LEGO Railroad Designs by David A. Karr

This document is part of a World Wide Web resource located at
http://www.porchwithhouse.com/lego/.
There is also a version of this document with in-line thumbnail images.

This page describes model railroading I did with LEGO. At this writing, it's rather old-style stuff--pre-electric, in fact.

Steam locomotive

I built a number of models of steam locomotives in the 1970's. In 1994 I retrieved the one example of these that had never been broken up. I believe this model sat around on one shelf or another fully assembled for at least 15 years. Aside from dirt and yellowing of the white bricks (used very extensively in this model), the bricks have shown little harm. There's one white 2x2 that shows moderate warping, but it has very old styling, and I believe it's one of my cellulose acetate bricks from 1963. (The dirt you see in the images is what was left after complete disassembly for cleaning, an overnight soak in soap and water and a thorough scrubbing with toothbrush and rags--the ``before'' photos, which I haven't shown, are much, much worse. I used to attribute this to 15 years of exposure to New York City air, but according to LEGO lore, it was more likely the years of exposure to UV light while the train sat on an open shelf that did the damage.)

This locomotive was intended for my old 3-brick-high figures (which I co-invented before LEGO produced minifigures as a special part), but it turns out it works even better with the modern minifigures, even without modification, as can be seen in the pictures.

Images:

• Left side view (22K JPEG image) showing the 2-4-2 wheel configuration (the notation indicates a pair of small leading wheels, then two pairs of drivers, and finally a pair of small trailing wheels--a classic setup), and the smokestack, sandbox and steam dome along the top. In this view, you can also see a nice profile of the old-style LEGO hook for joining cars.
• Rear view (21K JPEG image). The minifigure fits quite well in the cab. The opening at the minifig's feet is the firebox.
• Front view (19K JPEG image), with the minifigure again for scale.
• Front door of the cab, open (24K JPEG image). Interestingly, the new minifigures can actually pass through the door, which my old minifigures could not, thereby increasing the playability of this model.
• Bottom view (20K JPEG image). The locomotive uses old train wheels (with flanges) for the leading and trailing wheels, but for drivers I had to use wheels without substantial flanges. The LEGO tracks have very tight curves, so the wheels at each end of a 2-4-2 would drag the drivers off the track. To counter this, I put the trailing truck on a long arm hinged between the drivers, as seen in this view.

Steam locomotive with Passenger Car

As an exercise to see how much the innovative LEGO parts of the last 20 or 25 years have helped a builder like me, in the summer of 1995 I reworked my locomotive model using mostly new pieces. The new parts I used are mostly not highly specialized, but I was pleased with the opportunities they afforded. I also took the opportunity to make the locomotive over in a more interesting color scheme.

I've shown the train on the old non-electrified track (blue plastic rails) that LEGO sold in the 1960s.

Images:

• The complete train (17K JPEG). Shows the locomotive, tender, and passenger car. Naturally I had to demonstrate that the locomotive can negotiate a curve.
• Interior of the locomotive cab (32K JPEG). The yellow door leads to the firebox. Some dials and levers have been added for the operation of the boiler, and there is a speed control lever near the engineer's right arm. In a real locomotive this lever could also reverse the engine. The cord that rings the bell (a little LEGO ``bell'' on the side of the sandbox swings when you pull this) is threaded along the inside roof of the cab and through the eye above the engineer's head.
• Passenger car (27K JPEG). This is an old-time car with open platforms and a center ridge (with vents) that runs the length of the roof.
• Interior of passenger car (14K JPEG). The roof of the passenger car lifts off to provide access to the six seats inside, three on each side of a center aisle. Vertical tabs (two-stud bricks) over each doorway interlock into the underside of the roof ridge and keep the roof securely in place when the train runs around the track.

From David A. Karr's LEGO Collection, by David A. Karr