Bulleid Merchant Navy Class

As I’ve stated more than once on this blog I don’t know diddly about trains, so I’ll let builder technoandrew’s description do all the talking… The Merchant Navy class was designed by Oliver Bulleid for the Southern Railway, and introduced many novel features to a British locomotive. However, many of these innovations proved troublesome, so the class were subsequently rebuilt by British Railways to a more conventional design. My model represents the rebuilt version.

BR 80 Steam Engine

Just last Sunday I spent most of the day aboard a train. Of course it was a modern Amtrak train, but I did spend a moment thinking about the heyday of locomotive transportation, imagining myself crossing the country in the 1800’s. While I can’t speak with much authority on trains (what can I say, I just don’t know much about them), I can say I like the looks of this one by builder holgermatthes. And if you do too there’s great news, Holger has shared the instructions so you can build your own!

By the way, if you’re into trains, and you want to be a blogger, clearly we have need for an expert in the ranks.

Trans Europ Express

I don’t know what makes me happier, the retro aesthetic and quality of this build by holgermatthes, or the fact that as soon as I started blogging it one of my favorite all time bands started playing in my head, Kraftwerk. This perfect rendition of TEE stretches over 2.5 meters (over 8 feet) and features three PF motors and LED lighting.

One Very Large Locomotive

This impressive locomotive by brickthebrick is one of those models that you look at for a second in confusion, because you can't figure out the scale. I thought it was just a train model at first glance, but my brain couldn't reconcile the level of detail achieved. Then I noticed the texture of the "rocks" in the track, those are 1x1 round tiles, this thing is huge. It's 1/15 scale and comprised of fourteen thousand pieces!

Madame Queen

I wish I knew more about trains and could speak with any authority about this black beauty from builder Engineering with ABS. All I can say is it looks powerful, dignified and gorgeous. And it's not just a pretty face, she's got some power thanks to a Power functions driven tender, as well as a L motor in the engine to help the coupling rods and valve gear rotate smoothly. Add in functioning lights and a flickering fire box, and you've got the whole package.

ST48-003 Locomotive

I really do wish I knew more about trains so I could speak with even the slightest confidence about this lovely locomotive by builder Mateusz92. I can tell you from google that it's a really nice rendition of an existing train, detailed and accurate. I think it's about time we got a train enthusiast amongst the ranks here at BrickNerd, any volunteers?

Suburban Tram

I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking at when I spied Vince Toulouse's latest creation.   Yeah, clearly it's a high-tech tram.  But with a front-loader washing machine on the third level?  Or is it a Minion?  Whatever, it's pretty frakin' cool!  Check out Vince's photostream to see all the nifty details, especially his notations on the various Duplo and Fabuland pieces that when into this build.  Slick!

Steam Giants

I know practically nothing about trains, but I do appreciate them, especially a classic steam powered beast. And these two by builder Cale Leiphart are about as beastly as they come. At first I thought I was looking at different sides of the same model, then I saw them side by side and it took me a little while to spot the differences. The attention to detail and dedication to accuracy is impressive.

Planetary Express

Who says you need monorail to be futuristic? That being said, bring back the monorail LEGO, if for no other reason to not have to hear about it from the space guys at EVERY CONVENTION, but I digress. Check out this transportation of the future from builder TFDesigns. This baby runs on power functions and sports loads of LED lighting. I also want to point out with a little imagination, even regular train track can take on an excellent appearance.

Trolly

I've always had a soft spot for Trollies. Maybe it was visits to see my grandfather in the San Fransisco area when I was a kid, I don't know, but I've always liked this venerable form of public transportation. This trolly was built by David FNJ as his 12th and final entry into the  ABS Builder Challenge Season 1 Finale and it turned out fantastic.

Railway Snow Plow

Love it or hate it snow sure does get in the way of life. We Northerns have all this fancy equipment for removing snow from all sorts of places, including railroads. For those living in the southern regions of this planet you might think it silly to have a train dedicated to snow removal. But, snow is a fickle thing and it is better to be over prepared for those few days of year when you get multiple feet of the "cold white stuff". Builder Maciej Drwięga seems to think the people of LEGOland are in need of snow removal as well, and as such has presented us with a cool (haha, snow pun!) PKP 411S-121 snow plow.

Steampunk Train

It's not hard to imagine this lovely deep green and black beauty by Moko chuffing down the tracks in the Victorian era. The design aesthetic is absolutely gorgeous, with just the right balance of classic lines and splendid steampunkery. I would love to climb aboard this steam powered wonder for a cross country tour.

Oops

The first reaction to seeing this fantastic MOC by monstrophonic is likely "whoa, there's a train hanging out of that building" followed shortly by some internal calculations of the plausibility of this scenario. The thing is, this really happened. On October 22, 1895, in an attempt to get back on schedule, the driver of the Granville–Paris Express entered the station too fast and when the brakes failed the train burst through the buffer stop and station wall, coming to rest on the street below.

Pullman Dining Car

There was a time when people traveled in style, and eight course meals with white glove service was certainly an important part of that.  Imagine Rigney has built, for the Colorado Railroad Museum's Eating on the Rails exhibit, this luxurious Pullman dining car.  According to Imagine, this train car wasn't designed for any particular gauge track or scale, but is as accurate as possible for a mid nineteenth century dining car.  The interior is stately, with all the appointments one would expect during this era, including the fully stocked bar.  "I'll have a single malt, neat, my good man!"

Toy Story Bank

I'm terrible with money, I freely admit it. And as wonderful as this interactive Toy Story bank from Jared Chan is, I don't think it would really help me. As if I didn't have enough trouble saving this thing has an interactive feature that allows you to press the detonator and blow the back off to get your coins out. I'd be retrieving them as fast as I dropped them in!

Erie P-1 "Triplex"

I vaguely remember my first ride aboard an Amtrak train when I was a kid. I remember how nice the conductor was, getting a cookie that looked like the Amtrak logo and a deck of cards. Every once in a while these days I consider a trip by train, but one look at the price and the time it will take to get there and that's over pretty quick. I don't know if this majestic machine by builder Shuppiluliumas ever pulled passenger cars, but I like to imagine what it was like for a kid long ago taking his first train ride, stepping on the platform with this thing huffing and hissing must have been quite a sight.

The Happiest Place On Earth

I love Disneyland, I was just there last weekend and I'm ready to go back. And seeing this beautiful MOC by builder Swan Dutchman makes me want to go back even more. This is the gateway to Disneyland, just past the entrance where we leave the real world behind and go "inside the berm". Sharp eyed fans will notice something a little amiss, because that's a Florida train at the California station. We'll just call it a magical mashup.

Arkham Zephyr

I've never been much into trains, but I'm a sucker for streamlining and retro-future, and this thing is gorgeous. As far as I can tell it's an original design, which makes it all the more appealing and impressive. I especially love the front end, that combination of shapes is just stunning.