Miniature Diesel Locomotives

Name of Model: LEGO MINI Unstoppable Diesels

Created by: Commander LEGOman

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/73326378@N04/sets/72157630413734274/

Details: The LEGO train community spends a considerable amount of time arguing about what the "correct" scale is for LEGO trains. Usually, 6-wide and 8-wide are the most popular options. The 6-wide crowd can point to most of the official LEGO train sets aimed at kids 6 and up, and the 8-wide crowd can (but rarely does) point to the DUPLO train sets. Here, we have evidence that you can capture the correct level of detail in trains that are only 2 studs wide. The realistic liveries and shapes come across nicely, and the small scale almost seems more forgiving (since nobody's going to complain about a misplaced air vent at this scale). The obvious question is when the rest of the trains will show up, but it looks like there's already a good start.

Emerald Night in Monorail form

Name of Model: Emerald Night on monorail.

Created by: .eti

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eti-eti/4170972925/

Details: Seeing that we covered a rendition of the Metroliner set in monorail form, we would be remiss if we did not mention a similar rendition of the Emerald Night. There are few real flagships in the Trains series, with the high raw costs of the sets (if you think in terms of price-per-part and factor in comparable other trains, they're usually inexpensive, but that's not immediately apparent) frequently scaring off even most people who are impressed by the designs, but both the Metroliner and the Emerald Night stand out as important classics. The Metroliner was in the first round of 9V system kits, and looked snazzy with its Amtrak color scheme (slightly more European stylings elsewhere made it a tough sell to some serious train fans, but it was decidedly more realistic than other 1990's LEGO train kits). The Emerald Night is the first train kit to feature the new steam locomotive wheels, and the options for motorizing it introduce the new Power Functions system. Which is why the both warrant microscale tributes, but doesn't say too much about this little version (I'd like to see you try writing this many words about other people's LEGO creations every day and not getting a little off-topic). This is a simple and elegant build that mimics the features of the original set fairly closely.

This is Saturday's model of the day

Metroliner; a Monorail?

Name of Model: My Monorail; "Metroliner Monorail"

Created by: BBroich

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=370270

Details: Have you ever wondered what the Metroliner set would look like if it were actually a monorail? LEGO®'s Monorail system came out in the late 1980's, but last appeared in a set in 1995 (the rarity of the parts have made them are desirable collector's item among LEGO fans). The "monorails" are powered by a battery-operated 9V motor that sits in between the chassis of the two cars. The tracks that the monorail rides on have teeth pointing out horizontially on each side that are used to propel the vehicle fowards by a means of gears gripping onto them. They are controlled by small buttons on the side of the motor which can be switched with special pieces of track. Besides the obvious wizardry of combining a 4-studs-wide monorail set-up with a more well-known 6-studs-wide train set, this model is also unique in having a third car. Extra monorail cars are not easy to come by, and LEGO never designed a way for multiple cars to be strung together (although a few builders have successfully fashioned their own ways of connecting cars.

Although this post for Wednesday's model of the day is appearing late, it's only appearing at all thanks to the work of new blog-member Brickapolis.

Clever Techniques in a Locomotive

Name of Model: BR52 Rev 02 of a German 1940s Steam Engine

Created by: sullis3

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=314380

Details: This spectacular locomotive makes use of some unusual techniques to get incredibly round details. I'm not entirely sure how the internals of this work, but the outsides of the rounded portion are done with a large amount of those fairly new 1x1 "cheese" slopes. Take another look at the tender, too - a good portion of that is built sideways too. The smaller details look very good. My favorite has to be the use of special Technic components to hold up the headlights. I'm pretty sure that some of the wheels here are third-party wheels made for hobbyists, but from what I understand, train builders don't consider this to be "cheating" because it allows for more accurate scale models. In any case, this is an excellent model, and I have to figure out how the rounded part was done.