2-6-2 Prairie steam loco MOC - heavy Sava instructions MOD - finished in the real world 1/29/24

[Murdoch17]

Back when Bricklink allowed you to sell custom instructions, I bought some plans for a small 2-6-2 Prairie-type steam loco from @SavaTheAggie in January 2014. I devoured them, used the techniques shown to make me a better builder. Now, exactly ten years later, I've revisited the model: I built it in LDD, (with some stand-ins for BBB parts) then went to town making it into my style, and now it's done in the real world. You can see Sava's original MOC on his Flickr page here.

I changed the boiler to be studs-up instead of SNOT, and removed the squeaky old tiny wheels from the model, and made space for XS Big Ben Bricks wheels instead. (this actually was easier than I thought it'd be!) I added a bigger headlight, and a different stack along with heavily revising the piston / side rod assembly. As for the tender, different wheels were added and a 'painted' box put on the sides.

The engine is numbered 119 and lettered for BRS (Brick Railway Systems), my original LEGO railroad that I began when I was in late-stage elementary school nearly 20 years ago. (Man, how time flies!) I also gave it the original black-and-red paint scheme of my first train MOCs from the early 2010's, as a nod to my past. This loco was my third set of instructions I purchased from Sava back in the day, although I had never built this one until now. (I did build the 4-6-0 and Berkshire I bought in 2010 and 2012 respectively, but oddly not this one from 2014)

The inside of the cab.

Thoughts?

(Updated with new 7 wide tender 1/29/24)

Edited January 29, 2024 by Murdoch17

[Toxic43]

Fantastic as always! Looks like some technic 90 degree liftarms there for the cylinders. Always interesting to se your models as there's always something new for me to learn!

[Murdoch17]

6 hours ago, Toxic43 said:

Fantastic as always! Looks like some technic 90 degree liftarms there for the cylinders. Always interesting to se your models as there's always something new for me to learn!

Thanks for the praise @Toxic43, but what you describe was a design feature from the original @SavaTheAggie build... all I did was flip them upside down and use different side rods.

You can see what he did vs. what I did by comparing the photos. The above one is his.

... and here is what mine will look like.

 

Also, side note: I ordered the 36 US dollars worth of wheels today, to be used on this model and the streamlined Hudson. The $25 in Bricklink parts are for this 2-6-2 are to be ordered tomorrow.

[Murdoch17]

UPDATE:

Remaining BL parts were just ordered for $16 while the BBB wheels for this loco alone were $24 (both before S&H). So I've spent $40 on parts for this project. I had 78 bricks from BBB and BL to order, VS the starting total of 479 bricks. This means I found just over 400 parts for this project... which isn't bad considering I started looking for parts just four days ago! I will update you guys on the build once it's complete, which should be in a week or so.

[Murdoch17]

UPDATE

Bad news:

Both my lone Bricklink order and Big Ben Bricks order were really messed up. From BBB I ordered four M drivers with flange, and received 3. I ordered 2 blind M wheels, and got 5 from him. I'm also an even 24 parts short on my BL order, (but got a whole bag of parts I didn't order) and the store is currently closed 'for renovations'.

Good news:

I ripped apart an older MOC to steal the wheels from to get this project rolling (pun intended) and found different replacement parts for some of the missing BL parts. The remaining missing 16 slope parts required a friend from my local LUG's help. I shall have the loco done Saturday (I hope!), and this thread will have updated pictures soon after.... if all goes well!

[DAN42BR]

 Wow, very nice model.

 

Edited January 19, 2024 by DAN42BR

[Murdoch17]

1 hour ago, DAN42BR said:

Wow, sehr schönes Modell.

Thank you for your kind comment @DAN42BR! I must inform you, however, that English is the only language allowed on Eurobricks... so you might want to edit your comment into English. 

[DAN42BR]

On 1/17/2024 at 11:06 PM, Murdoch17 said:

Thank you for your kind comment @DAN42BR! I must inform you, however, that English is the only language allowed on Eurobricks... so you might want to edit your comment into English. 

OK, I'll do it

[Murdoch17]

@DAN42BR @Toxic43 (I've tagged you two since you guys commented before)

It's done in the real world! See the first post for more pictures!

[Darkkostas25]

Cute love red accents on cabin and that color-palette  

[Murdoch17]

12 hours ago, Darkkostas25 said:

Cute love red accents on cabin and that color-palette  

Thanks @Darkkostas25!

Here's an update to an issue that was driving me nuts:

I've had the engine built in real life less than a week, and I'm already changing it majorly. The tender was 6 studs wide when I built it, but to be the same width as the cab I decided to widen it to 7 studs wide. I'm doing this for two reasons:
1. Because a 6 wide tender next to a 7 wide cab looks odd.
2. Leaving it alone is driving me crazy! The cab / tender MUST be equal!

Most of the parts from the original tender will be reused, but the few that aren't there have been bought for less than $8.

[Murdoch17]

@Darkkostas25 @Toxic43 @DAN42BR I've tagged you guys cause I thought you'd be interested in this update since you commented before.

All first post pictures updated 1/29/24 with new 7 wide tender. See first post for all the new pics!

Edited January 29, 2024 by Murdoch17

[Darkkostas25]

Nice one! 

[Man with a hat]

Nice. The tender fits really well now.

[Murdoch17]

18 hours ago, Darkkostas25 said:

Nice one! 

Thank you @Darkkostas25!

2 hours ago, Man with a hat said:

Nice. The tender fits really well now.

Thanks, and agreed @Man with a hat!

[DAN42BR]

On 1/25/2024 at 10:55 PM, Murdoch17 said:

Thanks @Darkkostas25!

Here's an update to an issue that was driving me nuts:

I've had the engine built in real life less than a week, and I'm already changing it majorly. The tender was 6 studs wide when I built it, but to be the same width as the cab I decided to widen it to 7 studs wide. I'm doing this for two reasons:
1. Because a 6 wide tender next to a 7 wide cab looks odd.
2. Leaving it alone is driving me crazy! The cab / tender MUST be equal!

Most of the parts from the original tender will be reused, but the few that aren't there have been bought for less than $8.

hello,
the tender has turned out well, on the LDD it looks like 8 is wide! do you have any more photos?

[Murdoch17]

1 hour ago, DAN42BR said:

hello,
the tender has turned out well, on the LDD it looks like 8 is wide! do you have any more photos?

Thanks! The tender is 7 wide, trust me. I also don't have any more pictures, sorry @DAN42BR.

Edited January 31, 2024 by Murdoch17