Maersk window mod and relettering

The Maersk locomotive set 10219 was one of the few Lego train sets aimed at AFOLs. It was inspired by NS 3329 a real Norfolk Southern locomotive painted in 2002 to celebrate the opening of Maersk's Pier 400 container terminal at the Port of Los Angeles. The prototype was a former Contrail SD40-2 and after the ceremonies it kept the paintjob in daily service throughout the NS system. Through early 2008 it was often seen in the company of other former CR units that had not yet been repainted. The 3329 was damaged in 2008, after repairs it was repainted to the standard black livery and returned to service.

Of course the SD class locomotives have 3 axle trucks while the lego model has 2 axle trucks, making it look more like a GP class. While I think 10219 is one of the best lego sets ever, there is at least one aspect of the design that continues to nag at me... or at least it did until recently. The cab windows are completely wrong for this era of locomotive. I preserved this design element in my instructions for a repaint of the set to a Conrail livery, but that was to keep the feel of the original 10219 set while offering a much less expensive option for this design for those only now getting in to the hobby.

I have since rectified the design in my personal version of the CR repaint. I wanted to keep the ability to place a minifig in the engine, so that ruled out any clever brick built solution to get the windows. Instead, I used snotted 1x2x2 panels and a custom sticker to get the window frame.

 

Now with this post I am bringing this modification to the original Maersk set as well. In this case the rebuild has an additional challenge given the rarity of the now discontinued Maersk blue pieces. So any Maersk blue parts in the design would have to be recycled from the original model. I also wanted to make sure any modifications were completely reversible. In other words, the 1x8 tiles below the cab would have to stay in place and the 1x4 bricks with "10219" would be flipped backwards. The lower cab walls are held on by two layers of white plates and bricks.

While the cab windows are a collection of panels snotted in to place.

 

One could stop here and simply enjoy the centered cab window, or use stickers from http://TrainedBricks.com to finish out the design. Of course one could easily follow these steps to revise the window while keeping the original 10219 stickers facing outward. The engineer is much happier with the improved side view and faux rear windows.

Compare the mod to the original

Step by step instructions can be found here.

Enjoy

 

Full instructions can be found on http://stickers.trainedbricks.com

 

Looks great, nice job! I dig your CR locos too.

Nice window!

Thanks for the kind words, and I would think simply the snotted panels without the stickers might be good for some. Or perhaps instead of the 1x2x2 panel + 1x2 plate in clear, use the following stack for a pure lego solution without stickers: a 1x2 clear brick, 1x2 plate (not sure if clear just to get the lines or a color to match the loco would be best), 1x2 clear brick.

 

Nicely done, sir.  A good solution for what is for me, a major peeve about the Maersk loco.

Seeing it with the proper NS number is really cool!