{"id":221200,"date":"2020-07-31T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brickmodelrailroader.com\/?p=221200"},"modified":"2020-07-31T12:37:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T16:37:28","slug":"introducing-the-modular-lego-intermodal-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brickmodelrailroader.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/31\/introducing-the-modular-lego-intermodal-standard\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing the Modular LEGO\u00ae Intermodal Standard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I Can\u2019t Contain Myself!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hello, dad joke of a title aside, I am very happy to be writing this article! My name is Cameron Miller. I founded Iron Horse Brick Co. (https:\/\/www.ironhorsebrickco.com\/<\/a>) with Aaron Burnett in September of 2018. I have been out of my dark ages since 2014 and have jumped head first into the world of LEGO\u00ae trains. Since the closure of Iron Horse Brick Co., I have become an owner of Brick Train Depot (https:\/\/www.bricktraindepot.com\/<\/a>) and that is what ultimately brings me to writing this article. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple months back, Cale from BMR, approached me about defining an intermodal container standard<\/a> for the 1:48 scale (8 wide) trains that Brick Model Railroader and Brick Train Depot sell. I have had some free container and truck instructions published since my time at Iron Horse Brick Co. and have moved them to Brick Train Depot. Cale wanted to ensure that we could offer compatibility between our brands, much like model train manufacturers do with other scales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The original Maersk Tain containers formed the starting point for the Modular LEGO\u00ae Intermodal Standard..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Cale and I collaborated with Alex Broccolo, and Chris Stone for this project. We started with what LEGO\u00ae has already offered up to us. In the Maersk train (set #10219<\/a>) the containers are 6×16 studs for the base and 6 bricks (18 plates) tall including the feet. Thankfully for 1:48 scale, 6×16 conveniently works out to about 8 feet (6.4 studs) by 20 feet (16 studs) which is the standard ISO 20ft container. They are typically 8\u2019-6\u201d tall with a high cube version available at 9\u2019-6\u201d. If you are following along with your calculator, 8\u20196\u201d is 17 plates and 9\u20196\u201d is 19 plates tall at 1:48 scale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ISO Standard 20ft shipping container dimensions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here is a link<\/a><\/em><\/strong> to the standards document that covers the specifics of how we derived and defined each size of containers commonly found in North America.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to the container dimensions being standardized, the connection points are also defined. Using the Plate, Modified 1 x 2 Rounded with 2 Open Studs<\/strong> (35480<\/strong>) on the bottom and the Tile, Round 1 x 1 with Bar and Pin Holder<\/strong> (20482<\/strong>) on the top to create a secure connection for stacking containers, while still being easy to separate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The TL;DR of those dimensions is as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Containers will be 6 studs wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Containers lengths are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n