Cooper Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 After building my Southern Pacific Cab Forward, it seemed only appropriate that it have something fitting to haul. As a result, I built a set of three passenger coaches, one of which is a dining car. The main body of each coach is 7 wide by 44 long. One of the passenger cars The Dining Car SP Cab Forward with the coaches in tow More photos on My Flickr Quote
brickzone Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 Looks wonderful. I really like the wood effect of using plates for the lower sides of the carriages. The design influence of the Emerald Night carriage seems to be there too - I like how it is adapted for 7-wide (must do this for my own Emerald Night carriage). The Loco is impressive - I'm not very familiar with American locos (although I have a couple of books with them) but it looks quite unusual. Quite envious of all those driving wheels! Just some views of someone only starting to "dabble" in Lego trains! Quote
kris kelvin Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 Passenger car is wonderful. One of the best I`ve ever seen. Mix of colours is perfect. Quote
WesternOutlaw Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 Very nice Coop! I love the colors. Red and tan always reminds me of the LGB starter train; although your wagons are certainly a more realistic length to go with that fantastic Cab Forward. And not only have you made one of these beauties, but three - that's what LEGO should have offered with the Emerald Night. Excellent and front-paged. Quote
Commander_Rob Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 Great, totally and absolutely gorgeous. I am not usually into trains but this caught my eye, these look like a whole lot of luxury. Quote
Selander Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 Great overall looks, and I really like this colour scheme. Dark red and tan is one of my favorite combinations. It seems you had to use quite a number of dark red plates under the windows Quote
Cooper Posted November 16, 2009 Author Posted November 16, 2009 (edited) Thanks guys! And thanks Brickster! The plates were used under the windows intentionally to make a nice consistent texture throughout the side of the coach. I really can't say that I'm a fan of the 1x2 grille bricks, and smooth sided bricks didn't seem to fit with the look I wanted either. JMO, but I think the plates do a very nice job of creating texture (especially given some of the plate to plate color variation). Dark Red and Tan seemed to go together naturally. That said, as Brickster pointed out, the color scheme seems to recall Set 7740 (at least to me, that's the set that seems the closest). Also, I'm in complete agreement that the EN should have come with more coaches. The larger size and the Dark Red/Tan were both done to essentially take the EN coaches, the 7740 color scheme, and push them in a more AFOL direction. EDIT: Updated with Interior Photos Edited November 16, 2009 by Cooper Quote
peterab Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Thanks guys! And thanks Brickster! The plates were used under the windows intentionally to make a nice consistent texture throughout the side of the coach. I really can't say that I'm a fan of the 1x2 grille bricks, and smooth sided bricks didn't seem to fit with the look I wanted either. JMO, but I think the plates do a very nice job of creating texture (especially given some of the plate to plate color variation). Dark Red and Tan seemed to go together naturally. That said, as Brickster pointed out, the color scheme seems to recall Set 7740 (at least to me, that's the set that seems the closest). Also, I'm in complete agreement that the EN should have come with more coaches. The larger size and the Dark Red/Tan were both done to essentially take the EN coaches, the 7740 color scheme, and push them in a more AFOL direction. These are very nice coaches, similar to what I have in mind for a future project (when I can afford more tan windows). Have you ever looked at German trains or catlogues? That could be why the colour scheme seems right. It's the colour scheme of the first class TEE (Trans Europe Express) coaches, used for a few decades by DB the German Federal Railways. It's also most likely one of the influences of 7740. Most of the other grey era 12V stuff also looks similar to German prototype colour schemes. Quote
Piranha Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Whoa those are pretty sweet :wub: Great job !!!!! I also love your Loco Quote
Optimus Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Incredible. I love the engine and the coaches, especially how you used the red plates to create a wood panel look on the coaches. Very nice mixture of colors as well. Great job! Quote
SupaaSayajin Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Give it a Lego set number and I buy it!!! ;) Really awesome!! Quote
brickzone Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Very nice interior - I think the double seating works OK even with the only 1-wide gangway - it makes for a more "full" looking train from the outside if you were to put more people in. Quote
Helmantel Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Nice coaches! Like others have mentioned, those were the colors of the original TEE, which inspired the 7740. Of course, dark red and tan weren't available in 1980. If I counted right, they're 12 studs longer than the regular Lego length for such coaches (28 studs). Do they take curves well? Quote
Cooper Posted November 17, 2009 Author Posted November 17, 2009 Very nice interior - I think the double seating works OK even with the only 1-wide gangway - it makes for a more "full" looking train from the outside if you were to put more people in. Exactly. Seven wide seems like a pretty reasonable width. The only real downside I see to the aisle being only 1-wide is if you're actively trying to "play" by "walking" minifigs down the aisle. Otherwise, it's a pretty nice solution since seats can go against the windows on each side. Plus at 7-wide the coaches are still of a scale that they could work with my smaller engines too. If I counted right, they're 12 studs longer than the regular Lego length for such coaches (28 studs). Do they take curves well? They are actually 16 longer. They take curves and switches just fine. There is a little overhang in corners, but nothing to me that looks ungainly. My articulated Cab Forward overhangs quite a bit more in corners than these 44 long coaches do. Quote
NicksBricks Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Wow! I'm really impressed, that looks like an actual train. Good job! Quote
Cooper Posted December 13, 2009 Author Posted December 13, 2009 Over the past few weeks I have added three more Dark Red and Tan Coaches, bringing the total to 6. All together, it's starting to look like a real train. I don't have photos of everything together yet, so I'll start at the front and work to the back... Engine: Power Functions Southern Pacific Cab Forward - more photos and video on Flickr Baggage Car - more on Flickr Sleeping Coach - more on Flickr Passenger Coach (Qty =2) - more on Flickr Dining Car - more on Flickr Weathered Passenger Coach - more on Flickr Quote
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