Classic Steam Locomotive

Go into this old classic steam locomotive and enjoy your journey! In this train you will feel like in the 19th century. Put your suitcase in the cargo wagon and make yourself comfortable in the passenger wagon. You can relax on your seat, while you are looking through the window and see, how the landscape goes by. When you are hungry, you can go to the food wagon to eat a pretzel, or drink a coffee. If you are interested, you can ask the friendly train driver to show you the steam locomotive, the heart of this train. He knows everything about this beautiful locomotive. He and the stoker work continuously that nothing can go wrong.

This steam locomotive is powered with Power Functions, so it can drive by their own and you can control it with the IR remote control. It does not drive very fast, but real steam locomotives were not very fast too. Here is a link to YouTube, where you can see my locomotive in action:

I am a fan of trains, especially LEGO trains, since I can think. So I wanted to build an old, classic locomotive you all know from movies, postcards and books: red wheels, grey handrails and the whole locomotive in black. This design of steam locomotives was typical for countries in middle Europe, like the Austro-Hungarian-Monarchy, Germany or Prussia.

This locomotive is a tender locomotive that means the reservoir for the coal is in the locomotive, in this case, on the back. So it needs no extra tender wagon. The boiler is the biggest part of this locomotive and I built it as round as possible to have an authentic boiler. With the SNOT technic I fixed roof elements on the side and on the top I used curved roof elements. On the front is the chimney with a big headlight. A steam dome is also on the top. The boiler includes a Power Function M motor for the drive. The IR receiver is installed in the fire box, so you can only see the top. The fire box is decorated with a golden bell. The cab is big enough for the train driver and the stoker. You can remove the roof to see the complicate control unit and the oven door, which you can open. It is also possible to open the doors of the locomotive. The locomotive has a total of 10 wheels. 6 drive wheels, which are connected with coupling rods, and a wheelset with 4 small wheels. The crank pins of the driving wheels are twisted against each other. For this model it is not necessary, but real locomotives use this method of construction to bypass the dead centre of the pistons. The propeller shaft extends from the M motor in the front of the boiler, under the cab and a gear reduction to the drive gear, which drives the wheel directly. For the gear reduction I used a 12 tooth gear, which drives a 20 tooth gear, so I have a gear reduction of 1 to 1,66. This reduction is necessary, because it is a lot of power needed to drive this big and heavy locomotive. First I tried to use a Power Functions Train Motor, but it was too weak for my creation. The AAA battery box is not included in the locomotive, because it is too big. Because of it is a tender locomotive, I have no extra tender, where I can hide the battery box, so I put it in the first wagon, the cargo wagon.

The wagons are also in a classic style and fits perfectly to the locomotive. I built tree wagons and everyone tells another story:

The first wagon is a cargo wagon, where the passengers can put their suitcases into and there are also some crates, which are transported to the next town. A stray cat tries to catch a mouse between all the crates and suitcases. Hopefully nothing will break down! In the front of this wagon is also the battery box, so the locomotive cannot drive without this wagon. The electric wire extends under the tender to the cargo wagon and through the window in the front of the wagon. Then you can open the door on the top to plug in the plug and with the lever you turn on the battery box. When the door is closed, it is hard to see the battery box, so it is no beauty mistake, only the electric wire is outside, but it is black, like the locomotive.

The second one is the passenger wagon. I used different browns, reds and greys and decorated it with a few 1x1 round plates in gold. The doors and windows are the old ones from the classic LEGO train sets. You can remove the roof and then you see four seats next to the windows. Here travel the minifigures from the high society. A lord and a millionaire go with their wives on vacation.

The third wagon is built like the second one, but it is the food wagon. A cook sells pretzels, sweets and coffee to the passengers. The segues between these two wagons is like in reality: two plates lie above the other and a chain serves as handrails. At the end of the last wagon hangs a lantern as taillight.

The steam locomotive is 29 cm/11.4 in long, 8 cm/3.1 in bride and 11cm/4.3 in high (without fake smoke).
The first wagon is 15 cm/5.9 in long, 5,5 cm/2.2 in bride and 10 cm/3.9 in high.
The second and third wagons are 25 cm/9.8 in long, 6 cm/2.4 in bride and 10 cm/3.9 in high.
the whole train is 94 cm/37 in long.
All Power Functions items in the train: AAA battery box, M motor, IR receiver and IR speed remote control.