Category Archives: People

The builders behind the models and layouts

Models, People

Building Up Prussian Steam

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Today we’re looking at something with a high cool factor.

Meet Falk Schulz, or “bricknerd” on Flickr, a very talented builder from Germany. He’s certainly no stranger to Brick Model Railroader, having been featured in a past article highlighting some his Prussian electric models. Falk is known for his amazing work with diesel locomotives, having built several North American models. My favorite is probably his Rio Grande SD   40T-2.

Falk’s Rio Grande diesel. 7 studs wide and all the right details. I particularly like the brick-built logo.

However, as can be seen by the title, we’re not focusing on his diesels today. Instead, we’re looking at a steam locomotive. A small one, too.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/zeist_bouwplaten/6897683145

Continue reading Building Up Prussian Steam →

History, Inspiration, Models, People

Throwback: RAILBRICKS Kits

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We posted these few photos on the BMR Facebook and Instagram pages on Sunday, and I felt they’d be fitting to throw in this article.

For those that don’t already know, Brick Model Railroader came into existence after the previous Lego train community hub, the online publication RAILBRICKS, fell apart. Many of the contributors and staff members got busy with other aspects of their lives, and so could not channel energy into RAILBRICKS.

The creator and original editor of RAILBRICKS is a gentleman by the name of Jeramy Spurgeon. Before stepping down from the Editor position, he managed to sell a couple limited edition kits. Both of these kits are 6 stud wide models but are still packed with detail.

Continue reading Throwback: RAILBRICKS Kits →

Inspiration, People

Are we real model railroaders?

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When I woke this morning I had planned to write an article about a very different subject. But upon opening my Facebook feed I was greeted with a post I made on my wall 5 years ago, concerning the topic of “Are LEGO® Trains considered real model trains?” The post was spurred by a Eurobricks discussion going on at that time. Bellow is my entire post on the subject from January 2012 (excuse the typos). I found it very interesting to see what my thoughts on the LEGO train hobby were back then, compared to where we are now.

Continue reading Are we real model railroaders? →

Layout Design, People

The PennLUG Lines: Planning a LEGO Train, Club Layout

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With Elroy’s articles on Matson’s Landing, and the A/D Track concept, as well as the the Track Geometry article, it seems we have a bit of a theme running right now with train layout design. I too am working on some layout planning, but unlike Elroy’s smaller, personal layout, I’m working on layout designs for my club, PennLUG. And since this is a different kind of beast from a home layout, I thought it would be great to illustrate all the planing that goes into a train layout like ours.

PennLUG Lines logo, based on Reading RR logo.

Planning the PennLUG Lines

Some of you may be familiar with PennLUG’s style of LEGO® train layouts. But for the benefit of those new to us, I will give a bit of background. Continue reading The PennLUG Lines: Planning a LEGO Train, Club Layout →