Hello Everyone!

It was almost a year ago when I finished my TRAXX AC3, and during that time I was able to identify some of its flaws and strengths. In LDD it appeared to be very proportional, but in real life the scale left something to be desired. Over the past month I have reworked the scaling by using the manufacturer's scale drawing.

Here's the old thread for comparison:

I was displeased with the amount of power & torque produced by the PF train motors, so I opted for two XL motors geared 3:1. I was also forced to use geared bogies since the PF train motors were not scaled for this model. I realize that the side windows are about one stud too far away from the front of each end, but I could not find a way to fix this without compromising the realism of the windshield. I had hoped to fit the AA battery box inside the locomotive, but there would be no space remaining for the receiver. I considered using BBB medium drivers since the PF train wheels are a bit too small, but this would prevent the bogie from rotating since the wheels protrude upwards into the locomotive. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

 

More Photos:

http://bricksafe.com/pages/Beck/train_mocs/traxx-ac3---2.0

 

Thanks for reading!

P.S. I will make a video as soon as my ball bearings arrive for my cargo wagons.

The 'face' of this loco is excellent, and I love the upside-down battery box solution. That's ingenious. I feel it's sides are a bit plain at the moment; are you going to put some decals on it with company logo etc?

Wow, that looks nice and well proportioned. There are some crazy build techniques too, like the clip snot to hold in the grill tiles on top and the cab doors. Excellent job concealing the PF. I think the side windows look fine (wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't had said something).

7 hours ago, ColletArrow said:

The 'face' of this loco is excellent, and I love the upside-down battery box solution. That's ingenious. I feel it's sides are a bit plain at the moment; are you going to put some decals on it with company logo etc?

Thank you! I spent a considerable amount of time on the battery box mounting since the battery box accessibility on my previous version was less than ideal. Yep, I completely agree that the sides are a bit plain. My older variant had the ribs on the sides, which gave it more texture, but I had to sacrifice the ribbing to mount the XL motors. Although I may be able to make the ribs on this one in the future. The less common version of this train which my new model is based off of has a complex logo on the side, which would be almost impossible to model in LEGO. I've never really had any experience with decals, so I really dont know what I want to do.

 

^^https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5513/31320321446_0686908231_b.jpg^^

 

6 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Wow, that looks nice and well proportioned. There are some crazy build techniques too, like the clip snot to hold in the grill tiles on top and the cab doors. Excellent job concealing the PF. I think the side windows look fine (wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't had said something).

Good to hear that the proportions are an improvement! I cannot take credit for the SNOT grille technique as I found it on Bricktrix's flickr. Although the side windows are a bit of a dissapointment in my eyes, I've learned that building in LEGO is all about compromises.

 

Edited March 18, 20177 yr by Beck

18 minutes ago, Beck said:

I've never really had any experience with decals, so I really dont know what I want to do.

To test ideas out, you could print some designs from a word document and blu-tack it on. That way you can see if it looks any better, and work out how to do it properly later once you're happy with the design. There's someone here who made decals for a Siemens Taurus a while ago, I'll have a look for the thread.

You captured the shape very well but I have one thing which disturbs me: you forgot the snow plow(?) on the underside of the locomotive. It looks somehow empty on the front, maybe you could try to attach it to the boogies. I guess you did that too with the magnet.

Great looking locomotive. You've captured the look and feel rather well.

1 hour ago, ColletArrow said:

To test ideas out, you could print some designs from a word document and blu-tack it on. That way you can see if it looks any better, and work out how to do it properly later once you're happy with the design. There's someone here who made decals for a Siemens Taurus a while ago, I'll have a look for the thread.

I first want to test the feasibility of adding the ribs, but I will also begin figuring out the decals.

1 hour ago, Stefaneris said:

You captured the shape very well but I have one thing which disturbs me: you forgot the snow plow(?) on the underside of the locomotive. It looks somehow empty on the front, maybe you could try to attach it to the boogies. I guess you did that too with the magnet.

Thank you! I didn't forget about the plow; I chose not to model it because I did not want to add another small detail that would get caught on various bits on layouts. Downsizing the plow is an alternative that I am willing to consider.

1 hour ago, Feuer Zug said:

Great looking locomotive. You've captured the look and feel rather well.

Thank you very much!

Edited March 18, 20177 yr by Beck

This is one of my favorite locomotive ...very well done!

The technique construction for doors handrail is unusual and difficult, but the result is perfect 

Great work. An absolutely fantastic creation. Some amazing techniques used there!

On 18/03/2017 at 11:16 PM, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

This is one of my favorite locomotive ...very well done!

The technique construction for doors handrail is unusual and difficult, but the result is perfect 

 

On 19/03/2017 at 11:41 AM, Man with a hat said:

Great work. An absolutely fantastic creation. Some amazing techniques used there!

Thank you both very much!

 

 

After waiting 2.5 weeks for the ball bearings to arrive the package contained a letter from the seller stating that they were out of stock and an appeasement "gift." Two weeks later I received the bearings and began experimenting on how to modify my existing rolling stock. I decided on using a technic brick 1x2 with 2 holes, but quickly found out that the bearings could not be pressed in by hand. I used some pliers to squeeze them into the brick and fitted the metal axle in to adjust the bearing so that it was flush with the side face of the brick. This was NOT fun, but the result was worth the time and effort. 

http://bricksafe.com/pages/Beck/train_mocs/ball-bearings

I don't have or want a youtube account, so you will have to download the video from my bricksafe. 

http://bricksafe.com/pages/Beck/train_mocs/traxx-ac3---2.0/traxx-in-motion

Thanks for reading.

7 years later....

I am an employee for railpool and trying to make a few off our locomotices in lego as decoration in the office.

Any chance i can buy a buildplan for this? 

Thanks for your time and the nice build of our locomotive

On 10/4/2024 at 4:40 PM, GlennH said:

7 years later....

I am an employee for railpool and trying to make a few off our locomotices in lego as decoration in the office.

Any chance i can buy a buildplan for this? 

Thanks for your time and the nice build of our locomotive

Welcome to Eurobricks @GlennH! I'm sorry to be tell you this, but the user you're talking to (@Beck) hasn't been online in over a year, so I don't think they're going to see your post. Also, if no instructions are offered, they (generally speaking) do not exist. Most people don't make them as it is a very time consuming and labor intensive thing to create.

I wish you luck in building Lego models of the locomotives your company uses, and I hope you find someone who can help you more.

Edited October 14, 2024Oct 14 by Murdoch17

23 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

I'm sorry to be tell you this, but the user you're talking to (@Beck) hasn't been online in over a year

Well, that is true.

However, I was in a similar situation, when inquiring about a LEGO 9771 ISA card in the Technic forum, encouraged by another EB member to do so. And it worked, although the member I then got in touch with, wasn't here for years. The whole thing resulted in a free 9771 ISA card for me; covering S&H was all that member was asking for.

PM is also one route that may work - should notifications still be active for that member and the email address still be in use. Who knows ... I would not give up right away. Good luck, @GlennH! Cross my fingers.

Best,
Thorsten

Edited October 15, 2024Oct 15 by Toastie