RAILBRICKS

Flying Scotsman's US tour

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:02:00 EST

Not being up on my 1971 history, I stumbled into a neat discovery while browsing a wonderful train photo archive. Apparently the Flying Scotsman toured the US in 1971, complete with an entire train. The main photo shows a BN (former SP&S) Alco pulling the train. Who knew that even those of us who model American trains could put the Emerald Night on our layout in context.

For more on these shots, click here and here, and two more shots here and here. These images are from the wonderful collection of Ron V. Nixon, where you can trace the evolution of the NP from about 1910 to the BN merger (as well as several other US railroads of the Pacific Northwest).

NELUG Breaks Monorail World Record

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:47:00 EST

On February 11 & 12, 2012, members of the New England LEGO Users Group (NELUG), attempted to break the world record for the Longest Continuous LEGO Monorail Track. The previous record is believed to have been held by the Ontario Brick Builders who, in December of 2009, displayed a layout of approximately 250 linear feet of track. NELUG's display, shown at the Wenham Museum in Wenham, Massachusetts, measured approximately 730 linear feet.

From Mike Ripley of NELUG:

"On 11&12 Feb 2012 the New England LEGO Users Group (NELUG) set a new world record for the longest contiguous LEGO monorail track at 730 feet (222.5 meters). The event, dubbed the MR730 Event, was held at the Wenham Museum in Wenham, MA. The two day show featured a layout divided into 4 themes; space, city, carnival and forest/castle, with monorail track running throughout. Highlights included two amazing structures that held 11 levels of monorail track, working carnival rides, and 5 custom monorail trains. A video of the MR730 Event can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/riplego/6862346673/ or search Flickr for "MR730 Event"."

For full disclosure, while I am a member of NELUG, I didn't take part in this particular display. I can say, however, that the participants put in a huge amount of time, dreaming, planning, building, and ultimately displaying this amazing layout. The original seed for this layout was planted in March of 2010, with discussions taking place, off and on, until the summer of 2011 when serious planning began.

Congratulations to the New England LEGO Users Group!

Vote for this Modular Western Town project on LEGO Cuusoo. Help make this awesome idea a reality.

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:03:00 EST

Please join us in the campaign to make this Cuusoo submission, by Eurobricks member marshal_banana a reality.

In case you haven't already heard of Cuusoo, it's a new project from LEGO aimed at sourcing ideas from us LEGO fans. Fans submit projects to the Cuusoo site that they want to see LEGO explore. Then other fans vote on weather they would support that idea. If an idea receives 10,000 votes it gets an official review from LEGO and the chance to become a reality. If it passes and becomes a real set the project's creator receives a 1% royalty from the net profits.

This Modular Western Town from mb_bricks is one such project and one well worthy of support. I'm sure all you Wild West train enthusiasts out there would love to have a few of these buildings sitting in your train layout. Heck, I model the late seam era (1930's to 50's) and even I could use these buildings in my train layout. That's how good these are. So please lend your support to this project.

Modular Western Town Cuusoo Project

Elmore 1972, Capturing a moment in time.

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:01:00 EST

So what happens when you take all the elements that make up a good LEGO® train layout, trains, buildings, landscape, apply a laser like focus on them to depict one specific era in time at one specific location and then turn it all up to 11? You get Elmore 1972 from Tim Gould and Mike Pianta.

Elmore 1972

I believe at it's highest level model railroading is an art form and the model railroader an artist. It's an art that aims to capture a moment in time. To freeze an era and a place and tell the story of the daily life that revolves around a small stretch of train tracks some where in the world. This layout from Mike Pianta and Tim Gould proves that LEGO trains can not only play in the same league as more traditional model railroads but that LEGO trains can be art.

This layout is a fantastic piece model railroading artistry. But this isn't the first from this team. Mike and Tim also collaborated last year to create the inspiring Ararat 1972 layout. So be sure to check out all the photos from these two wonderful layouts. This is the magic that can come from the wonderful hobby of LEGO trains.

Elmore 1972

Ararat 1972

It's a little slow lately so here's some inspiration to get you building.

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:30:00 EST

It's been a little slow in the LEGO train world lately. While I'm sure there are some great MOC just around the corner, here is a little inspiration in the meantime to get the creative juices flowing.

God Father Rails

This is one of my favorite lesser known sites to visit from time to time. John Dziobko, Jr. is a well known photographer in the rail fan community an God Father Rails is his website through which he shares his fantastic photos. While he primarily covers the North Eastern US he does have a few photos from west of the Mississippi. One of my favorite photos is this one of Pennsylvania RR Class D16sb #1225. Here she is in excursion servise for the Stasburg RR in December of 1966 making a trip down the middle of Water St. to kick off the Holiday season in Lancaster Pennsylvania. The tracks through the streets of Lancaster are long gone now but #1225 is still around now residing close by at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

http://www.godfatherrails.com/home/home.asp

First Generation EMDs, The diesels that revolutionized railroading

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:02:00 EST

Maybe I'm a bit biased to older, historic RR subjects but I feel the fist generation EMD Geeps (GP7 and GP9) and and SDs (SD7 and SD9) are a little underrepresented in LEGO MOCs given their historic nature. Fortunately a two builders out there have decided to model these history making locomotives and they've done fantastic job.

Aberdeen & Rockfish RR GP7

On the Geep side we have an Aberdeen & Rockfish GP7 from Bricknerd.

A&R GP7

The Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad colors on this MOC work wonderfully together. I also love the brick built truck side frames that Bricknerd has come up with to to cover the standard LEGO ones. It really helps add a nice touch to the model. And I love that he's built a Geep with out the Dynamic Brake option. These were a less common sight especially since many early Geeps originally built without them were upgraded later in life to dynamic brakes.

Be sure to check out Bricknerd's Flickr Gallery. He has some other great Train MOCs as well.

Union Pacific SD7

And championing the SDs we have Swoofty's magnificent Union Pacific SD7

Swoofty's SD7 Flickr Gallery

Swoofty builds some of the most detailed 6 wide diesels and this SD7 continues that fine tradition. The vents, grills and dynamic brake involve some very clever engineering and I like the use of Technic pistons for the air tanks. And the Union Pacific always had some nice color schemes for their diesels.

Down at the Train Station

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:24:00 EST

Let's start the new year off right with two of the prettiest train stations you're likely to see in LEGO. First up we have this great little station by my fellow PennLUG friend Chris Edwards.

Chris isn't normaly a train builder, usualy he's off building jaw dropping sci fi and fantasy creations. So this was a rare treat and us train heads in the group are glad he took some time to play us. This station is awesome. Every where you look you'll spot little details that make you go "why didn't I think of that". The brick work, the roof, the rain spouting, all of it adds up to a perfect little place to catch a train.

You can find more photos of this station here. Train Station Flickr Gallery

Our other train station comes from recently blogged Maciej Drwiega.

Even though Maciej still considers this a work in progress it's absolutely stunning. And this is just one part of an even larger project Maciej has been working on. When this whole layout is completed it will be incredible to see.

You can see more of Maciej's station here. Maciej Drwiega's Train Station Flickr Gallery

Mountain Engines

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:53:00 EST

Not one, but two models based on Snowdon Mountain Railway locomotives!

Geoff Abell's 10 wide model represents SMR number 4 Snowdon

Snowdon was one of 5 locos built for the line's opening in 1896 by the Swiss company SLM. It has features common on locos designed for mountain climbing. The boiler is inclined (as in the photo above) so that the water level remains above the firebox and the cylinders are mounted above the wheels and connected by levers, this allows the piston stroke to be longer than the crank throw on the axles.

Vimal Patel's approaches his design from a technical point of view to make a representation of a Culdee Fell Railway loco. The Culdee Fell Railway featured in a book by the Rev W Awdry and was based on the Snowdon Mountain.

The loco uses a medium PF motor to power the drive train which has a cogwheel for the rack.

Vimal has also developed and ingenious rack system using Technic chain links

Polish PKP ST43 Diesel

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:39:00 EST

Diesels and European trains are not my usual area of interest but when they look this good who wouldn't take notice. Maciej Drwięga brings us this beautiful rendition of a Polish PKP ST43 diesel.

Here is Maciej's description of his model.

PKP ST43 diesel engine (original model 060DA from Electroputere Craiova Romania). One of the most populat cargo diesel engines used on Polish railways.

The model is powered by two PF Medium motors, drives without any problems through Lego track curves. The torque makes it jumping a little on switches but it's acceptable as for me.

A few words about the project. It started several years ago when I was preparing for a Lego display. Then the idea of the front of the loco came to my mind. I did several tries to finish the engine but each time I was abandoning the MOC and focusing on others.
In the mid of November 2011 I decided to finish it. And here it goes. Finally. Another loco in the train collection.

And a fine loco it is. The excellent colors and great sculpting on the front and rear make this a real standout engine. And the use of Power Functions for me makes it even better. You can find Maciej's gallery for his model here.

PKP ST43 Flickr Gallery

Sava Railways Scenic Tours 2012 LEGO® Train Calendar

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:56:00 EST

From his Flikr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/savatheaggie/6519784221/

www.lulu.com/product/calendar/sava-railways-2012-lego%C2%...
$17.50

Help support RAILBRICKS, the brick railroading magazine, with this gorgeous 13 month calendar. Each month features photos from Anthony Sava's Sava Railways Scenic Tours photo series, showcasing trains and scenery built entirely of LEGO® bricks.

For 2012, Anthony has taken photos of his LEGO train MOCs based on the Texas State Railroad. From tall trestle bridges to scenes deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas, each photo captures a unique spirit and playfulness that only LEGO bricks can create.

This is not an official LEGO Product, and is not sponsored, authorized or endorsed by The LEGO Group.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Full disclosure:
Each calendar costs $12.99 to produce, and an additional $1 is collected by LuLu.

Of the $3.51 profit, 10% will be donated to RAILBRICKS. This is the same amount I donate to RAILBRICKS from my Bricklink shop. The remainder will go to help fund my trip to Brickworld 2012.

Who wants to fly when you can ride the train?

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:29:00 EST

Even birds know that trains are better than flying. At PennLUGs most recent display for LEGO Kidsfest Hartford a bird who was making it's home in the convention center found our train layout pretty inviting. So he decided to take a little train tour of the suronding country side.

From station to station | Back to Düsseldorf City | Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:09:00 EST

A couple of years ago, at the Brickish Association Christmas party at Legoland Windsor, David Tabner tested out his small PF Miniland scale locomotive.

This year Stephan Sander brought his DB VT11.5 Trans Europe Express diesel multiple unit.

Unlike the standard Miniland trains, which are built on a metal base with metal wheels, Stephan has constructed the whole train from Lego, using Emerald Night wheels for their larger size.

A beautifully sculpted model of an iconic train. See more at Stephan's website.

Gallagher's Roads

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:21:00 EST

Mike Gallagher, whose road work was featured in RAILBRICKS Issue #4, has posted LDR files of his brick-built road sections. The files, and a gallery of the various roads, can be found at his website, http://gallaghersart.com/.

To download the LDR files, visit Mike's forum at http://gallaghersart.com/forums/viewforum/26/.

For a sample of how great brick-built roads can look on a layout, visit his gallery at http://gallaghersart.com/mikeslego/Roads/.

ME Models Rails Update

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:25:00 EST

From their monthly newsletter:

Many of our customers have asked, when will you have the quad

length and curved rails back in stock? The honest answer is, we are

working non-stop with several different manufacturers to bring this

to a reality. The complexity that is involved in making sure that we

deliver a quality product consistently has become a greater

challenge than anyone could have forecasted.

Rest assured, we WILL deliver this product to our customers with

the quality you have come to expect from ME Models and at a

reasonable price.

Looking forward to them,

Colin

Hispabrick and Brickissue LEGO Train related articles

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:54:00 EST

Hi fellow brakemen,

Unless you are a complete monomaniac LEGO trainhead, you probably read not only RailBricks magazine but also other LEGO magazines such BrickJournal.

So, you also probably noticed the two train-related articles in the latest Hispabrick magazine.

Let me say how much I value and appreciate the efforts made by the Hispabrick team to translate the whole magazine. It's easy to underestimate the work such a task represents.

But something you maybe missed (unless you're a Brickish member of course) - just as I did before this day - is the BrickIssue #22 on trains, back from March!

The Brickissue is not a large magazine - a newsletter actually - but always worth reading.

Our train is leaving the station, please take a seat. I wish you a pleasant reading.

Steam Train can be punk.

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:36:00 EST

Hi Railroad Engineers,

I do not know if the previous post "Train is in the air" has inspired the Steampunk Rock and Roll Contest but the play on words is very good.

I really wonder if I could enter the contest with a dieselpunk or electricpunk train creation :-D

Weekday Inspiration

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:25:00 EST

Something to look at during lunch break:

The Diesel Shop

www.thedieselshop.us

From the website:

Even though the website has evolved significantly in recent years, the purpose of the THE DIESEL SHOP is two-fold. The first of which is a casual attempt to chronicle the history of first and second generation diesel-electric powered locomotives, particularly locomotives that once carried builder plates from such equipment manufacturers as the American Locomotive Co. (Alco), Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW), Fairbanks Morse & Company (FM), and Lime-Hamilton Corporation. The second is to be a tool that railfan photographers can use to readily identify individual locomotives and their heritage.

I have been using this website as tool for my model railroading for many locomotives. Not only does it have locomotive rosters from most North American railways, but it also has detailed specifications and diagrams for many diesel-electic locomotives. It's rosters also incompass not just current lines, but also "fallen flags" such as the SOO Line.

Hello From Michigan

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:20:00 EST

My name is Colin Redner, and I am the newest member of the RAILBRICKS blogging team. I live in the U.S., in rural Michigan. I am not an active member in any LUG, because of my location far away from any large city. I have been a by-stander in the LEGO community for 5 years, but have only become active in the last year.

I come from a long line of Model Rail-Roaders, but I am the first to use LEGO as a medium. The models I build are mostly realistic fiction, but always based on something true. For example, I recently finished an Unstoppable series, and I am currently working on a large scale industrial complex.

I have always been inspired by RAILBRICKS and the LEGO community in many ways. When I first went to the NMRA convention in Detroit in 2007, I was amazed at how far LEGO has come, from the vague shapes of steam engines to the amazing details of what I am now seeing.

I am always willing to help anyone with CADing or building digital models. Just send me a message; I would be happy to help.

I look forward to helping out in the RAILBRICKS community. I have been reading the magazine since the second issue, and have enjoyed every word since.

-Colin

RAILBRICKS Turns 4!

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:59:00 EDT

This month marks the fourth anniversary of the RAILBRICKS magazine. Few people know how this all started, so I thought that it might be good to recount a little history of this project.

I registered the domain name railbricks.com in July 2006 in hopes of using the site to sell custom LEGO train kits. RAILBRICKS was to be my custom kit brand. At around the same time, I was asked to participate in the 10183 Hobby Train Set, known then as the Ultimate Train Builder Set. Part of the agreement made with LEGO was that we could not sell competing products for a period of one year after the release of the set. While I was having a discussion with my best friend in the hobby, Mark Peterson, I came up with the idea of creating a magazine just for LEGO trains. Because I already had a good name, I decided to turn RAILBRICKS into a magazine for LEGO train fans. At that time, BrickJournal was doing rather well and Joe was about to take the magazine to full print. I had no intentions of stepping on any toes, so I contacted Joe and ran the idea past him, and he loved it.

I then began doing some mock layouts for a magazine. Above is one of those iterations. I quickly realized that this was going to be a bigger project than just I could handle. I began compiling a list of AFoLs that were both active and respected in the LEGO train community. I also wanted an international team if possible.

Then, in May of 2007, I sent out some invitations. Initially I sent these to Didier Enjary, Holger Matthes, Benn Coifman, John Neal, Larry Pieniazek, Steve Barile, Matt Bieda, Mark Peterson, Tim David, Tim Gould, Erik Amzallag, Jordan Schwarz. Some were able to commit some time to the project, others couldn't and more invitations were sent later based on suggestions.

Initally, I just had an idea, but really nothing much more than that. I wasn't very organized, but fortunately the team that joined helped tremendously in forming a direction for the magazine.

During the same time, I was working frantically helping organize the NMRA show in Detroit and the inaugural Brickworld Show in Chicago. An official announcemnt was made at Brickworld and many of the original team were able to meet for a brainstorming session at the NMRA show in Detroit. Below are a couple of Benn Coifman's pictures of that first meeting.

It took us about four months to get that first issue together and on October 1st, 2007 both RAILBRICKS and my first daughter were born!

RAILBRICKS simply could not have happened without the efforts from the team. Again, I thank you for seeing my vision to reality.

As the magazine began to grow, we added more features to the website including an instruction portal and a blog and more recently forums and easy sharing features.

Two years later, my dream of releasing custom kits came to fruition with the first RAILBRICKS kits. The small production run quickly sold out, but they were fun to do (but more work than they were worth!)

Many of the original members are still on the team, but we've added others over the past four years including Cale Liephart, Anthony Sava, Eric Kingsley, Elroy Davis, and Steve Jackson.

My interest in the hobby has waned over the past few years so I asked Elroy Davis to take the lead in pulling the magazine together after I put out issue #6, and a fine job he has done! He helped keep the magazine alive.

I've always wanted to make RAILBRICKS the place the LEGO train community could come to share ideas, get inspiration, and connect. With the LEGO community so splintered nowadays, there doesn't seem to be a hub for LEGO trains any more. So I ask you, dear reader, what would you like to see from RAILBRICKS, both as a magazine and as a community?

RAILBRICKS Issue 10 Available Now!

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:12:00 EDT

RAILBRICKS Issue 10 is now available for download. The new issue features stories covering some fan events from the past summer, as well as tips and building instructions. This issue also marks the end of my first year as editor, so I'm very excited to see its release. Though I wasn't able to attend many events this year, I've met a lot of great people online via the magazine. I'm looking foward to more great issues for next year.

To download a copy of Issue 10, visit the RAILBRICKS Issue 10 page. For those who enjoy the printed version of the magazine, it is available now from from MagCloud.