Maersk vs BNSF: Enough cargo for both?

[MetroiD]

Here's a question that I think TheBrickster might appreciate. With the arrival of the great Maersk train, there's now a new blue beauty in town that will probably be quite capable of handling all your city's container-related needs. That pretty much makes the TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car a thing of the past - but what about the engine it was originally intended for, the BNSF GP-38? Now that they're being relieved of their container-carrying duties, what will your BNSF trains be hauling in the future?

[roamingstop]

Relieved of duties? I think not. They will be work horses around different parts of the track; I saw quite a few of the BNSF logo'ed container trains between Vegas and California... no Maersk blues there... but definitely a few BNSF logo'ed 10219's (like Lightning Tiger's)

[Alldarker]

Relieved of duties? I think not. They will be work horses around different parts of the track; I saw quite a few of the BNSF logo'ed container trains between Vegas and California... no Maersk blues there... but definitely a few BNSF logo'ed 10219's (like Lightning Tiger's)

In fact, the most 'realistic' set-up would be to only have one single Maersk train running: in real life only one single Norfolk Southern SD40-2 was ever painted in the Maersk color scheme, as a promotional 'stunt' for the opening of a new cargo pier in LA, back in 2002. And in the meantime, it (Roadnr. 3329) has actually been repainted back to NS's colors and Horsehead logo, so no real Maersk colored loco's even exist at the moment!

The BNSF loco's are a lot more common in the USA (although they are more commonly SD40's than GP38's)!

Edited April 4, 2011 by Alldarker

[MetroiD]

Of course I don't mean the BNSF would be 'relieved of duty' per se and I'm also well aware of where Maersk is active; I was merely speaking in LEGO tabletown terms where cargo isn't quite as abundant as it is in the real world. That's also why I was wondering whether people who've already set up their Maersk Train would be running another engine with container cargo as well or would have it switched to hauling something entirely different.

I for example do not plan to have any more container wagons with the GP-38 and will instead build a few hopper and grain cars for it, along with a car transport wagon.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I am assigning my BNSF to track side and rail repair as well as hauling non-container freight. All cranes, tankers, and flatbeds from the 9v era will be behind. She'll still have a good load to pull. Then again depending on how the TTX's will look and the number of Maersk Trains I get may upset this decision. I am still looking for a decent deal on another BNSF.

[Seany]

I have two jobs for my BNSF as I never powered it, as I dont own any 9V track, I am strictly PF only, crazy I know!

The First is a helper engine for my Maersk, though unpowered it can quite happily sit behind the 10219 and not look out of place, or perhaps at the end of a 9 or 10 car consist with 2 10219's at the front.

The other was a brickflick of Unstopable, or at least some of the scenes from it of which I think the BNSF would do quite nicely. But first I need a second one!

Personally having never had power for my BNSF and never had another Loco that quite fits with it the Maersk presents me with the chance to finally see it in action! Albeit towed along by another engine.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I have two jobs for my BNSF as I never powered it, as I dont own any 9V track, I am strictly PF only, crazy I know!

The First is a helper engine for my Maersk, though unpowered it can quite happily sit behind the 10219 and not look out of place, or perhaps at the end of a 9 or 10 car consist with 2 10219's at the front.

Personally having never had power for my BNSF and never had another Loco that quite fits with it the Maersk presents me with the chance to finally see it in action! Albeit towed along by another engine.

No 9v?? That is crazy I thought about adding the BNSF to the Maersk (when I get them) but, I think the BNSF would stick out like a sore thumb among the blue/white/grey. Maybe at the front or like you said, further back. Especially if it isn't powered. I don't think the BNSF can be PFed without heavy modification. Hopefully someone will post some pics with these tw freight titans together

[Seany]

No 9v?? That is crazy I thought about adding the BNSF to the Maersk (when I get them) but, I think the BNSF would stick out like a sore thumb among the blue/white/grey. Maybe at the front or like you said, further back. Especially if it isn't powered. I don't think the BNSF can be PFed without heavy modification. Hopefully someone will post some pics with these tw freight titans together

I started my Second childhood far too late to have any 9V without paying a fortune for it, so its all plastic track!

Personally I dont think it will stick out too badly once I've mixed up the freight a little, especially when it has some 9739 cars in there too, it will just be a mash of disogranised colors.

I'll have to see how it looks and post some photos when my Maersk finally gets here!

[hoeij]

I have two jobs for my BNSF as I never powered it, as I dont own any 9V track, I am strictly PF only, crazy I know!

The First is a helper engine for my Maersk, though unpowered it can quite happily sit behind the 10219 and not look out of place,

I think it will look out of place, because the lengths of these two engines differs significantly (and the colors don't match). The engine that'll look best behind the 10219 Maersk engine is simply another Maersk engine (and its cheaper too!). If I didn't already have a BNSF + TTX cars, I think I wouldn't buy them anymore unless I could get both at a good price (that would be hard to do).

The TTX double stack container cars that fit well with the BNSF, those cars are a lot shorter than the 10219 container cars (the scale is 4-wide versus 6-wide, that's a big difference). So you can't put those cars in the same train either, TTX cars have to stay with the BNSF loco, and the 10219 cars stay with the 10219 loco.

[legotrainfan]

I think it will look out of place, because the lengths of these two engines differs significantly (and the colors don't match). The engine that'll look best behind the 10219 Maersk engine is simply another Maersk engine (and its cheaper too!). If I didn't already have a BNSF + TTX cars, I think I wouldn't buy them anymore unless I could get both at a good price (that would be hard to do).

Are those American diesel engines equally long in real life? If not, why should a BNSF engine look lost behind a Maersk engine? I'd be glad if I could see a picture of both LEGO engines in double heading. Then we could all see what it'd really look like if both engines were combined.

I think it doesn't matter if the colours of one engine don't go well with the colours of the other. I think colour schemes are ignored in real life as well. Are there any pictures of real life American diesel engines that work in double heading and have different colours?

Edited April 4, 2011 by legotrainfan

[prateek]

I think the BNSF looks good enough to be the engine of a passenger train. All you need are some nice passenger cars, and there you have it, a nice passenger train.

[brenden perkins]

In real life I believe one Maersk painted locomotive still exists though it only retains its paint as the Maersk lettering is gone. It is the former BNSF 6976, an SDF40-2 that resides in the Portland and is one of the former Santa Fe Maersk locomotives. The other was a GP-60M. The lego model is based of off Norfolk Southern's Maersk locomotive which (as mentioned earlier in this topic), was repainted after a wreck in to the normal NS paint scheme.

Because this unit was last in service shuttling light coal trains before it was repainted I'll probably stick it on a string of hoppers and leave the money trains to the Dash 9s and SD-70M-2s. Of course it will sometimes appear on a local, manifest of even behind a wide cab leader pulling a string of intermodal containers.

[Lord Insanity]

Well my BNSF has always pulled 2 hopper and 2 tank cars from the My Own Train series, I never got a TTX car. So obviously I won't have any problem running the Maersk loco as my container train. I also plan to make a second SD-40 in Norfolk Southern black to make a double header that way. Just like this real life one. Working out the decals for the Norfolk Southern engine will be the hard part.

[WesternOutlaw]

Here's a question that I think TheBrickster might appreciate.

Absolutely! I like these types of questions, esp. considering that with the light/Maersk blue color scheme, other rolling stock may look a bit strange. I think this question is about choosing an aesthetically pleasing container car that compliments the engine.

Interesting thoughts.

[henryhotspurs]

My Lego minifigs have alot to do. There are lots of containers and shippable goods. The shipping containers were starting to pile up. Another train is just what they needed to get back on schedule. Now I have to figure out what to do with all the forklifts and container hoists...

[Tearloch33]

Well my BNSF has always pulled 2 hopper and 2 tank cars from the My Own Train series, I never got a TTX car. So obviously I won't have any problem running the Maersk loco as my container train. I also plan to make a second SD-40 in Norfolk Southern black to make a double header that way. Just like this real life one. Working out the decals for the Norfolk Southern engine will be the hard part.

I never really noticed this before, but the real life SD-40 is significantly longer than the GP-38 (judging by the picture above). So I think TLG did a good job of keeping the scaling consistent between the 2 units.

After some looking, here is the breakdown:

The standard GP-38 is approx 59 ft in length, and the BNSF lego version is 32 studs long.

The standard SD-40 is 68 ft in length, and the Maersk lego version is 38 studs long.

The ratio of lengths for actual trains is 1.15 (SD-40 to GP-38), and the lego ratio is 1.1875, so the scale is consistent between the two trains. Nicely done TLG!

BTW, I forgot to mention Great Picture. Anyone have thoughts of modifying the decals for the 10219 to match the actual livery...like the NS badging or the actual train number instead of the set number?

Edited April 5, 2011 by Tearloch33

[Cale]

Here's a question that I think TheBrickster might appreciate. With the arrival of the great Maersk train, there's now a new blue beauty in town that will probably be quite capable of handling all your city's container-related needs. That pretty much makes the TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car a thing of the past - but what about the engine it was originally intended for, the BNSF GP-38? Now that they're being relieved of their container-carrying duties, what will your BNSF trains be hauling in the future?

Steam railroading is my primary area of interest and all my freight is normally hauled by my fleet of steam locomotive MOCs. My two BNSF engines have long since been retired along with their TTX cars. The new Maersk train however will probably see some service on PennLUG train layouts in the future. Though most of our stuff is 8 wide MOCs we do like to have the current stock LEGO train sets on display so we can point them out to the public and say "Yes LEGO does make trains and here is a LEGO train you can buy".

I would like to build a proper 8 wide version of the Norfolk Southern Maersk engine and a sister SD40-2 in NS black as well as a set of well cars in Maersk colors for the future though.

Cale

[MetroiD]

...we do like to have the current stock LEGO train sets on display so we can point them out to the public and say "Yes LEGO does make trains and here is a LEGO train you can buy".

Spot on Cale, personally I've found that's also a great motivation for LEGO Fans who are contemplating coming out of their dark ages. I wouldn't really include many official LEGO sets in event displays which are aimed at impressing the adults, but the exclusive trains are a must-have.

Knowing how you go about MOCcing, I assume that "I would like to build" should means "Expect to see soon", so I must say I'm looking forward to that!

As to me, coming up with new cargo for the heavy haulers is fine; and additional cars for the Emerald Night are also doable without breaking the bank (thanks to Tim and his cheap EN Car version), but my real trouble is the Santa Fe train since I'd never consider taking it apart but I only have the engine. Anyone selling Santa Fe cars for cheap? I fear I'll need to hide it at our next LUG event if it continues being so lonely...

[Lord Insanity]

I never really noticed this before, but the real life SD-40 is significantly longer than the GP-38 (judging by the picture above). So I think TLG did a good job of keeping the scaling consistent between the 2 units.

Um... that picture is of consecutively numbered SD-40s. The only difference is the color scheme. The back engine looks smaller due an optical illusion. Your measurements and observations are otherwise spot on about the actual Lego renditions of a GP38 and SD40 though.

[ManitobaMoe]

Since i just got my BNSF last week, i have no intention of retiring it yet :)Worst case, i need to have something in the repair bay

[legoguy475]

I don't have the BNSF engine, but I have the TTX cars. I'll post pictures of my train with the Maersk and TTX cars soon.

[JopieK]

A colleague of mine is watching a webcam in the US on a workless desktop computer and I saw BNSF like the LEGO one running by :) He was of course amazed that I had quite some knowledge about them (thanks to guys like you ;)).

He is in fact looking out on the railroad tracks in Zwolle, NL (where LEGOWorld is every year) but he thinks they are dull ;)

b.t.w. I just saw at google maps that the webcam spot is close to Burlington, so no wonder BNSF's are passing by ;)

[Cale]

Spot on Cale, personally I've found that's also a great motivation for LEGO Fans who are contemplating coming out of their dark ages. I wouldn't really include many official LEGO sets in event displays which are aimed at impressing the adults, but the exclusive trains are a must-have.

Knowing how you go about MOCcing, I assume that "I would like to build" should means "Expect to see soon", so I must say I'm looking forward to that!

Well I wouldn't expect anything really soon. I have a lot of other projects I should really finish first. But it is in my future plans so some day.

Cale

[Tearloch33]

Um... that picture is of consecutively numbered SD-40s. The only difference is the color scheme. The back engine looks smaller due an optical illusion. Your measurements and observations are otherwise spot on about the actual Lego renditions of a GP38 and SD40 though.

Guess I should have read the caption below the picture, or just looked at the cab numbers. Thanks for correcting me. And thanks for supporting my point that the difference in lengths of the GP-38 and SD-40 are pretty well scaled by TLG, and should not deter users from pairing the 2.

[Piranha]

The ratio of lengths for actual trains is 1.15 (SD-40 to GP-38), and the lego ratio is 1.1875, so the scale is consistent between the two trains. Nicely done TLG!

That is a neat fact I just learned, thanks! Also great work by TLG! I just built my BNSF yesterday and it is much bigger than I was expecting.

And thanks for supporting my point that the difference in lengths of the GP-38 and SD-40 are pretty well scaled by TLG, and should not deter users from pairing the 2.

I know I will be pairing them, not all the time though, the colors may not match but what real life cargo train does?

As for the question of the topic, I will have three Cargo Trains when I buy the Maersk, the 7939 European engine, the American Diesel BNSF and Maersk Train. Unfortunately all three can't be on my small bit of track right now. But when I get some more track, the Maersk and BNSF will each have to be hauling separate loads to their destinations. And maybe for a large load they will be paired. I also need to make some more cargo containers & cars, based off ones featured in past Cargo Trains and sets.