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Baureihe 01 and Baureihe 01.10, the pacific’s of the Deutsche Reichsbahn made in LEGO

February 10, 2021 Enrico Lussi 1 Comment

The Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft’s BR(Baureihe) 01 steam locomotives were the first standardized (Einheitsdampflokomotive) steam express passenger locomotives built by the German railway. The BR 01 10 was also a part of the standardized locomotives, but it was a 3-cylinder version of the BR 01. Both the BR 01 and BR 01 10 where used right up to the end of steam service in both West-Germany and East-Germany. In this article both Enrico and Simon Jakobi (Dr Snotson on Flickr) will take a look through the history and use of the BR 01 and BR 01 10 and show their models which represent these iconic locomotives.

DRG Class 01

The Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft’s BR 01 steam locomotives were the first standardized (Einheitsdampflokomotive) steam express passenger locomotives. A total of 231 locomotives where built by German company’s across Germany. They were of 4-6-2 “Pacific” wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or 2′C1′ h2 in the UIC classification. The idea behind standardization is to reduce cost and make repairs easier and quicker.

Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg, 3 September 1972. Loc 001 180 with a sister locomotive at the Schiefe Ebene, photo credits to Nico Spilt.

The BR 01 is a 2-cylinder locomotive. As a test 10 locomotives where built with a 4-cylinder configuration, these where renumbered in BR 02. The 2-cylinder version was favored after long testing because it was easier to maintain running compared to the 4-cilinder version. The main batch of the BR 01 were delayed in the 1920’s. The reason behind this was that the infrastructure of the DB wasn’t ready for these locomotives. Turntables needed to be lengthened and railway lines needed to be strength to be able to support the 20-ton locomotives.

Since 1938 there were 231 BR 01 locomotives available for the prestigious express train duties across Germany. The 10 four-cylinder BR 02 locomotive version (01 111, 01 233–241) were converted to two-cylinder BR 01 models between 1937 and 1942. Since there were so many routes that still had axle load restrictions, which were too low for Class 01 service, in the early 1930s, a third variant was produced: the BR 03 designed with a two-cylinder engine and axle load of 18 ton. A total of 298 BR 03 locomotives where built. Launched in 1939, the three-cylinder DRG Class 01.10 was a further development of the 01.

The 03 098, a version of the 01 with a lower axle load. The 03 098 is preserved in the Technic-museum Speyer.

In 12 years, a total of five series or batches were delivered, each with minor variations:

01 001–010 (1926)
01 112–076 (1927–28)
01 077–101 (1930–31)
01 102–190 (1934–1936)
01 191–232 (1937–1938).

Stats

Originally, the BR 01’s top speed was restricted to 120 km/h(75mph). In order to raise this to 130 km/h(81mph), the diameter of the leading wheels was increased from its original 850 mm to 1,000 mm on locomotives from operating number 01 102 onwards and brake effort was increased by installing double-sided working of the brake shoes on the coupled wheels and by braking the trailing wheels. Each locomotive was able to produce a respectably 1,648 kW. The driving wheels where 2000mm (78.74 inch).

Tenders

The BR 01s were equipped with 2’2 T 30, 2’2′ T 32 or 2’2′ T 34 tenders. Their coal capacity was 10 tons of coal, and the water tank held either 30, 32 or 34 cubic meters of water. The prototype locomotives, 01 001 to 01 010, were supplied with the smaller 2’2 T 30 tenders, because there were not enough large turntables around. Later these tenders were only used if they were absolutely necessary, e.g. in cross-border services with the Netherlands. From the second series (01 012 et seq.) on, the Class 01 was furnished with rivetted 2’2′ T 32 tenders. The welded tenders, class 2’2′ T 34, appeared only by way of exchange (mainly from brand new Class 44) locomotives. Thereafter they were almost the only ones used during the war years and after the Second World War, because they had a larger water capacity.

Rebuilds:

Multiple locomotives where converted in their life spent. From a complete overhaul to a small parts change. Here 3 categories that stent out the most:

Henschel mixer preheater rebuilds

In 1950 and 1951, the Deutsche Bundesbahn converted locomotives 01 042, 01 046, 01 112, 01 154 and 01 192. They were enhanced with a Heinl mixer preheater by Henschel and a turbo feed pump. In addition, combustion chambers were installed in the boilers. This increased the power to 1,802 kW. Finally, the conversion was rounded off with the replacement of the original smoke deflectors by Witte deflectors, which in spite of their considerably smaller size were just as effective as their larger predecessors. Four of these five modified locomotives remained in service until 1968.

New DB boiler design rebuild

From 1957 until 1961 the Deutsche Bundesbahn rebuilt a further 50 vehicles. These engines were given welded, high-performance, steam boilers, which had already been used on the BR 01.10’s. In addition, a new mixer preheater system was installed in the smokebox and numerous friction bearings were replaced by roller bearings. Changes to the cylinder block, running board, a shorter chimney, front apron (Frontschürze) and locomotive frame, as well as the missing feedwater dome, all gave the locomotives a different external appearance. The power of these rebuilds where increased to 1,714 kW.

Koblenz, 12 Augustus 1970. Loc 001 150, with a new boiler, ready for departure to Trier, credits Nico Spilt.

DR Reko locomotive 01.5

The Deutsche Reichsbahn (the East-Germany railway’s) rebuilt 35 BR 01 locomotives which were on their part of Germany after the split between East and West. All these locos were fitted with new Witte smoke deflectors with tapered edges, a new driver’s cab and a new boiler, positioned higher on the frame. The boiler had a combustion chamber, a mixer preheater and a continuous cover for the dome. All this gave these locomotives an entirely different look compared to there West-German versions.

The 01-514 in Technic museum Speyer. This locomotive was rebuilt in West-Germany, and currently preserved in the Technic museum.

The end of the legends

Class 01 locomotives remained in service with the Deutsche Bundesbahn until 1973. In West-Germany, they were still working up to the early 1980s, largely in their original state with large smoke deflectors. They were legendary in their last years for hauling the D-Zug services on the Berlin-Dresden route up to autumn 1977. Only when the large Soviet DR Class 132 diesel locomotives arrived, the Class 01 express train locomotives were finally forced out of scheduled services in East-Germany after almost 50 years.

Survivors:

The list of preserved BR 01 is quite impressive. All the locomotives mentioned bellow very in state and condition. Some are still in there rebuild version, how ever there a few preserved in the state they came out of the factory.

01 118
01 066
01 202
01 116
01 150
01 005
01 008
01 111
01 137
01 164
01 173
01 204
01 220
01 509 (ex 01 143)
01 514 (ex 01 208)
01 519 (ex 01 186)
01 531 (ex 01 158)

DB BR 01 „Blue Lady“ – SIMON JAKOBI

Inspiration

In late 2017 I met Julius Theißen a.k.a. “Dampfstein” on a meeting of LEGO Fans at our local LEGO-Store “Steinchenbrüder” in Hannover, Germany. Like me Julius was totally into 8 w LEGO train MOCs. On this evening he brought his excellent model of a German Baureihe 03 to the store. His solution concerning the golden boiler rings is outstanding. On both hands they are slim and round with a diameter close to the boiler, but brick built. On our first exhibition in early 2018 we decided to plan a team layout with turntable and roundhouse to showcase our MOCs. Up to then I had only designed electric and diesel engines.

But now I was wondering which DB steam prototype would reveal an interesting contrast to Julius` 03 on our future “Bahnbetriebswerk”. Deep down in my stuff in the basement of my parent`s house I found the first part of the answer – a 20 years old MINITRIX model (12617) of the German Baureihe 03 in a special dark blue livery with silver boiler rings. A few days later deep down in the dungeons of the WWW with the pictures of a KM1 model of the 01 1087 I found the second part of the answer: It seems that not only a few of the 03 were painted in steal blue, but also one Baureihe 01 received this elegant color scheme which gave these so called “blue ladies” a perfect match to the blue coaches of the “F-Zug-Netz” in those early days of the young DB.

The award winning Bahnbetriebswerk Julius and Simon built together.

Challenge

First of all, I don`t scale. That`s not my kind of approach to a locomotive. In the end all of my MOCs reflect a balance between form and functionality. Usually, I start to design several characteristic details of a prototype to get a first idea if I achieve a satisfying recognition factor in LEGO. In case of the Baureihe 01 I began with smaller sections like the boiler sections, cab or rear and top of the tender and checked if I could carry out my drafts in the desired color. Some items are rare or not available in dark blue, so I decided to stick to regular bricks and plates whenever possible.

Again, and again, I checked if the required bricks were available in dark blue for a reasonable prize. But as mentioned before, the BR 01 was my first steam locomotive and what is even more important my first articulated steam locomotive. At a certain point of my fast and enthusiastic progress on both details and arrangement I had to look the devil in the eye and face the bitter truth: Moving further on doesn`t make any sense without solving the critical issues concerning articulation of such a type of locomotive (pacific, 4–6–2 or 2`C1`) when it comes to negotiation of R40 curves and TLC switches. Because I don`t own any curves bigger than that, the ability to take such small radii was one of my prior goals. On the other hand, I wanted to keep the gap between engine and tender as narrow as possible.

The front profile of the amazing Blue Lady.

References

I was wondering if I could realize both of these wishes or if I would have to abandon one of these desires. Long story short: once again I had to dig deep in the common digital archives. Sooner or later, I stumbled upon another excellent executed Baureihe 01 on Flickr. On his account the creator Johan van den Heuvel [Johan van den Heuvel | Flickr] shows us smart solutions for the articulation of the front truck and both the rear truck and the coupling of the tender to the engine.

Based on his concept I connected the center pivot of the first boogie of the tender with a long towing bar as close as possible to the last main axle of the engine. The rear axle of the engine is swimming underneath the towing bar. The tender is not connected to his first boogie as one would expect but to the middle of the towing bar as close to the cabin as possible. The result is some kind of virtual pivot point pulling the tender close to the engine to a minimal gap on a straight track and providing enough clearance for turnout of the cab on curved and even S-curved track like switches.

The distance between the tender and locomotive, is impressively short.

Result

Apart from the close coupling of engine and tender and the ability to negotiate R40 curves and TLC switches on the same time I was able turn a lot of other ideas or major goals from my list into reality: The special livery in dark blue with flat silver boiler rings gives my creation a very unique look. There is a real gap between the round boiler and the frame carrying the main axles enabling you to look through the spokes of the huge XXL-wheels from Shupp`s.

To eliminate the LEGO specific raster of plain brick-built sidewalls most of the tender is done in snotwork with regular 1 x 1, 1 x 2 and 1 x 4 bricks laying on their side and betraying our LEGO brains. Only when it comes to motorization, I have to admit one big sacrifice. I really would like to see the drivers of the engine be powered. But unfortunately, the 6 wagon wheels split up the boiler in 7 short sections and there is not enough space left for one (or even better two) PF-motors and a reliable drivetrain.

Due to the fit of extreme snotism space in the tender is also very limited. Keep in mind: snotism and other extravagant design techniques are nothing but cruel and relentless space killers! The only solution left is the use of PF-train-motors underneath the tender. Luckily, I managed to store and hide a PF-battery-box (6 x AAA) and a SBRICK in the coal bunker of the tender above. Recently I have equipped my V60 and my Baureihe 81 with 3D-printed rods from bricks-on-rails.de to put these new items to a test. I am very pleased with the quality and will definitely upgrade my Baureihe 01 and my upcoming Baureihe 50. Last but not least I have to mention the custom decals from modellbahndecals.de. Please note: the number my locomotive is fiction. It is the birthday of my beloved wife.

BR 01 10

Launched in 1939, the three-cylinder DRG Class 01.10 was a further development of the 01. They were 2’C1’h3 2’3′ locomotives, there was a need for faster locomotives for express trains between mayor cities in Germany. To achieve this speed, the 01.10 was designed with a three-cylinder layout. Furthermore, they were equipped with a streamlined casing to reduce air resistance. Frictional losses were minimized by the use roller bearings on the driving and coupling rods. Originally 400 locomotives where ordered. Because of the Second World War only 55 where delivered, all made by Schwarzkopf.

Emden West, 12 July 1971. Loc 012 063 ready to depart to Rheine, credits Nico Spilt.

After the war al the BR 01 10’s where left in West-Germany. All these locomotives where in a bad shape, a lot of parts of the streamlining was removed to be used in the war machine. Secondly and the major problem of the BR 01 10 was that their boilers where made from bad quality metal. Which resulted in them ageing much faster compared to other locomotives. Due to a locomotive shortage a number of BR 01 10 got a quick refurbishment after the war to get them back in action.

In 1949 all the locomotives (accept the 01 1067), got a major refurbished, in this refurbishment what was left of there streamlining was removed. The boiler problem was later fixed in 1953-1956 which also saw a number of locomotives converted to oil-firing instead of coal. On 31 May 1975 the last BR 01 10 where decommissioned in Bahnbetriebswerk Rheine, one of the last strong holds for steam locomotives in Germany.

Stats:

Because the BR 01 10 has 3-cilinders it’s able to reach a much higher top speed compared to the standard BR 01. The top speed of the BR 01 10 was 140 km/h (87 mph) for coal powered and 150 km/h (93 mph) for oil powered. There driving wheels where the same diameter as the standard BR 01, 2000mm (78.74 in), which resulted in the top power of the locomotives being around 1,728 kW for coal powered and 1,817 kW oil powered. All the locomotives where equipped with a 2’3 T 38 tender which was able to carry 38.0 m3 of water and, 10.0-ton coal or 13,500 L oil.

Survivors:

Of the 55 locomotives, 10 survived. Just like the BR 01 there in a range of states.

01 1056
01 1061
01 1081
01 1082
01 1063
01 1066
01 1075
01 1100
01 1102
01 1104

The 01 1102 got it’s streamlining back which represented the streamlining which the locomotives came out the factory with. The 01 1102 in Hilversum, credits Nico Spilt.

BR 01 1075

A side profile of the SSN 01 1075 in LEGO

History of the 01 1075

To better explain why the 01 1075 is my favorite locomotive, we need to go trough a quick history lesson.

The 01 1075 was decommissioned, like many BR 01 10, in 1975 in Bahnbetriebswerk Rheine. Around that time a number of steam enthusiast in the Netherlands where looking in the possibility to buy steam locomotives in Germany, and to bring these to the Netherlands to preserved and restore them. 4 of these enthusiasts decided to join forces and create a steam heritage organization, this would from then on, be known as SSN, Stoom Stichting Nederland (Steam Organization Netherlands). There goal was to preserve and restore steam powered machines.

The first 2 locomotives that the SSN bought were the 23-023 and 01-1075. The 23-023 was a locomotive from the BR 23 class, this was still operation when the SSN bought it. It was therefore used to collect the 01 1075 from Bahnbetriebswerk Rheine an get both locomotives to the Netherlands.

The SSN 01 1075 beside their small platform, a perfect place to take pictures.

The 01 1075 wasn’t operation until 1991, then the SSN decided to restore the locomotive at the Reichsbahn Ausbesserungswerk Meiningen, which was located in West-Germany. Besides getting the locomotive operation again, the locomotive was converted back into coal power. Therefore, it’s the only preserved 01 10 which is coal powered, and operation. The 01 1075 is equipped with both the Dutch and German safety systems, and it’s therefore able to operate in both the Netherlands and Germany. It is currently the fastest steam locomotive in the Netherlands.

The SSN is located in Rotterdam, near where I live (about a 15 min drive). I literally grow up with the SSN, my first visit was back when I was just 1 year old, and I have been a regular since then. The 01 1075 has been my favorite as long as I can remember. It’s speed, profile and looks just speak to me!

The SSN 01 1075 on the turntable of the SSN during one of my visits. The locomotive just barely fits on the turntable.

From 2016-2020 I had another version of the SSN 01 1075 in LEGO, this was 95% HaBricks 01 202 model, whit some changes to colours/parts. Back at the end of 2019 I equipped the model with a Pfx brick with a XL speaker. Since the tender was to small, and the model wasn’t really scale acquired, I decided to complete redesign the locomotive from scratch.

The tender has increased in size compared to my old model; therefore, all the electronics are easier to fit in.

A rough and strange 9 months later, and the locomotive is done. It still has the Pfx Brick with XL spear, with a led board for LED’s which are programmed. The Pfx Brick has original sound files that I got from the ESU lokprogrammer system. All these sounds are from the real BR 01 10, programming the sound alone took me at least a week. The LED’s which are used on the locomotive have been provided by UrbanErwin, which was kind enough to spend his free Saturday afternoon helping me out. For power the locomotive has 2 XL-motor’s inside the boiler which power both driving wheels. The driving wheels are XXL wheels from Big Ben Bricks. The costum prints are provided by BrickPrint, and the costum driving rods are provided by bricks-on-rails.

Since most German locomotives look so much alike I tried to capture the real look of the locomotive as much as possible while still building in the right scale(1:45). For this I printed scaled dwarings ,where Raised was kind enough the rescale them for me, and massure the lengt/with of all the little nots and pieces. I also highly recommend serials scale program!

The scaled dwarings, provided by the-blueprints.com.

Wagons:

The SSN has their own wagons to use when organizing events trough, the Netherlands and Germany. The bulk of there fleet are Bm 238 wagons. I have built 2 of these with great help from UrbanErwin (and with great help I mean he made most of the design). One of their most recognizable wagons is the Mitropa wagon, a WRm 130.1 wagon from West-Germany. This wagon is painted in the recognizable dark red paint scheme with yellow logos on the side. I made both these wagons in scale 1:45 for my SSN 01 1075. I’m planning to add more including the blue water wagon, dark blue Bm238, and the Bm 232 in dark green and white. These are all somewhere on my “to build” list. Both the Bm 238 wagons and the Mitropa model have lights, one of the Bm 238 has red lights at the end of wagon, these are made by UrbanErwin as well.

The locomotive in action:

Since there aren’t any shows currently to visit, I haven’t been able to make a proper video of the SSN 01 1075 in action. However, I do have a video of it running with all 3 wagons inside my house. The quality isn’t perfect, and I hope to be able to properly film the train soon!

if you’re interested in seeing the real locomotives in action there a few great video’s down below. Some are in German and Dutch, but hey, steam locomotives speak a universal langue.

Ciao

–Enrico

–Simon

Building Techniques, Products, Track

BMR’s Knuckle Couplers: Uncoupled

January 15, 2021 Cale Leiphart Leave a comment

Article by Sal Ciofani

I have been using Kadee O-Scale knuckle couplers for almost ten years. Because they are designed for traditional model trains, in order to connect them to LEGO trains, I had to literally bolt them on to Plate, Modified 3 x 2 with hole. So when I heard Brick Model Railroader announced they were releasing Kadee couplers with custom molded, LEGO compatible draft gear boxes, I was very intrigued.

From the beginning, one of the great advantages offered by Kadee’s couplers, besides the realistic look, is the ability to automatically uncouple cars and engines by use of magnets. This makes realistic switching operations in rail yards or at industries, without the “Hand of God” pulling cars apart, more realistic and enjoyable. There are a variety of ways to uncouple cars equipped with Kadee knuckle coupler from uncoupling “pics”, permanent magnet uncouplers, and electromagnet uncouplers. In traditional model railroading the most popular and simplest way to uncouple cars is with an uncoupling “pic”. Kadee sells #241 Dual Tool – Manual Uncoupling Tool & Built In Spring Pic, any pointed object, such as the LEGO Spear 93789 or a sharpened pencil will work. I personally use a Wooden Manicure stick, I prefer the type with a flat tip. To uncouple cars simply insert the “pic” of your choice between the knuckles of cars and twist counterclockwise to open the couplers and push them to the side. While holding the couplers open with the “pic”, pull the rest of the train away from the car being left.

Examples of useful tools for manually uncoupling BMR Kadee Knuckle Couplers.

Kadee couplers are equipped with curved a metallic air hose detail that doubles as the coupler trip pin. The magnet attracts the trip pin and moves the trip pin to the side, opening the knuckle and allowing the cars to uncouple.

With the couplers positioned over the magnets mounted under the track, the magnets move the couplers to the open position. The locomotive (left) can now pull away from the car (right) leaving the car over the magnet.

Couplers open and pushed out while over decoupling magnet.

While the coupler is over the uncoupling magnet, the magnet will hold the coupler in the delayed position, knuckle fully open and coupler pulled to the knuckle side of the car. When to adjacent couplers are in the delayed position, the locomotive can shove the car to the desired spot.

With the couplers still positioned over magnets, the couplers are held in the delayed position.

The locomotive can now shove the car into it’s final position to be left without the couplers recoupling.

Shoving car with couplers in the delayed position.

The couplers will fully uncouple when slack is allowed in the joint between the two couplers. To avoid this when retrieving a car that has been left beyond the magnet, or otherwise passing over the magnet when uncoupling is not desired, it is important to maintain tension when pulling, or compression when shoving a train over the uncoupling magnet.

Couples under tension while passing over uncoupling magnet.

The couplers in the open position remain connected when the connection remains under tension with the locomotive steadily pulling on the train.

*Couples in compression while passing over uncoupling magnet.*

The couplers in the open position remain connected when the connection remains under compression with the locomotive steadily shoving on the train.

To ensure the magnet can adequately attract and move the trip pin to fully open the coupler, the trip pin must be adjusted as close to the magnet surface as possible, without interfering with between track obstructions like grade crossings or switch tracks. This is relatively simple to do with a gentle squeeze of Kadee #237 Coupler Trip Pin Pliers – For HOn3, HO, S, On3 & O Scale Couplers, needle nose pliers can also be used, although that method requires twisting the pliers to affect the appropriate bend.

Using the Kadee #237 pliers to bend the coupler trip pin down.

Using the Kadee #237 pliers to bend the coupler trip pin up.

To facilitate ensuring proper adjustment of trip pins, I have made a simple modification to BMR’s coupler height gauge.

To add a trip pin gauge I removed the bottom plate (shown above the coupler gauge) and added the parts shown below the coupler gauge.

Parts needed for coupler height gauge modification. move 4×8 plate.

BMP Coupler Height Gauge with added trip pin gauge. Note the coupler on the right has the trip pin adjusted to work best with uncoupling magnets, the left coupler’s trip pin is shown as it comes.

The modified BMR Coupler Height Gauge in use. The trip pin gauge helps to adjust the coupler’s trip pin is as low as possible while ensuring the trip pin is high enough to clear obstructions between the rails, such as switches and grade crossings.

For those who want a more hands free or automatic way of uncoupling their railcars, there are a number of ways to accomplish this with magnets, between the rails magnets, under track magnets, and electromagnets. The first magnet I tried was Kadee #308 Under-the-Track Hidden Delayed-Action Magnetic Uncoupler – HO, S, On3, On30, O Scale. The magnet is slightly wider than the 4 stud track gage of LEGO track. I cut the magnet and intensifier plate down to four studs wide to fit between the rails while leaving enough clearance for the LEGO train wheels to pass without causing derailments. I removed a fraction of an inch from either side of the magnet to keep the polarity even. In order to allow the magnet and intensifier plate to fit flush with the top of the rail of a LEGO R/C straight track, I needed to shave off and file the studs on one of the ties. I then super glued the intensifier plate to the studless tie and placed the magnet atop the plate. This magnet worked well, although, I was not completely satisfied with the look of a large magnet mounted between the rails.

Kadee #308 Under-the-Track Hidden Delayed-Action Magnetic Uncoupler mounted between the rails.

As the name implies, Kadee’s #308 Under-the-Track Hidden Delayed-Action Magnetic Uncoupler – HO, S, ON3, ON30, O Scale, is intended to be mounted under the track. For larger scales (O scale and bigger) Kadee recommends stacking the magnets with a single intensifier plate. I tried stacking several magnets atop an intensifier plate, six in total, with no real success. The stack of 6 magnets is as tall as a section of track on a standard MILS base, making it impractical to incorporate into a MILS module without increasing the height of the MILS module.

I stacked six Kadee #308 Under-the-Track Hidden Delayed-Action Magnetic Uncoupler – HO, S, On3, On30, O Scale. Not only is the stack too tall to fit within a MILS module, they six magnets did not have enough pulling power to activate the coupler’s trip pin.

During the Brickworld Virtual Halloween show, the suggestion was made to try Kadee #809 O Scale 3 Rail Between-the-Rails Delayed-Action Magnetic Uncoupler. The package includes four skinny magnets that are stacked 2×2 and placed on an intensifier plate near each rail. This method provided great results but requires a deep area between the rails to accommodate the thickness of the double stacked magnets. This means standard LEGO track will not work, or will have to have ties removed from between the rails. I had some Me Models rails that I used during my testing, which would be an ideal solution, if they were available. The area at either end and between the magnets could likely be filled with LEGO ballasting to help blend the uncoupling track section in with the surrounding track.

Kadee #809 O Scale 3 Rail Between-the-Rails Delayed-Action Magnetic Uncoupler.

Kadee also offers Kadee #810 O Scale Thru-the-Ties Delayed-Action Electric Uncoupler Kit, which is an electro magnet kit to allow the user to electronically control when the magnet is active to uncouple cars. This would be useful for installing the uncoupler in mainline locations and other areas where accidental uncoupling would be problematic. I have not had any experience personally with electromagnetic uncoupling. Electromagnets will require a power source, and a button or switch to activate them.

Neodymium magnets were also suggested during the Brickworld Virtual Halloween show. I selected K & J Magnetics BX884 1 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/4″ thick Neodymium Block Magnets. BINGO! I ordered four of the BX884 magnets and stacked them 2×2 and placed them 4 studs apart underneath a section of ballasted track. The magnets are just shy of 5 studs long and about 1.5 studs wide. I used 2x bricks between and at either end of the magnets, and snot bricks with 1x tiles on the outside to prevent the magnets from moving around. With one plate of ballast between the bottom of the LEGO track piece, and the top of the magnets, I placed tiles on the baseplate where the magnets would sit. I added plates as necessary to complete the boxes to securely hold the magnets in position.

The boxes created to hold K & J Magnetics BX884 1 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/4″ thick Neodymium Block Magnets. Note the SNOT bricks with 1x tiles.

The K & J Magnetics BX884 1 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/4″ thick Neodymium Block Magnets in the boxes.

The K & J Magnetics BX884 1 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/4″ thick Neodymium Block Magnets in the completed boxes. When the baseplate is attached and the whole MILS module flipped right-side-up, the magnets will rest on the tiles.

It took a bit of checking to make sure I had the magnet polarities oriented correctly to properly open the BMR Kadee couplers. To correct the polarities only requires flipping one, or both, stacks of magnets over so the correct polarity is pointed up, being careful not to let the one stack from attracting the other. Neodymium magnets a very powerful, the BX884 magnets have a pulling force of 26.2 pounds each. They can be quite difficult to pull apart, and can attract each other from a fair distance. It can hurt getting a finger or skin pinched between two neodymium magnets, and they can break if they come together with too much force.

Once assembled, the results are fantastic! The BX884 magnets operate the BMR Kadee couplers smoothly and reliably, even under one plate, LEGO Track with filled in tie spaces, and 1×4 tie tiles. The double stacked magnets also fit easily within a standard MILS module concealing them from view.

The K & J Magnetics BX884 1 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/4″ thick Neodymium Block Magnets will be my magnet of choice for uncoupling magnets in my layout. I plan to incorporate at least one of these BX884 uncouplers into my current LGMS module and have it available for people to try out at shows, such as Brickworld Chicago, Brickworld Milwaukee, and Trainfest.

A MILS Module with the K & J Magnetics BX884 1 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/4″ thick Neodymium Block Magnets seamlessly integrated with other standard MILS modules.

Building Techniques, Inspiration, Model Design, Models

Getting Started on Scale Model LEGO Trains

October 18, 2020 Chris Stone Leave a comment

Traditional Model Railroading has been called by some the “World’s Greatest Hobby” – and not necessarily out of the normal sort of pride that one tends to have towards their passions. Model Railroading encompasses a very large amount of skills and interests, even beyond just scale modeling – electrical work, carpentry, machining and fabrication, paint, plastic and foam sculpting, and more. A lot has been done in the hobby to help make it easier to get into and make some truly impressive things without requiring an in-depth knowledge or steep learning curve to be learned by a single person, but it can still be very daunting for a person to pick up once they start looking into everything involved.

LEGO Model Railroading is similar to this in a lot of ways. Beyond just building a model that looks good, if you want to design and run a LEGO locomotive you will need to learn a lot more than just good building practices. There’s some dabbling in Technic, learning about gearing, learning about articulation and swing clearances – and that’s just for the locomotives! The amount of topics to learn grows greatly as you expand into a full layout.

People looking to get into LEGO Trains as a modeling hobby have a bit more of a challenge than they would going into something like HO or O Scale stuff – you have to build everything yourself, and LEGO doesn’t sell true Scale model kits. This leaves a bit of a gap for where to start – how can someone just coming in get to a point where they can have and run models that look as good as the custom stuff that caught their eye? This generally seems to be the point where people realize that there is a lot more to learn than there seemed.

Of course, there are always options outside of the LEGO company. There are a lot of great builders in the train community who have been sharing huge amounts of resources and information for years. Custom instructions for LEGO Trains and train-related models are becoming easier to find and many very-high quality ones are available as well, which can also help more with teaching techniques and getting people started with nice detailed models.

Even with these available, there’s always going to be the desire to do something yourself. Maybe what you want isn’t available, maybe you just want to have the satisfaction or the skills to be able to do something like that on your own – and of course, there’s also those who love to learn new things for its own sake.

To help with this, I’d like to do a series covering how to build Scale Model LEGO trains – just the good, fundamental basics. A lot of this information may be common knowledge to more experienced builders, but my hope is to create a good starting point for new people coming into the hobby. By taking the many stages of good design in small, focused chunks we can examine each stage and learn some good practices and methods for dealing with the different phases of the design process. These are good starting points, but they are not necessarily definitive or even the best way to do it – They should let you get some good starting fundamentals. When building a model from instructions or mimicking techniques from more experienced builders, it can be relatively simple to see how something was built, but it’s good to know why it was done that way. Learning the fundamentals behind each of the design choices is a great way to get started towards great models.

That said, let’s cover the first, most fundamental topic of Scale Modeling.

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Building Techniques, Inspiration, Layout Design

Track Detailing for Light Rail

August 7, 2020 Cale Leiphart Leave a comment

Article by Conrad Schlenker

In the past, we have seen great and highly informative articles from Hod Carrier and Matt Csenge on simple but good-looking details anyone can build to add detail to their track. Today, I’d like to do the same, but for a relatively unexplored genre of L-gauge modeling: Light Rail!

Light rail is a very important mode of public transportation in a lot of major cities throughout the world. Although I will be covering details that aim to replicate things found in America, hopefully this article is helpful to anyone looking to model a rapid transit railway.

Before we get into the larger details, lets look at some simple details that don’t take many parts, but can add a lot of detail that is sure to catch any spectators eye.

Tie Choices

I 100% agree with the things Matt said in his 2^nd article about USA Track Detailing. Ties are everything. Concrete ties are quite common on light rail systems, so here are a few ways to do them:

Concrete ties left to right:

Dual block ties with no fasteners
Dual block ties with 1×1 plates for fasteners
Full concrete ties with no fasteners
Full concrete ties with fasteners on both sides
Full concrete ties with fasteners on outside only

Its also recommended that you put ballast in between a double track mainline as well.

Trackside Signs

Whistle Board. Used at grade crossings, it alerts the driver to use the horn in order to warn motorists of the incoming train.

Absolute speed board. Tells the driver the current or absolute speed limit of the track.

Upcoming speed board. The slant of the board indicates that the speed listed on it will be in effect when the next board arrives.

End of Track Bumper

There are many different types and designs of end of track bumpers out there, but this one is modeled after the one used on the DART system, which is the closest light rail system to me. Rest assured, this detail will look great on any layout, and looks general enough to match other designs seen all over America. The end of track bumper is obviously used to stop a train from going too far off the rails when its going too fast. Sometimes it works better than others, as seen in an incident in a Chicago Metro station a few years ago. The bumper is attached to the rails, which is modeled by the 1×4 plates in between the ties, and the 1×2 jumpers hanging over the rails. Also modeled are the rubber pads, which are meant to soften the impact, but don’t really help much if the train is going fast enough to hit the bumper in the first place. I used 1×2 grills for these. Since these bumpers are so common on light rail / rapid transit lines, this detail will bring a lot to any layout, and is sure to catch the eye of any spectator.

Next, we have a simple line side signal that can be found pretty much anywhere on a light rail system. Signals are necessary not only to light rail lines but any type of mainline anywhere in the world. Their job is fairly simple and works much like a traffic light on a road. It tells drivers weather or not it is safe to proceed, and if anything is occupying the right of way in front of them. The most common aspects seen on such signals is as follows: Green or clear = proceed at line speed, flashing yellow or approach medium = proceed with caution and be prepared to stop in the next 2 signals, yellow or approach = proceed at a maximum speed of 40 miles per hour, and be prepared to stop at the next signal. There are many more aspects, meaning lots of different things, but that should give you a basic understanding on how they work. Light rail signals appear more box-like than signals found elsewhere. It is important to make sure the signal looks like it is set in concrete, hence the LBG bricks at the bottom. This also goes for crossing gates and catenary poles. Some signals have two ‘heads’ on them, which means they display two aspects at one time. The second head can easily be built under the first one if you need it.

Don’t worry, this detail is compatible with the PennLUG style of track ballasting found on L-gauge.org. Light rail lines often have to weave through small spaces to get where they need to go, so on especially tight corners an inner 3^rd rail is used to make absolutely sure the train stays on the track. It’s not like the 3^rd rails some of you may have heard of; it doesn’t provide power on the outside of the track, it provides stability o the inside of the track. These can be seen in maintenance bases, yards, and on the mainline, as well as be attached to either the inside or outside edge of the rail.

That was my last detail for this article, and although it was a short one, I hope it gave you some inspiration and jumping off points if you ever take on a project involving light rail. If you’re wondering why I didn’t talk about a catenary pole, its because the height usually changes depending on the scale of the train, and I didn’t want to create a size limitation for people who don’t build the same scale as me.

To all who read this far, thank you. I hope you enjoyed this brief look into the world of light rail.

Play well,

Conrad.

Building Techniques, Layout Design, Track

Track Detailing – USA: Part 2

May 29, 2020 Matt Csenge Leave a comment

As a continuation from my Part 1 of this series, here are a few more trackside details to get your creative juices flowing!

Lubricator

As Hod Carrier discussed in the UK Track Detailing article, railroads often use grease or other friction modifiers to reduce rail noise and vibration on tight curves (R40 would definitely be lubricated!). These systems consist of a wayside tank and pump, applicators mounted to the rails to dispense lubricant, and wheel sensors to detect an approaching train and begin pumping lubricant. Wheel detectors come in various colors based on the manufacturer, but dark turquoise is a good match for the ones I’ve installed in the past.

Many lubricator installations on North American railroads are out in the middle of nowhere, like an installation I did on the outskirts of Lemoyne, Nebraska (the entire town was the outskirts, honestly…) for example, where hardwired power would be very expensive to install. In these situations, it’s very common to install solar powered units. The dark blue 1×4 tiles on this design are stand-ins for 1×4 tiles with solar panel print (part no. 2431pb499).

Whistle Posts

Whistle posts are another self-explanatory item: when they see the post, the engineer blows the whistle (or horn, but horn post sounds…wrong). These are palced in advance of grade crossings so the engineer can start the telltale horn pattern of a grade crossing: long-long-short-long.

Different railroads have different designs of whistle posts. Most modern ones are signs mounted on poles, but older styles include concrete pillars with a “W” molded into them. In both of these examples, the 1×1 tile is a stand-in for the 1×1 letter “W” tile (part no. 3070bpb031). Usually the concrete post or signs would be white with black letters for better visibility, but the 1×1 letter tiles don’t come in white.

Mileposts

Mileposts are very common on railroads, since there’s an average of 1 per mile. Yes, you read that correct; track and right-of-way realignment often leads to short or long miles rather than redoing the mileposts over the entire line. These markers help train and maintenance crews know precisely where they are on the line (give or take about a mile).

As with whistle posts, each railroad has its own standard design for mileposts. In this design, the 1×1 tiles are stand-ins for the 1×1 number tiles. Placing these every mile (on average 4224 studs, for those of you counting) would be a quick way to add detail to a layout. As with the whistle posts, the signs would typically be white with black letters but the 1×1 number tiles don’t come in white.

Pole Lines

Railroads have a long history in North America, which means they have seen many different technologies come and go. Pole lines played a crucial role in delivering information from one point to another. These lines carried not only telegraph transmissions, but also information for the signal system. I could go into great detail, but I’ll save that for another article and summarize: rail lines are divided into blocks, and each block has an electrical circuit that is on when the block is empty and turns off when a train enters the block. Each wire on a pole line carries that status information along the line to different parts of the signal system.

The wires are connected to the poles with glass insulators (the trans-clear, blue, or green plates), and the pole line would also have wires connecting to every signal and relay cabinet. Here I’m using Lego string elements, but it would almost certainly be more cost effective to use non-Lego thread or string. While pole lines are not commonly used anymore, in many places they were never removed. Abandoned pole lines with broken wires hanging to the ground would therefore also be a great detail on a modern layout.

Tell Tale

Tell tales are another piece of old railroad technology that has succumbed to innovation. In the early days, before trainline braking systems, brakemen would walk the roofs of railcars applying each car’s brakes anytime the train needed to slow down. As you can imagine, life expectancy for a brakeman was relatively low. Tell tales were one of the brakeman’s safety devices: a beam extending over the track above head height with ropes dangling down. If a brakeman was walking the roof of a car and felt the tell tale hit them, they would drop to their stomach immediately! Why? Because tell tales meant that the train was approaching a tunnel or overpass, and warned the brakemen to duck or they would be hit and killed.

This tell tale is a cantilevered type, and is clearly missing the all-important ropes. This design would feature additional non-Lego ropes to support the cantilevered beam, as well as ropes to allow the tell tale ropes to be lowered for maintenance. Like pole lines, though tell tales fell out of use they were often not removed and thus would be great details on a modern layout.

Switch Stand

Switch machines, as shown in Part 1 of this series are a modern item used primarily for main lines and high-traffic switches. For low-traffic switches and branch lines, switch stands are still the best tool for the job. Switch stands are how track workers manually line the switch, by lifting the lever and rotating it 90 degrees. The red and green parts are called “targets,” and they rotate with the stand to communicate the status of the switch to an approaching train: red means the switch is set for the diverging route, and green for the straight route.

Similar to the switch machine, this switch stand design will require a bit of additional ballast extending off the PennLUG standard cross section. There are many designs of switch stands with variations of the target location and design, and the throw (lever) design and location.

Tie Colors and Types

Some railroads paint their crossties different colors for different purposes. Union Pacific (UP) paints a tie blue at every culvert crossing under the track (blue=water, right?). They do this because often the culverts are pretty far down in the subgrade under the ballast, and often the inlet and outlet become obscured by brush. The blue tie helps maintenance crews locate culverts so they can check if they need to be cleared out, thus preventing washouts. Similarly, Amtrak often paints ties yellow when there are gauges or instrumentation mounted on the tie and they want tamping crews to be careful while maintaining the ballast around those ties. The defect detectors shown in the image are from Part 1 of this series. The culvert design is more suited to a MILS module than the PennLUG standard ballast, but the blue tie can be placed independently.

Varying the type of ties on your layout can also be a simple way to add some detail. While branch lines and short line railroads may use exclusively wood ties, most Class I freight railroads (BNSF, CSX, CN, etc.) do not use just one type of tie from end to end. There is a wide variety of materials that crossties are made from, as well as the forms those materials come in. Concrete ties are used for high tonnage or high speed lines; plastic composite ties, synthetic ties, and tropical hardwood ties are used in wet areas where treated hardwood would be susceptible to rotting; and steel ties are sometimes used in yards, as they need less ballast than regular wood ties.

From left to right in the image above:

Reddish brown tiles representing wood ties (my personal color of choice for wood ties),
Dark tan tiles, representing a tropical hardwood tie,
Medium nougat tiles, representing a Fiber-reinforced Foamed Urethane (FFU) synthetic tie,
Two versions of concrete dual-block ties, one with studs for the fasteners, represented by light bluish grey tiles and plates,
Three versions of concrete ties using different tiles and plates, represented by light bluish grey tiles and plates to for different designs,
Two versions of plastic composite ties, represented by black or dark grey ties (on dark bluish grey ballast),
Dark brown tiles and plates, representing a steel tie.

Concrete ties come from multiple different manufacturers, each with their own designs. If a railroad had multiple types installed they would typically be in large sections, rather than a mix of different ties. Concrete ties and steel ties typically use elastic fasteners rather than steel plates and cut spikes used on the other types, so the chunkier fasteners can easily be represented with the stud of a plate. Dual-block concrete ties have a steel beam in the middle connecting them, which would be buried in the ballast. Though they have yet to be widely accepted by North American railroads, some railroads are experimenting with dual-block concrete ties. Steel ties are not commonly used on signalized tracks as the rails need to be electrically isolated for the signal system to function properly. Additional variation can be achieved by mixing slightly different colors, like reddish brown and brown for wood ties, black for weathered wood ties and brown or reddish brown for new wood ties, and light bluish grey and light grey for concrete ties.

Some railroads also have test sections of track where multiple different types of ties are installed, with measurement devices monitoring their performance and wear. Shown above is a possible test site, with small bunches of multiple different tie types, relay cabinets housing testing equipment, and a pile of old crossties that were removed from the track, including a broken concrete tie. (See Part 1 of this series for more of the relay cabinet and piled ties) Piles of new ties of any kind would also be fitting!

Hopefully these examples help get some ideas going. Be sure to share photos of the details of your layout to inspire others too!

Building Techniques, Layout Design, Track

Track Detailing – USA: Part 1

May 21, 2020 Matt Csenge Leave a comment

After Hod Carrier’s wonderful article on UK track detailing, we thought it’d be good to look at track detailing for North America as well. These digital designs represent details found on American railroads and though the designs were based specifically on my experience with railroads in the United States, railroads in Canada and Mexico tend to follow similar practices and use similar equipment. All of these designs are compatible with the PennLUG standard of track building, instructions for which are available for free at l-gauge.org.

Dragging Equipment Detector (DED) and Hot Box Detector

Defect detector is a general term for a number of wayside vehicle monitoring devices used by railroads to inspect the cars in their train as they pass. Some common types of defect detectors include Wheel Impact Load Detectors (WILDs), Dragging Equipment Detectors (DEDs), Hot Box Detectors (HBDs), and Automatic Cracked Wheel Detectors (ACWDs). These detectors monitor the train as it passes over them and log and alert the crew to any defects that are detected, so that the offending car can be scheduled for repair or removed from the train.

Here I’m focusing on DEDs and HBDs. DEDs (at left) consist of sensors mounted between ties that deflect, or bend when a dragging piece of equipment, like a chain, strikes them. HBDs (at right) use an infrared detection system to monitor the temperature of the journal bearings where the car sits on the axle. If the journal is too hot, there is a problem with the axle causing too much friction. These two detector types are some of the most common on North American railroads, and are often sited together. When sited with a DED, the HBD will have guard slopes on either side to ensure any dragging equipment doesn’t damage the sensors.

Lego’s new Slope 45 1×1 Double (part no. 35464) is perfect for the DED. The 2×2 tile represents a junction box where the wires for the detectors would come together before going to a relay cabinet (shown later).

Derailer

Derailers, also known as derails, are installed in places where the consequences of derailing a train or car are less severe than the consequences of not derailing the train or car. The most obvious example would be at a movable bridge: when the bridge is open (raised) the derailer would be set to derail a train, as derailing the train is not as bad as the train crashing into the river below.

This type of derailer is known as a hinged derailer, which sits on top of the rail and lifts the wheel over the rail. These are commonly seen in yards or on industry sidings, to prevent stored railcars from rolling out onto the main line. In the US, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requires industry sidings from main lines to have derailers installed for this purpose. The FRA also requires them to be painted a clearly visible color, like yellow. As the name suggests, the derailer has hinges so that it can be folded into the gauge of the track (i.e. between the rails) so cars can pass over it.

Here’s two versions of a hinged derailer, one in the derailing position and one in the open position. The blue sign is an optional feature, which is typically used when workers are doing maintenance on a piece of equipment. The “open” derailer requires a bit of modification of the track structure in order to get the tooth plate upside-down, but allows for it to be included on the layout without preventing use of a track.

Switch Machine

Mainline switches on most railroads are controlled remotely by a dispatcher, and switch machines have the job of physically moving the switch. There are many models of switch machine produced by many different manufacturers, and this is a representation of just one type.

The switch machine requires a bit of expansion of the ballast section under the tracks. The black tile at the top represents a junction box where the wires go into conduit to be run to a relay cabinet.

Switch Heaters

The purpose of a switch heater is pretty straightforward. Parts of North America are subject to low temperatures and heavy snowfall in the winter, and many switches are susceptible to freezing or getting packed with snow and becoming inoperable. Switch heaters use a wayside generator and ducts between the switch points to blow hot air into the movable part of the switch to prevent freezing of snow buildup.

This design uses the new Bracket 1×1 – 1×1 (part no. 36841) to connect the hose to the ballast section, making it look like the hose is buried in ballast.

Relay Cabinet

Relay cabinet is a general term for wayside electronics cabinets on the railroad. The name comes from the signal relays, or magnetic switches, that they originally housed. Shown here are two types, a smaller, older style at right, and a larger, newer style at left. These cabinets are not used exclusively for relays, and they can be found at signals, switches, defect detectors, grade crossings, and numerous other locations along the railroad.

Using Lego’s door parts allows for the interior of the cabinets to be detailed as well. This one includes a junction box at left, battery backup in white at bottom, and three magnetic relays using trans-clear headlight bricks (part no. 4070) and round plates to represent the magnetic coils. The large cabinet features headlight bricks at the roof representing the lifting points, as these are installed by crane. These features could make for fun vignettes, with signal maintainers working inside the cabinets or using a crane to install a new one!

Piled Ties

Maintenance on North American railroads is often carried out by track gangs; large teams of workers specializing in replacing one component of the track. Typically the materials for these gangs are dropped along the track in advance of them arriving at the worksite. Thus, it’s common to see bundles of new ties and buckets of spikes, clips, or other track materials along the right of way.

Similarly, old ties are often piled or discarded along the right-of-way awaiting a crew to pick them up (or simply being left to decompose). It’s pretty common for these ties to be deteriorated or have plates still attached to them, so in this case studs showing is a good thing!

Hopefully these ideas help get the creative juices flowing and give you some ideas to add detail to your home or club layout!

Building Techniques, Inspiration, Layout Design, Layouts, Track

Track Detailing – UK Outline: By Hod Carrier, Part Two

May 7, 2020 raised Leave a comment

Every now and then there are some articles online on one of the well-known fora that you just HAVE to share to a broader audience. A while ago my eye fell on an article by Hod Carrier over at the Train Tech forums of Eurobricks. Hod Carrier is no stranger here at BMR, having contested twice on OcTRAINber, and one time almost. Today we present his second part about Trackside Structures, one of my favorite parts of any realistic Lego Train Model Railroad:

Thanks so much for the fabulous feedback that I’ve received so far. It’s really amazing to have prompted such a response.

I’ve been busy adding a few more details which I hope you won’t mind me sharing. Don’t worry, though. I’m not intending on reproducing every single piece of UK rail infrastructure.

In order to reduce noise and wear to rails and wheelsets, flange lubricators (sometimes referred to as grease pots) are provided because, lets face it, no-one likes a dry flange. *Ahem*. These automatically apply a small amount of grease to the train wheels as they pass to help reduce friction. These are often found in areas where the route follows tight curves or at junctions.

When clean these are generally yellow to make them visible, but over time, and through careless refilling, these eventually become black.

Very simply, this is a drain. At some locations the ground or environmental conditions means that the ballast and formation of the track is insufficient to provide adequate drainage. In this instance additional drains are provided, either at the sides or between the tracks. I won’t insult anyone’s intelligence by showing the design in isolation, as I’m sure it should be clear.

This is a Hot Axle Box Detector (HABD) together with it’s associated small portable-type lineside equipment building. These detectors are dotted around the network and are used to detect an overheating axle box. These automatic installations sound an alarm at the signalbox and tell the signaller which axle and on which side of the train the defect is occurring so that the train can be stopped and examined.

The central detector between the rails is offset to be nearer one rail or the other to help the system determine which side of the train the defective axle is.

There are many different designs of point/switch motors in use across the UK, and this is just one of them. It is an older design that has since been superceded but which remains in operation in large numbers across the network.

The design does not affect the operation of the switch and should not interfere with passing trains either. I would have liked to have had a go at one of the successor designs, but the studless nature of the standard LEGO points/switch preclude this, although third party offerings may be different.

All of my designs so far have been made to be compatible with the PennLUG ballasting standard. While it’s great for LEGO modellers by being compact and not too demanding in terms of parts, I don’t think many operational railways would tolerate such a shallow bed of ballast. Certainly in the UK the trackbed is much wider and ballast shoulders are built up at each side.

I suppose you could call them shoulder pads in that they bulk out the track ballasting to more realistic proportions. There are side sections and centre sections.

Used together for a twin track arrangement (as in the previous picture) the total width comes out at 34 studs, two more than a standard 32×32 baseplate. Consequently I have shown the design split across two baseplates with the centreline as the join. To make this compatible with the MILS modules, the centre section is built in two halves to facilitate splitting of modules into individual 32×32 sections.

Want to see more of Hod Carriers? Just pop over to his Flickr stream to see even more awesome builds!

Building Techniques, Inspiration, Layout Design, Layouts

Tips and Tricks for Layout Design

April 30, 2020 Enrico Lussi Leave a comment

The following article is a summary of some tips and tricks for layout designing combined with some basic facts that involve the layout designing progress. This article won’t summarize every subject which involves the designing process since there just too many. However, there will be tips and tricks for both beginner and experienced builders.

Epoch

First thing when deciding to design your layout is to figure out what epoch you want to built in. Every epoch reflects a particular time within railroading history. The idea is that you can build whatever you want, as long as it makes sense within that epoch (or one below or above), because the chance of prototypical railroading would be highest, ie. the chance that two trains, or buildings, or cars, would have been able to ‘meet’, would be the highest if we follow these rules. For the AFOLs out there that may not be familiar with the epoch system I hope this explains:

Epoche	Time period
I	1835–1920
II	1920-1949
III	1949-1970
IV	1970-1990
V	1990-2006
VI	2006-current

The epoch system is an important thing for layout building since your chosen epoch effects your entire layout. For better understanding we take a station as an example. During the Epoch III period there were different safety regulations when it comes to station’s compared to the Epoch VI period. Take platform length or height for example. Also, station designs, a “modern” design won’t match a full Epoch III layout. Details like these give your layout a lot more realism but can also act as a starting point when considering designing.

Another good example is level crossings. During the Epoch I-IV level crossings where common to see. In the Epoch VI period, especially in Europe, level crossings are becoming a thing of the past especially on main high-speed lines.

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Building Techniques, Inspiration, Layout Design, Layouts, Track

Track Detailing – UK Outline: By Hod Carrier, Part One

April 24, 2020 raised Leave a comment

Every now and then there are some articles online on one of the well-known fora that you just HAVE to share to a broader audience. A while ago my eye fell on an article by Hod Carrier over at the Train Tech forums of Eurobricks. Hod Carrier is no stranger here at BMR, having contested twice on OcTRAINber, and one time almost. Today, his piece is about Trackside Structures, one of my favorite parts of any realistic Lego Train Model Railroad:

As we’re all grounded at the moment, I thought I’d use some of the time to have a little look at ways to make subtle improvements to the track. It’s always great to debut a new loco or item of rolling stock, but apart from ballasting the track on which these trains run often gets overlooked. As a train driver here in the UK I thought I’d see how to add the sort of details seen along the lineside in order to add realism, often with only a few parts.

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Building Techniques, Decals, Model Design, Models, Prototypes

Stickers or Brick Built: A short Case Study with the MÁv M40 Diesel

March 19, 2020 raised Leave a comment

Being a Model Railroader and AFOL in one, it’s always difficult to make sure a model looks like it’s prototype. As AFOL, you are always trying to use exactly that one piece of Lego that corresponds with a certain greeble, angle or form of the prototype, even though it might not fit 100%. As a Model Railroader, you always want to make sure something fits 100%, meaning that not always you can use a piece of Lego, but for example using stickers, 3d printed rods, or custom track. This difficult trade-off is what makes our little niche hobby (at least for me!) so great. On the other hand, it does mean a lot of extra hassle. Even more, because most of the time both solutions tend to be possible.

Therefore, we thought it might be interesting to look at two amazing renditions of the same prototype, which are build in exactly those two styles: The Model Railroader and the AFOL. The prototype that we chose is the MÁV M40, a Hungarian Diesel Locomotive build in the sixties with a lot of strange lines and greebles. It looks like this:

So, how does this look like when two Hungarian Lego builders, lantlant and Rob, both try to re-build this beast in Lego, the one with emphasis on Model Railroad Realism, and the other with emphasis on Lego Railroad Realism?

First of, let us look at the Lego Railroad Realism:

As you can see, Rob has tried to solve all difficult corners and angles that the M40 has with brick built solutions. He has even done some very effective weathering by using dark red, dark grey and even black pieces to illustrate the grease and dirt that these Diesels most probably will be covered in during most of their active duty. However, no stickers means no stickers, so there are no identification numbers, no logos and nothing that explains which exact locomotive this is. For a true Model Railroader, this is of course not done. For an AFOL, this is – with good reason! – perfectly fine, because it’s not about that identification of the one loco, but the rendition in Lego of a whole class of locomotives.

Now, let’s look at the Model Railroad Realism:

As you can see, lantlant actually tried to solve quite a lot of parts by using brick-build solutions, but for example the cab and smokestack, plus the diamond pattern warning ‘stripes’ on the front of the loco are all done with high-quality stickers. It gives this loco a bit less of a Lego, and a bit more of a Model Train experience. Also, by some subtle stickering, lantlant has been able to give the shrouding of the wheelsets a bit of extra depth. On the other hand, it does, mostly with the windscreen, feel a bit ‘lazy’ that he didn’t go the Lego way. It does give you a stunning rendition of that windscreen though!

So, what do you, our readers, think about this? What do you think is more important when building, Model Railroaders Realism or Lego Railroaders Realism?