Category Archives: Events

News on upcoming events

OcTRAINber 2019: Second Service Announcement

Just a very short update from our side regarding the wrapping up of OcTRAINber 2019. Just like last year it has proven to be a quite busy number of months here at BMR, specifically for me (Legoworld, our biggest show of the year in the Netherlands, plus the whole aftermath of that) which means the judging has taken some delays again since coordinating the judging is my little task. However, last night I finally finished the Judges Excel Sheet so final judgement has just commenced. We will try to get it done in maximum 2 weeks, so hopefully we will be able to announce the winners before the end of 2019. We will keep you updated on this proces as much as possible.

In the same time, we would also like to ask you guys for some feedback. OcTRAINber has been a succes for three years in a row for us over at BMR, but we are wondering how you actually think about OcTRAINber. What do you guys like about the contest? What are the reasons to participate, or not to participate? What do you guys think could be done better next year?

We look forward hearing from you, to make sure OcTRAINber 2020 will be even better!

Call for Participants: LGMS Layout at the Great Scale Model Train Show

An L-Gauge Modular Standard layout will be present at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, Maryland. The dates of the show are February 1st and 2, Saturday and Sunday from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Monty Smith will be layout chief for this event. He is responsible for the layout plan and operating schedule. Anyone interested in participating should contact him directly:

Monty Smith
montyslegotrains@cox.net
Facebook / Instagram: @montystrains

Participants must be finalized by the end of November in order to coordinate a layout plan and submit it to the show coordinator.

The LGMS layout must conform to LGMS v1.3, which has been uploaded to our LGMS page and to the LGMS Facebook group.

Event Report, AN EVENING WITH A LEGEND OF STEAM: ROSS ROWLAND, And an Update On Our T-1 Kit Launch Date

On Saturday, September 21st, 2019, American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, Inc hosted an event, An Evening with a Legend of Steam: Ross Rowland, to benefit the ASR’s “Fire Up 2100” campaign for the restoration of Reading T-1 class steam locomotive 2100. Brick Model Railroader attended the event to display our soon to be released custom LEGO® model of 2100 and support the restoration.

Two T-1’s, of drastically different scales, meet in a historic roundhouse.
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Event Benefiting Reading 2100: An evening with a Legend of Steam: Ross Rowland, and a Brief T-1 Kit Update

On Saturday, September 21st, 2019, American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, Inc will be hosting an event, An Evening with a Legend of Steam: Ross Rowland, to benefit the ASR’s “Fire Up 2100” campaign for the restoration of Reading locomotive 2100. Brick Model Railroader will be attending the event to display our LEGO® model of 2100 and support the restoration.

From the American Steam Railroad Website:

“Join American Steam Railroad on Saturday, September 21, 2019, starting at 4:30 pm for an extraordinary event. Legend of steam, Ross Rowland will give a presentation about his career in railroad preservation from his early days to the American Freedom Train and Chessie Steam Special, along with how he was involved with our locomotive, Reading 2100. Tickets are $99.00.”

Continue reading Event Benefiting Reading 2100: An evening with a Legend of Steam: Ross Rowland, and a Brief T-1 Kit Update

Brickworld 2019 Event Report

Brickworld 2019 has come and gone. It’s time to reflect on all the excitement, pain, wonder, frustration, and joy that characterized my trip this year to one of North America’s premier LEGO fan events. Brickworld takes place at the Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL every June, and is one of the largest LEGO fan events  in North America. It draws some of the best builders in the country, and even a few from over seas. It is also typically the largest gathering of LEGO train fans, and train clubs in the US. If you love LEGO trains, you’ll be in good company at Brickworld.

L-Guage Modular Standard Group
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International Car Company Extended Vision Caboose Vol. I Available Now

Brickworld Chicago is now in full swing. After a setback in travel, BMR (just Cale this time) is at the event and enjoying the fun. Unfortunately I (Glenn) can’t be there due to prior obligations, so I’m tasked with writing the article this time.

International Car Company Extended Vision Caboose is Available Now

At long last, after months of work with our largest instruction book yet, our International Car Company Extended Vision Caboose Premium Instructions Kit is now available.

The idea for this kit was taken from our NMRA 2018 exclusive kit, which was a Missouri Pacific version of the same car. The plan was to release a more generic version of the car, so I decided we would include instructions for one of each style of caboose – centered cupola, semi-offset cupola, and offset cupola. Each car would have it’s own interior faithful to the prototype. Cale, however, convinced me that three cars would be limiting for the consumer, so we decided to expand the plan once more and onclude instructions for six unique cars.

The book is laid out much differently than our previous models. The approach we took is a modular design, reflected in the instructions. Instead of building a caboose from start to finish, the builder first builds the many sub-models appropriate to the caboose in question, and then builds the framework of the caboose and adds in the sub-models. Part lists are included separately at the back of the spiral bound, 164 page book.

Continue reading International Car Company Extended Vision Caboose Vol. I Available Now

The design of Bhw Neukirche: By Enrico Lussi

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!

A line-up of (most of) my current collection
Continue reading The design of Bhw Neukirche: By Enrico Lussi

Trains at the Brickworld Charity Auction

Each year at Brickworld in Chicago, attendees gather together to participate in what has become an fun, exciting, and unforgettable events held during the convention. The Esther Walner Memorial Charity Fundraiser. Th auction features unique LEGO® and LEGO Fan Community items donated by individuals, groups and companies to help raise money for charity. Proceeds benefit several deserving charitable organizations, including Creations for CharityRiley Children’s HospitalFIRST LEGO League, and the Make a Wish Foundation. 90% of the proceeds raised is donated to these charities. The other 10% Brickworld uses to support other opportunities to help kids in the community. Last year’s auction raised $22,300 with 100% of that money going to charitable organizations.

2016 Brickworld Charity Auction.

Trains at the Auction: Stoking Rivalries for a Good Cause

Charity Auction MOC
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Brickworld Chicago 2019 Exclusive Premium Instructions Now Available

If you’re a registered attendee of Brickworld Chicago this year, we would like to extend an exclusive opportunity.

Similar to our NMRA 2018 National Train Show exclusive, we are happy to announce that an exclusive Premium Instructions Kit is now available for registered attendees of Brickworld Chicago 2019 to pre-order.

The Model

To celebrate the Sesquicentennial of the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad in the United States, I chose to model a B-50-25 “Challenger” Express Boxcar.

Rendering of the final model.

I’ve always had a taste for shorter (in height) boxcars, as well as clean but attractive paint schemes. This car checks all of those boxes. This particular car has been an interest for me since I first saw Nate Brill’s rendition of one a few years ago. It was a striking grey and red scheme with a stylized “The Challenger” to the right of the doors.

Continue reading Brickworld Chicago 2019 Exclusive Premium Instructions Now Available