Tag Archives: Train

Five years of LLMTC celebrated big at LLMTCworld

December 15, 2023 Enrico Lussi Leave a comment

2023 marks the five-year anniversary of the LLMTC. We decided to celebrate this anniversary by organizing a huge event for all of our members and all the friends we made in those five years. This article will give you a in depth look at the event, and how the LLMTC came together.

What’s the LLMTC?

The Lowlands L-Gauge Model Train Club is a small group of LEGO train enthusiasts, dedicated to modelling railways in 1:45 scale, or as close to it as (in)humanly possible. While trains are our main focus and what binds us together, several members also build diorama’s, cars, and other landscape elements to the same scale as our trains. We usually aim for 1:45, although the restrictions of the bricks sometimes result in variations between 1:48 and 1:43. Effectively the trains tend to be 8 studs wide.

Figure 1 the well-known logo of the LLMTC

The founding members of the LLMTC first met at LEGO World 2017, and decided to form a building group the next year, with the goal to build both trains and layouts that would be able to connect to each other at events. LEGO World 2018 was their first show together as a group. Standards and rules where established early on, similar to what you see in “traditional” model railway clubs. But LLMTC was entirely dedicated to building in L-gauge and scale 1:45. We’ve always considered ourselves a model railway club, which happened to be building in L-gauge, rather than a LEGO user group who build trains. After LegoWorld 2018, many other events followed. like LegoWorld 2019, NLGM Wörrstadt and Schkeuditz. Along the way, other builders joined the group, and the group became closely in contact and involved with many other LUG’s, projects like open L-gauge and events like the BrickTrainAwards.

The idea of LLMTCworld

The idea of organizing our own club event resonated from back in the long and dark covid days, when a lot of events where cancelled and you couldn’t host a large audience of visitors. Initially, we held a small gathering back in 2020, which was members only. This grew into the 2021 and 2022 ArnhemWorld event, where we would invite a small group of befriended builders like the Noppenbahner.

Figure 2 Pieter Post his station during nighttime driving at ArnhemWorld 2022

For this year, we decided to go big and make it possible for everyone who builds trains in 1:45 scale to join in, and therefore get one of the large gatherings of L-gauge builders in the Netherlands. This show would result in a lot of friends, which made in those five years, to travel all the way to meet up with us again. And for some, it was the first time to meet up with us in real life after working together through the internet for many years.

Looking for a venue

One of the biggest challenges we had for organizing LLMTC-world was the venue. In previous years we would organize our ArnhemWorld event at a high school in Arnhem. Unfortunately, this wasn’t possible during the planned weekend for LLMTCworld. And thus, the rebranding from ArnhemWorld to LLMTCworld.

After a long search for possible event locations, we were able to find a hall in a bus depot that wouldn’t be in use for the weekend we where planning to host LLMTCworld. This did provide some challenges, biggest of them all, there weren’t any tables available to use at the venue. We had estimated we needed around 65 tables for all the layouts and the staging yards.

Figure 3 the still empty bus shed, a few hours later L-gauge builders would meet here to start setting up their layouts.

This estimation was followed by a few weeks long calling and emailing renting company’s, looking for the best and cheapest possibility. Tip for others who are considering organizing l-gauge related events, tables are expensive! A venue with tables makes organizing an event so much easier. We spent a lot more time and, quite frankly, a lot more money than we anticipated for getting all the tables we needed.

After this was taken care off, there were still a lot of smaller tasks on our to-do-list. Organizing stuff like diner, layout planning and general stuff takes a lot of time, and we would advise anybody who plans on hosting an event to keep this in mind.

Layout planning.

Tamás & Erwin where in charge of layout planning, and Tamás had spent a lot of time before the event puzzling all of the modules together in BlueBrick. But, as will be familiar to anyone who has planned an event of their own, there will always be things you didn’t consider beforehand. In our case, we found out there was collum for a car lift right where we were planning to build our branch line. But after some re-configuring of the track plan by Erwin & Tamás, we made it work. The layout we ended up with on the day was probably even better than the one we had planned initially.

Merch

What is an event without some cool merchandise? This year Erwin and Raised decided to design a unique T-shirt and logo for the event. This years’ design was a festival shirt with our main logo featuring the one and only Carlos! The front of the Shirts showed Carlos in the special LLMTCworld logo, the back named all the builders who took part in the event.

Setting-up

On Friday we gather early at the venue to start cleaning up the place and unload all the tables we rented. We used multiple camper vans from different LLMTC members to drive back and forth between two different rental companies, different hardware stores, and the venue. Ties, our chief Bob the Builder, spent a lot of time making filler sections between tables, so that layouts wouldn’t need to be place above gaps in between the tables. That’s one of the downsides of building all your layouts off grid and in strange angles.

And Ties got another special task on Friday. It turned out that Erwin’s banana yard was right below a small leak in the roof. So, Ties has to be creative on fixing that one. Luckily, we found a scissor lift in the parking lot, and the leak was fixed before any trains had to swim their way across Erwin’s yard.

At the end of the day most of the layouts were set-up and we were able to start unpacking our trains and fill up the yard.

Figure 5 setting up on the Friday evening of LLMTCworld.

Saturday

On Saturday we started early again, finishing the last small gaps in the layout. Builders who weren’t able to get there on Friday arrived early on Saturday morning, to set-up their layouts and to unpack their trains. By around 11:00 the entire yard was packed full, and the layout was completely set-up. Now it was finally time to start driving some trains!

Figure 6 express trains going back and forward on the main line. Picture by Thomas Reincke. Models by Raised, Erwin and Raimond.

We only have one rule when it comes to driving trains, and that you always drive on the right-hand side of the track. Some builders who weren’t used to that had some difficulty with that, resulting in weird situations where you would be driving towards each other on the same track. Beside that, your able to drive whenever you like, taking whatever wagons and route that you would like. Especially when it comes to freight wagons, a lot of the wagons get mixed up when driving. Most of the time you would be pulling or shunting freight wagons from 3 or 4 different builders at the same time. And that’s what makes driving at events like these so much fun.

I personally love shunting in one of the different stations or the big yard, reorganizing the freight wagons and making giant mixed freight trains that others would be able to pick up with their locomotives.

Figure 7 shunting action at Wörrstadt Hbf. Picture by Joop Atkleppie, station by Nick Kleinfelder, models by Tamás and myself.

Evening

Traditionally on Saturday evening, we host special activities. One of these is the traditional A(k)awards ceremony, where the host (Raised), would hand out professionally made award bricks. There was also a quiz with in depth questions, like who has the longest running unfinished project.

To celebrate the first release of the collaboration premium building kits from HA bricks, Raised and Erwin gave a presentation of how they designed the model, and how the experience was to work together with HA bricks to turn the model into a premium building kit.

Figure 8 the host of the A(k)wards Raised with his professionally made presentation.

Sunday

Sunday was the second day of driving trains on the layout. It was quiet in the morning since most the drivers where still hungover from the Saturday evening. But after lunch, most people where awake and present again, and everybody was able to fully enjoy driving their trains on the railway lines. To get a better understanding on what it’s like to operate your trains on this event, let’s step into my SSN 01 1075 with Rheingold coaches (don’t mind the door that keeps falling off, or that buffer, they weren’t important) and let’s drive across the railway line! If you’re wondering how this train looks like when it’s driving on the layout, take a look at this video which shows the combination in action at LLMTC-world:

We start off at the main staging yard. This location is always packed with trains who are ready to go, or are getting some small repairs. This time Erwin is getting another huge container train ready to go on the mainline, so in between his shunting actions we kindly ask if we are allowed to leave, and the switches are kindly set in the correct position. We depart the yard and pass Essendorf station from Thomas Reincke. Since we know Erwin will be leaving the yard soon, we better step up the pace and continue onwards. Passing Raised his polder landscape and Tijn his farm we come across halte Wattenweiler from Thomas Reincke. Since the railway line in this station is in a bend, we are really able to pick up speed.

Figure 10 GTW Herman Brood by Erwin passes the polder landscape by Raised and starts entering the farm module from Tijn.

After we pass some curved NOIS modules Nicolas made, we come by the railway crossing from Daniel and the farm module from Jelle. After these, we come to a slow and gentle stop at Krokant Centraal, the new station that I’m constructing. Since the magnets from Erwin his freight train decided not to work today and leave Erwin looking for lithium magnets, we’ve got some time to stop here and take pictures. After a departure we come through the Banana yard from Erwin, a landscape module by Ties and the layout Tamás built, which uses grand curves to give a nice smooth feel to it. This layout is also the junction for the first section of the branch line (more about that later). After Tamás his layout we enter the Darwin interchange by Erwin, this layout is full of switches and weird crossing and has a triple function. It functions as a return loop for the main line, as a second junction to the branch line, and as the perfect location for spectacular accidents as different train lines cross over each other.

Figure 11 the Darwing interchange is always the perfect location to see trains doing weird things. Like this locomotive from Sergió.

The first junction into the branch line leads into Donát’s station. This has sidetracks for multiple trains to wait before they enter the mainline. The second junction into the branch line has multiple small modules connected to each other. First is a small module I’ve built together with Tamás about a year ago, second is Daniel’s module with a railway maintenance shed and lastly comes Gruninger’s layout where steam locomotives can get fresh coal and water.

Figure 12 our excursion train in the station module Donát built.

After this, both branch line routes join together, and continue up to Wörrstadt Hbf built by Nick Kleinfelder. This station is, like mentioned before, the perfect place for some shunting activities, but is also a great place to take pictures off trains against the perfect backdrop of the classical and historical station building.

Last but not least, this branch line ends up in the tunnel module Erwin is working on. After this tunnel comes the smaller branch line yard which was mostly used to house freight wagons during the shunting activities at Wörrstadt Hbf.

Figure 13 Tamás his SJ B 1289 leaving Erwin his tunnel module.

Line-ups

On Sunday afternoon we decided to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the LLMTC with some line-ups that would show what a diverse range of trains we have been building in the last five years. First was the special LLMTC line up, with some of the most recognizable models built by LLMTC members in the last 5 years.

After that, we wanted to showcase some diversity, and highlight all of the unique colors and shapes we are able to incorporate into the models. So we gathered all the black and red tea kettles together in Wörrstadt Hbf. Can you spot the differences?

Lastly, we gathered all the nez-cassé locomotives that were present at this show, a whopping 15 in total, at the banana yard. Since the entire railway was blocked for these line-ups, others had the opportunity (or where forced to) to stop and take some pictures of their own models at different locations around the layout.

Figure 14 black and red steam locomotives owners club

Figure 16 all the nes-cassé locomotives together, a whopping 15 in total.

Video

Like always Ties recoded a lot of the trains running on the huge layout and combined this to a amazing video. Nothing shows events better than the talented video’s Ties makes. I highly recommend watching this video!

Looking back

Looking back at the weekend and the months before the event, there were a lot of stressful moments trying to get everything to come together, but it was worth it. Organizing this event took more time than we first anticipated. Both Raised and I spent a lot of evenings calling each other to discuss stuff we had arranged or still needed to arrange. Tamás had the difficult task to plan all the layouts together and spent a lot of time fighting with our beloved BlueBrick program.

However, seeing all these people come together during the weekend and seeing all those trains run on the layout that we spent so much time on, was more than worth it! This even was easily in the top 3 events I’ve ever been too, and was a perfect way to celebrate five years of LLMTC. Let’s hope we can celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the LLMTC in an even bigger way!

Figure 17 the entire crew that made LLMTC-world possible!

I hope that every builder who came by or attended the event had as much fun as I did. To see so many friends come together is truly breathtaking. This all started 5 years ago when a small group of similarly-minded train builders came together just do one show. Now, five years later, we’ve done more shows than I can remember, we’ve traveled to other countries just to attend LEGO train events and we’ve been involved in some amazing projects.

Thank you to all that have joined us, worked with us, and befriended us! The fact that we’ve been doing this for five years now is something I could never have imagined. And the fact that we’ve been able to meet and work with so many different builders and friends, is truly a privilege.

I would also like to thank HA bricks for sponsoring this event! It was great to be able to talk to Hein from HA bricks about the latest projects he has been working on. And we are really looking forward to his next products releases!

And I would like to leave with a small story when we attended a “normal” railway show earlier this year. We were talking with some members of a “normal” model railway organization and they asked us where our club house is, we responded that we don’t have one and that we all just built individual modules and models that we bring to events. This already baffled them and we spent a long time explaining what our modular standards where. I proceeded to tell them about our collaboration with other organizations like the Noppenbahner, BrickModelRailroader, BrickTrainAwards, the LNUR, Len Eisenbahner and our work with companies like TrixBrix, HA bricks, PfxBricks, Buwizz and many others. And they just couldn’t fathom it. International collaboration on this scale just doesn’t happen, not in their world at least. What we have in the L-Gauge community is very special, and we are supper grateful to have been a part of that for the last 5 year.

Thank you all for reading, take care and see you next time!

Special thanks to Ties for spell checking the entire article!

-ciao Enrico

Events

Brickworld Chicago 2023 Charity Auction Train

June 2, 2023 Cale Leiphart 1 Comment

Brickworld is soon upon us and I’v been working on a little project for the charity auction this year to settle a promise I made in 2019. And to explain, we’ll need to back up a little bit to 2015.

The Esther Walner Memorial Charity Fundraiser

Each year Brickworld attendees rally together to participate in what has become an exciting and unforgettable event. The Esther Walner Memorial Charity Fundraiser features unique items donated by individuals, groups and companies to help raise money for charity. Proceeds benefit several deserving charitable organizations, including Creations for Charity, Riley Children’s Hospital, FIRST LEGO League, and the Make a Wish Foundation. Approximately 90% of the raised monies will go to these charities. Brickworld supports other opportunities to help kids with the remaining monies. 100% of the money is donated each year.

A Challenge Between Train Builders Begins

In 2015, Anthony Sava set off a chain of events with the donation of a custom built, updated version of his American “Standard” 4-4-0 locomotive, along with decorative display base. Custom models usually generate a lot of interest at the auction, and Tony’s 4-4-0 was no exception. All of us in the train community there at Brickworld that year were speculating on how much the little “American” would bring. There was a huge excitement in the air.

As the 4-4-0 came up to the auction block, several of us train builders, including Tony and I, were sitting together in the crowd. Just before the bidding started, Tony turned to me and issued a challenge. If his model went for over $400, then I would donate a model to next year’s auction. I couldn’t back down from that challenge and agreed.

When the bidding had ended, the 4-4-0 had landed a sale price of $550.00, a full $150 above the mark set in Tony’s challenge. My fate was sealed, at the auction the following year, one of my models would be going up for sale.

The Mikado

So as Brickworld 2016 came, I decided to send off one my locomotives from my existing fleet for auction: my Baltimore & Ohio USRA Light Mikado. I chose this model because it was reliable, sturdy, and had classic locomotive styling. It was a good runner too. All things I felt would make it a good candidate to find a new home.

Tony, not being one to miss a good opportunity for some fun, decided to up the ante a little more for the auction. His proclamation was as follows.

“If this model goes for $1,000.00 or more at auction, I, Tony Sava, will build a custom 8-wide Caboose based on a Texas prototype and gift it to Cale Leiphart.

Furthermore, if the model goes for $1,000.00 or more I will, publicly, in front of all gathered at the PennLUG/TBRR layout at Brickworld, bow to Cale Leiphart and declare him the better train builder.

Further, furthermore, should this model go for $1,000.00 or more, I will build a railcar with a billboard stating Cale Leiphart is a better train builder, and will run it at every Texas Brick Railroad display until Brickworld 2017, including the upcoming Brick Fiesta 2016.”

Not only did my Mikado bring $1,000 at the auction, it hammered home at an amazing $2050. And true to his word, Tony made good on his wager, I even got that caboose after a long delay. It was totally worth the wait though.

Anthony Takes Back the Title

Now we jump ahead to 2019. Tony is once again generously donated a model of his own design to Brickworld’s Esther Walner Memorial Charity Fundraiser. The model this time was an AB set of his fantastic Santa Fe F7’s.

I could not let a good opportunity to challenge Tony pass by, so I threw down the gauntlet. My challenge was as follows.

If Tony Sava’s Santa Fe F7 set could reach the $1,000 mark that he set for me in 2016, I would build a custom caboose based on a Pennsylvania prototype, and gift it to him.

Furthermore, If the F7’s sold for $1,000 or more, I Cale Leiphart would donate a new custom locomotive of my own design to the Brickworld 2020 Charity Auction.

Further, furthermore, If Tony’s models can beat the $2050 price raised by my Mikado in 2016, I would, publicly, in front of all gathered at the LGMS layout at Brickworld, bow to Tony Sava and declare him the better train builder.

Furthermost, if Tony’s Santa Fe F7 set sold for more than my Mikado did in 2016 at auction, in addition to the aforementioned custom locomotive, I Cale Leiphart would build a full train for said locomotive to pull, to be donated to the Brickworld charity auction.

The challenge was on, and Tony’s models smashed it. Anthony’s Santa Fe F7 set brought an amazing $2700 at the auction, the highest item of the night. What had I done?

My challenge was clear, I was donating a whole train to the auction the following year. Tony is still waiting on that caboose, but that’s ok, I haven’t forgoten, and he did make me wait a bit for mine so it’s all fair.

A New Challenger Appears

So a global pandemic called Brickworld 2020 and 2021, and some other circumstances prevented me from building a train for 2022. But despite my failure, there was another epic train model entered in the 2022 Brickworld Charity Auction. Rob Hendrix of Lifelites designed a single truck Shay locomotive and 3D printed the model at 400% scale.

The auction for Robs Big Tiny Shay

Robs not so tiny Tiny Shay brought a crazy $3,4500 at the auction. Complete blowing away both Tony’s and my previous high marks. I was impressed, and also determined. I was determined to beat my good friend Rob and take the title back.

It’s Time to Sell a Train

I’m now less than two weeks away from doing the craziest thing I’ve ever done for charity. I’m going to sell a complete, working, highly detail LEGO model train of my own design at the 2023 Brickworld Esther Walner Memorial Charity Fundraiser.

So here is my plan.

To start things out we have have a steam locomotive and three cars for the regular train. Built to 1:48th scale (8 wide) this Illinois Central freight train is ready to run on your home or club train layout.

The locomotive is an authentic recreation of Illinois Central locomotive no. 790, a 2-8-0 steam freight locomotive now preserved at Steamtown National Historic Park. The locomotive model uses a Power Functions L motor to drive the drivers and features many custom parts. And there may be a surprise or two thrown in, you’ll just have to wait and see.

The caboose is a model of an Illinois Central wood side Baggage Caboose in its late steam era paint scheme.

The boxcar is a Pullman PS-1 40ft car lettered for the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway (also known as the Monon). This is an new and improved version of my old design for this car. The flat car is a Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific AAR 53ft car with Caterpillar tractor load. Also new and improved from my previous design.

But wait, there’s more!

I don’t want to just beat Tony’s F7s, I don’t want to just match Rob’s overgrown Tiny Shay, I want a grand slam. I want to set records and have a heck of a story to tell.

To do this, I’m bringing in some help from my friends. To help set a record, I have three mystery bonus cars to add to the auction. Glenn Holland, Scott Roys, and Conrad Schlenker have each designed and generously donated a car for the auction train. What cars you ask? Well they are going to be kept secret until the auction, but trust me, they are awesome and you will want them. Here is how this is going to work.

Once the auction price hits $2700 (Tony’s F7s price from 2019), we will add on one of the special cars to the train. If the auction price hits $3400 (Rob’s Loco from last year) we will add a second bonus car. If it hopefully reaches $3600 (the record from what I’m told for any item at the Brickworld Charity Auction) we add the final car. If any of the bonus goals are not met, those cars will get auctioned off individually.

And that’s how you do crazy auction things.

Thank You to these Sponsors

Scott Hoffmeyer of Bricktracks will be donating a full circle of R104 Curve track to go with the train set.

Andy Mollmann of OKBrickworks is donating all the decal printing for these models.

Rob Hendrix of Lifelites has donated the 3D printed drivers for the locomotive, and other miscellaneous 3D printed parts for the build.

Final Thoughts Before the Big Event

It is just crazy for me to comprehend that I’m actually doing this. But it is the thrill of the challenge, and the camaraderie of friends engaging in fun rivalry that brings me here. And it’s for an awesome cause. I never been able to bid at the auctions like some out there, my budget is smaller than my dreams. But one thing I can do is build, and I’ve been accused of being an ok train builder. I may not have the paycheck to buy at the auction, so this is how I can give back.

I really hope this train brings a crazy price at auction. Not for my ego, but because it is going to help children’s charities. Helping kids is the greatest reward here. So if you can be there at the auction, bid generously, it’s for the children.

Thank you, and see you at Brickworld.

LEGO® News

OcTRAINber 2022: The Results

November 19, 2022 Chris Stone Leave a comment

After two months of dedicated building, OcTRAINber 2022 saw a somewhat smaller but very high quality set of entries. This year’s challenge was quite a big one, and it’s safe to say that everyone who participated rose to the occasion quite well. Today, I’m quite proud to announce the winners of this year’s OcTRAINber: Rebuilds & Retrofits challenge.

Last weekend, Cale Leiphart, Matt Csenge, and myself were joined in judging by a staple competitor and many-time OcTRAINber winner: Alexander, also known online as “narrow_gauge”. Together, the four of us reviewed these great entries and picked out the winners. Alexander’s got a keen eye for the LEGO train modeling hobby and his contributions, both to the judging and the hobby, are stellar. Many thanks, Alexander, for participating in the judging this year!

Before I get to the winners, let’s take a quick review of what they’ve won this year, shall we?

The Prizes

BrickTracks has contributed several sets of switches for the winners. Each winner of the four main categories will receive one R104 Switch Track Set, while the Grand Prize winner will be getting three!

BMR Gift Card

Each of the four category winners will receive a $30 Gift Card for the BMR shop, and the Grand Prize winner will receive a BMR Gift Card worth $40!

Without further ado, let’s get to the announcements!

This Year’s Winners:

Winner: Buildings and Structures

Gilles Lessard’s “Heavy Hauling Hearts” Flatcar Bridge

Gilles Lessard has brought us the story of a flatcar that was eventually repurposed into a pedestrian bridge at a Golf Course, and has built both an excellent model of the flatcar in its rolling stock days as well as its later life ‘photo stock’ days after being converted into a bridge; including two seasons in his diorama to represent both the wintry weather in which he skied under it as well as a wedding photoshoot he found in his searches for more reference material.

This is both an excellent pair of models, and a great fit into this year’s theme. Congratulations, Gilles!

Winner: Steam Locomotive

Ts__ certainly seems to have been hit heavy with inspiration and drive this year, having built two physical models and digitally designing a third. This odd duck of a locomotive was initially built as a streamlined cab-forward steam locomotive that burned, of all things, coal dust, before later being rebuilt as a more traditional engine to make something useful out of it after its performance proved unsatisfactory.

Ts__ has captured all three time periods of this locomotive in great detail, but furthermore has managed the impressive task of making them actually run; a feat I was quite honestly not expecting from the streamlined engine. It’s crazy to see just how big of a change this steam engine went through!

Winner: Rolling Stock

Denis Garnier’s curious little snowplow started life as both a tender and an unrelated electric locomotive, before the railroad essentially kit-bashed them together into this 3-axle rotary snowplow. Denis has modeled both the tender that provided the frame as well as the snowplow created from it, both with an excellent level of detail and a system to motorize the snowplow’s blower. The shapes and textures of both models are exemplary, and do a great job of representing two pieces of rolling stock that look entirely different at a glance – but have their common components clearly represented to those who give it a closer look.

Winner: Other Locomotive

Scruffulous’s Victorian Railways Rail Tractor

Scruffulous’s Rail Tractor is an incredibly well-realized set of models depicting a very interesting transformation of its constituent parts. Apparently a fan of repurposing the frames of their I Wagons, the Victorian Railways solved a motive power need by installing a tractor onto one of these frames to power it via chain drive, and then built a cab around it.

Scruffulous’ models are all amazingly detailed, the Rail Tractor is motorized, and the 3D printed parts he’s created for the handrails really feel like they add to the model. The detailing of the springs and the bearing boxes is inspired, and the shape of the tractor on the front of the locomotive is unmistakable. Fantastic work!

Winner: Grand Prize

Through both his builds and the WIP story, Hod Carrier has shown an incredibly fine example of what serious LEGO model railroading is all about. Two trains, three units each, and an amazing amount of work to faithfully recreate a multitude of complex and subtle curves and shapes. Not content with that, the models are motorized and the passenger version includes an interior; in addition to the fantastic new method of close-coupled articulation he’s developed to keep the space between the cars to a minimum.

The amount of design work and research put into this somewhat obscure bit of rail history is impressive, and the final product seems well-worth the time put into it. Great builds, Hod!

Final Words

As always, thanks to everybody who participated in OcTRAINber this year; be it competitors or those who took the time to encourage the participants. This year’s theme was perhaps a bit daunting, but you all met the challenge well and produced some great models with fascinating histories.

I’d also like to once again thank Narrow_Gauge for joining us in judging these models. I’ve always loved seeing his amazing entries, and it was really cool to have his perspective involved in our review this year.

And, finally, once more, congratulations to all the winners of OcTRAINber 2022!

LEGO® News

OcTRAINber 2022 — Rebuilds & Retrofits

August 26, 2022 Chris Stone 1 Comment

Hello again, everybody! October isn’t quite here yet, but it’s just about time to get rolling for this year’s OcTRAINber. We’re going to be making a couple tweaks to the format this year that I’ll explain later in the post, but for now let’s get into the rundown on this year’s theme: “Rebuilds & Retrofits“.

Railroads have had a long history of taking old cars or engines and trying to use them for as long as possible. Railroad equipment is expensive, after all. Old equipment is kept repaired and patched up as best as it can be, but sometimes these old pieces of stock end up being changed for something very different. Locomotives may be altered significantly to help them better fit in a different role, such as a tank engine having its tanks removed and replaced with a tender. Sometimes old passenger cars end up heavily rebuilt for a non-revenue role and go on to serve as Maintenance-of-Way equipment. Some freight cars end up rebuilt as passenger service cars, or stripped down and turned into a bridge.

That, ultimately, is what this year’s OcTRAINber is all about. We’re looking for models of Railroad equipment that has been rebuilt or retrofitted to serve a different or altered function from its original intent. In addition, we’d like to see two LEGO models, one of both the before AND after – show us how the subject has changed!

Hammond Lumber Co.’s 2-6-6-2t #6 was later converted to a tender engine and sold to Southwest Lumber, where it was re-numbered to #12

The Challenge

Ultimately, we’re looking for major changes in the modeled subjects. While a boxcar with friction-bearing trucks getting an upgrade to roller-bearing trucks does indeed count as a retrofit, it’s not a very large change and won’t score many points. What we’re really looking for is something that has been changed to operate in a significantly different way, or something that has been altered to look drastically different.

We realize that this year’s theme requires building two models – but we’re very open to options. There are several acceptable ways to reach this criteria:

1. Build both versions of the model in LEGO Bricks.
2. Build both versions of the model digitally
3. Build one version in LEGO, and one version digitally
4. Build and photograph one version in LEGO bricks, then actually alter it to the second version and photograph that. Both versions need not exist simultaneously; they just need to be photographed and submitted together in a single entry

Southern Pacific removed the engine components from 9010 and rebuilt the nose, turning it into a camera car and re-numbering it to 8799

Rules

Entries must be original models. No stealing. This also means no Mods (thus also no sets), only original MOCs.
One entry per person, per category. You can enter as many categories as you like, but you can only enter one model in each category. We want quality over quantity. So pick your best model and make it shine.
Third party parts are allowed, clone bricks aren’t. We know this can be a thin line, just walk it wisely, and we’ll do our best to judge fairly on this.
We are making no rules for the scale you choose to model in. We are welcoming models of 6, 7, and 8 studs, and anything in between or beyond! However, we appreciate detail and accuracy. Reasonably sized models are usually better for that, but we don’t knock anything or anyone with serious skill.
NEW BUILDS ONLY. We are willing to accept anything unpublished or anything that was not published before August 1st 2022 as new. We want to inspire and promote a challenging build, entering an old model doesn’t quite work in that regard.
Entries MUST be made on our Flickr group in the appropriate thread. This is the ONLY place we will be looking for entries, nowhere else. Sending photos to us on social media or showing us in person does not count as entries! These threads will open on September 1st.
We will be accepting entries from Midnight on September 1st to Midnight on November 1st (meaning October 31st, at 23:59 PDT). Due to the scale of the competition as well as helping efforts to expedite the judging, we’ve opted to start OcTRAINber early instead of having it run long into the holiday season. This also means there will be no extensions this year, so make sure you’re all ready by the end of October!
Digital entries are allowed, and will be competing in the same categories as the physical models. As mentioned before, we are accepting “mixed-media” entries due to requiring two models, so you are welcome to submit one Physical and one Digital model to complete an entry.

A second deck has been added to this New Haven flatcar to facilitate maintenance on the electrified lines

Categories

There will be four categories to enter this year, with a winner for each. There will also be an extra Grand Prize winner, as we’ve done in some previous years, for a total of five prizes.

The Categories are as follows:

1. Steam Locomotives

2. Other Locomotives (E.G. Diesels, Electrics, Rail buses, anything that provides its own motive power)

3. Rolling Stock (E.G. Freight, Passenger, MOW, etc)

4. Buildings and Structures (E.G. repurposed stations, rail cars that have been repurposed as bridges.)

If you are building something that could go in multiple categories, for example a flatcar (rolling stock) that has been repurposed into a bridge (structure), then we’d recommend entering it in the category that best fits what it has been adapted into. In this example the flatcar has been turned into a bridge, and should be entered as a structure.

This ATSF Boxcar was converted into a bridge over a canal

Judging and Scoring

Entries will be judged primarily on these three criteria:

1. Accuracy to Prototype — How well do your models represent their real-life counterparts? Proportions, detailing, and functionality all help out here.

2. WIP Story — Include pictures and information on the real-life counterparts to your build, show the build process, and highlight the differences between the ‘Before’ and ‘After’ versions of your model.

3. Transformation Factor — This is focused on how significant of a change took place. Something like changing the trucks out to reflect a bearing type upgrade will score much lower than something that has been changed to operate or be used in a significantly different or unique way; or has been altered to look drastically different.

As always, keep in mind that OcTRAINber is a ‘quality over quantity’ building event. This means that we encourage (and give higher scores for) higher-quality entries as opposed to several sub-par ones. Build your best, and don’t rush yourself to try to hit something in every category.

While we’ve tried to give several examples for things that will fit into the theme, the examples listed are not exhaustive. We encourage you to explore and find some really amazing things to enter, so if you find something that you feel really grabs the spirit of the theme then go ahead. If it’s something really out there that won’t fit into one of the listed categories, feel free to ask for clarification.

Final Words

The last couple years, the judging for OcTRAINber hasn’t exactly been the quickest, and that’s something we would really like to change this year. November and December are filled with Holidays and train shows, and mixed with the growing number of entries it’s been getting quite difficult to find a good time to get through everything once Thanksgiving starts to hit.

To help alleviate that, for all of you as well as for the judges, instead of extending OcTRAINber into November, we are going to start it earlier this year and will work to have the judging taken care of before the big holiday season starts up. Starting September 1st is certainly change, but we still end it in October, so it totally counts, right?

We will have more articles posted in the coming months with more information as needed.

OcTRAINber has always been fun for us, and we’re excited to see what you all come up with to enter this year. Thank you for reading, and we hope you have as much fun with the event as we do.

Happy building!

NYC’s #5344 Hudson has run both with and without the streamlined panels

About BMR, Products

St Louis Refrigerator Car Co. 36ft Beer Car NMRA 2022 Premium Instructions Update: New Special Limited Scheme for July 4th.

July 1, 2022 Cale Leiphart Leave a comment

BMR’s model of the St Louis Refrigerator Car Co. 36ft Beer Car is commemorating the L-Gauge Modular Standard LEGO® train layout that will be on display at the NMRA 2022 National Train Show Premium Instructions. If you have not reserved one, then read on and see what the car is about and be sure to reserve yours before the 11:59pm EST July 4th 2022 order deadline. And if you have already reserved a car, then skip ahead and take a look at a special bonus scheme for the car that we are only offering for the July 4th weekend.

Test model with printed parts seen at Brickworld 2022. Note red pin stipe has not been applied yet.

The St. Louis Refrigerator Car Company (SLRX) was a private refrigerator car line established on February 3, 1878, by Anheuser-Busch brewing company. SLRX was formed to facilitate large-scale distribution of Anheuser-Busch’s products via the U.S. rail network. The SLRX not only built its own bunkerless reefers, but maintained and operated them as well.

In 1919 the firm was acquired by Manufacturers Railway Company (MRS), another Anheuser-Busch transportation subsidiary that provided switching service to the brewery and interchange connection with the common carrier railroads serving St. Louis.

BMR’s Limited Edition model faithfully recreates one of the Iconic cars of the St Louis Car Company. This 36ft bunkerless refrigerator car was used from 1913 through to the 1950s. Our model represents this car in its post World War II scheme with white cars sides, an enlarged emblem, and a maroon stripe along the bottom of the car side.

For this model we are offering the choice of decals printed by OKBrickworks, or a printed parts upgrade on new, genuine parts printed by BrickForge. One decal set, or printed part set will be included in each instruction kit. Each decal or printed part set will come with an individual car number so that no two cars will have the same car number. We are also offering extra decal sets and printed part sets for those who want to build more than one car.

Special Liberty Bonds Paint Scheme Only Available for July 4th Weekend

Liberty Bonds scheme used during World War One

Of course the “Late SLRX” paint scheme we modeled on the standard car is not the only scheme these cars used over the years. And while digging through archives we found one that we thought was pretty neat. During World War One, many railroads had equipment painted in special schemes promoting causes in support of the American war effort. The Saint Louis Refrigerator Car Company did so by painting an undetermined number of cars in a special paint scheme to promote Liberty Bonds.

A Liberty Bond was a debt obligation issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in conjunction with the Federal Reserve. Also known as a Liberty Loan, it was a war bond, issued in four installments in 1917-18 as a means to finance the U.S.’ participation in World War I and the Allied war effort in Europe.

As a special bonus, BMR is releasing this paint scheme as an add on to the celebrate the United States Independence this July 4th weekend.

We are offering this special scheme in the choice of decals printed by OKBrickworks, or a printed parts on new, genuine parts printed by BrickForge. You will of course still need the standard Premium Instruction Kit to build the model as the Liberty Bonds Scheme is just being offered as a decal or printed parts add on. Each decal or printed part set will come with an individual car number so that no two cars will have the same car number.

Orders Close 11:59pm July 4th

This is Limited Edition Model and will only be available for a one time run of Instruction kits. Pre orders for this model will end on 11:59pm EST July 4th 2022. Once pre orders close, Instruction Kits will be produced to fill those orders. Expected shipping date will be late July to mid August.

Be sure to order your copy of this special model and the bonus Liberty Bonds paint scheme at the link bellow before it’s gone for good.

St Louis Refrigerator Car Company NMRA 2022 National Train Show Products

Layout Design, Layouts, Products

Review: Brickyard Building Blocks LEGO Compatible Baseplate

June 10, 2022 Cale Leiphart Leave a comment

Spoiler alert, this is a review of a non LEGO® product.

Today we’re reviewing baseplates produced by Brickyard Building Blocks. These are what many might consider a clone brand, but their baseplates are a little bit different than the LEGO style we’re all used to. That said, they have some unique advantages to offer builders and may be of use in your own train layout building. So let’s take a closer look.

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About BMR, Decals, Products

BMR is celebrating its 5th Anniversary, BMR is attending Brickworld, and We Have a Special New Car for the 2022 NMRA Show

May 31, 2022 Cale Leiphart 1 Comment

It’s hard to believe, but Brick Model Railroader is 5 Years old this year. Launched on December 30th, 2016 as a LEGO train news and informations website, BMR has grown to include a YouTube channel, a line of custom train instructions, and custom LEGO@ train accessories.

Check out our nifty 5th Anniversary logo.

We’re are still committed to our original purpose of bringing you LEGO train news, showcasing awesome models built by those of you in the train community, bringing you informative articles on building techniques and layout design. Yes I know we’ve been quiet around here lately. Such is life, it sometimes takes you away from things you should be doing. But we ready to get back into the groove of writing some great articles for you. There is some exciting stuff coming up in the hobby this year, and we want to be there to share it with you.

Now let’s cover some of the other cool things coming to BMR.

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Events, Layouts, LEGO® News

Great Scale Model Train Show: February, 2022 L-Gauge Modular Standard Layout

May 26, 2022 Cale Leiphart Leave a comment

On February 5th and 6th, 2022 several LEGO® train builders gathered in Timonium, Maryland for the Great Scale Model Train Show to put together and display a L-Gauge Modular Standard (LGMS) train layout. The layout was planned and coordinated by Monty Smith. Contributors included Justin and Jesica Rupp, Nate Robinson, Eric Swanson, Robert Tebeau, Cale Leiphart, Glenn Holland, Brandon Burt, Robert Douthwaite, Bob Hayes, Jason Miller, and John Albright.

So first, maybe we should review what LGMS is. The objective of the L-Gauge Modular System (LGMS) is to provide a platform for realistic group layouts where a number of participants can bring LGMS modules to an event and assemble a coherent, reliable, and plausible layout suitable for public display, realistic operations and switching, or loop running where applicable.

LGMS uses a carefully designed set of standards for building layout modules so that every one is bringing a module can seamlessly mate up to any other module following the standards. The most up to date standard can be found on the LGMS website.

The Layout

The show layout measured 67ft long x 15ft wide, with several bridges, sidings, industries, a branch line, and a staging yard incorporated into the layout. Monty Smith, the layout coordinator, did an awesome job working within the confines of the space we were given by the show while still designing an interesting layout with some creative running opportunities.

Here is a video tour of the layout.

February Timonium Show Layout Tour

And here are some of the trains we ran over the weekend.

Trainspotting!

And here are my still photos from the show.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzRxZZ

Operations

On Sunday morning of the show, we held a mini operating session. What is an operating session you ask? The typical model railroad operating session seeks to model how the real railroads operate on a daily basis. Just like a real railroad, one can perform tasks on a layout such as delivering and picking up freight cars to and from industries, classifying (sorting) cars in the yard from arriving trains, and building outbound trains. Passenger trains make station stops and can be assembled and broken down in the passenger yard. Traffic control, a train dispatcher and signaling can also be involved.

For this op session, we really just wanted to play around and get a feel for what we could do. It was a pretty laid back, made up as we go fair, but was quite fun, and a good learning experience for future op sessions.

Robert Tebeau and myself staging our locomotives in preparation for the Op session.

Myself, Justin Rupp, and Robert Tebeau took the role of running freight trains and switching on the layout. Each of us controlling our own locomotive. Bob Hayes operated a passenger train, stopping regularly at stations and taking priority on the main line. Monty played the role of dispatcher, instructing each freight train/switcher on what cars to pick up and set out and where they needed to go, while also directing the passenger train schedule.

As I said, it was pretty laid back, and maybe could have done with a little more advanced planning, but we all had a blast and operated for close to an hour before stopping as the show crowd picked up and we went back to running trains normally. It was a great learning experience and we plan to try another op session based on our experience at the 2022 Brickworld event coming up in June.

In Conclusion

This show was a ton of fun. The layout was planned well, and there were some great modules making up the display. We ran a wide variety of trains, from Steam to diesel to moderns high speed trains, and there was no shortage of excellent rolling stock to pull.

A big hand goes out to Monty who was our LGMS coordinator and layout planner for this show. This was not Monty’s first LGMS layout, he has coordinated two previous LGMS layouts the Great Scale Model Train Show and also one for Brickfair Virginia 2021. He is also helping with the track plan for two upcoming shows, Brickworld, and the NMRA National Train Show, coordinating for the Brickfair Virgina LGMS layout, and will be coordinating the October GSMTS LGMS layout. Monty has got this layout planning thing on lockdown and his hard work is much appreciated. And he also builds some cool trains.

Some of Monty’s Diesel handiwork in the staging yard.

For more information on LGMS and also upcoming shows featuring an LGMS layout you can visit the LGMS website and join the LGMS Facebook group. Links below.

LGMS.org

LGMS Facebook Group

About BMR, Contests

OcTRAINber 2021: The Results

March 10, 2022 Chris Stone Leave a comment

Every year, OcTRAINber gets bigger and bigger, with ever more participants entering models of increasingly high quality. It’s been amazing to see all the creative, well-executed models each year, and boy did 2021 bring a LOT of good stuff to look at.

It’s been a busy season for those of us here at BMR, but at last we’ve finally got the results for all of you. Your judges for this year were Cale Leiphart, Chris Stone, and Matt Csenge from the BMR team. There were a lot of very cool Critters to look through, and I’m excited to share which ones have won. Before that, though…

The Prizes

The prizes this year are as follows:

Each of the main category will receive a Circuit Cubes Bluetooth Upgrade+ Kit plus an OcTRAINber Printed Brick printed by BrickForge.

The winner for Best Motorization will be receiving a Studly Trains Tiny Train IR Control Kit donated by LifeLites, plus an OcTRAINber Printed Brick printed by BrickForge..

https://lifelites.com/studly-trains/tiny-train-control-kit

Winner: Bobber Caboose

Trained Bricks: “Katy Caboose”

Cartoon designs do not generally transfer easily into a medium as ‘square’ as LEGO, but Katy Caboose was realized very well. Good work on the shaping of the roof and steps stand out the quickest, but the solid effort put into the rest of the texture detailing is impressive; as is the way Katy’s “mouth” is represented on the doors. Great work, Trained Bricks, and hats off as well for meeting our somewhat tongue-in-cheek challenge to motorize a bobber caboose!

Honorable Mention

The Brick Files: “Proto-Freelance Caboose”

What we loved the most about this little bobber caboose is the amount of texture and detail packed into a small space. This bobber features a full interior that is quite clever. It was certainly a close second for our favorite bobber.

Winner: MOW Rolling Stock

Asperka: “RhB Baudiensttraktor Tm2/2 – 2”

This impressively executed Critter somehow managed to get better each time we looked at it. Asperka managed to fit a Circuit Cubes battery and motor into a small cabin, powering a narrow-gauge drive, and still leave plenty of space in and around the model for all the appropriate detailing. The amount of open space left in the model for tools, and the fact that the cab windows are very minimally obscured, is amazing. Very well done!

Honourable Mentions

MOW turned out to be one of the most creative categories this year. We really sweated the voting on this one, and so we have three models we felt worthy of Honorable Mention.

Alex T: “High Rail Ladder”

MoW equipment in use — It’s silly, it’s tiny, and it’s based on a real prototype. You have to love this absurd little model.

Ewout Rohling: “NSWGR Inspection Bike”

OcTRAINber 2021: NSWGR inspection trike — Such a small model, yet so perfectly captures the details of the real prototype.

Hod Carrier: “The Honey Bucket”

OcTRAINber MOW 08 — Quite possibly the crappiest model in the OcTRAINber competition. The jokes write themselves with this one, and we could not stop laughing. Well played Hod Carrier.

Winner: Industrial Rolling Stock

BigZ31: “21T Coal Wagons”

OcTRAINber 2021 - 21T Powered Mineral Wagon #4

OcTRAINber 2021 - Andrew Barclay Fireless with 21T Wagons

These little 2 axle coal wagons have a huge amount of detail. But what impressed us even more was the motor, battery, and Power Functions receiver used to power the train they make up are so perfectly hidden with them. You would be hard pressed to tell where the mechanical/electronic magic is in the train. Well done.

Honorable Mention

BrickTheBrick: “Wagon with Excavator”

This model would have maybe been a better fit in the MOW category, but we still thought it was great. The wagon is well done, and mini excavator is on point for scale and detail.

Winner: Electric Locomotive

Thomas Reincke: “Ka 4015”

Thomas’ Ka 4015 is deceptively small. It rides low enough to the rails that the buffers are nearly halfway up the locomotive’s body, with great shaping, and also powered by Circuit Cubes – we’re seeing little bit of a trend! We were very impressed by how compact the motorization solution was. The engine sitting so low leaves little room to fit the electronics, but Thomas pulled it off with a very good amount of space left for his cab and crew.

Honorable Mention

Tenderlok: “Coke Quenching Locomotive”

LEGO® Coke Quenching Locomotive (1/33 scale) - 01

Sven aka Tenderlok took the bold step to build a critter in a scale larger than the default mini fig scale we are all used to and the result is a wonderful little electric critter.

Winner: Internal Combustion Locomotive

Ts__/ Thomas: “Köf II DB 322 607-3”

The KöF is perhaps among the most-often built LEGO locomotives, and it’s not hard to see why – it’s a very nice looking engine, and the fact that LEGO themselves own one for shunting work makes it a fun subject to model. With all the many, many KöF out there, it’s hard think of one catching attention the same way something a little more novel might.

With that said, Ts__/ Thomas’s KöF caught all of our attention immediately. The shaping, proportions, detailing, and texturing are all masterfully executed. The engine hood is a nice and slim 3 studs in width, features a tapered nose, and captures the complex yet subtle shapes of the side panels. On top of all of that, it’s powered as well. This model has certainly raised the bar for LEGO KöF builds, and it’s raised it quite high.

Winner: Steam Locomotive

Ewoutro: “Guinness Brewery No. 13”

The Guinness Brewery No. 13 feels just about as “Critter” as a steam engine gets. A narrow-gauge steam engine with the pistons mounted atop the boiler like a steam tractor, it also had special haulage carts it could be lowered into to do shunting work on the broad-gauge rail.

Ewoutro’s rendition of the locomotive is very well done, built to run on narrow gauge track as well as standard LEGO track through the use of a haulage cart, just like the real engine. This dual-mode operation is a very cool detail to see realized in a tiny LEGO model, and though it’s not powered, the execution and engineering put into it is impressive all the same.

Honorable Mention

BritishBricks: “The Bundaberg Fowler”

What a great model. The colors grab your attention right away, but dig deeper and this is a solid locomotive. A unique, inside frame, narrow gauge locomotive with plenty of character and detail, this is a very well presented model.

Winner: Best Motorized Model

Brett Wiebold: “Plymouth DLH 8 Ton #3 ‘PeeWee'”

We had a lot of submissions this year with very impressive and creative motorization implementations. It was very tough to choose a winner.

Brett’s “PeeWee” isn’t the model with the most motors, or the most functions, but it is a very well-executed Critter with a very unique feature: The drive train contains a 2-speed transmission. This transmission understandably means the engine is chock-full of gears and drive axles, in addition to a motor and power solution by Lifelite’s “Studly Trains”. Somehow Brett has managed to incorporate these into the engine detailing so that when you open the hood doors, it feels like you see an engine and not just a cluster of gears. On top of that, behind the front radiator grille he’s included a spinning radiator fan.

This blending of the motorization feature into the aesthetics of the build represents a very smooth and well-realized combination of both function and form, while delivering something novel in a small package. It was a hard-won victory, but “PeeWee” managed to win it.

Final Words

Firstly, we would like to thank you all for participating in OcTRAINber again this year. It’s always great to see how inspired everyone gets, and you too inspire us in turn.

We’d also like to thank you for your patience with the results. OcTRAINber’s been getting a little slower every year – and this year was no exception. It almost didn’t happen this year; with Gerbrand stepping away after OcTRAINber 2020 it took a little bit to find a balance with it again. OcTRAINber is very special to us all, and we wanted to make sure to keep the tradition going.

Looking forward towards OcTRAINber 2022, we are hoping to have this one run much smoother overall and we are also hoping to get the judging finished in a much more timely fashion. We’ve already picked out a theme (Which I for one am quite excited for, look for an announcement in September), and we’ve got ideas for how to get the schedule a little tighter so we can get the judging wrapped up before the mass of Holidays and Shows that eat up the end of the year. We understand that a wait this long is difficult to endure, and it’s on our minds.

Congratulations once more to all the Winners of OcTRAINber 2021. We will be contacting you soon regarding the Prizes.

Events, Models, People

Rail Car Secret Santa 2020 Part 4

December 18, 2021 Cale Leiphart Leave a comment

We’re back with the final installment 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, two, and three of this series to catch up on the what, how, who, and why and see the cars you missed. We have some time.

Rail Car Secret Santa 2020 Part 1

Rail Car Secret Santa 2020 Part 2

Rail Car Secret Santa 2020 Part 3

Alright, let’s dig in to the next group of cars.

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