Tag Archives: Brick Model Railroader

General Updates and a Surprise Announcement: A New Locomotive

It’s been a while since we’ve posted any update on our work behind the scenes. Allow us to offer some insight today, as well as a surprise announcement at the end.

Premium Instructions Kits

The cover for our 164 page book.

We’ve been hard at work in getting our next Premium Instruction Kit ready to go. I’ve modeled the International Car Company Extended Vision Caboose in fine detail, and Cale has been working non-stop to bring the book to completion. We would have had this model available by now, but we have drastically expanded our vision and approach to the kit, and thus have taken more time to ensure we are checking all of our boxes. We’ll have more details in the announcement article at the time of release, but I can definitely say that this will be the most comprehensive kit we have ever done. We are now in the process of editing the 164-page book and building test models.

All six models of our Extended Vision Caboose.
Reading decal set.
Continue reading General Updates and a Surprise Announcement: A New Locomotive

Nebraska Brick Days 2019 Event Report

Several weeks later, we’re happy to report on the incredible event that was Nebraska Brick Days!

Nebraska Brick Days is a regional Lego show hosted by Lincoln-Omaha LUG, LOLUG. They have been putting together this event since 2017, and have done shows in both Lincoln, Nebraska and Council Bluff, Iowa (the latter is right across the river from Omaha). Don’t ask why event called “Nebraska Brick Days” is held in Iowa.

Brick Model Railroader was present at the event, represented by both Cale and myself (Glenn). We also represented PennLUG, and were joined by Jay Steinhurst. Here’s a record of the fun we had.

Nebraska Brick Days Website

Nebraska Brick Days on Facebook

Photos from the event.

The Trip

Cale met me at my apartment on Wednesday afternoon, and we drove to Jay’s house to spend the night. We got up early the next morning to finish the drive. On Thursday we met up with NILTC at the World’s Largest Truck Stop on I-80 in eastern Iowa and finished the drive together. We got into Council Bluffs that night.

I would elaborate more, but the drive out there was pretty monotonous. Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa look very similar from the interstate.

To celebrate Cale’s birthday while on the trip out, we stopped at the World’s Largest Truck Stop. It was not the birthday he had in mind.

Setup

The three of us (Cale, Jay, and myself) were responsible for the PennLUG layout that weekend. Having only three people with one massive layout meant we would need some serious help, especially in unloading our 14 foot trailer and setting up tables.

And boy, did we have plenty of help. Thanks to the generous hospitality of LOLUG, no less than eight or nine people were there to help us unload and begin setting up on Friday morning. We had the trailer unloaded completely and were beginning to put up tables in about an hour and a half, which has got to be some kind of record.

After the trailer was parked and the tables were completely set up, layout construction began. Several people stuck around to help out with this phase as well, including Richard Glatter.

Setup went extremely well and the first train completed a lap of the layout at 4:50 PM on Friday. Details were added and the layout was complete (minus the plexiglass and skirting) at roughly 9 PM that night, a little over twelve hours after the trailer first rolled through the door of the convention hall.

Our gracious hosts provided us dinner on Friday & Saturday. Everyone hung out and enjoyed each others company. Of course, the train nerds congregated in one area.

The Show

Various weirs from the event. Photo courtesy of Nebraska Brick Days Facebook page.

The show ran from 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. Saturday began with some regular train running (set and forget locomotives) while Cale and I assembled the 80 Premium Instructions kits we had brought (Brickmania delivered our books the night before). Once that was done, we could really enjoy the show.

I feel it necessary to state here that Nebraska Brick Days is a small show. By my estimates it is about half the floor space of Brickworld Chicago. However, attendance records, as I was told, have rivaled Brickworld. There was seemingly no end to the friendly visitors who wanted to know more about the displays. I was fortunate enough to walk around for about twenty or thirty minutes on Sunday to check out some of the other displays, and I was definitely impressed.

It almost seemed that train-oriented displays took up nearly a third of the show. PennLUG’s layout was present, as was the NILTC layout and of course LOLUG’s layout. Brian Williams was also present with his Indiana Jones display (with a dash of Lawrence of Arabia), and was running two themed trains around the perimeter. Having seen a very limited amount of Brian’s work in person, this was one of the highlights of the show for me.

After a pizza dinner on Saturday, some guest train running, and plenty of talking, we were forced out of the hall at 9 PM.

Sunday was just like the day day before; more train running and talking to friends and the public. I was also able to hang out with Dan Siskind of Brickmania for a little while (sorry, no cool news on that front right now).

PennLUG’s main rules for layout operation is that the trains must run until the end of the public hours. We began packing up extra trains beforehand, and at 5 PM, after the final lap was complete, tear-down began. Again, LOLUG had an army of people waiting to help. The layout was dismantled and properly packed into the trailer in record time. Starting from a complete layout at 5 PM, we were saying our final goodbyes and driving out the door a little over three and a half hours later.

Attendees checking out the PennLUG layout. Photo courtesy of Nebraska Brick Days Facebook page.

The Aftermath

PennLUG was on a pretty tight schedule, needing to be back at my apartment by the end of the day on Monday. We drove (safely) into the early hours on Monday morning, put down for the night, and were back on the road by 9 AM. We reached Jay’s house around 6 PM, and my apartment around 10. Cale made it home around noon on Tuesday.

Just a short trip out west and back.

Brick Model Railroader Staff Pick Awards

BMR awarded it’s second round of “Golden Driver” staff pick awards on Sunday morning before public hours. Instead of gathering everyone together, we presented the awards individually. This is only the second time we’ve given out awards but it certainly will not be the last.

Best Steam Locomotive – Union Pacific “Big Boy” #4014 – Nathan Flood

Okay, so Cale and I both think the Big Boy is a bit overrated, but that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy them to some degree. Nate’s model of 4014 certainly captures the presence of the largest successful articulated steam locomotive ever built. It ran pretty well, too, pulling Jay’s military train easily.

Best Diesel Locomotive – Kansas City Southern F Unit – Shawn Kelley

This was pretty much a no-brainer. There was some deliberation on whether or not to award this model at NMRA last year, so it made sense to give it to Shawn this time, as it’s still a very deserving model. Shawn’s model presents well and is cleanly put together. While using modified parts, it still captures the iconic F unit style while using a much different technique than Tony Sava. It’s always nice to watch two good builders tackle the same problem and produce different results.

KCS Southern Belle, KCS1 "Shreveport", KCS2 "Meridian" EMD FP-9 A-Units.  KCS3 "Pittsburg" EMD F-9 B-Unit. L-Gauge 8-Wide

Best Rolling Stock – Pancho Villa Raid Train – Brian Williams

Rolling stock was a touch pick this year, but we ultimately had to give it to Brian Williams. Brian is well known for building excellent models, and his rolling stock is no exception. The level of detail is second to none, even considering the use of structural stickers. We almost couldn’t choose a single piece of Brian’s fleet to award, but I convinced Cale to give it to the boxcar/stock car on his Pancho Villa Raid train. It’s been a personal favorite of mine since I first saw it.

Best Landscaping – Cornfield Module – Jim Pirzyk

Of course, what would a train layout be without landscaping? Jim Pirzyk of NILTC has built an excellent corner module for their layout which includes a cornfield, farmhouse, and sunflowers overlooking a railroad cutting. We especially like the rolling hills look of the cornfield.

Best Structure – Grain Elevator – Justin Chrisp

There were a few contenders for this award, but Justin’s excellent grain elevator won in the end. Justin took special care to model the surrounding buildings in full and also put lights everywhere. It was an impressive building, and even more so with the lights on.

Wrap-Up

I have to say in full honesty that Nebraska Brick Days is probably my new favorite event, and this particular event is probably my favorite one I’ve ever had the privilege of being at. LOLUG welcomed us with open arms, and so many of them were willing to help us out when we needed it. If anyone from LOLUG is reading this, let me be the first to say that you guys made this event incredible, and I’d be ready to come back in an instant. It was a blast.

I’d also like to thank Nate Flood specifically for convincing Cale and I to make the journey. I’m certainly hoping I can go next year.

Group photo of all the AFOLs and staff who made Nebraska Brick Days a success.

Introducing the L-Gauge Modular Standard

Today I’m writing on behalf of the L-Gauge Modular Standard Oversight Committee.

Last August was the NMRA National Train Show in Kansas City, Missouri. A number of LEGO clubs and LTC’s were in attendance, and it was certainly one of the best non-LEGO shows with multiple clubs I’ve ever seen.

The participating AFOLs from the 2018 National Train Show

Of course, when you put that many LEGO train fans in one place, they start getting ideas. On Saturday evening after the show had closed for the day and everyone had eaten a Bar-be-que dinner, several people invaded the basement of Shawn Lazarz for some good ol’ conversation. There were several topics of discussion (and debate in some cases), one of the biggest being standardization. This was then broken into two categories: electronics and layouts.

Discussions about LEGO train modeling are always fun.

Everyone was starting to get their hands on Lego’s new Powered Up! Train sets and putting them through their paces, finding the capabilities and limitations of the new system. Many people didn’t like what they found, so there was some discussion about the introduction of a “standardized” third party system, be that LEGO-based like a PFx Brick or SBrick, or train-based, like a radio-DCC system, or DelTang.

A suspicious looking group of misfit train builders discussing a Modular Standard.

The conversation then turned to layouts and collaborative displays.

Continue reading Introducing the L-Gauge Modular Standard

Excuse Us While We Toot Our Own Whistle

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.

Kevin Johns, a member of PennLUG, is the proud new owner of the 1000th BMR Premium Instruction Kit sold. His plans for the kit are to use the instructions to build a Muppet themed train with his wife Stephanie.
Continue reading Excuse Us While We Toot Our Own Whistle

A MODELERS LIFE INTERVIEW WITH BRICK MODEL RAILROADER’S CALE LEIPHART AND A SPRINGFIELD TRAIN SHOW UPDATE

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/

Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show

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.

Our January Show Schedule and Premium Instructions Update

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

A Norfolk & Western duo, A class and a Y6b, are being serviced in the yard before going out a coal drag.

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

Continue reading Our January Show Schedule and Premium Instructions Update

The First Locomotive From Brick Model Railroader

It’s finally time.

After a year and a half of trial, failure, and redesigning, and exactly one year after we originally planned to, Cale and I are pleased to announce the first ever Brick Model Railroader steam locomotive kit.

The locomotive we have chosen to model is a Reading 4-8-4 T-1.

BMR Prototype Model, Engineer Side 3/4 Veiw
BMR Prototype Model, Side Veiws
BMR Prototype Model,Fireman’s Side Rear 3/4 Veiw
BMR Prototype Model,Nose Profile

This is a locomotive we are very excited about. The Reading Railroad was located in the eastern part of the state of Pennsylvania, and the BMR Model Team (Cale and Glenn) are Pennsylvania residents, making the Reading a home road for us. The Reading T-1 felt like a natural choice for a prototype for both Cale and myself. It has been on both of our “to do” lists for a while, but other projects have taken priority since. The T-1 will fit well with all of our current transition-era Premium Instructions models, as all of them were used on the Reading and could very well have been seen behind a T-1 at any point during their service life.

img029

I’m sure many of our readers are wondering why it’s taken so long to get to this point. Allow me to answer a few questions you may be having.

Continue reading The First Locomotive From Brick Model Railroader

Brick Model Railroader’s 2018 Year in Review!

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.

  • 201 article posts (this one not included)
  • 358 comments on our website posts
  • 543,733 views on our website
  • 616 orders on our website store
  • 3 premium instruction kits produced
  • 1 kit designed for Brickmania
  • 2414 people who “like” our Facebook page
  • 2516 people who follow our Facebook page
  • 80 followers on Twitter
  • 276 posts on Instagram
  • 1335 followers on Instagram
  • 21 videos uploaded to YouTube
  • 972 subscribers on our YouTube channel

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.

Articles

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.

Events

The participating AFOLs from the 2018 National Train Show

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.

BMR Models

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.

Box cover for the Northeastern Caboose

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.

Box art for the Thrall bulkhead car.
Preliminary LDraw model for the PC&F boxcar.

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.

BMR Models will be picking up steam in 2019.

BMR Teams Up With Brickmania

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.

S160 Box Cover
Our own AAR 53ft flat car was the basis for Brickmania’s 40ft USATC Flat Car kit sold alongside the S160 Locomotive
A 1/48th scale Sherman Tank kit was also made available with the S160 and USATC Flatcar kits.

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.

Two Years and BMR is gaining strong!

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!

Some final thoughts on 2018 from Cale

Cale, in his office, celebrating the Second Anniversary of Brick Model Railroader surrounded by awesome BMR Models.

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

Glenn Adds Stuff Here

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

Brick Model Railroader Teams Up With Brickmania

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.

Brickmania

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.

Continue reading Brick Model Railroader Teams Up With Brickmania

OcTRAINber 2018: The Results

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!

A Hudswell Clarke “Ganges” class with skips (part of his full narrow gauge consist) by Mike Pianta

KП4 by Erik

Korail V-Train (aka Baekdudaegan Canyon Train) by kellelely5

Lencse-005 by Nicholas Bond

DRG Class 99.22 HSB 99 222 by Robert D.

Lastly, we would like to again thank our sponsors;  FX BricksBricktracks 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!