All posts by raised

Prague Main Railway Station, a Diorama

January 23, 2017 raised Leave a comment

Railway Stations are massive things, definitely in the scales we as Lego Trainheads are building. A great example is Cale’s post about the PennLUG Lines, which shows that a Main Railway station easily rivals with its Staging Yard when it comes to size. However, that doesn’t mean you should not try building one. And thanks to The Lego Company (TLC), there is now a great example you can visit, as long as you are willing to travel to Kladno, Czech Republic. More specifically, we are talking about a model of Praha hlavní nádraží, the main Railway Station of Prague.

Thanks to a link shared on the Lego Train Fan Club page over at Facebook which caught my eye, I started to do some more research to find out as much as I could about this Diorama. There is a good reason for that: Having lived in Prague for two years and being in that station on almost weekly basis, it’s very close to me. Everything that makes Praha Hl.N. the station I love is there: The old station building, the Magistrala (the highway in front of the Railway Station), the new railway station and its interior (visible in front of the highway), the metro, and the actual double canopy above the tracks.

It turns out it’s not only a great model, but it even has running trains (one Shunter, one Main Line Locomotive which is about to couple with a rake of Intercity coaches, and a Metro!), moving elevators, lights… You name it, it’s there!

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Inspiration, Models

A follow-up on a follow-up

January 18, 2017 raised Leave a comment

After Elroy followed up on my article about scaled Lego Trains within an already scaled L-gauge environment, this time around with a moving example, I had to follow-up on that one again. For good reasons though. Just check out the video and see it for yourself.

Of course all credits go to its builder, Alexander.

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Models

Carriages matter

January 16, 2017 raised 3 Comments

Einheitswagen I der Rhätischen Bahn (side) by Leuchtstein

We as Model Railroaders have a tendency to love locomotives. This is pretty understandable, seeing that without loco’s, our trains would just be big pieces of metal rusting on tracks. However, we should not neglect our carriages, because they deserve our unconditioned love as well. Thankfully Leuchtstein at 1000steine has understood this as no other and has build the iconic Einheitswagen I from the Rhätische Bahn, the well-known narrow gauge railway in Switzerland.

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Inspiration

Bridging the Gap part 1: How the US met Europe

January 14, 2017 raised 5 Comments

There are a lot of divisions within the Model Railways community. They can be about scale (our own L-Gauge, 0, h0, N, TT, Spur 1, G), but also about era (Epoche I-VI), type of railway (continuous vs. point-to-point). Or, more specifically for our hobby: Stickers, Glueing, 6/7/8/9-wide and cutting.

There is however one division which is easily neglected: Geography. Or, more precise: The division between modelling European or American railroads. Seeing BMR is supposed to be blog about all Lego trainheads, I thought it would be a good idea to explore ways how to bring the two continents a bit closer together. Therefore, this will be a series of articles which will try to bridge this gap. The emphasis will not only be on prototypes, but will also showcase some models that already have been build, for even more inspiration! Continue reading Bridging the Gap part 1: How the US met Europe →

Inspiration, Models

Lego Model Train Inception

January 9, 2017 raised 2 Comments

Have you ever thought about owning a 1:5 (more like 1:2 if you read Glenn’s post on scaling, thanks for pointing that one out Matt) scale Garden Modelrailway? You know, like the ones you sometimes see in parks that can actually pull carriages with actual passengers? But you, just as me, don’t have the finances, nor the will to build something like that? Thanks to domel, you can now make this dream come true! Not for you ofcourse, but your minifigs!

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Layout Design

Going Off The Grid – Ararat 1972

January 4, 2017 raised 4 Comments

Just like our big sister from which we draw part of our inspiration (and part of our name), the Brick Model Railroader will have a recurring item where we (re)-visit layouts. For inspiration, to draw inspiration from, but also to showcase all the great stuff that has already been displayed across the world and had an impact on the Lego Train Hobby. Without wasting any more time, we would like to present our readers with the first showcased layout: Ararat 1972.

Mainly thanks to Elroy’s announcement post for his Matson Landing in L-gauge series, I couldn’t think of any other layout than Ararat 1972, by Timothy Gould and Mike Pianta. And yes, it has been featured at the well-known TBB before, but no L-gauge blog can be without this layout in my opinion.

Ararat 1972 – front by Timothy Gould and Mike Pianta

I mean, just look at it. You wouldn’t say from a distance that this is build with Lego bricks, do you? So let us dive a little bit deeper in this layout and learn why this is such a great piece of work.

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Models

Little Red Riding Zug

January 3, 2017 raised Leave a comment

Germany has always been one of the more respected Railway countries in Europe. Their transport system, combining ICE, IC and Regional trains with busses, trams and metro’s, has always been a fan favorite in Europe, definitely if your country shares their longest border with them. But even the Germans had some issues with the profitably of certain routes. As a solution, in 1950 the Uerdinger Schienenbus was introduced. In the year that the first ones are becoming 67, and thus reach (future) legal retirement age in Germany, Florian (Flogo) has managed to recreate one of them in our beloved bricks.

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Models

Bullseye!

January 2, 2017 raised Leave a comment

After having seen several old-school trains here on Brick Model Railroader, it’s now time for some contemporary models, like this Pesa Dart. It is owned by PKP Intercity, part of the Polish State railways, designed by Mateusz Waldowski.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/72932485@N03/23880920423/in/dateposted/ — Pesa Dart ED161 PKP Intercity by Mateusz Waldowski

Poland is a very interesting country when it comes to modern motive power to model. Thanks to the privatization of several repair & service workshops after 1989, a vivid train manufacturing industry has been set up. Just as back in the days, you can now see on Polish rails again EMU’s, DMU’s and modern locomotive power, all made domestically. The best known one is currently Pesa, and the most recent addition in their fleet has been a 160km/h EMU for PKP Intercity.

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