Im currently working on a 4-6-4 steamer. The past few days have been seeing it materialize on my Flickr. Thought id post here for anyone that wants to follow along, im keeping that updated as i go and ill try to remember to keep here current as well.

Proof of concept chassis by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

Working on the clearance issues by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

Cab interior by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

the inspiration comes primarily from sava and cale's work

comment, critiques, discussion welcome

Great start! I can see a real promising loco here.

Looking good. Is this a model of a particular locomotive? In a lot of cases the "L" size drivers wind up being too small.

Its not of anything in particular, looked at a few real ones then tweaked what i needed to suit my fancy, as well asmake it a little more freindly to build given the constraints of LEGO as a medium.

I went with the l drivers as its what i had on hand, and what ldd had when i did the digital moc up, Im not 100% sure they're going to stay, but i think i gave myself enough flexibility to modify it to xl if i dont like the finished result.

As it is i redesigned the front truck completely, the front platform (it hit the coupler on turns as shown in the picture), the stripping on the cab and the rear truck side plates already from the initial concept, so its evolving as i go along.

If im not mistaken the XL drivers are on plate height difference to the axle hole, correct?

have the boiler mostly together, need a yellow lightsaber sword to get the front light to work properly. im going to revise the stripes so the transition at the front of the cab is less severe. had to revise the rear truck a bit too too, hence the tan.

Boiler mock up by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

Wow, indeed, the running gear have a lot of great detail and you moved quite fast to a near complete MOC. That nose on the smokebox has a Nordic feel to it.

I use LDD to do most of the design phase, i started this one in the end of February IIRC. I work untill im mostly happy, then i place a parts order and start building. I don't have a huge part collection to dig through, so i work around that fact.

In a case like this one i have had to do some redesign in the real world to make it all work properly. also the in hand aesthetics are always different then on the computer.

got the headlight sorted out, had to use a yellow lightsaber shaft to make the color beleivable

Got the headlight to work by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

Progress. by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

got the headlight sorted out, had to use a yellow lightsaber shaft to make the color beleivable

Got the headlight to work by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

Excellent solution for getting the light out of a tight spot.

That's looking *really* good, especially for a loco that is largely based on your imagination (I tend to struggle to make it look 'right' without having something real to base it on).

The valves system looks fantastic!

Amazing locomotive and nice work for the front light!

I apreciate the kind words guys.

I did try to snub the nose to make it more american, but i liked it better the original way. got 1 of 2 orders i was waiting for, so made some tweaks and fixed some issues.

I was able to cobble it together enough with what i had around to hit the rails for a test run. quite a good way to end my night.

Train slow pass by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

more vids on my Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/surrealnj/

so i ran into a problem, the pf wire that runs from the tender to the loco for the lights was causing just enough resistance in turns to somehow cause the tenders magnetic coupler tu underun the engines and cause derailments. i redid the trailing truck on the locomotive to an all new design but kept the sideplates and redid the front truck on the tnder to alow me to use 5L beams to make a more rigid conection. Getting all the wire neatly in the tender was fun, but its clean enough to not be a pain to get the battery box in and out now. Still have to source the 3mm tube for the hand rails and then do whatever im going to do for lettering

Almost by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

I do really like the design of this locomotive I always like seeing steam locomotives and I wish I could do some myself but unfortunately I am not the best at making my own mocs...

Great Job!

-RailCo

Looks good. I like an engine with some nice running gear, it really sets them off well.

Nice running gear, the entire locomotive goes together really well. I think you should attach some passenger cars with the same color scheme and it will look truly amazing. But just as a locomotive it is a great MOC and good job making a train without basing it on a real thing. Hope you give us a video :)

VERY COOL BUILD!

VERY COOL BUILD!

I would appreciate it if you not only say three words in capitals to such a nice MOC's but behave like everyone else in here, now it is looking like you want to speed up your post count.

Enjoy you stay and read the rules!

@SuRrEaLNJ: Very nice job indeed! I'm looking forward to the end result!

Haven't seen this before. It looks really good, one of the best steamers I've seen. Looks very like a 1930s American one, with the pointy nose streamlining. Very very good work.

You have done really well to get the pistons to clear the pony truck. Very nice. A very neat solution for compact firebox doors too.

so it dawned on me that life totally got in the way, and i never posted finished pictures, so allow me to necro my own 4 year old thread to do so

finally got a logo sticker for the tender by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

2015-12-17_08-57-17 by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

2015-12-17_08-58-33 by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

2015-12-17_08-57-54 by SuRrEaLNJ, on Flickr

I'm glad you updated this because I would have never known it existed. I love the fact it looks as if it could be a real engine even though it is something you totally made up. it looks real sharp running around your tree that's for sure. The light bar trick is just brilliant I will have to borrow that technique for sure, it's also interesting to me that you chose to have your driver seated I may have to borrow that as well