I have recently bought a BNSF loco (Lego rather than the real thing, of course)

I adore the Santa Fe loco and compatible coaches, and therefore wondered whether LEGO have ever made coaches specially designed for the BNSF loco also ?

The picture at the top of the Train Tech page offers some ideas - 2 green cars and a white and blue hopper, but do Eurobrickers have any other ideas ?

Thanks !

Dr. D.

I think that these were made just for BNSF!

http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=10170-1

Yes - aside from the TTX Intermodal, LEGO did not offer any additional coaches/wagons for the BNSF. If you plan to build some custom wagons, I would recommend black or green box cars, and/or some hoppers. The My Own Train Tanker would also make a nice addition.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

I've seen the Intermodal come up on eBay a few times - not cheap at all. It's been said that LEGO didn't make much money out of these sets at the time, but on the basis of the eBay prices there is certainly demand out there.....

Cheers,

Dr. D.

It's been said that LEGO didn't make much money out of these sets at the time, but on the basis of the eBay prices there is certainly demand out there.....

Yep, I've noticed the exact same thing. I had set my mind on buying a couple of these TTX wagons a few months ago, but most of them would end up costing ridiculous amounts so I highly doubt I'd ever be getting them. If I were you, I'd look around the Train Tech forum for some inspiration and then create a few MOCs to use as wagons for the GP-13 :)

I have recently bought a BNSF loco (Lego rather than the real thing, of course)

I adore the Santa Fe loco and compatible coaches, and therefore wondered whether LEGO have ever made coaches specially designed for the BNSF loco also ?

The picture at the top of the Train Tech page offers some ideas - 2 green cars and a white and blue hopper, but do Eurobrickers have any other ideas ?

Thanks !

Dr. D.

mind me asking where you got your BNSF? I've been trying to find one at a decent price but I just can't seem to pull the trigger on one.

mind me asking where you got your BNSF? I've been trying to find one at a decent price but I just can't seem to pull the trigger on one.

Sure - eBay UK for £52 + postage. Came with a box (good condition) & instructions, but not new. Too expensive by far, but there you go. You can pick them up for less if you're willing to forego the box +/- the instructions.

I'm having the same problem with Santa Fe coaches - man, those puppies are expensive. Got one, but would love a whole train. Looks like I need to get saving.....

Dr. D.

I'm having the same problem with Santa Fe coaches - man, those puppies are expensive.

Way more expensive than the actual engine, in most cases!! Which brings me to a question - has anyone tried picking out the specific bricks they need in order to construct one (or both) of the Santa Fe coaches and ordering them from Bricklink?

Sure - eBay UK for £52 + postage. Came with a box (good condition) & instructions, but not new. Too expensive by far, but there you go. You can pick them up for less if you're willing to forego the box +/- the instructions.

I'm having the same problem with Santa Fe coaches - man, those puppies are expensive. Got one, but would love a whole train. Looks like I need to get saving.....

Dr. D.

Ok, I just thought there was a better alternative :p

Cheapest I've seen is $99 + $35 shipping on BrinkLink, so i think it works out to about the same as your price above.

For $70+shipping, I see one without the box and minifig. I'm kinda anal retentive, so I've gotta have the box and minifig :p

Apologies for going off topic :)

Back on topic ...

I've always liked how the TTX looks with the BNSF, but being that it's so ridiculously expensive for the BNSF itself, I don't think you'd want to spend another small fortune on the TTX?

Edited January 26, 201015 yr by j3tang

Way more expensive than the actual engine, in most cases!! Which brings me to a question - has anyone tried picking out the specific bricks they need in order to construct one (or both) of the Santa Fe coaches and ordering them from Bricklink?

I doubt if ordering all the necessary pieces for one or more Santa Fe coaches would really be cheaper. Due to the discontinuation of old grey, those pieces are not cheap. Also some elements in old grey can be pretty expensive like the old dark grey waggon baseplate or element #6081 (peeron number) in old light gray. Maybe you'd have to buy some elements from various sellers. This means that you must pay for multiple shipments. That could be dear, too.

A couple of those 10017 hopper wagon sets would work very well, too:

Like this:

Just the color choice doesn't seem right, maybe you can MOC it to a different color?

A couple of those 10017 hopper wagon sets would work very well, too:

Like this:

Just the color choice doesn't seem right, maybe you can MOC it to a different color?

haha, that was what i recommended for the Emerald Night! All you have to do is swap out the blue pieces for brown and if you like, add some brown accents and the color scheme would match the passenger of the EN set :)

I propose 5 or 6 tank wagons

Works great to

Rust/brown"Boxcar Red" or yellow boxcars work too. Tanks in black would be great for unit-trains of corn-syrup (around my area, we regulary see cuts of a dozen or more such cars on a single siding).

Seriously, if you're in the US or Canada pick up an issue of Trains or Railfan & Railroad and thumb through it and you'll get plenty of ideas for new cars.

If you're looking for something along the lines of the TTX doublestack set, James Mathis has plans for a great three-unit doublestack container car set in his Brickshelf folder.

I gather doublestack car sets normally exist in sets of 3 or 5 units with shared bogies in between, so this rendition is more realistic than the TTX set in this sense. Most of the parts are quite common, and those that aren't are easily replaced by more common ones if desired (e.g., regular 1x4 yellow bricks instead of the grooved variety). I liked it so much, I built two sets worth -- sorry I don't have a better picture handy, but you get the idea.

Hope this helps with some ideas!

Cheers,

LEGO9Vtrainfan

Do you guys know if the real BNSF locomotive is ever used for passenger trains? Since everyone is suggesting trucks here, I take it's used in cargo trains only...

Do you think it would fit to pull passenger carriages, and in this case what colour scheme would you suggest (beside green or orange...)?

I've seen the Intermodal come up on eBay a few times - not cheap at all. It's been said that LEGO didn't make much money out of these sets at the time, but on the basis of the eBay prices there is certainly demand out there.....

There are strange phenomena, when the set is in production it seems people are not buying it because it's too expensive and Lego seems not to make much money, then it goes out of production and suddenly everyone wants it and pays 3-4 times as much But maybe the truth is in the numbers: perhaps it's more difficult to find 10.000 buyers for a 50$ set than 100 buyers that would pay 200$ for it.

The nice thing about the 10170 is that they contain very few (if any) unique parts: Parts list

I think you can find all the parts on Pick-a-Brick. Although that's not a guarantee for a bargain it shows that it wouldn't be too hard to make them yourself. I guess it depends on how much the parts end up costing. If the difference is small I'd probably buy the real thing.

The nice thing about the 10170 is that they contain very few (if any) unique parts: Parts list

Good thing indeed! I don't understand why so many FOLs like parts to be rare or unique. The more common, the easier to get them into your MOCs. Rares should make someone happy if he's a fan of profit, not a fan of Lego. Which obviously you can be both if you wish... but the first doesn't have much to do with the second or at least shouldn't spoil the second for everybody else!

Back on topic, how would you like a passenger wagon like this behind the BNSF?

Does it have too much of an "antique" look to match with the BNSF? Perhaps the red in the roof should be converted to yellow, orange, green or black to improve the matching?

Edited January 27, 201015 yr by Legoist

Do you guys know if the real BNSF locomotive is ever used for passenger trains? Since everyone is suggesting trucks here, I take it's used in cargo trains only...

Do you think it would fit to pull passenger carriages, and in this case what colour scheme would you suggest (beside green or orange...)?

In the United States (where BNSF runs) passenger trains are run almost exclusively by Amtrak. The exceptions are generally transit authorities that run rush-hour trains. So if you want your BNSF locomotive to be realistic, it should be pulling only freight cars. That being said, this is your little piece of LEGO world and you make the rules. If you want it to pull passenger cars, by all means go right ahead. When the major train companies abandoned passenger service in the late 60's most of them were running stainless steel "lightweights". The cars designed for the Santa Fe Superchief are a very good representation of this type of car. I know that they are almost impossible to find now but the plans are readily available and most of the parts are easy to find on Bricklink. Personnally, I'd use the newer "light bluish grey" and "dark bluish grey" instead of the old "light grey" and "dark grey" as they have a more metallic look to them. You could customize it even further by replacing the row of grey bricks just above the windows with bricks or plates of a color that compliments the locomotive (dark green and yellow, for example).

Whatever you decide to do, it would be nice if you could post a picture or three...

Dan-147

Edited January 27, 201015 yr by Dan-147

Boxcar, hopper, tanker... take your pick!

In the United States (where BNSF runs) passenger trains are run almost exclusively by Amtrak. The exceptions are generally transit authorities that run rush-hour trains. So if you want your BNSF locomotive to be realistic, it should be pulling only freight cars. That being said, this is your little piece of LEGO world and you make the rules. If you want it to pull passenger cars, by all means go right ahead. When the major train companies abandoned passenger service in the late 60's most of them were running stainless steel "lightweights". The cars designed for the Santa Fe Superchief are a very good representation of this type of car. I know that they are almost impossible to find now but the plans are readily available and most of the parts are easy to find on Bricklink. Personnally, I'd use the newer "light bluish grey" and "dark bluish grey" instead of the old "light grey" and "dark grey" as they have a more metallic look to them. You could customize it even further by replacing the row of grey bricks just above the windows with bricks or plates of a color that compliments the locomotive (dark green and yellow, for example).

Whatever you decide to do, it would be nice if you could post a picture or three...

Dan-147

Thanks for the cool historical notes here! Being a european I am a complete ignorant on the topic of US railways.

But BTW my questions were pure curiosity because I don't actually own a BNSF and cannot afford to buy one for the current prices

There are strange phenomena, when the set is in production it seems people are not buying it because it's too expensive and Lego seems not to make much money, then it goes out of production and suddenly everyone wants it and pays 3-4 times as much But maybe the truth is in the numbers: perhaps it's more difficult to find 10.000 buyers for a 50$ set than 100 buyers that would pay 200$ for it.

Strange indeed. Is it perhaps to do with the current Lego trains range being virtually non-existent and the RC offerings beforehand being less realistic? I'm guessing that to many fans at the time of release the Super Chief, ATSF loco and TTX intermodals seemed hugely expensive (and they were, I remember the S@H catalogue with them in!), but now AFOLs look at these older models and appreciate their likeness to real US trains. Unfortunately the relatively low sales make them hard to come by and, as you say, several times more expensive than they originally were!

With this in mind, and seeing as there's no chance of seperate EN coaches, maybe I should just do what Lego want me to do and buy a few 10194s now? They aren't cheap, but having built my first one I'd say it's definitely worth the money. There's plenty of handy parts in there too and if I buy them in a year or so the prices will be obscene.