for us as trainheads? Well, let’s shortly summarize:
A new train piece! It seems to be a re-railer, meant to easily get your trains on the track. Since this set only has about 3 pieces of straight track, meaning that it’s meant to play with without track to begin with, this is a great addition to playability. Even more for kids, because now you can run your trains both on the track and seperate from it, without having to fysically remove it from the tracks. For us as trainheads this can be very interesting as well, I for one always have troubles getting my trucks properly on the rails!
“New” couplings! As we all know, the new style of Lego Train Magnets is pretty weak. There is a solution by using 1×2 plates to connect them together, but it seems that even for Lego this wasn’t a viable option anymore. So, they are now using ball-joints to keep the wagons connected in a more durable way. I have the feeling this is just meant for this specific set (also because there is indeed a Lego Train magnet available on the end of the train) but it’s interesting to see nonetheless.
It’s an American Diesel! Yes, it’s not going to win any beauty pageant, but still, after the last two European-styled trains, it’s a nice addition for kids that live across the Great Pond.
A black Front Window and black Train Doors! Now I have to be honest, I have never used either of both, but I’m pretty sure some of use will love this.
The number on the loco says 30877, even though according to the box-art its supposed to be 70424. Knowing Lego’s style to just put the set number on their trains, this seems to be an interesting decision, even more because the number 30877 also doesn’t exist as a set…
It’s also a monster, it seems 😉
Anyways, I know this might not be the absolute masterpiece that some of us are always waiting for, but I’m really glad to see Lego is incorporating trains more and more in their other themes. When you ask me, the more trains the merrier. So, what are your thoughts about this new set?
A short intermezzo, just to get you guys started to build again!
A while ago I have been experimenting with curved slopes to try to recreate the “perfect” roof. Ofcourse, the perfect roof doesn’t exist, but that didn’t stop me from trying. I had given myself several limitations due to parts restrictions, but everything that is done with combinations of the Slope, Curved 2 x 2 No Studs plus tile can also be done with the Slope, Curved 3 x 2 No Studs without an extra tile, making the whole thing one curve. Also, I tried to build everything as 8 wide as possible, but in the end this intermezzo was meant to create curved roofs as such, not curved roofs that are exactly 8 studs in width. So if you want to use these, you might need to do some minor tweaking. But hey, that’s what our love for the plastic brick is all about, right?
Complete curves, could also be done with 2 x 3 x 2 curved slopes to create a full round effect. Lesser curves. As long as TLC doensn’t design a 1×1 curved slope, cheese is fine.Using half plates to not break up the lines; see difference between number 1 and 2-3Trying to get the lines as clean as possible. I actually used this one on a wagon but after 7 days of running decided against it; it just wasn’t stable enough. A little extra for everybody that still builds 6 wide.
I hope this gives some inspiration to build your perfect curved roof. And, ofcourse, if you guys have any other designs, feel free to share them in the comments!
Good news! It took a bit longer than expected from our side (and we again apologize for this), but we can finally reveal the winners of this years OcTRAINber!
First, let us again say that we really enjoyed all the builds, the WIP stories and all those beautiful pieces of foreign rolling stock. I’d say it’s no strange thing to say that the community really added the TRAIN in this years OcTRAINber again! And yes, just like last year it was a challenge to judge them, but just like last year, in the end we managed.
Prizes & Judgement
Due to a difference in prizes compared to last year, we have come up with some new winning categories for this year: Grand Prize for Real Life Entries, Grand Prize for Digital Entries, Prize for best Foreign Factor and Prize for best WIP Story. The winners of the Grand Prize are allowed to choose between the new Powered-Up Cargo Train and the PFx Brick Holiday Train Conversion Kit, with the winner of the Grand Prize Real Life having first pick. The winners of the categories get two prizes: First a choice between PFx Brick 4MB + XL Speaker and Bricktracks R56 curved tracks, and second a choice between Lego Rails and PF pack, with the winner of the Foreign Factor category having first pick in both. Oh, and ofcourse you can only win once. So if you win in one category, you are obviously out for any other prizes in this years’ OcTRAINber.
Just to shortly tell something about the judging itselve: All four of us (being Cale Leiphart, Glenn Holland, Holger Matthes and me) gave all entries points between 0-10 in three categories: Credibility, Foreign Factor and WIP Story. These points were added up (meaning you could get a max of 120 points for the Grand Prize, and 30 for a “Best of” Prize) and then compared between all the entries, with the one with the highest number of points wining. Yes, it’s that simple 😉
So now that we have established the prizes and the judging, let’s go on to the awards!
GRAND PRIZE REAL LIFE
It’s Hod Carrier with his amazing Ferrobus!
Everything just worked in this entry. The WIP story, the credibility, the scale, the little pieces of rust and chrome, but definately also the absolute amazing foreign prototype. Who would have ever thought that a bus would win in a train contest? Well played Hod Carrier!
GRAND PRIZE DIGITAL
Congratulations Bricknerd with his FM H15-44!
A great WIP story from day one, including microscale and Halloween versions of his build, but also one of the stranger diesels that have been running around in the US (if you are familiar with those boxes on wheels, that is) that was captured really well with some great sideways work. A true digital winner.
BEST FOREIGN FACTOR
That’s ofcourse no other than Alexander with his Lartigue Monorail!
Most probably the most wonky Foreign build of this year. Yes, some of us had once read about this thing. And yes, even back in the days when it was build it was weird. But seeing it build in Lego, with a functioning drive unit? Thats a whole other trainyard!
BEST WIP STORY
Lastly, it’s Donát Raáb with his Wiener Linien ULF tram!
Even though he came pretty late to the party, Donát Raáb gave us a really good insight in how he build that thing. Including puns like “Flag Day” and how he managed to keep it just also Ultra Low Floor like the prototype, it was awesome seeing his updates coming in day by day.
HONORARY MENTIONS
Just like last year, some builds came really close, but just not close enough. These are our honorary mentions. No prizes, but just a proper reminder to keep up the good work!
A Hudswell Clarke “Ganges” class with skips (part of his full narrow gauge consist) by Mike Pianta
KП4 by Erik
Korail V-Train (aka Baekdudaegan Canyon Train) by kellelely5
Lencse-005 by Nicholas Bond
DRG Class 99.22 HSB 99 222 by Robert D.
Lastly, we would like to again thank our sponsors; FX Bricks, Bricktracks and The Lego Company. Without them these awesome prizes would have never been possible. We are really gratefull for their effort in supporting the community!
And, ofcourse, we hope to see all of you again for OcTRAINber 2019!
Now that OcTRAINber 2018: The Foreign Challenge is officially over, we first would like to thank all the participants who made this such a great month again. It was amazing to see all the WIP stories showing up on the Flickr feeds, FB timelines, but also on the well-beloved Train Tech forums over at Eurobricks for example. So thank you all for that!
Now, let’s go over the timeline. In the next coming weeks our judges will go over all the entries and score them according to three criteria: WIP Story, Credibility and The Foreign Factor. This might take a while because BMR is a labour of love, meaning we all do this stuff next to our real life lives.
However, for now we would like to make a short round-up of all entries and also to show you some of the key statistics of this years OcTRAINber.
Now that the last weekend of October is (almost) over, it’s time for a preliminary recap post.
First of all, we have already seen a lot of great entries and some awesome WIP stories. Great to see everybody enjoying this challenge as much as we do!
Second, as we said in our first post, we do have the possibility for a grace period in case some BL orders were delayed. Question now is: Does anybody need this grace period? If yes, please let us know asap so that we can make this official. This can be done by just posting in the comment section below. If nobody replies, the deadline stays at October 31st, at 23:59 PDT.
UPDATE: We have decided to extend the deadline untill the end of Sunday November 4th. Hope this will be enough for all to finish your builds!
“We are allowing digital entries and real life builds, but everyone is limited to one entry only to keep things fair.”
To indeed keep things fair (definately with all these prizes) we have decided to stick with this rule and limit to one entry. This means that we would like to ask all contestants that entered more than one entry to decide which is their ‘official’ entry. Feel free to do this in the respective entry threads at the BMR Flickr Page.
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