Brick Model Railroader is proud to bring you our latest product. Our Brick Train Compatible Knuckle Coupler. BMR, in partnership with BrickForge, has been work- ing on a replacement for the old LEGO® 9v era magnetic train couplers. These new couplers are now available for sale in our BMR online store.
Shipping will begin Monday.
In the past, we have seen great and highly informative articles from Hod Carrier and Matt Csenge on simple but good-looking details anyone can build to add detail to their track. Today, I’d like to do the same, but for a relatively unexplored genre of L-gauge modeling: Light Rail!
Light rail is a very important mode of public transportation in a lot of major cities throughout the world. Although I will be covering details that aim to replicate things found in America, hopefully this article is helpful to anyone looking to model a rapid transit railway.
Before we get into the larger details, lets look at some simple details that don’t take many parts, but can add a lot of detail that is sure to catch any spectators eye.
Tie Choices
I 100% agree with the things Matt said in his 2nd article about USA Track Detailing. Ties are everything. Concrete ties are quite common on light rail systems, so here are a few ways to do them:
Concrete ties left to right:
Its also recommended that you put ballast in between a double track mainline as well.
Trackside Signs
Whistle Board. Used at grade crossings, it alerts the driver to use the horn in order to warn motorists of the incoming train.
Absolute speed board. Tells the driver the current or absolute speed limit of the track.
Upcoming speed board. The slant of the board indicates that the speed listed on it will be in effect when the next board arrives.
End of Track Bumper
There are many different types and designs of end of track bumpers out there, but this one is modeled after the one used on the DART system, which is the closest light rail system to me. Rest assured, this detail will look great on any layout, and looks general enough to match other designs seen all over America. The end of track bumper is obviously used to stop a train from going too far off the rails when its going too fast. Sometimes it works better than others, as seen in an incident in a Chicago Metro station a few years ago. The bumper is attached to the rails, which is modeled by the 1×4 plates in between the ties, and the 1×2 jumpers hanging over the rails. Also modeled are the rubber pads, which are meant to soften the impact, but don’t really help much if the train is going fast enough to hit the bumper in the first place. I used 1×2 grills for these. Since these bumpers are so common on light rail / rapid transit lines, this detail will bring a lot to any layout, and is sure to catch the eye of any spectator.
Next, we have a simple line side signal that can be found pretty much anywhere on a light rail system. Signals are necessary not only to light rail lines but any type of mainline anywhere in the world. Their job is fairly simple and works much like a traffic light on a road. It tells drivers weather or not it is safe to proceed, and if anything is occupying the right of way in front of them. The most common aspects seen on such signals is as follows: Green or clear = proceed at line speed, flashing yellow or approach medium = proceed with caution and be prepared to stop in the next 2 signals, yellow or approach = proceed at a maximum speed of 40 miles per hour, and be prepared to stop at the next signal. There are many more aspects, meaning lots of different things, but that should give you a basic understanding on how they work. Light rail signals appear more box-like than signals found elsewhere. It is important to make sure the signal looks like it is set in concrete, hence the LBG bricks at the bottom. This also goes for crossing gates and catenary poles. Some signals have two ‘heads’ on them, which means they display two aspects at one time. The second head can easily be built under the first one if you need it.
Don’t worry, this detail is compatible with the PennLUG style of track ballasting found on L-gauge.org. Light rail lines often have to weave through small spaces to get where they need to go, so on especially tight corners an inner 3rd rail is used to make absolutely sure the train stays on the track. It’s not like the 3rd rails some of you may have heard of; it doesn’t provide power on the outside of the track, it provides stability o the inside of the track. These can be seen in maintenance bases, yards, and on the mainline, as well as be attached to either the inside or outside edge of the rail.
That was my last detail for this article, and although it was a short one, I hope it gave you some inspiration and jumping off points if you ever take on a project involving light rail. If you’re wondering why I didn’t talk about a catenary pole, its because the height usually changes depending on the scale of the train, and I didn’t want to create a size limitation for people who don’t build the same scale as me.
To all who read this far, thank you. I hope you enjoyed this brief look into the world of light rail.
Play well,
Conrad.
Last year, Lego gave us one of my favorite battery powered train sets, 71044 Disney Train and Station. This set, while expensive (but worth it) and at times a challenging build, is still marketed with younger audiences in mind. It’s a proven formula: some kids like trains, but MOST kids love Disney. Put those two things together and you end up with a very desirable product.
I shared some thoughts on that set in an article linked above, and now I have the task of writing about Lego’s newest train again: 10277 Crocodile Locomotive. This new set is the polar opposite of the Disney train; it literally says 18+ on the front of the box, but I’ll touch more on that later. I should also say that once again Brick Model Railroader was not offered a set to review. Again, I went to my local LEGO store (with a mask and practicing proper social distancing, mind you) and purchased the locomotive, Powered Up motor, and Powered Up hub to review.
10277 Crocodile Locomotive sold out very quickly online and is now backordered for a couple months. However, if you’re lucky and able to, you may still find a few on store shelves.
Let’s dive in.
Continue reading 10277 Crocodile Locomotive: A Review
We have a very special announcement for you today. BMR, in partnership with Brickforge, has been working on a replacement for the old LEGO 9v era magnetic train couplers. Today we are ready to officially reveal this project that we hope to have available for sale late this summer. We’ve put together a video to introduce you to these new couplers.
Now let us take a look at these couplers in greater detail.
Today is the big day. Brick Model Railroader is launching our new and improved online store. And we have three band new Premium Instructions for sale along with an array of new decals for each.
Our old store served us well, but we we starting to out grow it. As we added new products, it was increasingly hard to navigate and find what you were looking for. Also the look was growing stale, and our products were not being show off to their fullest potential. So one the last few weeks we’ve been moving our store over to a new platform, one full of shiny new widgets, and hopefully a much better buying experience for you.
Click Here to Check Out the New BMR Online Store
Recently I had the pleasure of participating in LEGO train displays at two train shows here in the Northeast United States. The first was the annual Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show with the New England LEGO User Group. The second was the Great Scale Model Train Show with the second ever L-Gauge Modular Standard display. These were both great shows, and were a lot of fun. Here is a report on both these events.
Continue reading 2020 Winter Train Show Report
Our friends across the hobby have been working hard to deliver new parts for the rest of us. Here is a small update on a couple of them, and a small announcement on BMR’s next show appearance.
Any steam locomotive builder is familiar with Big Ben at this point. Ben Fleskes was one of the first people to pioneer realistic steam locomotive driving wheels made specifically for LEGO models, even going back before the Emerald Night. The hobby certainly wouldn’t be where we are now without Ben’s efforts.
Ben has been working to add some new products to his lineup, and they are now ready and available for purchase on his website:
XXL wheels are available in black, dark grey, light grey, red and dark red.
These wheels are available in red and black and include traction bands of the same color.
Ben has also added a dark red color option to all wheels on his site.
This is exciting to see, I personally would love to try out some injection molded XXL wheels. So far, I’ve only had experience with Nate Brill’s wheels from Shapeways for XXL wheels. This is a great solution due to the higher level of customization and cost (it costs a lot to create molds), but injection molding always has a better quality, especially for moving parts.
Now I just need to find a suitable locomotive to use M size wheels and give those a shot too…
BrickTracks is another known name in the community. Scott Hoffemeyer has been working to bring new track geometries in high quality molded parts to the LEGO train third party market. Recently, Scott has shared with us a video showing some testing of his molded R104 turnouts.
Scott tells me that there is still some work yet to go with the molds, a few minor fixes here and there, but very good overall.
I’m sure I’m not alone in eagerly waiting for these turnouts to become available.
Brick Model Railroader will be displaying at the 2019 Brass Expo & Custom Craftsman Models convention this coming weekend, November 23-24.
This year’s convention is at the Wyndham Lancaster Resort & Convention Center on Route 30 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We have the honor of having a booth right next to the American Steam Railroad, with whom we have been working with to produce our model of a Reading T-1 4-8-4.
Last fall I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Lionel Strang and the crew of the A Modelers Life podcast. Today that podcast was officially published and is available to download.
If you’re not familiar with the Modelers Life podcast, it’s a show about the people who make up the model train hobby. From the shows website, “All modelers have a life, but what do we know of it. This podcast is as much about the people in model railroading has it is about the hobby itself.”
Lionel Strang hosts the show with a rotating crew of regular contributors from the model railroad community. Lionel is best known as the builder of the Allegheny and Lackawanna Southern, a 20’ X 30’ HO Scale layout. He also built two project railroads for Model Railroader Magazine: the Northwest Timber Company and the Appalachian Central. Lionel wrote the monthly column Workin’ on the Railroad for Model Railroader magazine from July 1998 until May 2005, then continued to serve as a contributing editor for another six years after that.
It was a really fun interview to do and I’m honored to help represent both the LEGO® train hobby and BMR to the greater model railroad hobby. I hope you enjoy the interview and let me know what you think of the show. You can download the episode on the AML website, on iTunes, of listen to it on the AML Youtube Channel via the links below.
A Modelers Life Website – https://www.amodelerslife.com
AML on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/a-modelerslife/id905596672?mt=2
AML on Libsyn – http://modelerslife.libsyn.com
AML Youtube – https://youtu.be/ZlW98JBhwY8
AML Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/ModelersLife/
As you may have read, I’ll be attending the Amherst Railway Society’s 51st annual Railroad Hobby Show in Springfield Massachusetts January 26th and 27th. While there I will have the prototype model for our upcoming Reading T-1 Steam Locomotive Kit on display at the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association booth in the Young building. The ASR group is currently restoring Reading T-1 no.2100 to operation, and with whom BMR has been working with on our model of the T-1.
I’ll be splitting my time between the New England LEGO User Gorup’s LEGO train layout in the Mallary building, the ASR Society booth, and just enjoying the show. But if you can track me down, look for the guy wearing the Brick Model Railroader T-shirt, I would love to talk about the T-1, other BMR kits or just trains and LEGO in general. Hope to see you there.
Hello again followers, fans and supporters, and happy new year!
Here’s our first post of 2019! We hope that everyone had a joyous Holiday season and an awesome New Year’s. We’d like to reflect on our 2018 and offer some commentary on our second year.
In last year’s review we started off with some stats, so let’s see how we we’ve with our second year behind us.
Not bad for a little website about a niche hobby run by some builders who have never done this kind of thing before. Now lets look at some highlights from 2018.
Okay, we know this hasn’t been our strong point this year. Writing for BMR is a completely volunteer effort, and many of us have either been busy with other parts of Brick Model Railroader, or with life outside the hobby. That doesn’t mean we’ve lost our zeal for the hobby, and we’ve still managed to put out some good stuff. If we have one resolution for 2019, it’s to write more.
We love LEGO trains, and we have a lot to say about them. And we know a lot of others do too. There is an enormous wealth of knowledge out there just waiting to be shared, and we want to be the ones to facilitate that. So, for 2019, expect more great LEGO train articles from us.
In 2018, BMR attended several great events, including.
We had a lot of fun getting out and meeting our fellow LEGO train builders. And we already have several event we’re planing to attend in 2019.
On January 12th and 13th Glenn Holland and Cale Leiphart will be attending the Worlds Greatest Hobby on Tour in Oaks, PA along with their club layout from PennLUG. Also in January, Cale will again be attending the Amherst Train Show in Springfield, Massachussetts January 26th and 27th, and will be hanging out with the New England LEGO Users Group and their LEGO train display.
In March, Cale and Glenn will be trekking out to Nebraska Brick Days on the 30th and 31st. This will be our first time attending this show. Cale and Glenn will be their along with their club, PennLUG. LOLUG and NILTC will also be there with their LEGO train layouts. We’re really excited to see this growing event.
In April, look for us to again be in attendance at Philly Brick Fest in Oaks, PA from the 25th to the 28th.
In June BMR will be returning to attend Brickworld in Chicago Illinois. This is one of the premier LEGO fan events in North America, and a hot bed for LEGO train enthusiasts. BMR will of course be a part of it.
In July on the 12th to 14th, BMR will be traveling to the NMRA National Train Show in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have a special project we’re hoping to unveil at the show, and will again be making a special edition BMR kit for participating fans.
On July 31 to August 4th BMR will again be attending Brickfair Virginia. This is a huge LEGO Fan event and we’ll be there as part with other train fans to experience it.
That’s a full plate, but where else will we be in 2019? We’re not sure yet, but if we can make it to any more LEGO train events, we’ll let you know.
In 2018 we launched three more models in our Premium Instructions Kit line. Those were the North Eastern Caboose, The NMRA Special Edition Missouri Pacific Caboose, and the 52′-6″ 70 Ton Drop-End Gondola.
Along with those we continued to sell our previous kits, The Pullman PS-1 40′ Boxcar, USRA 55-Ton Hopper, American Car & Foundry Type 27 Tank Car, and AAR 53′ Flatcar. You can find them all, except the sold out, limited run 2018 NMRA MoPac Caboose, in our online store. And don’t forget to pick up some decals, and extra wheel sets too.
What kits do we have planed for 2019? We plan to start off the year with a double release in January. We will be launching the Thrall 61′-1″ Bulkhead Flatcar and the Pacific Car & Foundry 50′ Insulated Boxcar. Both of these cars should appeal to fans modeling from the 1970’s through 1990’s and later. We’ll have more info on these cars coming soon.
These are just the first of hopefully many Premium Instruction kits coming this year, but that’s not all. The BMR model team has been hard at work over the last year with our first full kit. Yes, full kit, all parts included right in the box to build the model. This is a big step for us, so we wanted to make this model something special. We’ll be revealing it soon (at the end of this week!), with plans to go on sale in Spring 2019. We can tell you though that it is our long awaited steam locomotive project, and it will be awesome. Stay tuned.
In 2018 Brick Model Railroader had the opportunity to team up with Brickmania to produce a model of the USATC S160 Steam Locomotive. Brickmania is a company who specializes in high-end custom model kits made with re-purposed LEGO bricks and is without a doubt the best at what they do. For them to approach BMR and ask us to design a steam locomotive kit for them was an amazing opportunity, and we think we did pretty well. Not only did we create an excellent model of this World War II work horse, but the initial run of 25 kits sold out in less than an hour. Both us and Brickmania were blown away by the response. Of course 25 kits is not a huge number, Brickmania did their best to produce as many kits as they could with in the production timeline, but this was a complex kit to put together. If you missed out on the first run, Brickmania has confirmed that they will be making a second batch of kits as soon as they can fit it into the schedule. When we get word of when the second run is coming, we’ll let you know.
This will not be the end of BMR collaborations with Brickmania. We’re not sure what will be next, but both us and Brickmania are committed to working together again in the future to bring you more awesome stuff.
2018 has been a crazy awesome year for the entire BMR team. To everyone involved, be you staff, contributors, website masters, contest organizers, instruction and model producers, and more, thank you for your amazing support, time, and effort. The success we’ve had in through our second year has been great.
We would like to our extend our sincerest thanks again to the amazing LEGO train community. You are what drives us to keep moving forward. Without you, we wouldn’t be in a position to produce instructions and to help promote the hobby. BMR wouldn’t truly exist without our amazing followers.
From all of us at Brick Model Railroader, we thank you for a good 2018, and we wish you and your families a safe, happy, and prosperous new year!
On December 30th, 2018, Brick Model Railroader celebrated it’s second anniversary. There was no party, or cake. But there was something special going on. Together with Glenn Holland, my colleague here at BMR and one of my best friends, we we’re wrapping up a weekend of work on several BMR projects. We finalized decals, finished box art, and and filmed our review video for the Thrall 61′-1″ Bulkhead Flat Car. We continued work on our PC&F 50′ Insulated Boxcar, and also worked on a few smaller projects. But for me the most special was working on the final details of our upcoming steam locomotive kit before the reveal in a few days.
Producing my own locomotive kit has been a dream of mine for many years. My original USRA Mikado model built in 2011, was actually intended to be the prototype for a kit. It never made it that far, and for several years, the dream lay dormant. But with the launch of BMR in 2017, and soon after the success of our BMR Premium Instructions, the dream came roaring back. Glenn an I started laying plans for BMR’s first full kit, and of course it was going to be steam.
It’s taken us over a year to get there. And in the process we got side tracked into designing a locomotive kit for Brickmania. So we kind of already made my dream a reality. But the BMR locomotive is all ours. The BMR name will be on the box, and it will be awesome! We’ve taken our time to get every part just right. There has been a lot of hours spent between Glenn and myself obsessing over the smallest details, and a few arguments too. But it will be worth it. This will be the top their in LEGO Steam Locomotive kits. And I will have had the pleasure of working with my friend Glenn, to make the dream come true.
And if we can do this, there’s no end to the other awesome stuff we can do at BMR.
Thank you to all our supporters.
Cale
What a year, man. Being in my early 20’s and finishing college in the first two-thirds of this year meant I couldn’t do a lot with BMR, or even LEGO trains in general. Certainly not as much as I would’ve liked. The year hasn’t been without stress, but that also doesn’t mean it hasn’t been a blast. Look at what we were able to accomplish, and we’re still only two guys at this point.
I’m looking forward to what we have in store for the coming year, and I hope you are as well. Until then, keep a eye out for the long-awaited Brick Model Railroader Locomotive Kit reveal. I’m excited to finally be able to say that; it’s been a long time coming.
I keep trying to think of something meaningful to put here, but I can’t. Instead, let me just say thank you. Thank you to everyone that I’ve had the pleasure of working with and speaking to, and hang out with at events, talk to online, and more. I never would have imagined being on the staff of a LEGO train community website, or being able to design models for which fans can purchase instructions for, yet here I am, doing all of that, and more. There’s been some incredible opportunities coming my/our way, and I’ve had a lot of support from my friends along the way. Let me say again, sincerely, thank you.
Play well.
Glenn Holland
On December 8th and 9th, Brick Model Railroader members Cale Leiphart and Glenn Holland attended the 17th annual Cantigny Park Christmas Train Show in Wheaton Illinois as special guests of Brickmania and the Northern Illinois LEGO® Train Club.
Cantigny Park is a 500-acre park in Wheaton, Illinois, 30 miles west of Chicago. It is the former estate of Joseph Medill and his grandson Colonel Robert R. McCormick, publishers of the Chicago Tribune, and is open to the public. Cantigny includes large formal and informal gardens, two museums, a 27-hole golf course, a picnic grove, a playground, hiking paths, restaurants and a gift shop.
Each year, for the past 17 years, the Northern Illinois LEGO® Train Club has been invited to set up their train display for a special Holliday event the second weekend of December. Over the years the show has grown to include vendors and special displayers in addition to NILTC’s own ever growing display.
Continue reading 2018 Cantigny Park Christmas Train Show
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