When Brick Model Railroader began in the late December of 2016, we had no idea where it would go. We certainly didn’t have plans to be selling instructions for models, and be working towards selling full kits as we find ourselves today. But fate seemed to intervene and has switched us to this express track we’re on now.
On February 25th, 2019, Brick Model Railroader reached a milestone. We sold and delivered our 1,000th Premium Instruction Kit.
We know you’ve been waiting for our next Premium Instruction kit. Well, the wait is over, and to make up for the delay, we have not one, but two new Premium Instructions for you: the Thrall 61′-1″ Bulkhead Flatcar, and the Pacific Car & Foundry 50′ Insulated Boxcar. These cars are available for purchase now, and will begin shipping next week. Let’s take a closer look at our new models.
Last fall I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Lionel Strang and the crew of the A Modelers Life podcast. Today that podcast was officially published and is available to download.
If you’re not familiar with the Modelers Life podcast, it’s a show about the people who make up the model train hobby. From the shows website, “All modelers have a life, but what do we know of it. This podcast is as much about the people in model railroading has it is about the hobby itself.”
Lionel Strang hosts the show with a rotating crew of regular contributors from the model railroad community. Lionel is best known as the builder of the Allegheny and Lackawanna Southern, a 20’ X 30’ HO Scale layout. He also built two project railroads for Model Railroader Magazine: the Northwest Timber Company and the Appalachian Central. Lionel wrote the monthly column Workin’ on the Railroad for Model Railroader magazine from July 1998 until May 2005, then continued to serve as a contributing editor for another six years after that.
It was a really fun interview to do and I’m honored to help represent both the LEGO® train hobby and BMR to the greater model railroad hobby. I hope you enjoy the interview and let me know what you think of the show. You can download the episode on the AML website, on iTunes, of listen to it on the AML Youtube Channel via the links below.
A Modelers Life Website – https://www.amodelerslife.com
AML on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/a-modelerslife/id905596672?mt=2
AML on Libsyn – http://modelerslife.libsyn.com
AML Youtube – https://youtu.be/ZlW98JBhwY8
AML Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/ModelersLife/
As you may have read, I’ll be attending the Amherst Railway Society’s 51st annual Railroad Hobby Show in Springfield Massachusetts January 26th and 27th. While there I will have the prototype model for our upcoming Reading T-1 Steam Locomotive Kit on display at the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association booth in the Young building. The ASR group is currently restoring Reading T-1 no.2100 to operation, and with whom BMR has been working with on our model of the T-1.
I’ll be splitting my time between the New England LEGO User Gorup’s LEGO train layout in the Mallary building, the ASR Society booth, and just enjoying the show. But if you can track me down, look for the guy wearing the Brick Model Railroader T-shirt, I would love to talk about the T-1, other BMR kits or just trains and LEGO in general. Hope to see you there.
We’ve got a very busy month ahead of us! We’ll be at several train shows joining the Pennsylvania LEGO Users Group (PennLUG) at their train layout as well as visiting friends. Let’s take a look at what January has to offer.
World’s Greatest Hobby on Tour Show, Oaks, Pennsylvania
This coming weekend, we’ll be at the World’s Greatest Hobby show in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Public hours are Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th, from 9-6 and 9-5 respectively. For those in the area, it is the same convention center where Philly Brickfest is held every year: the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. We attended this show last year when it was on Monroeville, Pennsylvania (closer to Pittsburgh) and it was one of our favorite shows. There will also be several model train manufacturers in attendance with their own displays, and much more. More information is available on the show website.
Link to Cale’s photos from last year’s show
Hello again followers, fans and supporters, and happy new year!
Here’s our first post of 2019! We hope that everyone had a joyous Holiday season and an awesome New Year’s. We’d like to reflect on our 2018 and offer some commentary on our second year.
In last year’s review we started off with some stats, so let’s see how we we’ve with our second year behind us.
Not bad for a little website about a niche hobby run by some builders who have never done this kind of thing before. Now lets look at some highlights from 2018.
Okay, we know this hasn’t been our strong point this year. Writing for BMR is a completely volunteer effort, and many of us have either been busy with other parts of Brick Model Railroader, or with life outside the hobby. That doesn’t mean we’ve lost our zeal for the hobby, and we’ve still managed to put out some good stuff. If we have one resolution for 2019, it’s to write more.
We love LEGO trains, and we have a lot to say about them. And we know a lot of others do too. There is an enormous wealth of knowledge out there just waiting to be shared, and we want to be the ones to facilitate that. So, for 2019, expect more great LEGO train articles from us.
In 2018, BMR attended several great events, including.
We had a lot of fun getting out and meeting our fellow LEGO train builders. And we already have several event we’re planing to attend in 2019.
On January 12th and 13th Glenn Holland and Cale Leiphart will be attending the Worlds Greatest Hobby on Tour in Oaks, PA along with their club layout from PennLUG. Also in January, Cale will again be attending the Amherst Train Show in Springfield, Massachussetts January 26th and 27th, and will be hanging out with the New England LEGO Users Group and their LEGO train display.
In March, Cale and Glenn will be trekking out to Nebraska Brick Days on the 30th and 31st. This will be our first time attending this show. Cale and Glenn will be their along with their club, PennLUG. LOLUG and NILTC will also be there with their LEGO train layouts. We’re really excited to see this growing event.
In April, look for us to again be in attendance at Philly Brick Fest in Oaks, PA from the 25th to the 28th.
In June BMR will be returning to attend Brickworld in Chicago Illinois. This is one of the premier LEGO fan events in North America, and a hot bed for LEGO train enthusiasts. BMR will of course be a part of it.
In July on the 12th to 14th, BMR will be traveling to the NMRA National Train Show in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have a special project we’re hoping to unveil at the show, and will again be making a special edition BMR kit for participating fans.
On July 31 to August 4th BMR will again be attending Brickfair Virginia. This is a huge LEGO Fan event and we’ll be there as part with other train fans to experience it.
That’s a full plate, but where else will we be in 2019? We’re not sure yet, but if we can make it to any more LEGO train events, we’ll let you know.
In 2018 we launched three more models in our Premium Instructions Kit line. Those were the North Eastern Caboose, The NMRA Special Edition Missouri Pacific Caboose, and the 52′-6″ 70 Ton Drop-End Gondola.
Along with those we continued to sell our previous kits, The Pullman PS-1 40′ Boxcar, USRA 55-Ton Hopper, American Car & Foundry Type 27 Tank Car, and AAR 53′ Flatcar. You can find them all, except the sold out, limited run 2018 NMRA MoPac Caboose, in our online store. And don’t forget to pick up some decals, and extra wheel sets too.
What kits do we have planed for 2019? We plan to start off the year with a double release in January. We will be launching the Thrall 61′-1″ Bulkhead Flatcar and the Pacific Car & Foundry 50′ Insulated Boxcar. Both of these cars should appeal to fans modeling from the 1970’s through 1990’s and later. We’ll have more info on these cars coming soon.
These are just the first of hopefully many Premium Instruction kits coming this year, but that’s not all. The BMR model team has been hard at work over the last year with our first full kit. Yes, full kit, all parts included right in the box to build the model. This is a big step for us, so we wanted to make this model something special. We’ll be revealing it soon (at the end of this week!), with plans to go on sale in Spring 2019. We can tell you though that it is our long awaited steam locomotive project, and it will be awesome. Stay tuned.
In 2018 Brick Model Railroader had the opportunity to team up with Brickmania to produce a model of the USATC S160 Steam Locomotive. Brickmania is a company who specializes in high-end custom model kits made with re-purposed LEGO bricks and is without a doubt the best at what they do. For them to approach BMR and ask us to design a steam locomotive kit for them was an amazing opportunity, and we think we did pretty well. Not only did we create an excellent model of this World War II work horse, but the initial run of 25 kits sold out in less than an hour. Both us and Brickmania were blown away by the response. Of course 25 kits is not a huge number, Brickmania did their best to produce as many kits as they could with in the production timeline, but this was a complex kit to put together. If you missed out on the first run, Brickmania has confirmed that they will be making a second batch of kits as soon as they can fit it into the schedule. When we get word of when the second run is coming, we’ll let you know.
This will not be the end of BMR collaborations with Brickmania. We’re not sure what will be next, but both us and Brickmania are committed to working together again in the future to bring you more awesome stuff.
2018 has been a crazy awesome year for the entire BMR team. To everyone involved, be you staff, contributors, website masters, contest organizers, instruction and model producers, and more, thank you for your amazing support, time, and effort. The success we’ve had in through our second year has been great.
We would like to our extend our sincerest thanks again to the amazing LEGO train community. You are what drives us to keep moving forward. Without you, we wouldn’t be in a position to produce instructions and to help promote the hobby. BMR wouldn’t truly exist without our amazing followers.
From all of us at Brick Model Railroader, we thank you for a good 2018, and we wish you and your families a safe, happy, and prosperous new year!
On December 30th, 2018, Brick Model Railroader celebrated it’s second anniversary. There was no party, or cake. But there was something special going on. Together with Glenn Holland, my colleague here at BMR and one of my best friends, we we’re wrapping up a weekend of work on several BMR projects. We finalized decals, finished box art, and and filmed our review video for the Thrall 61′-1″ Bulkhead Flat Car. We continued work on our PC&F 50′ Insulated Boxcar, and also worked on a few smaller projects. But for me the most special was working on the final details of our upcoming steam locomotive kit before the reveal in a few days.
Producing my own locomotive kit has been a dream of mine for many years. My original USRA Mikado model built in 2011, was actually intended to be the prototype for a kit. It never made it that far, and for several years, the dream lay dormant. But with the launch of BMR in 2017, and soon after the success of our BMR Premium Instructions, the dream came roaring back. Glenn an I started laying plans for BMR’s first full kit, and of course it was going to be steam.
It’s taken us over a year to get there. And in the process we got side tracked into designing a locomotive kit for Brickmania. So we kind of already made my dream a reality. But the BMR locomotive is all ours. The BMR name will be on the box, and it will be awesome! We’ve taken our time to get every part just right. There has been a lot of hours spent between Glenn and myself obsessing over the smallest details, and a few arguments too. But it will be worth it. This will be the top their in LEGO Steam Locomotive kits. And I will have had the pleasure of working with my friend Glenn, to make the dream come true.
And if we can do this, there’s no end to the other awesome stuff we can do at BMR.
Thank you to all our supporters.
Cale
What a year, man. Being in my early 20’s and finishing college in the first two-thirds of this year meant I couldn’t do a lot with BMR, or even LEGO trains in general. Certainly not as much as I would’ve liked. The year hasn’t been without stress, but that also doesn’t mean it hasn’t been a blast. Look at what we were able to accomplish, and we’re still only two guys at this point.
I’m looking forward to what we have in store for the coming year, and I hope you are as well. Until then, keep a eye out for the long-awaited Brick Model Railroader Locomotive Kit reveal. I’m excited to finally be able to say that; it’s been a long time coming.
I keep trying to think of something meaningful to put here, but I can’t. Instead, let me just say thank you. Thank you to everyone that I’ve had the pleasure of working with and speaking to, and hang out with at events, talk to online, and more. I never would have imagined being on the staff of a LEGO train community website, or being able to design models for which fans can purchase instructions for, yet here I am, doing all of that, and more. There’s been some incredible opportunities coming my/our way, and I’ve had a lot of support from my friends along the way. Let me say again, sincerely, thank you.
Play well.
Glenn Holland
If you follow Brickmania on their social media outlets, you probably already know what this is about.
Almost two weeks ago now, Cale and Glenn where invited to attend the NILTC show in Cantigny Park. You can read Cale’s report on that awesome event here. We attended the show as guests of Brickmania to be a part of some of the final steps leading up to the release of a locomotive kit designed by us. We’ll be shedding some light on the details of this epic collaboration in this article.
Firstly, you may be wondering what Brickmania is.
Founded in 1999 by Dan Siskind, Brickmania specializes in high-end custom model kits made with re-purposed LEGO bricks. Their focus is mostly within a military theme, but have ventured outside of this norm to produce space race, sci-fi and fantasy, and pop culture kits as well. They release one new kit every week on Friday morning while restocking older kits and also producing other custom products like books, minifigures, their own table-top game, and a lot more. All production is done in-house at their headquarters in Minneapolis. You can read the full history on their website. Brickmania continues to drive the hobby in many ways and always raises the standard for custom model kits.
Good news! It took a bit longer than expected from our side (and we again apologize for this), but we can finally reveal the winners of this years OcTRAINber!
First, let us again say that we really enjoyed all the builds, the WIP stories and all those beautiful pieces of foreign rolling stock. I’d say it’s no strange thing to say that the community really added the TRAIN in this years OcTRAINber again! And yes, just like last year it was a challenge to judge them, but just like last year, in the end we managed.
Prizes & Judgement
Due to a difference in prizes compared to last year, we have come up with some new winning categories for this year: Grand Prize for Real Life Entries, Grand Prize for Digital Entries, Prize for best Foreign Factor and Prize for best WIP Story. The winners of the Grand Prize are allowed to choose between the new Powered-Up Cargo Train and the PFx Brick Holiday Train Conversion Kit, with the winner of the Grand Prize Real Life having first pick. The winners of the categories get two prizes: First a choice between PFx Brick 4MB + XL Speaker and Bricktracks R56 curved tracks, and second a choice between Lego Rails and PF pack, with the winner of the Foreign Factor category having first pick in both. Oh, and ofcourse you can only win once. So if you win in one category, you are obviously out for any other prizes in this years’ OcTRAINber.
Just to shortly tell something about the judging itselve: All four of us (being Cale Leiphart, Glenn Holland, Holger Matthes and me) gave all entries points between 0-10 in three categories: Credibility, Foreign Factor and WIP Story. These points were added up (meaning you could get a max of 120 points for the Grand Prize, and 30 for a “Best of” Prize) and then compared between all the entries, with the one with the highest number of points wining. Yes, it’s that simple 😉
So now that we have established the prizes and the judging, let’s go on to the awards!
GRAND PRIZE REAL LIFE
It’s Hod Carrier with his amazing Ferrobus!
Everything just worked in this entry. The WIP story, the credibility, the scale, the little pieces of rust and chrome, but definately also the absolute amazing foreign prototype. Who would have ever thought that a bus would win in a train contest? Well played Hod Carrier!
GRAND PRIZE DIGITAL
Congratulations Bricknerd with his FM H15-44!
A great WIP story from day one, including microscale and Halloween versions of his build, but also one of the stranger diesels that have been running around in the US (if you are familiar with those boxes on wheels, that is) that was captured really well with some great sideways work. A true digital winner.
BEST FOREIGN FACTOR
That’s ofcourse no other than Alexander with his Lartigue Monorail!
Most probably the most wonky Foreign build of this year. Yes, some of us had once read about this thing. And yes, even back in the days when it was build it was weird. But seeing it build in Lego, with a functioning drive unit? Thats a whole other trainyard!
BEST WIP STORY
Lastly, it’s Donát Raáb with his Wiener Linien ULF tram!
Even though he came pretty late to the party, Donát Raáb gave us a really good insight in how he build that thing. Including puns like “Flag Day” and how he managed to keep it just also Ultra Low Floor like the prototype, it was awesome seeing his updates coming in day by day.
HONORARY MENTIONS
Just like last year, some builds came really close, but just not close enough. These are our honorary mentions. No prizes, but just a proper reminder to keep up the good work!
Lastly, we would like to again thank our sponsors; FX Bricks, Bricktracks and The Lego Company. Without them these awesome prizes would have never been possible. We are really gratefull for their effort in supporting the community!
And, ofcourse, we hope to see all of you again for OcTRAINber 2019!
I certainly can’t recall the last time I’ve seen an Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe (ATSF) steam locomotive modeled in LEGO, though I’m sure I may be missing one.
Chris Stone, known as Narmot on Flickr, has updated his model of ATSF 4-8-4 #2926 into what he is calling his third version. Chris is one of the OcTRAINber 2017 winners with his flexible-boilered mallet steam locomotive and has built several other noteworthy models including a wonderful passenger train to put behind his new 4-8-4.
One look at this locomotive will keep your eyes darting to new locations to pick out all the details. Chris certainly packed it in on this locomotive.
Continue reading Santa Fe 4-8-4 No.2926 by Chris Stone
Now that OcTRAINber 2018: The Foreign Challenge is officially over, we first would like to thank all the participants who made this such a great month again. It was amazing to see all the WIP stories showing up on the Flickr feeds, FB timelines, but also on the well-beloved Train Tech forums over at Eurobricks for example. So thank you all for that!
Now, let’s go over the timeline. In the next coming weeks our judges will go over all the entries and score them according to three criteria: WIP Story, Credibility and The Foreign Factor. This might take a while because BMR is a labour of love, meaning we all do this stuff next to our real life lives.
However, for now we would like to make a short round-up of all entries and also to show you some of the key statistics of this years OcTRAINber.
Continue reading OcTRAINber 2018: The Round-up
Now that the last weekend of October is (almost) over, it’s time for a preliminary recap post.
First of all, we have already seen a lot of great entries and some awesome WIP stories. Great to see everybody enjoying this challenge as much as we do!
Second, as we said in our first post, we do have the possibility for a grace period in case some BL orders were delayed. Question now is: Does anybody need this grace period? If yes, please let us know asap so that we can make this official. This can be done by just posting in the comment section below. If nobody replies, the deadline stays at October 31st, at 23:59 PDT.
UPDATE: We have decided to extend the deadline untill the end of Sunday November 4th. Hope this will be enough for all to finish your builds!
Third, we have seen some people entering several builds. In the announcement for OcTRAINber we however said the following:
“We are allowing digital entries and real life builds, but everyone is limited to one entry only to keep things fair.”
To indeed keep things fair (definately with all these prizes) we have decided to stick with this rule and limit to one entry. This means that we would like to ask all contestants that entered more than one entry to decide which is their ‘official’ entry. Feel free to do this in the respective entry threads at the BMR Flickr Page.
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