MOC: EMD DDA40X (WIP)

[DmChylde]

EDIT: It's done (for now)!!

Still waiting on a few more bricklink orders and several more hours bangin my head against my desk finishing decals in photoshop,

but as my first MOC post & first post-darkage creation I was a little excited to show her to the world.

Not 100% if I'll stick with #6936 because it's still running in UP's heritage fleet, or #6913 because its in Texas.

As you can see the yellow is still off in the decals plus I have a few hundred more to apply but these are just the first ones I

printed to fine tune the colors on my printer.

I'll have HQ pictures on brickshelf in a few days once my camera comes back from repairs.

Edited March 7, 2013 by DmChylde

[Lazarus]

Wow thats Big, can that go round bends. Nice model almost does not look like lego in the first shot.

[michaelozzie]

Thats huge. You did a great job around the drivers cabin and lots of nice details.

[DmChylde]

Wow thats Big, can that go round bends. Nice model almost does not look like lego in the first shot.

It can go around standard lego curves okay the overhang is a bit on the ridculous it's 85-86 studs long overall, I'll post test video trialing the trucks when I can find it again. I modified the trucks from Chris van Lottum's GE ES44AC to make the DD trucks. While doing research for it i found my model compares closely to MTH's O-scale model in length at 25"

Edit: found video

Edited November 20, 2012 by DmChylde

[Locomotive Annie]

Oh my word that's stunning! It must've taken hours and hours of work to build your loco to that standard.

[Fugazi]

Fabulous model! It captures very well the looks and details of the prototype. I like how you used tiles to recreate the engine(s) compartment doors and thus break the monotony of a very long hood! The pilot/steps area and the roofline are great. Looking forward to your Brickshelf gallery to spy on the details of your build.

[Man with a hat]

Wow, that's long... and impressive.

And as others have said: I am curious to see how it goes around bends and switches.

[Axis600]

Whoa...that's a pretty damn big engine...I don't know what to say. How well can that tiny little 9 volt carry that, plus however many cars it's carrying?

[dr_spock]

That is impressive. Can't wait to see the rest of the parts installed.

[DmChylde]

Oh my word that's stunning! It must've taken hours and hours of work to build your loco to that standard.

I lost count on how many hours of design and build time I've got into this project. It's been an on and off project since March and I'm still not finished but I have a 1 year deadline to make its first public showing. I've been thru 3 LDD/Ldraw drafts to finalize the design & 2 full builds this posting being the 2nd one mostly finished. The first build the backbone didn't hold up well and the orginal trucks would torque and derail very easy on standard curves.

Fabulous model! It captures very well the looks and details of the prototype. I like how you used tiles to recreate the engine(s) compartment doors and thus break the monotony of a very long hood! The pilot/steps area and the roofline are great. Looking forward to your Brickshelf gallery to spy on the details of your build.

Thanks Fugazi !!! I've seen at a few 'Fest & 'Cons people using tiles to simulate the access doors in their Moc's and agree to give it some depth to break up a long flat box!

[DmChylde]

Wow, that's long... and impressive.

And as others have said: I am curious to see how it goes around bends and switches.

Its 2-3 studs longer than 2 Maersk lashed up.

Short Video of DD truck test

http://www.brickshel...ay_22__2012.mp4

Whoa...that's a pretty damn big engine...I don't know what to say. How well can that tiny little 9 volt carry that, plus however many cars it's carrying?

It'll have two 9v motors when finished the second one is in the mail as I type. I had planed to use 4 but haven't quite worked out how to acomplish that with an 86 stud ridgid frame yet...

That is impressive. Can't wait to see the rest of the parts installed.

Thanks dr_spock !!! They can't get here fast enough, that just means I need to log out of here get off my duff and finish the decals thou !

Edited November 20, 2012 by DmChylde

[Axis600]

It'll have two 9v motors when finished the second one is in the mail as I type. I had planed to use 4 but haven't quite worked out how to acomplish that with an 86 stud ridgid frame yet...

If you can manage 4, you will be a god among builders. Haha, hope it works out, that'll be an impressive monster of an engine.

[Lazarus]

watch the video, that looks crazy, would be nice to see it going down a long streight with some trucks on it. very nice model.

[Murdoch17]

There is one of these (6944) in my hometown! You used to be able to go into the cab, but they stopped doing that after it was taken into the back to be worked on. I haven't seen it in some time and this brought many memorys flooding back of sitting in the cab and pretending I was driving that monster of an engine. Thanks for the detour down memory lane, and good luck!

Edited November 21, 2012 by Murdoch17

[Rail Co]

Very interesting I would like to see a video of that running .

[MojoLego]

Beautiful. And send that video to Lego; it screams, "Larger radius curves, please!"

[DmChylde]

If you can manage 4, you will be a god among builders. Haha, hope it works out, that'll be an impressive monster of an engine.

I've been tinkering with that thought from day one it's a bit of a hastle at the moment.

watch the video, that looks crazy, would be nice to see it going down a long streight with some trucks on it. very nice model.

I would love to have a pile of straights for it to open up in but being late to the 9v era I'm playing catch up and oly have that small oval I got from a garage sale. I could and probally will make it PF down the road but that would sacrifice some of the details at the moment with that battery box.

There is one of these (6944) in my hometown! You used to be able to go into the cab, but they stopped doing that after it was taken into the back to be worked on. I haven't seen it in some time and this brought many memorys flooding back of sitting in the cab and pretending I was driving that monster of an engine. Thanks for the detour down memory lane, and good luck!

Glad I could provide a trip down the past, I have never seen a "Big Jack" in person, but I would love to at some point they're a ways off from seeing living here in Oregon. I have family in Texas and plan to see #6913 once the Frisco museum has it out, or the next chance I get to go visit.

Very interesting I would like to see a video of that running .

Here's one DDA40X in my brickshelf folder of the testing of the truck design, I dont have a lot of 9v track currently waiting to see BBB's stuff or order a pile of ME's straights and larger curves when availiable.

Beautiful. And send that video to Lego; it screams, "Larger radius curves, please!"

I may at some point way down the line, when she's finished, and got a least one public show under her trucks!

[Hrw-Amen]

That is one monster of an engine. It will be so good when you get a video of it running. In a way seeing it on those tight LEGO curves will be something to see that it can indeed handle that.

[Darthluke824]

Good god! That is one huge monster! Its great! It would never ever run on my layout (Seen it in on LEGO curves in your Brickshelf Folder!) Impressive work! Are there any instructions to go with this?

Brick on!

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

WOW this is really huge ...and lovely!

Superb diesel engine!

[twenty6twelve]

I am positively awestruck by the sheer size of your creation. I remember seeing your LDD model in the Train Tech Registry when you first joined and highly anticipated seeing it in the brick! When I was a small child I had the chance to sit in the cab of a surviving member of one of these beasts - I'll have to see if I can find a picture!

Fantastic work. Can't wait to see the finishing touches.

[zephyr1934]

That's a great looking engine. I bet putting the decals across the doors will be nightmare though. Looking at the cab, it is too bad the new 60592 windows do not yet come in gray

Though black MIGHT look okay. Or you could use the old 7026 windows. The price on yellow isn't too bad, but gray is out of the ballpark.

(after clicking on the image, scroll to the bottom left for a few variants that are listed separately)

Your engine is a fantastic build no matter how you slice it, but doubly so for a first MOC. A word of caution though, you have chosen a prototype that is VERY difficult to get running well in 9v. Hopefully I'm wrong about this, but if I am right, don't let that discourage you from building more MOCs.

Why am I all doom and gloom? The long wheelbase will create a lot of drag on the curves. And an engine like this should be pulling at least 20 cars (grin), which is also a fairly heavy train by lego standards. On the power side, you probably shouldn't use more than two 9v motors (the recommended limit) unless you are prepared to occasionally burn something out (either a motor or transformer). I will occasionally run three 9v motors on one transformer with a not-too-heavy train and occasionally the transformer's overload resistor will trip. I have also run up to six 9v motors using three transformers on one track, but I suspect that isn't great for the transformers (attempt at your own risk). Assuming you stay within the manufacturer's limits, I find that the stock Super Chief (two locos, five heavy cars) runs okay with two 9v motors and I use that as my rule of thumb for the upper limit on 9v motors. The 9v motors have limited pulling power and the long wheelbase of the locomotive will make it all the harder to overcome.

If you do contemplate other designs, rather than rebuilding your entire locomotive, you might want to build up some simple mocups and see how well they run (base plates, some weight to improve traction [either bricks or a coffee mug], but no aesthetic designs) so that you can rapidly test and revise your design.

I suspect a pair of PF XL motors would be the way to go, but there is no place to hide them on this locomotive. However, making the locomotive unpowered and stuffing the two XL motors in the first boxcar behind the locomotive is definitely doable.

That photo shows the inside of the tender of my SP Pacific. I've pulled over 50 cars at one time with it without problems. The XL motors should give you the kick you need to push this engine and pull most of your remaining cars. It won't be speedy, but as SavaTheAggie once said, that design can push a Buick.

In any event, an excellent build.

Benn

[dr_spock]

Beautiful. And send that video to Lego; it screams, "Larger radius curves, please!"

I bet ya Lego will reply with: We sell PF flex tracks that you can make any radius out of them.

[roamingstop]

There is a great auction for a model here in Switzerland...

Please note this is not my model - but if someone is interested I am active on the Ricardo.ch site.

[twenty6twelve]

I bet ya Lego will reply with: We sell PF flex tracks that you can make any radius out of them.

Maybe it should scream "Larger radius curves I won't derail on, please!"