[MOC] Via Rail Canada - The Canadian - LEGO Ideas

[NickLafreniere]

It has been a long time goal of mine to build this beautiful train with LEGO. After working on it for a long time, I have finally finished it. To see 70+ pictures and a detailed tour, please see Via Rail Canada - The Canadian

 

I'd love to hear any feedback, comments, questions, or criticisms. It's a big set, so let's tackle it one car at a time. :) If you like it, please support on LEGO Ideas if you believe it would make a great official set.

 

[mark6399]

Awesome build! Really good job fitting in the interior details in 6-wide. Took me a second to figure out how you hid the beds! 

[Merlict]

Neat. What are the skylight window pieces in the observation car please?

[M_slug357]

@NickLafreniere Why did you decide to use mini train wheels on the coaches...? Imho it make the coaches look funny to be situated lower than the engine...

[dr_spock]

Nice.  Good luck.

 

 

[NickLafreniere]

8 hours ago, M_slug357 said:

@NickLafreniere Why did you decide to use mini train wheels on the coaches...? Imho it make the coaches look funny to be situated lower than the engine...

As you can see in the real life picture above, the locomotive is slightly taller than the passenger cars in real life.

 

Via Rail's passenger cars are much older than their locomotives. Via Rail "mixes and matches" their rolling stock :)

9 hours ago, Merlict said:

Neat. What are the skylight window pieces in the observation car please?

The 2 windscreens at the end are regular car windscreens with a custom print I designed myself. They are attached on their side.

The glass roof pieces are those new train windscreens, but on their side and in light grey for the first time.

I must say, this is the best way to build a LEGO dome roof compared to anything I've ever seen online.

If my set got produced, these pieces would be produced in grey and you could use these to make other MOCs.

10 hours ago, mark6399 said:

Awesome build! Really good job fitting in the interior details in 6-wide. Took me a second to figure out how you hid the beds! 

The beds each get "stowed away" in their own spot. The upper duplex roomette's bed is in the wall behind and can be put down.

The lower duplex is like a drawer. You must "pull" the bed out.

The upper berth bed simply folds down and fits perfectly when not in use :)

I really enjoyed making 3 different types of classes of cabins! It's hard to choose my favorite :)

[ColletArrow]

It's a very smart looking engine and train, and absolutely rammed with details. I especially love the locomotive, and that you've included the option for working headlights.

I share other's concerns about the small wheels, mainly because combined with the well-detailed but therefore heavy coaches there will be a lot of resistance, much of which could be relieved by switching to the standard axle assembly.

But then you don't get to see the lovely bogie details you've built up, so you can't have everything I suppose. Good work overall!

[zephyr1934]

Very nice!

Do keep in mind that no matter how good a train might be, if it does not have a licensed tie-in after hitting 10k votes it probably will not survive IDEAS to become a set.

I would agree with the others about the small train wheels, operationally they are horrible, but Lego would go to normal train wheels anyway if it were accepted. Light gray wheel holders are the way to go for a set, but Lego is likely to go with black.

From a set stand point could you make it so that 5-6 different passenger car builds were possible from the set but it only comes with enough parts for 2-3 cars per set?

Could you post the photos to Flickr or similar then link more of them to this thread?

Pros:

The interior detailing throughout is impressive

Cons:

Massive side sticker or printed bricks on the nose. It might be possible to "brick build" the curve, but I would think the older livery (e.g., the second loco in dr_Spock's photo) would be better suited for a set

I would try lowering the glass in the dome by one brick

 

 

 

 

[Eki1210]

Fantastic MOC, i really like the dome-roof solution and the Interieur you included. Very nice!

[NickLafreniere]

8 hours ago, ColletArrow said:

It's a very smart looking engine and train, and absolutely rammed with details. I especially love the locomotive, and that you've included the option for working headlights.

I share other's concerns about the small wheels, mainly because combined with the well-detailed but therefore heavy coaches there will be a lot of resistance, much of which could be relieved by switching to the standard axle assembly.

But then you don't get to see the lovely bogie details you've built up, so you can't have everything I suppose. Good work overall!

Perhaps LEGO is making a new piece for train wheels for 2021... that would be great. I'm sure some kind of alternative can be done.

5 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

From a set stand point could you make it so that 5-6 different passenger car builds were possible from the set but it only comes with enough parts for 2-3 cars per set?

Glad you saw that opportunity as well! I also had that idea, just like how the Metroliner has an alternate "B" model. So instead of the Skyline car, you could also use those pieces to make a Park car. For the Chateau, you could make a Manor car instead. And instead of the baggage car, it would be a dining car.

Either these could be included as a second instruction book + 50-100 additional pieces to build these models, or just fan suggestions. If this set gets to LEGO review, I would gladly suggest and design the alternative "B" models. That would add even more value to the set. 

Buying 2x of the set makes it twice as long... and having an alternative to build the second time you build it would be great. 

[NickLafreniere]

6 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

I would think the older livery (e.g., the second loco in dr_Spock's photo) would be better suited for a set.

I made the other livery. Check it out here. The other livery is much more simple, print/sticker-wise.

 

[Feuer Zug]

I like the new locomotive livery, but with the original cars. The height difference is strange in my mind. How you built the dome car is great.

[NickLafreniere]

15 minutes ago, Feuer Zug said:

The height difference is strange in my mind.

Agreed! It is strange, I've never seen another train that does this... It's truly unique!

[SteamSewnEmpire]

Not a fan of 6w, but this is really well done.

[NickLafreniere]

Just now, SteamSewnEmpire said:

Not a fan of 6w, but this is really well done.

Thanks! I felt like this train has more detail than your typical 6w LEGO train set. 

Although many hardcore LEGO train fans prefer 7w or 8w, I think this 6 wide train could make them reconsider it!

26 minutes ago, Feuer Zug said:

I like the new locomotive livery, but with the original cars. The height difference is strange in my mind. How you built the dome car is great.

Mix & Match both sets to your liking:

[zephyr1934]

17 hours ago, NickLafreniere said:

Buying 2x of the set makes it twice as long... and having an alternative to build the second time you build it would be great. 

Now you're going somewhere, Vancouver in 4 days!

[The Island Chronicles]

Now if they were to do a railway spin off of Speed Champions (like Railway Heroes), I say this is something they should consider. 

[SteamSewnEmpire]

12 hours ago, NickLafreniere said:

Thanks! I felt like this train has more detail than your typical 6w LEGO train set. 

Although many hardcore LEGO train fans prefer 7w or 8w, I think this 6 wide train could make them reconsider it!

Mix & Match both sets to your liking:

Personally, the original is my favorite. I upvoted it. If you're savvy, try to spread word of this in Canadian-friendly social media. In my experience, there's a fair amount of nationalism north of the border, and people will upvote Canada-friendly projects even if they aren't into Lego. That's how that God-awful Toronto subway got through, and this is a thousand times better than that.

Edited May 10, 2020 by SteamSewnEmpire

[NickLafreniere]

2 minutes ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

Personally, the original is my favorite. I upvoted it. If you're savvy, try to spread word of this in Canadian-friendly social media. In my experience, there's a fair amount of nationalism north of the border, and people will upvote Canada-friendly projects even if they aren't into Lego. That's how that God-awful Toronto subway got through, and this is a thousand times better than that.

Thanks for the kind words! So far, people on reddit in Vancouver, Winnipeg, British Columbia, and Ontario liked it! :)

 

I agree with the TTC project... As someone who lives in Toronto and also designed my own LEGO subway LEGO idea many years ago, I agree with you that it is really poorly-made. 

If the guy with the crappy TTC project got 10K in a 1.5 years, I should be able to get 10K as well. At least he helped prove that are at least 10,000 people who would support a Canadian train.

Edited May 10, 2020 by NickLafreniere

[Pdaitabird]

I like the livery and shaping on the corridor locomotive, and that dome car looks great! Well done!

1 hour ago, NickLafreniere said:

If the guy with the crappy TTC project got 10K in a 1.5 years, I should be able to get 10K as well. At least he helped prove that are at least 10,000 people who would support a Canadian train.

From what little I know of Canada, that project probably benefited from the fact that Toronto is the center of the universe... Anyway, best of luck in reaching 10k soon!

[Modeltrainman]

supported! And, I'm not even from Canada!

[NickLafreniere]

Today my project has hit 5000 supporters, and it has been just 8 weeks since it was submitted. I have checked all the train projects, and mine is currently the fastest-supported LEGO Ideas train project of all-time. The results so far are looking quite hopeful now.

[gvb2003]

Wow awesome make, I love those logo's and those details! How did you made custom stickers and those things because I would  also like to know that. And is this made with Studio from Bricklink?

[dimitri_bricks]

What a cool train, I also supported. 

[NickLafreniere]

3 hours ago, gvb2003 said:

Wow awesome make, I love those logo's and those details! How did you made custom stickers and those things because I would  also like to know that. And is this made with Studio from Bricklink?

I used studio to design the whole thing.