I certainly can’t recall the last time I’ve seen an Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe (ATSF) steam locomotive modeled in LEGO, though I’m sure I may be missing one.
Chris Stone, known as Narmot on Flickr, has updated his model of ATSF 4-8-4 #2926 into what he is calling his third version. Chris is one of the OcTRAINber 2017 winners with his flexible-boilered mallet steam locomotive and has built several other noteworthy models including a wonderful passenger train to put behind his new 4-8-4.
One look at this locomotive will keep your eyes darting to new locations to pick out all the details. Chris certainly packed it in on this locomotive.
Now that OcTRAINber is in full swing and the first entries are coming in we would like to take this opportunity to at least show you all the prizes you are contesting for. We are very glad to announce that three of our favorite brands have decided to sponsor us, meaning we have some pretty awesome stuff to give away. Again, for the sake of the Hype Train, this post will just talk about that first of the three.
With September drawing to a close, and October quickly approaching, the time has come to announce our latest installment of our OcTRAINber build competition!
Following the AWESOME events of NMRA 2018 in Kansas City last month, there’s been a lot of discussion about what people are trying to get out of the hobby, defined as “LEGO Trains”. Put another way, why are we (you, me, etc.) here? What kind of reward do we seek from this niche hobby within a niche hobby?
Allow me to offer a few of my own thoughts and experiences which remind me why I’m doing what I am.
The participating AFOLs from the 2018 National Train Show
The new Passenger and Cargo Train sets are our first introduction to the new Powered Up System, and also the first new City trains in a few years. Naturally, these new sets are of great interest to the LEGO train community. The Powered Up system in particular has been a very hot topic, and has many potential ramifications to how we build our trains going forward. However, we didn’t want to confuse the new system with the set, even though they come as a pair. We want to review the new trains on their own merit. We will have a more extensive review of the Powered Up system itself, and what it has to offer the more advanced builder, in an upcoming article.
The new Powered Up battery/receiver, controller, and train motor included in the new train sets.
For these reviews we are looking at the new train sets based on how good they are as actual train sets. A train set is really the gate way to the larger model train hobby. It’s where almost every LEGO train fan, and modeler starts. It may be a set received as a present under the Christmas tree or for a birthday, or a set purchased from a store to add to your growing AFOL collection. The train set is where most of us start our LEGO train hobby because all the basic building blocks to creating a running train are there in a single box, and will be the gateway for new builders in our hobby for the next several years. Let’s take a look now and see what the new Passenger Train set has to offer us. Continue reading Review: 60197 Passenger Train with Powered Up System→
At long last, way too long probably, Brick Model Railroader has built and reviewed the new Powered Up train sets from the LEGO City line!
The complete 60198 Cargo Train set.
Unfortunately, and quite obviously, we are pretty late to the review party for these new trains. While BMR is a Recognized LEGO Online Community (RLOC) and we do have some benefits from that, we were not able to obtain the new train sets before the official release, but we did try. Cale ended up buying one of each anyways so we could provide a decent review for our audience, being the only Train-specific LEGO media around.
Let’s dive into the new 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up!
Every year, the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) holds an annual convention in order to provide a place for the membership to meet to continue their association with the hobby in a common forum. The convention rotates to a different city each year, and this year the convention was in Kansas City, Missouri from August 5th-12th. In conjunction with the convention, the NMRA also holds a National Train Show taking place on the last three days of the convention. This train show feature operating train layouts, vendors selling model trains and model railroad supplies, and model railroad manufacturers displaying their new products.
Continuing our theme of interviewing builders of exception MOCs, we’re back with European builder Mateusz Waldowski. Mateusz built this awe inspiring bullet train, the Alstom Pendolino ED250 PKP Intercity. We might not have awesome trains like this in the United States, but we sure wish we did! His build is complete with lights, a complete interior (!), and custom stickers. Check it out.
BMR: Tell us a little more about the build. How long did it take? Estimated piece count?
Mateusz: My MOC is 130cm long, has 3500 pieces, 10m of wire inside, lights on the front changing by direction, and lights inside. I first made a sketch in September 2015 and I started building from real bricks in 2016. The build took longer than I expected because I had to collect lots of ideas and continually improve the model.
BMR: What inspired you to build this particular locomotive?
Mateusz: In the LEGO catalogs from my childhood, passenger trains were always express/high speed.
BMR: Is it powered?
Mateusz: Yes. It has two LEGO train motors (old 9V train motor and pf train motor) and the receiver is behind the cab. Power comes from 9V tracks and steering by pf control pilot.
BMR: What is your build process? Do you use some form of digital design program?
Mateusz: I don’t have one way in my building process. For this particular model I used “LEGO Digital Designer” to sketch it, but my 3D model wasn’t good enough and I made lot of changes. In others MOCs I build immediately from real brick.
BMR: What was the hardest bit to get right?
Mateusz: The most difficult was the front of the train. I wanted the train to look very smooth and fast like the original. I didn’t want to have “stairs” on the front of train. (Ed: you certainly succeeded!)
BMR: What’s your favorite detail that other people might not notice?
Mateusz: I don’t know. I spent too long building this train to have an objective opinion about it.
I know what my favorite detail is, the pantographs. Binoculars!
BMR: What’s next?
Mateusz: This year I plan on adding one more car to the Pendolino (with a restaurant inside). Right now I am building another diesel locomotive to add to my PKP Cargo family. I definitely must build more cargo cars.
BMR: What’s best, steam or diesel?
Mateusz: I don’t have a favorite type of locomotive/train. (ed: we’re sure that Mateusz meant to say diesel, but we’ll let it slide this once).
BrickTracks, the company behind those injection-molded R104 and R120 (with R56 now available for pre-order) curves has finally launched a Kickstarter campaign for R104 switch tracks.
I won’t be going into every detail in this post, as everything is explained on the campaign page, but here’s a run-down of what’s going on:
We’re’ back again with our second builder interview, this time we’re going across the pond with 39 year old Swiss builder Beat Felber. Beat built this awe inspiring Santa Fe 5000 class steamer.
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