Union Pacific FEF-3 #844: The Living Legend

[Mjw061]

I am so excited to see this finished and build it myself!

[Mattie305]

Now that Christmas has come and gone, and the same with the New Year, how's the locomotive coming along? 

[AbleChristopher]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:33 PM, Mjw061 said:

I am so excited to see this finished and build it myself!

And I love the support!

23 hours ago, Mattie305 said:

Now that Christmas has come and gone, and the same with the New Year, how's the locomotive coming along? 

Its progressing! I have wheels, stickers and custom rods/valve gear pieces being drafted or on their way to me. Lots of work to be done with trial runs, but it is coming together. Thank you for your continued interest!

[SD100]

That is looking great!

SD

[Vilhelm22]

On 1/10/2024 at 4:14 AM, AbleChristopher said:

Its progressing! I have wheels, stickers and custom rods/valve gear pieces being drafted or on their way to me. Lots of work to be done with trial runs, but it is coming together. Thank you for your continued interest!

Getting very close to becoming the Living LEGO Legend!

[AbleChristopher]

On 1/10/2024 at 1:02 AM, SD100 said:

That is looking great!

SD

 

20 hours ago, Vilhelm22 said:

Getting very close to becoming the Living LEGO Legend!

Thank you both! Having this thing finished will be a bit of a dream come true. First draft of the walschaerts valve gear is running...a video is over on my flickr.

Edited January 15, 2024 by AbleChristopher

[Mattie305]

Hello Chris,

 

Just hoping in heres to wonder about the progress of the fine model. Or asking about if the instructions are ready to purchase.

[AbleChristopher]

On 2/9/2024 at 1:53 PM, Mattie305 said:

Hello Chris,

 

Just hoping in heres to wonder about the progress of the fine model. Or asking about if the instructions are ready to purchase.

In progress! Several elements of the locomotive are being rebuilt after the first trial run period. I am also decreasing the gear ratio from 3:1 to 1:1. Pilot truck, trailing truck, centipede tender, gear tower...all improved.

These extensive changes take time, but ensure that the final build will be a great runner and fun to build.

 

Thank you for your continued interest!

Edited February 12, 2024 by AbleChristopher

[Mattie305]

Hello again Chris,

 

Now that it has been over a month (almost @0 since the last update, has anything else changed in the model? Or are you happy enough with it to have instructions made and ready to go?

[AbleChristopher]

 

 

DONE. I am happy to share with you all that my UP #844 model is now complete. A build long in the making...for well over a year and spanning many life changes that attempted to derail this project, Union Pacific #844 finally emerges from my workshop.

UP #844 has captured my imagination since childhood, appearing in several mini-series, TV shows and ads from the early 1990’s. With a sleek body, brutish flat face, high stepping drivers and enormous smoke deflectors, it embodies every definition of monstrous speed and power.

Manufactured by the American Locomotive Company and delivered to UP in 1944 to accommodate both wartime traffic and the projected increase in passenger service after the war, #835-844 were built upon the nearly perfected FEF-1 and FEF-2 series of locomotives delivered between 1937-1939. The entire FEF-3 series proved to be a masterpiece of design and was continuously called upon to lead top priority freight and passenger service.

#844 was delivered on a cold December day in 1944 as the final steam locomotive ever received by UP. Truly an unsleeping giant, #844 is the only steam locomotive of any American Class 1 railroad that has never been struck from the roster. Throughout her revenue career, she headed express freight, fast mail, and the most prestigious passenger trains of the central high plains and mountainous west – The Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose, and Pony Express.

Fitted with 80-inch drivers and a 300 psi operating boiler pressure, #844 generates 63,800 lbs of tractive effort. She was designed to comfortably haul a 1,000-ton train at 100 mph and would regularly run at 120 mph.

Significant research was put into this model. Before even laying out the frame I had compiled an 80-year timeline documenting every minor, and major, upgrade, repainting, and alteration. I had one specific goal in mind: to capture her high-speed passenger service essence. As such, I have modeled her exactly as she would have appeared in April of 1949 – oil burning, with a Sellers exhaust steam injector and painted in the famous two-tone gray of Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray. I am proud to say that this is one of the most accurate representations of a two-tone gray FEF-3 in the modeling world.

This model is 8-wide and precisely 1:48 scale. #844 represents the absolute apex of duel-service steam and I want this model to represent nothing less. It is powered by two L power function motors in a 1:1 gear ratio so that she has both high tractive effort and can travel at high speed. The tender is fitted with a power functions control switch and two V2 IR receivers, one dedicated to each motor, powered by a 20c 7.4V Turnigy battery.

I design all my models with usability in mind. That being said, due to the #844’s unavoidable long legs, the locomotive can technically snake its way through R56 curves but is much happier with R120. I will pride myself in saying that the tender can navigate R40 due to my engineering of a unique design to conquer the flexibility challenges that plagues centipede tenders.

Custom wheels and drivers were sourced from Brick Train Depot and Breckland Bricks while the Walschaerts valve gear is from Trained Bricks. I want to particularly thank Monty’s Trains who designed and printed all stickers you see on this model. Monty also provided the technical experience that allowed me to upgrade from a standard Lego battery pack to the vastly superior LiPo world.

I strive to make my models both detailed and accessible. As such, instructions ARE available for this model in both two-tone gray and black (accurately dated to July 1954). Additionally, both liveries come with simple and complex valve gear instructions.

Today known as The Living Legend, UP #844 is the last of a great breed and represents the absolute apex of duel-service steam as one of the most powerful, prestigious and well-engineered Northern type locomotives of all time.

I feel extremely grateful to the Union Pacific Steam Team for ensuring that, through unquantifiable amounts of continuous labor, #844’s clock is not approaching twilight, but held at dawn. She is poised to travel the high iron for time eternal, forever roaring across the heartland plains and into the rising sun. 

 

Thank you everyone for taking time to read this post, I greatly appreciate your questions, comments and praise. This model represents the end of a personal era, and I appreciate all the encouragement and support that I received from the community along the way. Railroading and Lego modeling are my passions, and I am happy to be part of these growing communities. More photos can be found over on my Flickr page. https://www.flickr.com/photos/christopher_locomotive_works/

 

Cort

[zephyr1934]

That's some amazing work, the 844 looks great! All sorts of clever solutions abound. You hint at working magic on the centipede tender, very curious what you did. Congrats on a fantastic build!

[thesnoqualmieroute]

That looks fantastic! I love all the cab detail like the use of the silver chain for the whistle cord and gold throttle lever, as well as the slope with the cab roof! I can't recall a more handsome engine. Looking forward whatever you cook up next!

[AbleChristopher]

1 hour ago, zephyr1934 said:

That's some amazing work, the 844 looks great! All sorts of clever solutions abound. You hint at working magic on the centipede tender, very curious what you did. Congrats on a fantastic build!

Thanks a ton @zephyr1934, wouldn't have been possible without your rods and bars. I appreciate your eye for the details, getting the look of #844 dialed in while maximizing structural integrity resulted in many creative solutions. The trick of the centipede tender is that the 5-wheel set swivels while certain wheels are also allowed to slide, not only on their axle but the wheel coverings (which are rigid on the real locomotive) slide with the wheels. I have seen many centipede tenders and doubt I am the first to come up with this concept, but it has been employed to great effect on this model.

33 minutes ago, thesnoqualmieroute said:

That looks fantastic! I love all the cab detail like the use of the silver chain for the whistle cord and gold throttle lever, as well as the slope with the cab roof! I can't recall a more handsome engine. Looking forward whatever you cook up next!

I appreciate those kind words @thesnoqualmieroute, I spent far too much time trying out colors and pieces in the cab. Historical photo's of the FEF-3's from the 1940's are all black and white. So I had to do a big history dive to figure out what Lego colors would be the most accurate. I am glad you appreciate that!

[Feuer Zug]

The finished product is gorgeous. 844 looks marvelous in that color scheme. Great work!

[AbleChristopher]

13 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

The finished product is gorgeous. 844 looks marvelous in that color scheme. Great work!

Thank you very much @Feuer Zug!