Grand Canyon Railway

I decided to build this set as a celebration of the beauty of nature and the ingenuity of humankind. This set is a great addition for any train lover but also makes a great display piece for those who appreciate the nature that surrounds us. 

The Grand Canyon Railway is a heritage railroad in Northern Arizona that goes from the town of Williams, located on the historic Route 66, to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. Since 1901 this railway has taken passengers across the great American southwest to visit one of the Seven Wonders of the World. While the Grand Canyon Railway has modernized with newer diesel engines and passenger cars, they still operate a handful of classic Steam Engines and train cars. The Grand Canyon Railway No. 4960 steam locomotive is one of the historic engines that they still operate today. The No. 4960 is a 2-8-2 steam locomotive built in 1923 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This locomotive has had a varied history across the United States and has since been extensively rebuilt and even modified to run off of waste vegetable oil rather than coal. The use of waste vegetable oil as fuel has led to the engine being much more environmentally friendly and even receiving an ISO environmental certification. This engine has been in use on the Grand Canyon Railway since 1996. Paired with the No. 4960 locomotive is a 1920s era Pullman Harriman style passenger coach. These coach cars are also in use at the railway today and they offer a more authentic riding experience for travelers looking to relive the days when steam engines were abound across the United States.

The train part of the build is a replica of the Grand Canyon Railway No. 4960 steam locomotive and a 1920s Pullman Harriman coach. The train was built 8 studs wide to allow for more detail to be portrayed within the build itself. Although the train is larger than the average Lego train, it will still work with the standard Lego train track and it's curves. A variety of printed parts are used in the build so that the train can look more like it's real-life counterpart.

The train model has a multitude of features, including:

The train model sits on train tracks in front of an artistic silhouette of the canyons you'll find in the Grand Canyon National Park. Along with the canyons in the silhouette, there is a large sun and some rolling clouds which are indicative of the great weather you'll find at the park. Surrounding the front of the train is some of the local plant fauna and wildlife found in the Grand Canyon National Park. This fauna includes things such as the Utah Agave, Prickly Pear Cactus, Pincushion Cactus and various wildflowers. Along with this selection of plants is the wildlife you may encounter such as tarantulas, Bark Scorpions and Rattlesnakes.

This Lego build was made entirely in Studio 2.0 and according to the program this build consists of 2,140 pieces and measures about 45" long, 7" wide and 9" tall. Since this set was built in a computer program and I have not made the physical model yet, there may be some aspects of the set that would need to be addressed or rebuilt in a physical model. 

To see images of the actual train or to get more information about the Grand Canyon Railway, please visit the company website: Grand Canyon Railway - Steam Saturdays

If you like this idea and would like to see it made into a real set from Lego then please remember to support it and spread the word. Thank you all!