New Train Set: Emerald Night

Name of Model: Emerald Night

Created by the LEGO company

Found at: LEGO Shop-at-Home

Details: Available NOW, the new Emerald Night train set. This is the first realistic steam engine set made by the LEGO company. With realistic colors (many parts appearing in those colors for the first time) too!

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.

Great Train Expo Pleasanton 2008 Layout

Name of Model: Great Train Expo Pleasanton 2008

Created by the Bay Area LEGO Train Club (photos by BayLTC member Bill Ward)

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/billward/sets/72157610471141356/ and http://www.brickpile.com/2008/11/30/great-train-expo-pleasanton-2008-day-1/

Details: Bill Ward has posted a wrap-up of this weekend's event and posted many photos to flickr. It looks to me like it was a great show - I'm particularly jealous of the bridge and the rail yard. There are tons of great details to see in the 113 photos - it looks like a few people went all-out with custom stickers to squeeze in extra details.

Prepare to Have Your Mind Blown

Name of Model: V&A Steamworks

Created by: V&A Steamworks (famed effects whiz Guy Himber)

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32482342@N05/

Details: Occasionally, someone will introduce himself (or herself) to the LEGO fan community with such a bold, original, how-did-he-do-that-with-LEGO-parts style that it just takes everyone by surprise. This is one of those builders. I don't care what you think of Steampunk, minifig-scale, or Bionicle - these are truly works of art. There are technically 5 models here, but only 15 photos. I found myself going to the "All Sizes" link on every one to decipher what was going on. So many of these parts are the sort of thing people tend to write off as useless - it's truly shocking to see some of them put to such great use. To see so many of them used so well in this context is mind-blowing. Just to top that off, there are a few more common pieces - but they're all used in unusual ways (note the boat sections that turn into jaws on the HMS Vern).

Thomas Sculpture (Day Out With Thomas event)

Name of Model: Thomas the Tank Engine

Created by master builders for the LEGO Company and Day Out With Thomas events

Dates at: http://parents.lego.com/en-US/news/thomas.aspx

Details: Sorry for the problems yesterday - that post still isn't fully up because of some technical difficulties on my end. In the interest of keeping things moving, here's a fresh model for today. For a few years now, American train destinations have been using "Day Out With Thomas" events to get kids interested in trains. Trains aren't widely used in the US, but Thomas is still a widely popular character here (with kids, anyway - there aren't as many of us adult Thomas fans out there). This year, LEGO is promoting their DUPLO Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends sets by providing DUPLO play areas and a giant sculpture of Thomas made out of regular-sized LEGO bricks. Not much info is available beyond that - I only realized LEGO was involved when some photos started showing up on flickr earlier this week (click on the photo above for more photos from that set). Sorry for the late announcement, but if you or some kids you know want to check this out, click here for the tour dates listed on LEGO's site. I'm assuming that the dates LEGO mentions are the only ones with LEGO involved - there might be other Day Out With Thomas events without this sculpture.

Ontario Brick Builders' Space Layout

Name of Model: LEGO Space layout at the Spring Toy, Train and Doll show

Created by: Ontario Brick Builders

Found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TCZdtSEAXs and http://news.lugnet.com/org/ca/obb/?n=153&t=i&v=a

Details: On April 27th, 2008, the Ontario Brick Builders in Ontario, Canada, put out a public display at THE TORONTO TOY, TRAIN & DOLL COLLECTORS' SHOW (which has no website from what I can tell). The reason why I'm featuring video of this show instead of photos is that they took advantage of the opportunity to try out some exciting new ways of moving models. A Technic/Mindstorms-based mechanism lifts up a classic spaceship while a rover is maneuvered on the ground by a system of magnets. Custom-designed train and monorail cars are circling the layout too. Did I mention that this is CLASSIC Space too? I know some of the parts I see are newer, but the color scheme and many of the sets are pure 1978. If you're interested in seeing their other layouts, there are more links at http://news.lugnet.com/org/ca/obb/?n=153&t=i&v=a

Giant DUPLO Train Turntable

Name of Model: Trains and Grapes

Created by: Ciaran

Found at: http://blog.ciarang.com/posts/trains-and-grapes/

Details: Here's an idea that I had thought of trying before, but hadn't thought of trying with DUPLO. As with many DUPLO projects, the larger bricks provide more sturdiness and generally allow you to rev up the scale without requiring as many parts. This two-train system is a great way of using existing elements to build a large custom turntable - and many LEGO fans have been looking for ways to build larger turntables for years. I get the idea that LEGO never thought that we'd be trying to build so many large things that would require huge turntables. A second video at the website above reveals that this is actually a panoramic camera stand. That comes second, of course, to it just being awesome. This way of doing embedded video is new (to me), but with any luck it'll work: Get the Flash Player to see this player. Apparently this is not going to work - please visit the site listed above to see the video.

Grain Elevator

Name of Model: Grain Elevator

Created by: I K Block

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14881452@N03/sets/72157605525015826/

Details: I don't feature enough freight-related train buildings on here. This is a fantastic DUPLO® Grain Elevator for a town/train layout. Yes, I've found another great DUPLO layout builder - this standout's probably the only one that'll appeal to everybody, but there are other great buildings and layouts pictured on the builder's Flickr account too. Too many LEGO fans forget that DUPLO still counts - it works with the regular-sized pieces, and there are many great things that just aren't possible in the regular scale (such as steep train slopes, intelli-trains, and building large things in rare colors). This building is brilliant and straightforward - you probably already have yellow DUPLO® bricks and doors, even if you probably don't have access to this many of them. Mixing in the dark-orange wood panels is a great touch, and there's no arguing with those roof lines or the utilitarian detailing of the structure. I didn't even know that LEGO made grey (bluish grey?) baseplates for DUPLO, and I think that the loading element pointing to the train cars might actually be a System component, but they look great here. I don't know what the inside looks like (I'm assuming that this isn't functional...) but this is definitely a great model that I'd like in my DUPLO town.

Multi-level DUPLO Train Layout

Name of Model: A unique duplo train tower. It uses bridge halves to raise the track up more than four levels, around at the top, and down again.

Created by: Jeremy Wedel

Found at: http://cavefish.net/intelli-train/pages/DSCN4750n.htm

Details: Yes, DUPLO models do count - LEGO has always been the manufacturer of DUPLO bricks (and they're also to blame for that "LEGO Explore" rebranding initiative a few years back - what were they thinking?). I've recently been looking into the world of DUPLO trains as a way of getting the little kids more excited about the displays my local LUG (LEGO Users Group) puts up. Surprisingly, there's actually a "programmable" train kit for young kids that's easier to work than the nearest adult solution (apparently when this came out in 2003, you could buy the DUPLO train motor for $55 dollars (to work with track not included in the set - a set with track could be bought for $100) but if you wanted similar control over a regular LEGO train at the same time, you would have had to invest in a 9V train set ($100+) and a MINDSTORMS RIS kit ($200+) - not to mention having to work out the programming yourself). Of course, I missed my chance to get any of the DUPLO train motors at a good price, but this one builder has taken it upon himself to create a resource for the people who did manage to get the parts. The site above has a complete hacker's guide and a variety of exciting layouts - this is just one highlight out of the bunch. The track from the more affordable Thomas the Tank Engine line works the same way as the more expensive track, so if you have some Thomas tracks you can try some non-motorized versions of his layouts at home. The tunnel and bridge pieces aren't comparable to anything in the "big kid" train lines (OK - I think that the very hard-to-find monorail sets might be similar), so it's pretty much impossible to build layouts like this one with non-DUPLO track - but that only makes this more awesome.

Amtrak EMD F40PH (for National Train Day)

Name of Model: EMD F40PH AMTRAK

Created by Christoph Eisenring who posts models on MOCpages and Brickshelf

Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/2291 and http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=51305

Details: For obvious reasons, I couldn't let National Train Day here in the states go by without posting a nice Amtrak engine. Of course, one of the classic 9V LEGO® train designs was 1992's Metroliner set, but train buffs often complain about the inaccuracies of the design - although it's pretty and immediately recognizable, it doesn't truly resemble any particular train and the nose shape is reminiscent of European trains (which is, for obvious reasons, wrong on an Amtrak train because "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of "American" and "Track", and Amtrak is a quasi-governmental company in the United States). This engine, on the other hand, is based on a specific Amtrak design and gets in plenty of accurate details. A few stickers were used, but surprisingly no printed parts from the Metroliner set appear. There are some interesting building techniques at play - the cockpit windows are done with clear bricks and studs-not-on-top trickery, and the rear of the engine makes good use of Technic steering elements (circa late 80's early 90's), panels, studs-not-on-top elements, switches, and minifig-scale steering wheel bases. Two 9V motors are used in the wheels to provide extra power (and thus the ability to drive more train cars at a decent speed). It's worth noting that the engine looks great in the 7-studs-wide scale ( clearly visible from the front) - builder Christoph Eisenring definitely made the right choice when picking that scale! I don't know if any LEGO Train Clubs are involved with National Train Day or not, but if you're in the states and can make it to one of the events today (Saturday May 10th), I'm sure it'll be fun. Personally, I'll be sitting it out, but I'd love to hear about it if anyone reading this goes.

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.

Burlington Northern GP9

Name of Model: Burlington Northern GP9

Created by: Matt Hamann

Found at: http://news.lugnet.com/trains/?n=30048

Details: This train engine is excellent. There are quite a few great features here - while normally the studs-not-on-top sections might steal the show, the rails surrounding the engine actually turn out to be far more impressive. Sure, it looks simple enough once you recognize those silly Life-on-Mars theme arms, but then there's that angle where the railing moves up - how did he do that? Well, look closely - there is a pair of black minifig hands in there. Oh, and for all you train fans out there, this is a 5-wide cab, so there must be some offset stuff hiding in there somewhere. If only there were more pictures...

Custom Train Cars

Name of Model: Train

Created by: freebee

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=297086

Details: Freebee posted a nice set of custom train cars. The hopper makes use of Technic parts for details. The design looks great, but it's the type of thing you can't build without tan 1x1 Technic bricks. The locomotive features some studs-not-on-top effects that are very well done. There's even a custom coupling mechanism.

This is Wednesday's model of the day

Holiday Train Set

Name of Model: Holiday Train

Created by: LEGO® (this is an official set)

Found at: http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=10173

Details: Yeah, it's too late to try to order this for Christmas if you wanted to, but it's also too late for the whole 9-volt train line anyway. For those of you who don't follow LEGO® news, the 9-volt train line is being discontinued entirely. They're planning on releasing a new train line next year. I'm not really clear on what the exact details are, but apparently the days of being able to hook up a Mindstorms kit to a train set to automate it are behind us. The reason why they're suddenly discontinuing this line that has been so popular with children and hobbyists alike is that they would need to buy completely new machine now to continue manufacturing many of the pieces, and they're worried about being able to offset that cost by selling new sets. So the holiday train, which they make both with and without the 9-volt motor, is really the last train set in what many of us will always see as the glory days of LEGO® trains. It also happens to be a nice set, with plenty of green parts, a flatbed car full of gifts, another flatbed car full of trees, a passenger car, a nice caboose, and a well-detailed engine and tender. The holiday color scheme is done really well - you'd think more red than just trim would be better, but this is just right. Normally when I plug a set, I just link to Amazon (since I do have an associate's account there), but this set is apparently available at half price in limited supply from the LEGO Shop. Amazon has it for $75 (%25 off) - but it's definitely in stock. Either way, if you want this one, get it now while you still can.

This is Saturday's model of the day