old 4-2-4 steam engine on a plinth in a city park - modular building compatible MOC

[Murdoch17]

What does a railroad do with a tired, worn out (yet historic) steam loco from an earlier timeframe, when scrap prices are too low to make it worthwhile to destroy right away?

Why, send it to some lineside municipality looking to fill out a park and get a tax write-off to boot! Such was the fate of a lot of older locomotives in the early 1900's, 20's, and 30's. (The 4-4-0 Texas of the The Great Locomotive Chase fame comes to mind in this regard.)

Sadly, a lot of World War II scrap drives drove towns and cities to destroy historic engines and other pieces of our shared industrial heritage, causing irreplaceable pieces to be destroyed and untold damage to be done to others. In the decades following the 1940's, many engines were also destroyed by Mother Nature - left to rot in public parks until they were beyond saving and the cutting torch was brought in to put them out of their misery.

Thankfully, not all was lost in these dark times! A lot were pulled from their pedestal and refurbished cosmetically, with shelters erected around them. Some very lucky few were even restored to working order for a new generation to enjoy the sights, sounds, ands smells of a living steam loco and a long-passed way of life.

Now, onto the LEGO model itself. This modular-compatible plinth was born out of a idea to show off a western loco in a modern LUG layout without it looking odd. The locomotive portion of the model was heavily inspired by the famous C.P. Huntington 4-2-4T steam loco originally owned by the Central Pacific, which was at one point on a plinth very similar to this one.

Thoughts?

EDIT 7/19/23: Added new pictures, as I made the model modular-building compatible. Original pictures in spoiler:

Spoiler

front

rear

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Murdoch17

[Darkkostas25]

Nice idea, in Ukraine AFOL community, made a Lego architecture sets/MOCs both real and virtual based on buildings and landmarks that were destroyed by russians in this war (and made for some existing landmarks) and it  drew attention and support (even for just recognition for AFOL) MiniMisto
And I guess these kinds of "landmarks" are also nice and good and useful (show peoples dedications and honour for the past) 
Hope you could understand my words

+ I may be wrong but PRR T1 project/trust also for recognition uses Lego moc/model of T1 for attention for their project 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Darkkostas25

[Murdoch17]

4 hours ago, Darkkostas25 said:

Nice idea, in Ukraine AFOL community, made a Lego architecture sets/MOCs both real and virtual based on buildings and landmarks that were destroyed by russians in this war (and made for some existing landmarks) and it  drew attention and support (even for just recognition for AFOL) MiniMisto
And I guess these kinds of "landmarks" are also nice and good and useful (show peoples dedications and honour for the past) 
Hope you could understand my words

+ I may be wrong but PRR T1 project/trust also for recognition uses Lego moc/model of T1 for attention for their project 

Agreed 100% on everything you said, and I think I've seen the Ukrainian monuments project on Flickr... it's very cool, and a good way to immortalize in LEGO what has sadly been lost in the real world.

On another note, I will also mention @SavaTheAggie is the one who designed that T1 model and made instructions for them to sell to raise money for the project, in case you weren't aware. He is certainly an awesome train builder!

[Murdoch17]

Update Time!

Model finished in real life, albeit with a different loco. That portion of the model was heavily inspired by the famous C.P. Huntington 4-2-4T steam loco originally owned by the Central Pacific, which was at one point on a plinth very similar to this one.

Main post updated with new pictures and info.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Murdoch17

[Darkkostas25]

Nice! but can you give us a few more photos/angels (if it`s not a problem) 

[Murdoch17]

39 minutes ago, Darkkostas25 said:

Nice! but can you give us a few more photos/angels (if it`s not a problem) 

There really aren't any more possible angles to show... you can't get in the cab (no details in there anyway). I was wracking my brain trying to think up pictures, but go nothing.

Also, since I've now put it on a 32x32 baseplate for modular compatibility, but am missing a few parts, so it isn't presentable right now, even if I did have another angle.

Sorry, @Darkkostas25!

[Darkkostas25]

44 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

There really aren't any more possible angles to show... you can't get in the cab (no details in there anyway). I was wracking my brain trying to think up pictures, but go nothing.

Also, since I've now put it on a 32x32 baseplate for modular compatibility, but am missing a few parts, so it isn't presentable right now, even if I did have another angle.

Sorry, @Darkkostas25!

Yeah you add back photo! Thanks! 

[Murdoch17]

5 minutes ago, Darkkostas25 said:

Yeah you add back photo! Thanks! 

If you're looking for a picture of the back, see the first post.

[Murdoch17]

Main posted updated 7/19/23: I added new pictures, as I made the model modular-building compatible. You can compare them below.

old

new

Thoughts?

Also, @JopieK if you think this might be better in Town forum since it's a bit of both train and town, you can move it there. I don't mind, it's up to you.

Edited July 19, 2023 by Murdoch17

[JopieK]

17 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

Also, @JopieK if you think this might be better in Town forum since it's a bit of both train and town, you can move it there. I don't mind, it's up to you.

It is a train, so should be fine here. But if you want it in Town, let me know!

[Murdoch17]

2 hours ago, JopieK said:

It is a train, so should be fine here. But if you want it in Town, let me know!

Nah, here in train tech is good. Thank you for your advice!