Following the AWESOME events of NMRA 2018 in Kansas City last month, there’s been a lot of discussion about what people are trying to get out of the hobby, defined as “LEGO Trains”. Put another way, why are we (you, me, etc.) here? What kind of reward do we seek from this niche hobby within a niche hobby?
Allow me to offer a few of my own thoughts and experiences which remind me why I’m doing what I am.
Continue reading Why Am I Here?
Last week we brought you our review of the new Cargo Train set no. 60198. This week we have our review on the second of the new Powered Up train sets, the Passenger Train set no. 60197.
The new Passenger and Cargo Train sets are our first introduction to the new Powered Up System, and also the first new City trains in a few years. Naturally, these new sets are of great interest to the LEGO train community. The Powered Up system in particular has been a very hot topic, and has many potential ramifications to how we build our trains going forward. However, we didn’t want to confuse the new system with the set, even though they come as a pair. We want to review the new trains on their own merit. We will have a more extensive review of the Powered Up system itself, and what it has to offer the more advanced builder, in an upcoming article.
For these reviews we are looking at the new train sets based on how good they are as actual train sets. A train set is really the gate way to the larger model train hobby. It’s where almost every LEGO train fan, and modeler starts. It may be a set received as a present under the Christmas tree or for a birthday, or a set purchased from a store to add to your growing AFOL collection. The train set is where most of us start our LEGO train hobby because all the basic building blocks to creating a running train are there in a single box, and will be the gateway for new builders in our hobby for the next several years. Let’s take a look now and see what the new Passenger Train set has to offer us. Continue reading Review: 60197 Passenger Train with Powered Up System
At long last, way too long probably, Brick Model Railroader has built and reviewed the new Powered Up train sets from the LEGO City line!
Unfortunately, and quite obviously, we are pretty late to the review party for these new trains. While BMR is a Recognized LEGO Online Community (RLOC) and we do have some benefits from that, we were not able to obtain the new train sets before the official release, but we did try. Cale ended up buying one of each anyways so we could provide a decent review for our audience, being the only Train-specific LEGO media around.
Let’s dive into the new 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up!
Continue reading Review: 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up System
Every year, the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) holds an annual convention in order to provide a place for the membership to meet to continue their association with the hobby in a common forum. The convention rotates to a different city each year, and this year the convention was in Kansas City, Missouri from August 5th-12th. In conjunction with the convention, the NMRA also holds a National Train Show taking place on the last three days of the convention. This train show feature operating train layouts, vendors selling model trains and model railroad supplies, and model railroad manufacturers displaying their new products.
For this year’s National Train Show, several LEGO User Groups (LUGs) and LEGO Train Clubs (LTCs) were given 3000 square feet of space to display their LEGO train layouts. This marks the first time in several years that so many clubs were able to come together for a National Train Show. Participating Groups included KC Brick Lab, the hosting LUG, Texas Brick Railroad, ArkLUG, Twin Cities LTC, OKLUG, PennLUG, IndyLUG, CincyLUG, Pewaukee Road LEGO Train Line, and MichLUG. Also represented was LifeLites, CRR Studios, OKBrickworks, and of course, Brick Model Railroader.
Continue reading NMRA 2018 National Train Show Report
With the release of the new LEGO City trains, driven by the new Powered UP system, fans had many questions. Kim Thomsen, of LEGO, worked with fans to gather questions, and to research answers. The following is from Kim:
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With the launch of the new Powered Up system in the LEGO Train 60197 and 60198 a lot of questions surfaced in the AFOL Community. We asked the Ambassadors of the Recognized Communities to bring all those questions to us and below you have the answers to all those questions.
We hope this will clarify and answer a lot of the questions and concerns in the AFOL Community.
Continue reading Powered UP Questions & Answers
Greetings fans and supporters,
We’ve been pretty quiet on the website but we’ve had a lot going on behind the scenes. We hope you have been enjoying the builder interviews and community spotlights, we certainly appreciate Elroy and Andy for putting some of those together for us. Today we’ll provide an update on BMR premium instructions, upcoming shows (of which there are several before the year is out), and more.
We’ll begin with upcoming shows.
Continue reading Brick Model Railroader on Tour: July/August, 2018 Update
Continuing our theme of interviewing builders of exception MOCs, we’re back with European builder Mateusz Waldowski. Mateusz built this awe inspiring bullet train, the Alstom Pendolino ED250 PKP Intercity. We might not have awesome trains like this in the United States, but we sure wish we did! His build is complete with lights, a complete interior (!), and custom stickers. Check it out.
BMR: Tell us a little more about the build. How long did it take? Estimated piece count?
Mateusz: My MOC is 130cm long, has 3500 pieces, 10m of wire inside, lights on the front changing by direction, and lights inside. I first made a sketch in September 2015 and I started building from real bricks in 2016. The build took longer than I expected because I had to collect lots of ideas and continually improve the model.
BMR: What inspired you to build this particular locomotive?
Mateusz: In the LEGO catalogs from my childhood, passenger trains were always express/high speed.
BMR: Is it powered?
Mateusz: Yes. It has two LEGO train motors (old 9V train motor and pf train motor) and the receiver is behind the cab. Power comes from 9V tracks and steering by pf control pilot.
BMR: What is your build process? Do you use some form of digital design program?
Mateusz: I don’t have one way in my building process. For this particular model I used “LEGO Digital Designer” to sketch it, but my 3D model wasn’t good enough and I made lot of changes. In others MOCs I build immediately from real brick.
BMR: What was the hardest bit to get right?
Mateusz: The most difficult was the front of the train. I wanted the train to look very smooth and fast like the original. I didn’t want to have “stairs” on the front of train. (Ed: you certainly succeeded!)
BMR: What’s your favorite detail that other people might not notice?
Mateusz: I don’t know. I spent too long building this train to have an objective opinion about it.
BMR: What’s next?
Mateusz: This year I plan on adding one more car to the Pendolino (with a restaurant inside). Right now I am building another diesel locomotive to add to my PKP Cargo family. I definitely must build more cargo cars.
BMR: What’s best, steam or diesel?
Mateusz: I don’t have a favorite type of locomotive/train. (ed: we’re sure that Mateusz meant to say diesel, but we’ll let it slide this once).
Brickworld 2018 is now in the books, and things are starting to return to normal again here at BMR. Once again I made the trip to Chicago to attend, representing both my club, PennLUG, and Brick Model Railroader. Brickworld is a premier LEGO® fan event taking place at the Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL 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.
Continue reading Brickworld 2018 Event Report
And now for some awesome news!
BrickTracks, the company behind those injection-molded R104 and R120 (with R56 now available for pre-order) curves has finally launched a Kickstarter campaign for R104 switch tracks.
I won’t be going into every detail in this post, as everything is explained on the campaign page, but here’s a run-down of what’s going on:
Continue reading BrickTracks Announces The R104 Switch Tracks KickStarter Campaign!
Today we interview SwissLUG member Stefan Erismann. Stefan’s unique builds include interesting rounded shapes and realistic proportions. For more, see his wonderful Flickr stream.
BMR: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you most enjoy building?
SE: I am 22 years old and I study electrical engineering. I am a member of SwissLUG, the first Swiss Lego user group. Since I was a small child, I was interested in trains and railways, and so am I today. I enjoy building models of existing rolling stock and the challenge to build the round train fronts and other things which do not fit in the “regular LEGO geometry”. This can be the tilted walls of the ETR 610, or the round front of the Trans Europe Express (TEE).
BMR: Your Flickr photos show a number of small studies of building techniques, as well as computer renderings. Can you tell us about your design and building process?
SE: I normally start with pictures of the real thing, e.g. a locomotive. I also look for blueprints and especially pictures from the side, to get the proportions right. Then I build a prototype with the bricks I have at hand. Often these prototypes are quite colorful. Depending on the size and bricks I already have I build the MOC with the LDD to calculate the bricks I am missing. On the other hand, I cannot build everything I want, so a lot of MOCs will stay in the LDD. That is also the point where I put pictures online. I hope that my building techniques can inspire other people to build their MOCs.
The models I finally build with real bricks however seldom look like the LDD prototypes. I often change things if for example some new bricks appear, or some bricks become available in a certain color.
BMR: In addition to trains, you have built some beautiful models of public transportation buses. Do you enjoy building these a individual models, or
are they part of a larger layout?
SE: The correct answer is both. I started with a coach, which then turned into a small layout with the coach, a bus stop and a campsite.
There are a lot of members in SwissLUG who build trains or modify the train sets from Lego, so there is never a lack of trains on an exhibition. However, there are no buses. So now I am planning a big bus station and I have now six buses, from commuter service buses to a double deck coach. I also enjoy that every bus manufacturer has their own details, like the front or the shape of the bus itself. That is something I try to capture with my bricks.
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