We’re back with part of our look at the cars from the Secret Santa Rail Car Exchange I participated with in 2020. If you are just joining us, take a look at part one and two of this series to catch up on the what, how, who, and why and see the cars you missed. We won’t start without you
Rail Car Secret Santa 2020 Part 1
Rail Car Secret Santa 2020 Part 2
Alright, let’s dig in to the next group of cars.
Continue reading Rail Car Secret Santa 2020 Part 3
We’re back to look at a few more of the cars from the Secret Santa Rail Car Exchange I participated with in 2020. If you are just joining us, take a look at part one of this series to catch up on the what, how, who, and why. We’ll wait for you.
Rail Car Secret Santa 2020 Part 1
Alright, let’s dig in to the next group of cars.
Trevor drew Monty’s name, and the car he built to gift was perfect for Monty’s fleet. Trevor choose to model one of the more interesting pieces of intermodal equipment to come out of the 1980s, the Roadrailer.
RoadRailers were specialty trailers that could easily be moved from the highway to the rails without having to be loaded onto a flatcar. The technology dates back to the 1950s. The trailers were built with integrated railroad wheelsets that could be lowered into position when the trailer was pulled behind a train. However it was not until the 1980s that the idea finally gained traction.
Modern roadrailers do not include integrated railroad wheels, but ride on regular trucks that do double-duty, serving as articulation points between multiple trailers in a train. Each regular truck is equipped with one fifth wheel at one end and a connector plate at the other end. The connector plate slides into a female receptacle on the rear of the trailer in front and is secured with a steel pin. At the head of a Road Railer train there is an adaptor truck equipped with one fifth wheel and one regular AAR Type “E” or Type “F” automatic coupler. Each semi-trailer has one king pin at each end. Because the truck (bogie) is significantly lighter than a rail flatcar or well-car, roadrailer freight trains are much lighter and therefore are more energy efficient than traditional intermodal trains.
Though the use of road railers has waned in recent years, Triple Crown still uses them. The “TCSZ” on the trailer is the AAR reporting mark for Triple Crown Service. The trailer number beginning with 464 indicates that the trailer was built approximately 1999–2002, and weighs only 1,000 lb (454 kg) more than a regular highway-only trailer.
Those of us who know Bradley, know he has a bit of a love for the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, or as it’s more commonly known, the Frisco. Love may be an understatement, I swear he eats sleeps and breaths nothing but Frisco. So when Jeff pulled Bradley’s name, the road choice was obvious.
With the road choice nailed down, the choice of car type came next. Bradley has already modeled a very nice Frisco train depot, so Jeff played into that and built a piece of head end equipment to compliment Brad’s depot. And what head end car is cooler than an express reefer. Pun fully intended.
Express refrigerator cars were used to carry perishable crops like berries and melons to distant markets at passenger train speeds before spoilage could occur. Normally, they were operated at the head end of passenger trains, which required that the cars meet the same design standards as steel postal cars in terms of high speed trucks, passenger car brake systems, air, steam and signal lines, passenger car buffers as well as passenger paint and lettering schemes.
This car was built by American Car & Foundry, AC&F. The car is 50ft in length and featured passenger style trucks and of course is lettered for Bradley’s favorite road, the Frisco.
Matt drew Jeff, and the resulting car is a really nice wood chip gondola. Here is some more info from Matt on his car.
My build was for Jeff Fonda. His railroads and era of choice were Northern Pacific (NP) or Great Northern (GN), and mid to late steam (40’s to 50’s). The first step was to find a prototype, one that hadn’t been modeled already by Brick Model Railroader (BMR) or Brick Train Depot (BTD) – meeting all three of these criteria would prove to be tough!
In the beginning I quickly realized that both these roads had woodchip gondolas, which was a type of car I personally hadn’t seen done in Lego before (which meant BMR and BTD certainly hadn’t done it). The problem was that the majority of the cars I was seeing were later than Jeff’s chosen build era. I briefly started looking at other types of cars, but since a woodchip hopper had been something I’d wanted to build for a while I came back and searched a bit harder. Eventually I found the NP 52000-52749 series of cars, which were drop-bottom gondolas built in 1937.
By now you’ve probably seen the photos of the car, and may be thinking, “Matt, don’t you know anything about math? 118837 is not between 52000 and 52749!” You would be correct. These types of wood chip cars, like wood chip cars on many other railroads, were in-house conversions from existing cars. The few 52000 series cars that were converted for wood chip service were renumbered to NP 118500-118540. Now you might think, “OK, but you’re still 297 cars off…” I also found the NP 118800 series of cars, which were very similar 40’ drop-bottom gondolas converted to wood chip service. In my research I learned that these wood chip cars were used in captive service to specific mills and the extensions were to increase capacity were designed by the mills, thus the design varied between each class.
The resources I found for the 118500 series were very scarce, and the few photos I found showed the cars in 1980 being prepped for retirement and wearing much different livery than they would’ve in the 40’s or 50’s. I also found very few photos of model cars, and these were low quality and only from the side. The source I had found for the 118800 series cars had a number of very large photos of a very well-detailed model. There were some features of these cars that I knew I wouldn’t be able to get right, so I decided to merge the two designs. The fact that each mill had different designs for the cars that it was served by in my mind lent credibility to my design.
Once the prototype was settled upon, it was time to design the car! Some of the prominent details that I tried to capture included the corrugated ends and ribs of the gondola, the flat, smooth sides of the extensions, the rods to operate the door mechanisms, and the gap between the floor and the trucks, due to the need for the entire length of the car to be able to dump, which also puts the underbody details on display.
The widest part of the car ended up being 9-wide since the corrugated ends needed to be an even width (8-wide) and the ribs and upper lip of the gondola extended beyond this. The design is almost entirely SNOTed, with lots of internal structure to hold everything in place securely. (It may have been a bit overbuilt, but that probably helped it get to Illinois in a minimal number of pieces!)
Once the design was done, it was time to order parts and decals. Lately, my preferred method for ordering parts is to make a wanted list on Bricklink, use the auto-select function to automatically generate carts, then order two or three of these carts at a time. This way I don’t have to make a special order for the one or two missing parts if there’s any parts missing from orders, last-minute changes to the design, or if I simply forget a piece. (I ordered all the parts at once for a boxcar I recently built and was missing a single 2×2 tile in the end…) The downside to this method is that I can’t start building it when the parts start arriving (though I still did that anyways).
Partially assembled bits of freight car.
The last step before shipping it was to photograph the car for my records and to share on social media. Without a dedicated photo area or workspace, this involves dragging furniture around…
My makeshift photo area using a not-so-handy dresser.
Then the last step was to pack it up and ship it out! I’ve heard the motto “if it shakes, it breaks” from the ceramics industry, so I took that advice and packed the box with bubble wrap and paper so that when I shook the box I couldn’t hear movement. As far as I know it didn’t break in transit, so I think it worked!
Lots of paper… and some bubble wrap!
Lastly, here are some more shots of the completed car.
That’s three more cars down, and we still have 5 more models to go. Come back tomorrow to see the next group of cars.
Hello everyone. It’s that Holiday time of year again. The air is turning colder, strings of lights are going up, and Christmas music is playing somewhere in the distance. Trains and the Holidays were made for each other. We here at Brick Model Railroader are getting into the Holiday spirit, and to start things off, we’re having our annual Black Friday Cyber Monday Weekend Sale!
We also have some important store updates, so please read until the end.
Starting Black Friday, November 26th at 12am save 10% on all our Locomotive, Freight Car, Passenger Car, and Caboose Premium Instructions. All Decals will also be 10% off. The discount will automatically be added to your cart. $10.00 Minimum purchase, sale ends at at 11:59pm Monday November 29th (EST times). Just visit our the BMR Store at the link below and start shopping.
So you want more? Well we have a special bonus for you. The first 50 orders this weekend will receive a free Brick Model Railroader Swag Pack. It’s filled with the following goodies.
The Swag Pack will not show up in your cart at checkout, we’ll add it to your order afterwards.
We will also have full restocks of all our Premium Instruction Kits.
And did we mention that we offer Gift Cards?
You heard that correct. We’ve brought back Brick Model Railroader shirts. We’ve teamed up with Printify, an on demand printing service to bring back BMR shirts. We have two Tees to choose from. First is the Gildan Ultra Cotton. It’s a good quality shirt that’s not too expensive. The second is a Comfort Color shirt. It’s a premium quality shirt, fits great and is super soft and comfortable. I have a few railroad shirts that are Comfort Color and they are by far my favorite make of Tee I own.
And it’s not just T-shirts this time. We also have long sleeve T-shirts, Hoodies, Hat’s Tumblers, and Mugs.
Some shirts colors or sizes may be temporarily out of stock with our printer, so if you don’t see something available, just check back at a later date to see if it’s in stock again.
As many of you are surely aware, the cost of goods had steadily risen recently. We here at BMR are not immune to this. Many of the components and materials used in making our Premium Instruction Kits have gone up. From the parts used to make our ball bearing wheel sets, to the labels we put on the box, we’ve been paying more this year to produce our products. While we try to keep our retail prices as affordable as we can, we have made some price adjustments recently to keep up with production costs.
However, coming next year, we will likely be seeing our biggest production cost increase. Printing our instruction books.
As some of you may be aware, we have had our instruction book printed through our friends at Brickmania. They have done excellent work for us and have treated us well on printing costs. However starting in January BKM will no longer be taking on outside printing jobs so they can focus on their own printing needs. This means we will be switching printers for our BMR instruction books beginning in 2022. Don’t worry, we have some good contacts and are already 95% certain we have a new printer lined up. What this means though is that our printing costs for our books are very likely to go up. That is just something beyond our control and a reality of our current market.
While we don’t have firm numbers yet, we know that it is inevitable that we will need to raise prices on out Premium Instruction kits to keep up. However there is some good news. Brickmania will still be printing for us through the end of December, so until then, our current prices will stay where they are. If you’ve been on the fence about getting one of our instruction kits, now is a great time to do so, especially with the Black Friday Discount this weekend.
In addition to costs rising as mentioned above, this year has also brought the difficulty of just getting components. Stocks of some parts are non existent, and even when you can get them, they take longer to get. Our book printing has been delayed due to paper shortages. We’ve had to source axles and bearings from other suppliers. Without this stuff we can’t assemble our Premium Instruction Kits. Rest assured that we at BMR are doing everything we can to get what we need to produce our products in a timely manner. But we ask you to be patient with us this Holliday season. If it takes a few extra days, or a week or two to ship your order, it’s not because we’re not trying. We genuinely may not have the product to ship right away because of circumstances beyond our control. But we will ship your order, and do it as soon as we possibly can.
Finally, we’ll leave you with this sneak peak at our latest Primeum Instructions model coming soon. The National Steel Car Co. NWA33 class All-Purpose 3-Unit Well Car designed by Chris Stone. Additional we have instructions coming for the 20ft and 40ft Smooth Side Containers, 53ft Trailers, and 48ft and 53ft Insulated Containers seen loaded on the well car set. Look for more details in the near future for these models.
And with that, we wish every one a Happy Thanksgiving here in the US, and Happy Hollidays to all.
Hello train builders. October is here and you may have noticed that we’ve been a bit quiet on our annual OcTRAINber build challenge event this year. Life as, it sometime does, has kept us busy with things other than LEGO® trains. However, we didn’t want the community to miss this years OcTRAINber. So, we decided that for the fifth year in a row, OcTRAINber must go on!
Last years OcTRAINber, “Dioramas, Dioramas Everywhere”, was a big one. Both in scope, and work for builders and us judging. Since we have not had the big pre announcement of theme, and run up to October allowing builders to plan big projects ahead of time, we have decided this year to head in the opposite direction and pick a theme much smaller in scope.
This years theme will be “Critters”.
Loosely defined, a critter is a light-duty or industrial switching locomotive between 300 to 1000 h.p. weighing less than 100 tons, although most tip the scales at less than half that weight. These small locomotives are usually built to fill a specific need for each customer. This results in these tiny engines often having an odd look about them. They can be found in most industrial settings, such as a steel mill, but can be seen hauling coal at a power plant, clay at a brick factory, as well as junk yards and lumber mills. Some are used by the railroads as shop switchers to move dead locomotives around for maintenance or repair. Critters have been manufactured in standard or narrow gauge. Critters can be diesel electric like their “big brothers”, some are pure electric running on trolly poles or even battery power, and others are gas mechanical with a transmission.
While smaller steam locomotives are not typically thought of as “Critters”, there are abundant examples throughout the steam era that fit the critter mold perfectly, so we’re going to throw them in as well.
But wait, there is more. Locomotives are fun, but rolling stock can be great too. And what use is a locomotive if you have nothing to pull with it? So we adding small rolling stock categories in as well. This can be anything from a mine cart, to a small caboose. Any type of rolling stock that is a bit smaller than usual.
Like the previous installments of OcTRAINber, the idea of this building challenge is to actually challenge builders. To get us out of our comfort zones. We Trainheads build a lot of trains, but we too often focus on the big fancy trains. The big freight locomotives and the first class passenger trains. But there is a whole world of interesting railroad subjects that while smaller in stature, are just as hard working and important. This is your mission, to build the little unsung heroes of the train world. Unleash the Critters!
Ok, we do have some rules to go over first. Our intent is to keep things simple here and let you have as much creative freedom as possible, but do have to keep things orderly and fair, so bear with us.
This year there will be six categories you can enter in. Three for locomotives, and three for rolling stock.
Any locomotive weighing less than 100 tons and producing less than 1,000hp, not typically used in main line revenue service. Think industrial, mining, shop switcher. Think small.
Any non mainline revenue equipment, typically shorter than 30ft in length, and often running on less than 8 wheels. If it’s big and carries freight or passengers, then it’s not what we’re looking for.
We will have a special award for best motorized model. This can can be from any one of the above categories (we can’t wait to see how you try to motorize a bobber caboose), so all entries are automatically entered for this. Assuming of corse you have some type of motorization. Motorization is not a requirement though for the main six categories.
Keep in mind that OcTRAINber is a ‘quality over quantity’-building event. This means that we rather encourage you to build one amazing build than several sub-par ones. Build your best, not the most.
We’ve also tried to give you a wide berth in the definitions for each category. We want to encourage you to explore as much as possible and come up with some really interesting stuff. But we also know that it could be easy to stretch those definitions into something not really in the spirit of the theme. Sure an EMD SW1 could technically fit the letter of the rules, but is it in the spirit of the theme. Remember to think small. The theme is critters, and we want to see your best, small modeling.
Just like previous years, we want to encourage you to show off your Work in Progress or “WIPs”, so we can make OcTRAINber a month that is all about trains within the Lego community. Therefore, extra credit will be given to the best WIP stories and/or pictures during the event.
Points will be awarded in three categories: Credibility, WIP Story, and Build.
First of all, credibility of the prototype. This means we will be looking at how much the build represents the real life prototype. If you are sending in a fantasy model, we will look at how credible the build is; would it fit in, does the backstory make sense?
Second of all, the WIP story. This refers to both showing off your building process, but also to how and why you decided to model a certain prototype. The better the story and the more updates you give and the more elaborate your building story is, the better.
Third and last but no less important, the build itself. How detailed is it, how accurate is it, does it look like what it is intended to look like. Does it use pieces in a clever way. Does it use clever build techniques. Does it make every ones jaw drop in amazement.
We haven’t finalized on prizes yet, but since this is a building challenge, we will for sure have some, just like in previous years.
We will pick the winners after we have announced the official close of the competition and have stopped accepting new entries, which will be some time after November 15th. Once the judges (who, just like last year, will be announced in an upcoming article) have come to a sound conclusion regarding the winners, we will post one final article announcing them, and then we will be in contact with those winners regarding their prizes.
For the past four years, OcTRAINber has been organized by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, a.k.a. Raised. Unfortunately due to a growing family life and career commitments Gerbrand felt the need to step down from organizing this year’s event. We are extremely grateful here at BMR for all the hard work Gerbrand has put into OcTRAINber and we will miss his presence in this year’s challenge. With out him, OcTRAINber would not be what it is today. So let’s all give Gerbrand a big thank you making OcTRAINber the event we all know and love.
Thank you Gerbrand, and we hope some day you find the time to once again have a hand in this challenge. Until then, we will do our best to continue what you started and keep it awesome.
So, that’s it for now. OcTRAINber has officially started. Now the only thing you have to do is start building, and unleash the critters! Happy OcTRAINber!
Hello everyone. The world has spent the last year in lockdowns and isolation while we’ve been fighting a global pandemic. All our favorite LEGO® Fan Events have either been postponed or moved online. And while we have made the best of the situation and persevered, we are happy to say that in the United State at least, public evens are starting to return. Today we’re going to highlight a few of those coming in the next few weeks.
Before we get into the events, we wanted to make a quick note of what is going on with the L-Gauge Modular System, LGMS for short, since the standard will be featured in several of the events coming up.
LGMS now has a dedicated website!
https://lgms.org
On the LGMS website you will find the latest updates to the standard, information on upcoming events where an LGMS layout is being organized, links to various LGMS resources, and articles on LGMS. Of course we will still cover important LGMS info here on Brick Model Railroader as well, but the LGMS website will be a great tool as the standard continues to grow.
Brick Days – Omaha is a family friendly event featuring 15,000 square feet of amazing custom creations, games, and interactive activities, all built from LEGO bricks by LEGO enthusiasts from across the Midwest. With this being our flagship event, Brick Days holds nothing back. You will see the newest creations from many different builders, the best prizes, and the newest up-to-date swag from the most popular vendors within LEGO® community.
This year Brick Days-Omaha will be held on July 24th & 25th, at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, IA.
BMR attended this even in 2019 and had a really great time. I will be raveling back there again this year, though I will not have the PennLUG layout coming with me. I still very much look forward to seeing the event, catching up with old friends, and meeting new train fans. Look for me to be hanging around the Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club layout with a few models to show off.
BrickFair Viginia is one of the premier LEGO® fan events in North America, bringing together hundred of LEGO builders and their creations. Held every year in Chantilly, Virginia, the event returns this year on July 28th to August 1st.
https://www.brickfair.com/VA/
This year will be the first time an L-Gauge Modular Standard (LGMS) collaborative layout make an appearance at the event.
Several clubs and individuals will be participating in this layout, including myself with my Red Lion Station layout. A big shout out goes to Monty Smith for organizing this for the 2021 event. I’m really looking forward to running some trains on this.
BrickSlopes is proud to return to the Mountain America Expo Center for their 2021 EVENT. After being forced to cancel the 2020 event, they hope you are too. The event will be held on August 26th- 28th 2021.
Brick Slopes is excited to announce that it is putting on its first LGMS train display this year. Don’t have a train? No worries, buildings, scenery, and just about anything city can be displayed next to some train tracks! Just as long as its made to the LGMS standard.
HOW DO YOU JOIN IN THE FUN!
When you register your MOCs on the BrickSlopes website, select city and train as the theme. Then feel free to reach out to Brad Rowley so they can find the best place to put your layout on the loop! If you have any ideas, suggestions, or just want to share, send Brad a PM! The time is closing fast, so get those MOCs ready!
One final note. As the BMR Store shipping department (that would be me) is going to be on the road the next two weeks attending Nebraska Brick Days and Brickfair Virginia, I will not be shipping orders until I return. The store will remain open so you can place orders, and download our Knuckle Coupler Cad Models and Knuckle Coupler Conversion Instructions, but any orders requiring shipping will not be shipped until I return on August 2nd.
Thank You, and I hope to see you at Nebraska Brick Days or BrickFair.
Cale Leiphart
BMR
It’s been a long time coming, but the day is finally here. Today we are releasing our Premium Instructions for the EMD SD40-2 Diesel Locomotive. Available now in the Brick Model Railroader Store. And we have a few special surprises in store for you too. But first, let’s take a look at the model.
The EMD SD40-2 is a 3,000-horsepower (2,200 kW) C-C road switcher diesel-electric locomotive built by EMD from 1972 to 1989.
The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD’s Dash 2 series, competing against the GE U30C and the ALCO Century 630. Although higher-horsepower locomotives were available, including EMD’s own SD45-2, the reliability and versatility of the 3,000-horsepower (2,200 kW) SD40-2 made it one of the best-selling models in EMD’s history, edged only by the GP9, and the standard of the industry for several decades after its introduction. The SD40-2 was an improvement over the SD40, with modular electronic control systems similar to those of the experimental DDA40X.
Peak production of the SD40-2 was in the mid-1970s. Sales of the SD40-2 began to diminish after 1981 due to the oil crisis, increased competition from GE’s Dash-7 series and the introduction of the EMD SD50, which was available concurrently to late SD40-2 production. The last SD40-2 delivered to a United States railroad was built in July 1984, with production continuing for railroads in Canada until 1988, Mexico until February 1986, and Brazil until October 1989. As of 2013, nearly all built still remain in service.
Our model of this famous locomotive has been designed by BMR Team Member, Chris Stone. Chris has done a wonderful job capturing the iconic look of the SD40-2.
For this, our first Locomotive Premium Instructions, we are trying something new. For past freight and passenger car models we’ve covered multiple variations in a single instruction book. But the SD40-2 is a larger model and more complex than previous Premium Instructions and covering all variations and paint schemes in a single book would be impractical. So we are breaking the SD40-2 up into a series based on the railroad paint schemes we plan to offer.
The advantage of this is that we can offer a better build- ing experience with parts list specific to each paint scheme. Each instruction book will be tailored to a specific railroad with details explicit to that road high- lighted on each model.
Our instructions include options to build each railroad’s SD40-2 locomotives in several paint schemes. Also included are instructions for various optional upgrades to the model including No. 6 Wheels, Custom Fan Shrouds, and Knuckle Couplers. More on those optional parts later.
Our SD40-2 Premium Instructions Kits contain the following:
1 professionally printed 96-124 (page count depending on railroad) page instruction book with full color instructions, part list for each of the build variations, prototype information, and building tips. The books are spiral bound for easy use while building.
1 set of black roller bearing tiles (12 tiles per kit)
2 black Brickarms Monopods used for detailing
4 black Brickarms U-Clips used for detailing.
8 Upgraded Traction Bands
All you need to provide is the LEGO bricks from your own collection. You can purchase decals to build the locomotive in one of a number of authentic paint schemes.
The first four railroads we are offering are:
In the future we hope to release more railroads. If you have a particular road you would like to see, please let us know.
Store Link to our SD40-2 Instructions
We also have a range of decals available for each road name.
Produced for BMR by OKBrickWorks with art work by Cale Leiphart, these decals feature authentically replicated graphics for each of the road names offered.
Decals are printed on clear vinyl. They are durable, water resistant, and easy to apply. Each decal set will complete one locomotive, and comes with extra numbers so you can change the road number to your desire.
Store Link to our SD40-2 Decal Sets
And now about those options. We have more than just decals to add to your SD40-2 model. We have a few other items that can really bring your model to the next level.
The real SD40-2 locomotive uses wheels that are 40 inches in diameter. In our 1:48th Scale model this scales to within 1 inch of a No. 6 (MS) size wheel. The standard LEGO train wheel ( No. 5 or S ) scales to 33 inches.
Our model includes instructions for using either the standard LEGO wheel, or the upgraded No. 6 wheel. For those wanting a more prototypical appearance, the No. 6 wheels give the model a great look.
These are custom 3D Printed No. 6 (MS) Wheels designed by Cameron Miller and produced by OKBrickworks for Brick Model Railroader.
Includes: 8 3D Printed No. 6 Flange Wheels and 4 3D Printed No. 6 Blind Wheels
If you are looking to add a special detail to the appearance of your SD40-2 model, we are offering this Custom Fan Shroud Pack.
This fan shroud upgrade kit replaces the stock LEGO parts used to represent the dynamic brake and radiator fan shrouds on the top of the model. Also included are fan decals that go under the fan shrouds for that extra detailed look.
These are a 3d Printed Product designed by Cameron Miller and produced by OKBrickworks for Brick Model Railroader.
Includes: 3 Black 26mm X 6.4mm 3D Printed Fan Shrouds and 2 Black 3D Printed 26mm X 4.8mm Fan Shrouds, and 6 Fan Decals (used under shrouds).
Planning to buy both the No. 6 wheels and the custom fan shrouds? We are offering a combo pack just for you.
Includes: 3 Black 26mm X 6.4mm 3D Printed Fan Shrouds and 2 Black 3D Printed 26mm X 4.8mm Fan Shrouds, and 6 Fan Decals (used under shrouds)
8 Black 3D Printed No. 6 Flange Wheels and 4 Black 3D Printed No. 6 Blind Wheels
Each Premium Instruction kit comes with 12 printed 1×1 round tile Roller Bearing Caps for the trucks on the SD40-2. Printed by Brick Print Studios. These tiles recreate the look of roller bearings on the trucks the locomotive. For those wanting to build additional models, we have these bearing caps available separately in packs of 12.
For this model, we recommend the replacement of the stock traction band on the RC Train Wheel with SAE AS568A0.16 Metric 1.5×42 (#35) size Rubber O-Rings for better traction and increased clearance between the track and fuel tank. These will also fit the No. 6 Train Wheel.
Eight O-rings are already supplied in each Premium Instruction Kit, but if you are building a second model, or just want to have some spares on hand, we will be selling a set of eight individually.
And last but not least, the SD40-2 can be outfitted with our knuckle couplers. Instructions are included with each model for using either standard LEGO magnetic couplers, or our new knuckle couplers.
The 747S coupler is used with the standard LEGO (No. 5) Train Wheels and the 743S is used with the optional No. 6 Train Wheels.
You can find all these optional parts in the store link bellow.
Store Link to Our Optional Parts
And last but not least, we have restocks of all our previous Premium Instruction models available, as well as decal sets for them and accessories.
Thank you, and we hope you enjoy the SD40-2.
The BMR Team
It’s finally time to reveal the winners of the 2021 Brick Train Awards. Today we’ll be taking a look at the Americas winners, but before that, to see all the winners from around the globe, head over to the BTA website.
You can also watch the announcement video here.
For the Americas Region this year, we had three Judges. I returned as judge this year and was joined by BMR contributor Chris Stone, and Cameron Miller from Brick Train Depot. We had over 200 entries across 11 categories for just the Americas region, and the overall quality of the models entered was truly excellent. The work being showcased from the LEGO train community for this year’s awards is a testament to the skill and passion of the hobby’s fans. Of course, this made our task of picking winners all the more difficult, but it we also loved going through each and every model and discovering all the great build techniques and design ideas used, and also just looking at the beautiful, finished models. The Americas Region was definitely on their A game this year as five of the winners also took home the Global Award in their category!
Now it’s time to take a look at the Americas Region winners and share some thoughts on why we chose them.
Glenn Holland, United States
New York Central L-2a 4-8-2 Mohawk no. 2791
Glenn’s locomotive is modeled after the New York Central’s beautiful L-2a class of 4-8-2 steam locomotives, also known as “Mohawks”. The original prototype L-2a was built in 1925, with ninety-nine more production models being delivered in 1926 from the American Locomotive Company, bringing the class to a total of one hundred locomotives operating on the New York Central System. Producing 72,700 pounds of tractive effort and 3,320 horsepower, the L-2A was equally at home leading long coal drags or speeding down the mainline with a fast freight consist.
Cale’s Thoughts; The 4-8-2 has never been a favorite wheel arrangement of mine, but wow, Glenn has built a 4-8-2 I have really fallen in love with. He has absolutely nailed the look of the L-2a. From the shaping of the boiler, to every little detail (the detail inside the cab on the backhead is crazy!), this locomotive does it right. There was some really stiff competition, but Glenn’s Mohawk does everything so well, and it’s hard to imagine a detail he missed here.
Cameron’s Thoughts; I have been a lifelong fan of the New York Central. When this locomotive was first shown in late 2020, I was immediately in need of it. I have looked at doing my own version many times so to see one so well executed was very nostalgic. There was a lot of debate on this category, but this locomotive really stood out from the pack. There were some great honorable mentions that also stood out exceptionally for me. In no particular order, C&O #2716 Berkshire from Jeffery Fonda, Maine Central #501 Consolidation from Dawson Santoro, and Chicago & Alton #656 Light Pacific from Aaron Burnett.
Chris’s Thoughts; Including “all the bells and whistles” is the usual standard for Glenn’s models, but even with that this engine has gone to levels of detail that stand out. I had to get almost outrageously nit-picky with the top entries to suss out which one was best, and this NYC L-2a had everything I could think to look for and then some.
Aaron Burnett, United States
Chessie System GM EMD GP38 Locomotive #4806
The EMD (Electro Motive Division) GP38-2 is a 2,000hp four-axle diesel locomotive which was built from 1972 to 1986. It is an upgrade of the original GP38, with EMD’s 645E 16-cylinder engine, and new modular electronics cabinets. There were 2213 GP38-2s built, and many still exist and are still currently in service. Aaron’s model is based on the GP38-2s owned by the Chessie System.
Cale’s Thoughts; It has lights, it has sound, and it has that awesome Chessie livery. It’s a combo that’s hard to beat. Add in Aarons meticulous attention to detail and this model takes it to 11.
Cameron’s Thoughts; Thoughts: I have worked with Aaron on and off over the years and this GP38 model is one I have always loved. I have a copy of an older version from our time at Iron Horse Brick Co The updates made since then really set this locomotive up for success. The details and the shaping do a lot to capture the look of the prototype.
Chris’s Thoughts; Thoughts; The shapes and textures in the brickwork on this engine alone put it as a top contender easily, but the extra work with the lights, sounds, and even running board safety tread decals bring it to a level of polish not many models see.
Michael Ruzzi, United States
Acela Power Car
The Acela, originally the Acela Express until September 2019, is Amtrak’s flagship high speed service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 16 intermediate stops. The route contains segments of high-speed rail where the Acela trains attain operating speeds up to 150 mph (240 km/h). Michael’s model recreates the power car. Each Acela train is made up of two power cars, one at each end, with six passenger cars in between.
Cale’s Thoughts; America has high speed rail? Yes we do. And Michael’s Acela is a nearly perfect tribute. The nose modeling is inspiring, and the color scheme and decaling are caried out so well.
Cameron’s Thoughts; When I first saw the renders of this locomotive, I thought there was no way that the front could be attached by anything more than hopes and dreams. Then It was entered and show rolling around the track. It was a pleasant surprise to see. The detail and the shape are very well executed.
Chris’s Thoughts; The brickwork in the nose of the engine is phenomenal, but the rest of the engine behind it really hits it out of the park as well. It’s a lot of fun to watch the video of this engine running.
Rob Hendrix, United States
1:48 scale Narrow Gauge Shay
The Shay steam locomotive was the most well-known and widely used of the geared designs to operate in the country with nearly 3,000 constructed from 1880 through nearly the mid-20 century. Designed by Ephraim Shay, an inventor, among his many, many job titles he held over the years, and built by Lima Locomotive Works, the Shay geared locomotive proved to be an invaluable tool in the logging industry through the first half of the 20th century as it could operate on almost any type of track. Rob’s model is based on a 15 Ton class A Shay.
Cale’s Thoughts; It’s a working narrow gauge Shay in 1:48th scale. What more needs said? Rob just dropped the mic with this one.
Cameron’s Thoughts; Thoughts; A tiny shay that RUNS! The model alone is amazing to get all the gear drive detail but Rob took it a step further and powered it with his Tiny Train Motor. The flat car to move it to its final railroad was a great touch of realism. The entire entry really captured the life of a Shay locomotive.
Chris’s Thoughts; I loved the detail on this model at first sight. Getting a small locomotive build like this to look this good is no easy task, but then I found out it was powered? Yeah, I needed a moment to process that. Amazing Shay build.
Ryan Harris, Canada
Gunderson 40′ Intermodal Well Cars
This 3 unit Gunderson 40′ Intermodal Well Car set is a multi-unit well car designed to carry two stacked intermodal shipping containers. While its base well is 40′, it can accept larger containers such as 45′, 48′ and even 53′ in the top position, making the car a versatile addition to a railroad’s intermodal services.
Cale’s Thoughts; Intermodal is my modern railroad guilty pleasure. I love a good well car set, and Ryan has certainly provided. The scale is perfect, all the right details are there, and the containers complete the look.
Cameron’s Thoughts; Well cars got me into trains when I came out of my dark ages in 2015. I remember trying to design a set of these and failing hard. Seeing Ryan’s execution of these cars has inspired me to pick up my project again. The details and shape accuracy of this model was a favorite feature. There was quite the debate over this car, Aaron’s Waffle Boxcar and Glenn’s Turtleback Boxcar. All 3 were well executed and were deserving of winning.
Chris’s Thoughts; Very nicely detailed and proportioned well cars, and I especially love the way the bottoms of the wells have been detailed. Great work.
Benn Coifman, United States
Amfleet II Car
Built at Budd’s Red Lion plant in Philadelphia between 1975-1983, the Budd Amfleet family of passenger cars were a fleet of 642 intended to upgrade Amttrak’s elderly fleet of cars, some in service since the late 1940s, Amtrak took delivery of its first all-new Amfleet I cars in 1975 for inter-city service in the close clearances of the eastern US. Based on the Budd-built Metroliner, nearly 500 coach and food service cars were delivered by 1978. Starting in 1981, new Amfleet II coaches and lounges were introduced especially for long-distance trains. Both types are still in service today!
Cale’s Thoughts; One of the best examples of an Amfleet car I’ve seen, and it’s in 6 wide. Benn hit the subtle egg shaping of the body with a bullseye, and in 6 wide. The widows are nicely proportioned and spaced as well. It’s an unmistakable “AmCan”. Did I mention it’s 6 wide? Bigger is not always better it seems.
Cameron’s Thoughts; These cars are an inspiration to car builders all throughout the LEGO world. The attention to detail on the shape and the execution of it made these an instant favorite. I don’t build any passenger equipment but these have me considering some AmCans for my layout.
Chris’s Thoughts; Benn’s managed to make a 6-wide passenger car set that raises the bar for even larger-scale models. The great, nearly seamless shaping on the sides is perfectly executed and the thought to put in the bricks behind the windows to give an illusion of an interior was a really nice touch.
Nick Dombi, United States
Nickel Plate Road Bay Window Caboose 423
Nick’s model is based on the International Car Bay Window Cabooses owned by the Nickel Plate Road. This is the Phase 3 variant based on the family of steel bay window cabooses developed by International Car Company beginning in the early 1950s. Over the years the design of the bay windows evolved and each phase features a number of bay window style and other detail variations.
Cale’s Thoughts; Nickle Plate had one of the nicest caboose paint schemes, and Nick nailed it on this one. Great details on the outside, and a detailed interior inside. Love this caboose!
Cameron’s Thoughts; What Cale said haha! This is a great caboose and was very well executed. It was a tough call between this and JT Batheldoer’s RPO cars.
Chris’s Thoughts; Very nicely shaped and detailed model, and an interior is always a great addition. Very fine caboose in a very memorable paint scheme!
Eric Swanson, United States
Germantown Maryland Train Station
The Germantown Station, in Germantown Maryland, is a passenger rail station on the MARC Brunswick Line between Washington, D.C. and Martinsburg, West Virginia, with a branch to Frederick, MD. It is one of the busiest stations on the Brunswick Line along with Silver Spring and Rockville stations. All Brunswick Line trains stop at this station. The original Germantown station, which was built by Ephraim Francis Baldwin for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was destroyed by arson in 1978, and was reconstructed for MARC.
Cale’s Thoughts; The great thing about this model is how it pulls together all the separate elements so well. The station is lovely, the little waiting shelters are great, and the landscape and platform details tie it all up in a perfect package.
Cameron’s Thoughts; The entire scene on this set it above the rest. There were so many details, I found new things every time I looked over the pictures. It’s a really great diorama of the station.
Chris’s Thoughts; The attention to detail on this station and all the other surrounding builds is fantastic. Looking at the photos of it, I could almost imagine actually being at the real station – stand out build!
Jonathan Artz, United States
Strasburg Rail Road No 90
Strasburg no. 90 is a 2-10-0 Decapod type locomotive that was originally built in 1924 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA for the Great Western Railroad. No. 90 was purchased by The Strasburg Rail Road in 1967, and is now one of the last operating Decapod type locomotives in the United States. John’s model of no. 90 is wearing the 1960s era paint scheme from its early days on the Strasburg.
Cale’s Thoughts; I have seen this model in person, and it is as faithful a model of Strasburg no. 90 as one could reasonably get. John is a member of the Strasburg Model Railroad club and knows this engine well. He’s even gone as far as to use real recordings of 90’s bell and whistle and programed them into the Pfx brick powering the model. He is one heck of a builder for his age.
Cameron’s Thoughts; This category was full of great entries but the detail and features of this model made it a worthy winner.
Chris’s Thoughts; I knew there were some very talented TFOL builders out there, but I was truly surprised by how many there were – and how good, too. This model has all the right details in all the right places, and I really appreciated the effort that went into hand-making the decals as well as getting the proper sounds for the model. Amazing work.
Owen Meschter, United States
NER/LNER 15-ton Brake Van
The Brake Van or Guard’s Van are terms used mainly in the UK, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard. The equivalent North American term is caboose, but a British brake van and a caboose are very different in appearance, because the former usually has only four wheels, while the latter usually has bogies. German railways employed Brakeman’s cabins combined into other cars. Owens model is based on a 15-ton Brake van used by the NER/LNER.
Cale’s Thoughts; Big models are easy to pack a lot of detail into. You have all the room to do the crazy SNOT and subtle offsets. Small models are a different story where you run out of room really quick. Owen’s brake van is definitely on the small side, but is big on detail. It’s also got some great character too.
Cameron’s Thoughts; This was a toss up between the Owen’s two entries. His plank wagon and brake van are both very well executed. I looked into the prototype of this because UK rolling stock is not my normal location or era. I was impressed to see just how well the detail and feel of the real thing was captured. The rigging detail under the frame really impressed all of us. The animal horn used as a spring detail was a new part usage for me.
Chris’s Thoughts; Owen’s Brake Van, as well as the rest of his entries for that matter, showcase an incredible ability to do a lot of amazing work in a very small space. The shape and textures of this brake van are all great, but have you seen that undercarriage work? I just can’t get enough of that.
Calvin Bramble, Canada
Canadian National Layout
Cale’s Thoughts; Though it may be small, this little layout doesn’t feel cramped. Everything has just the right amount of space to stand out. The landscaping is well thought out, and there are enough little details to add life to the sceme without becoming too busy in such a small space.
Cameron’s Thoughts; This layout is TINY but packed with details. Some of my favorite details were the use of structures and the containers that are not “on grid” but sitting at an angle. The feel of the layout was definitely of a busy rural freight house and surrounding area. The honorable mention in this category is Owen’s signal tower. There was much debate over who should win this category. I even lobbied for adding a category just to accommodate both winners haha!
Chris’s Thoughts; Thoughts; Great attention to detail, with a very good balance in the amount of detail as well. The layout is filled with things that tell a story and bring life to the scene, and to me it strikes very well the essence of what a model railroad should try to be.
Once again, it was a great experience to judge and be a part of the Brick Train Awards. And it was a pleasure to work with Cameron and Chris on the judging for the Americas. Thank you to both of them for their work. The models summited this year were amazing, and the TFOL categories were the most impressive. Many TTFOL submissions could have been very strong contenders in the adult categories. To see such skill and talent in the younger community is such a thrill, and if it is any indication of what is to come, then our LEGO train hobby has a very bright future. I’m very much looking forward to next year’s Brick Train Awards.
This was a tough competition this year, and many models came within fraction of winning. While they may not all have won, every entry was awesome.
Cameron’s’s Final Thoughts:
Cam here, building on what Cale said, I was honored to be invited to judge the entries this year and it was a lot of work but also very fun to talk about all the entries with Cale and Chris. I was very impressed with the entries across the board. There were plenty of builders I had not seen before so seeing their work was inspiring. Pretty soon all the the TFOL builders are going to have to give me a couple “Old Guy” categories to even stand a chance.
Chris’s Final Thoughts:
It was awesome to be able to participate in Brick Train Awards as a judge this year, I loved going through the entries. It was a lot of fun, but also very difficult – there were so many good entries that it really wasn’t easy to choose, and we had to really dive into the fine details of a lot of these models to have any hope of figuring out a winner. At the end of the day, though, that’s one of my favorite things about the hobby: Seeing and studying all the ways people approach their models. The skill level and standards have been going up, fast, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next. For now, I just want to congratulate the entrants, even the ones that didn’t win – you guys have amazed and inspired me.
Hello readers. Today we have two quick little items on some current contests going on in the LEGO® train community.
If you haven’t been following, the Brick Train Awards is back for 2021.
The Brick Train Awards is a global virtual competition to showcase LEGO train builders around the world. The Awards where founded in 2020 and with a surprising 732 entries last year, the organization decided to run it again this year. Like previous year, the Brick Train Awards is a collaboration between LNUR, Bricks McGee and BMR. The awards are free to enter and judged by members of the LEGO® train fan community worldwide. The entries are op from 1st – 28th February 2021. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on March the 5th.
You have one week to still get your entries in. For more info on the Brick Train Awards, follow the link below.
The Texas Brick Railroad is sponsoring a “Funny Freight” contest. You have nearly six months to design and build your entries – judging will take place at Brick Rodeo (Houston, TX) on Friday, July 23, and all 12 winners will be announced Saturday night.
What It’s About
Create a LEGO railcar (or string of cars) that is . . . funny. It’s funny if it makes us laugh. Or at least grin. That’s the only definition. Parody, satire, weird historical rolling stock, plain old absurdity . . . whatever floats your boat. Just keep it rated G or PG, since Brick Rodeo is a family event.
Prizes!!
FIRST PRIZE – an 8-wide TBRR tank car kit designed by Edward Chang, with custom award printing. (And maybe more – we’re open to prize sponsorship, and some has been tentatively promised.)
SECOND PRIZE – A new-in-box Brickstuff animated Metroliner billboard for your town. (And maybe more.)
THIRD PRIZE – A LEGO “Charles Dickens Tribute,” 40410, new in box. (And maybe more.)
BUILD BONUS – $100 in booth credit at the Brick Rodeo “Too Many Bricks” booth – for the best physical entry that is actually brought to the show. That is: If the first place winner is an actual build at the show, it will get the build bonus. If the first place winner is not at the show but the second place winner is, the second place will get the bonus . . . and so on.
AWARD BRICKS – We’ll create a dozen “2021 Funny Freight” 1 x 8 bricks, and give one each to the top dozen people who enter.
Details
Who can enter? – Any living human being. But no more than two entries per person, please. Judges will be asked not to vote for their own entries.
Required info – We need the name of each entry, your own name (or a screen name), and a means of contact if you win. We will not share your info with anyone, or retain any info after the contest except the names of the winners. We do ask that if you run your entry on our track, you put an identifying sticker on the bottom so we can get it back to you.
Scale – From 6-wide to 10-wide, as long as it runs on standard LEGO track.
Judges – The contest will be judged by the TBRR members displaying at Brick Rodeo.
Format: Your entry may be an actual build brought to the show (preferred!), or a photo/video of a real build, or a virtual build. Virtual images or photos should be sent to texasbrickrr@gmail.com, and should arrive by noon on Friday, July 23rd.
Rights – You retain all rights to your entry, but we get to display images of it, and to build one for our layout if we love it.
Awesomeness – When choosing between equally funny entries, the judges will favor real builds over any other format, and will take into account technical excellence, light, sound, and movement effects.
Novelty – Entries must never have been displayed at a Brick Rodeo before. But this is the first Brick Rodeo, so bring out your best!
Questions?
Send questions about the contest to texasbrickrr@gmail.com.
FAQ
Q – Can one entry be multiple cars?
A – If the joke requires multiple cars, sure, that’s one entry.
Q – Tell me more about Brick Rodeo.
A – Ten years of awesomeness, now with a new name. www.brickrodeo.com.
Q – Should I explain the joke?
A – That’s up to you. Many good jokes don’t need explaining. If your entry embodies a witticism about court intrigue in the days of Louis XIV, you’d better explain it. But often the title of the entry will be enough additional explanation.
Q – Do I need to include instructions?
A – No.
Q – Can I do a funny locomotive?
A – What do you think pulls all the funny freight?
Q – Do you have a disclaimer?
A – LEGO is a registered trademark of The Lego Group. This contest is not sponsored or endorsed by TLG.
It’s been a long wait since FX Bricks first teased their metal rails, but finally, the word is out: March 1st, 2021 will see the second coming of the 9V line! 15 years after the official introduction of Plastic Rails (and the demise of the good old 9V track) the one and only plug-and-play track system that TLC ever had is returning to the markets.
In fact, FX Bricks send us a pre-sale package of R72 and S32 rails last week so that we could already experience the look & feel of the product beforehand. In the seven days I had a blast playing with it, but also just staring at it, to be honest.
I’m not going to do a full in-depth review, because I think zephyr1943 over at Eurobricks did a very fine one already. I mean, if you read his piece, there is no need anymore to say anything else. Also, I mostly agree with the points he makes. And I also think that none of these points are big enough for me to actually make a fuzz about it. So, this review will be mostly an Unboxing Therapy. In fact, I’d say it’s more a Preview than a Review, but hopefully interesting to the community nonetheless!
First of all, the packaging. When I received it, I was immediately stunned with the high level of quality of it. In the past I did receive ME Models track (ziplock bag with a cardboard banner), Trixbricks (same) and Bricktracks (nice cardboard box, but with a sticker). This however is a totally different ballpark. The design is gorgeous, the packaging feels very high quality, and the rails are even held together individually with cardboard spacers.
Which, in fact, have different sizes to accomodate the tracks best as possible. Overall, it’s amazing work, and I can see these taking center spot in those good old Brick and Mortar stores.
The track itselfs looks and feels pretty high quality. The plastic is just a liiiiiitle bit more translucent then Legos, but from a little distance it’s almost invisible. Thanks to the metal rails the whole rail also feels a lot heavier and thus more high quality then a regular plastic rail. Also, the rails are clamped beautifully around the track. You can really see Michael and his team put a lot of effort into making sure this is engineered to the highest levels of quality.
A very nice addition is the embossing of the rail size on top of the rails. Both ME Models and Bricktracks also have this in their injection moulded rails, but they have it on the backside of the track. While this is already a great improvement of not having any identifiers, to me it’s pretty annoying to all the time turn around your track to see which radius it is. By embossing it on the top of the studs it really gives you the possiblity to see wich track you are holding with one short look. Which will definatly come in handy if they are really planning to expand to more diffent radii of curves. Also fun: the S32 straight track also has this embossing.
Regarding running 9V trains on FX track I didn’t see any difference at all (yeah the 9V motor is a bit old, have to admit that). I didn’t see any loss of power in this curve, the train just kept on running at regular speed all the time. It did lose a little bit of speed in the curves, but that’s normal due to the nature of curves to begin with. Mostly, I had way too much fun with the power controller, the haptic feedback of it (being an actuall thing instead of an app), and seeing an instant reaction of the train. Something that I haven’t experienced in ages, because of the annoying line-of-sight of the IR controller and the digital experience of a BT controller. In fact, not even the PUP controller (because of the push buttons) comes close to the good old speed regulator. Go 9V Go!
I have to say that I’m pretty excited for this for several reasons. First of all, I was one of the people who invested (OK, fair enough, post-Kickstarter) in ME Models, hoping it would deliver on it’s promise to bring back 9V. It never happened unfortunately, and the products that they did manage to ship out, both plastic and metal rails, were sub-par to say the least. Thanks to Bricktracks this gap was finally plugged for plastic rails and wide radii were finally possible in a reliable and Lego-worthy manner.
And to be honest: I’m still very excited for the Bricktracks R104 switch, and I have two rounds of R104 and R120 laying around here. I think a lot of Trainheads who never grew up with the 12V or 9V system, and who have been using plastic track for all their Lego-lives, will be still very much interested in getting Bricktracks products.
However, for people like me, who grew up in the 9V-era (I’m not old enough that I had to go through that horrible period of 12V to 9V luckily), and who still have a decent amount of 9V motors, 9V track (mostly curves, obviously…) and about 10 power regulators laying around, the new FX Track really gives some interesting possibilities.
FX Bricks actually explains the three most important ones in the video, but for me one really, really sticks out and that is the plug-and-play part. To be fair again: I love the PF system, because I can decide on wheelbase length, motor power and everything else. However, the more shows I do, the more fed up I get of that annoying control and power system that both PUP and PF have. It’s so irritating to have a train going out of range, a dropping BT connection, a non-functioning IR remote, or even worse: Batteries dying on me. In fact, I’d say that 75% of the time I’m running trains at a show, I’m busy with the absolute horror of changing batteries, charging them, or trying to reconnect a BT controller, or even worse, trying to find out where I left my IR remote this time around. It just really destroys a lot of the fun of running trains. And yes, I know it’s cheaper. But it’s just not worth it anymore if you ask me.
So, long story short: Yes, I really look forward to this! And yes, I really want to thank FX Bricks for sending us this pre-sale package. I had a ton of fun and feel pretty special to have this product on my desk already a good 2-3 weeks before it actuall hits the shelves.
In 2017 we published the results on November 17th, in 2018 on December 9th, and in 2019 on January 6th of 2020. This year it is January 24th. Partly this is due to ever more busy lifes of our editors and judges, but partly it is also due to the ever increasing level of the builds. Every year it seems to be more difficult then the last year to judge the entries, which is great to see!
Just as the previous years we really enjoyed all the WIP stories of this year, and the entries as a whole. Making OcTRAINber a two-month edition really worked this year, both for the quality of the builds, the ammount of entries, and the higher quality WIP stories. This means we are pretty sure that a two-month OcTRAINber will again be a thing in the coming installment.
Prizes & Judging
In total, there are five prizes to be won in this years OcTRAINber. One Grand Prize (meaning the winner of winners) and four category prizes: Small, Medium and Large Real Life Entries, and one Digital Entry. The Grand Prize this is the Lego Crocodile 10277, this year sponsored by BMR. The other four prizes are a PFx Brick + XL Speaker (two times) and a set of R104 switches by BrickTracks (two times). Also, all winners will get one set of BMR Knuckle Couplers. Lastly, and this is new this year, all winners will receive a BMR OcTRAINber printed brick.
For judging, we have set up a couple of rules to give every creation the best chances of winning. We decided on 3 categories on which we would assign points:
Every of the three categories were assigned points between 0 and 10 by our 4 judges, independent from each other.
Due to unforseen circumstances, Glenn Holland had to decide to not take up his Jury duties this year. We were very sad to hear so, but in the person of Erwin Jacobs (Ervvin) we found a very fine replacement.
Prizes will be handed out on basis of total points given by all four judges. This means that the Grand Prize Winner will be the entry with the most points aggregated. When there is a tie with a Digital Build, the Real Life Entry will always have priority, because of the mission statement of BMR. The other four prizes will be on bases of choise by the winners, with the builder with the most points having priortiy, then the one with the second most points, etc.
So now that we have established the prizes and the judging, let’s go on to the awards!
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Hod Carrier: „Home Signal“ – 100,5 points
Robwd12: „Point of Rocks Station“ – 102 points
Popider: „Mini Ludmilla“ – 99 points
FlipUS: „Hogwarts Express on Viaduct“ – 98,5 points
MTM_Leipzig”: „Marten Brewery“ – 95 points
Thomas Reincke: „DB Trolley Klv12“ – 93 points
Denis Garnier: „Gantry“ – 92 points
WINNER: SMALL DIORAMAS
Britishbricks: „The Quarry“
104,5 points
| Erwin | Falk | Gerbrand | Cale |
| The diorama has a really organic feel to it, and feels like something one could see at a modeltrain show! | + Very detailed + very realistic/natural + interesting building techniques + technically well done + Motors in engine and dispenser + lighting + good WIP story + Nice presentation, inkl. Video | This builder shows an amazing WIP story, where you can see that even his terrain kept on evolving. The use of mock-ups is pretty inspiring as well. The quarry itself really looks like one of those model railroad diorama’s, and I can see myself play with it the whole day. The only thing it lacks is a little bit of backstory, but hey, beggards can’t be choosers. | There are several neat details to this diorama. The track has that barely maintained, sparsely used, industrial track in the middle of nowhere look. There is animation and lighting, The structures are as ramshackle and rundown as the track serving it, and the little engine servicing the quarry is quite charming. |
WINNER:MEDIUM DIORAMAS
Narrow_Gauge: „Woolshed Flat“
111,5 points
| Erwin | Falk | Gerbrand | Cale |
| Narrow_gauge: The round shape and rotating base make it a real display piece. I keep on finding new details to explore. | + interesting building techniques + very good WIP story + very Nice presentation + Train model designed specifically for diorama + Train motorized despite small size/gauge + Landscape itself rotating | Amazing WIP story, that does everything a WIP story should do: Show the lowest lows and the highest highs of a build. The builder really showed how he came to his design. For a pizzadesign this is very credible, and its definatly a diorma. Impressive stuff. No wonder the builder tends to end in the top 3 of OcTRAINber every year he enters. | Alexander is no stranger to OcTRAINber, he has won previously, and for good reason. His models are always stellar. His Woodshed Flat diorama is no exception. It’s an amazing little fully operating layout. His back story and documentation is second to none, and there is just so much great detail picked into the small space. |
WINNER: LARGE DIORAMAS
Scruffulous: „The 17th Hole“
116 points
| Erwin | Falk | Gerbrand | Cale |
| WOW, what else can I really say, I love everything of this! | “+ funny idea for a diorama + nicely composed landscape + very detailed, fun stuff + great train model, built especially for the diorama + Wip story + good presentation ⁃ trees | This builder shows that you can achieve the full 30 points in OcTRAINber. Thanks to the backstory with pictures, the layout is very credible, even though normally a train running through a golf course should make no sense. The WIP story really shows the hurdles the builder had to take, and also the corners he had to cut due to time constraints. As a diorama it also sticks out, it really is a stand-alone piece with a story. I’d like to ace that hole, or whatever you should call it. | Just epic! I’ve never been to Australia, but this is what I imagine Aussie railroads to be like. The scene just goes on forever, the landscape has that perfect Australian character, and the back story is as good as the model. The diorama is huge, but all the detail is there in perfect ratio. Amazing! |
WINNER: DIGITAL DIORAMAS
2007_boy: „Newcastle Castle, Black Gate and Railway Viaduct“
116 points
| Erwin | Falk | Gerbrand | Cale |
| Excellent use of colours, the fact the base isn’t round too really adds! I keep on returning to see what I’ve missed. | + wonderful buildings + incredibly creative story + incredibly realistic build, „off the grid“ + very thoughtful use of different techniques + nice vehicles + great presentation & storytelling + Wip process This model defines a league of its own in terms of both creativity, presentation, designing and building skills! | Stunning WIP story, stunning diorama with a lot going on, and pretty credible as well, seeing how the prototype looks like. Also, with a lot of interesting building techniques and also a lot of off-grid building, AND incorporating 7 wide building plus the Legoland / Miniland athmosphere (without making it feel unbelievable) this one really tops the charts for me. | A digital model that does not look like a digital model. The rendering quality is top shelf. The structures are huge but so well detailed, the train is full of character, the landscaping works perfectly with the scene, and there are some great hidden Easter Eggs scattered around. Everything is so well presented, and well thought out. I would love to see this as a real model. |
WINNER: GRAND PRIZE OVERALL
Scruffulous: „The 17th Hole“
116 points
Both 2007_boy and Scruffulous had exactly 116 points, proving that big diorams, real life builds and digital builds are all succes factors. Knowing the layouts that our community builds, shouldn’t be a big surprise to anyone! Since there was a tie between both, as per the rules we have decided that Scruffulous, who build an amazing IRL diorama, will be the winner of this years OcTRAINber!
Excel File
Different from previous years, we also have compiled an Excel file with all of the aggregated scores, and remarks from all judges. This to inspire all contestants and to give them feedback, so that hopefull next year they will be on top of the boards as well. You can download the file here.
Final words
We cannot say this enough, but we would really like to thank all contestants. We as BMR had a blast seeing all those entries, and we as judges were actually happy that with many of the entries and categories it was such a close call.
We are very gratefull for our two sponsors, BrickTracks and FX Bricks. Without them this would have been a contest without prizes, and what’s a contest without prizes?!
Last of all, we would like to congratulate all the winners of OcTRAINber. Also, we will contact you on short notice on picking your prize and shipping it to you.
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