u/Ok_End_698

I created these flagpoles using custom printed flags from Studbee. The plan is to have the ones from the second photo in my park, and the other one with the Police Station. Thought July 4th was the perfect time to unveil them.

Don't be alarmed thinking I forgot the rest of the Circus Train. I realized as I was preparing the Circus Train Grand Finale, that July 4 would come before I was ready to post. Thus I switched gears to do this, but will soon complete posting the Circus series. Now, on with America 250!

The first photo is a flatcar with a Tank & an earth-mover. I have noticed throughout my railfanning years that a military train is rarely without some form of this equipment.

The second photo shows a second flatcar, this one with a Howitzer & another Tank.

The third photo shows flatcar #3, with a troop trailer, Humvee, & second Howitzer. Before going any further, yes I know there's work to do color matching the wheels & other things. This is an ongoing project.

Next is Flatcar #4 with a Red Cross Medical Truck, & a Halftrack.

Then comes another Flatcar, this time carrying a Jeep & a Semi Cab. The latter will become clearer with the next photo.

With Flatcar #5, we have the rest of the Semi Truck. I've seen many of these tankers on Military trains, usually for hauling fuel.

Now we get to the really cool stuff, starting with my first Minuteman Missile Car. This one requires manual operation. You swing back the roof, open the side door for access, then press the back of the launcher to raise the missile. You pull back the hammer & let her rip! This one's powered by rubber bands (can use Lego brand ones, but that got too expensive) & will launch the missile a good 30 to 40 feet!

Next is my second Minuteman Missile car, this one being fully automatic! It uses Power Functions to open, raise, & launch all by remote control!

Then we have a flatcar carrying a truck trailer with a nuclear missile onboard. I have several of these in HO Scale, so I made one for my Lego trains as well. This design I cannot verify the authenticity of, but it looks really cool regardless. I even built in the capability to raise the missile vertically.

After that we have my budget version of the captured German Anzio Annie Railroad gun. I plan on making a better one someday. Still a cool piece of history.

Next is what I call my missile command car. A more fanciful creation to be sure, but very interesting nonetheless. It contains a mobile launch facility, with radar screens, safety controls, launch buttons, & 2 missiles each on their own launch pad. Included is a top-down view showing the details.

Next is another of my historical pieces, a German Flakwagen or antiaircraft car. These were used to protect WWII trains from air attack, though their success rate is somewhat questionable. I believe we captured a few of these as well.

After that, we return to good old American ingenuity, with a locomotive designed to run on any gauge track our military needed it to. Also included is a photo I took of the real thing.

Then we have a somewhat more fanciful, & Lionel inspired American Antiaircraft car. This takes elements from several things & combines them into a really neat MOC. There's a radar for detecting incoming attacks, & a Flack Gun for defense.

Continuing, we have a car inspired by Buster Keaton in 'The General'. It carries a cannon reminiscent of the Civil War, complete with ramrod, powder, & cannonballs.

Finally we have another Lionel inspired MOC, a third operating missile launch car. This runs by a #2847c01   remote, & launches a barrage of 3 missiles sequentially.

I hope you all enjoy this tribute to our Armed Forces as we celebrate the United States of America on her 250th birthday. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate for yourself, but please do not monetize my designs.

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I know some of you have been eagerly awaiting my next installment, but I've been working hard getting the Grand Finale ready. Expect that soon.

Nearing the end now, of my Circus Train exhibition, with normal train cars just used by the circus. Up top we see a gondola that has temporarily joined the Circus fleet. It carries the finials for the Big Top, and the fences that create the waiting line for tickets, as well as the yellow main gates.

I've also included more of the performers below. A closer look can be found in the second photo. From left to right we have: The Ringmaster, 4 Animal Riders, the Animal Trainer, The Strong Man, 3 Stunt Performers, & 3 of the Flying Brickendas. (The Flying Wallendas)

I hope you all enjoy this mini segment. There's more to come. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate for yourself, but please do not monetize my designs.

By special request, (looking at you SooperJasch lol) we interrupt the Circus Train posts for a special showing of my Circus Clowns - 22 currently.

Among them notably you'll find the fire chief clown (think the scene from the classic animated Dumbo), Twins on stilts, a Stunt Clown, one to man the souvenir balloon cart, & a Mime, all alongside the other more generic Clowns.

I also re-posted the first of several customized passenger sleeper cars, where they will all reside.

I hope you all enjoy this unexpected break. There's more to come still. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate for yourself, but please do not monetize my designs.

Nearing the end now, with this third to last post on my MOC Circus Train exhibition.

Up top is a specialized half passenger/ half freight car for the stunt performers. It offers sleeping quarters for the performers, & storage for their equipment including the motorbike.

Below is the customized sleeper car for Clowns' accommodations. The bottom photo shows their separate compartments, each with a chair, bed, lamp, & personal storage space, and the lavatory at the end of the hall. Currently this is the only one I've made, but the plan is to eventually have 3.

I hope you all enjoy this latest post. There's still a little more to come. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate for yourself, but please do not monetize my designs.

Here's the latest installment of my Circus Train exhibition. Sorry I haven't posted in a couple days. I was busy with life.

On the top we have empty cage carts, which are used for transportation of the more dangerous animals from their living quarters to the show. While not the fanciest of circus railcars, it is nevertheless an important part of the train.

Next, we have a mirrored carriage, based on one from the Circus World Museum, & the Exotic Birds cart from the previous post on Animals. The mirrored carriage actually uses stickers from the Fairground Carousel set, #31095-1 to achieve the mirrored surface.

Finally, we have a specialized flatcar carrying the cannon for a Clown to be shot out of. Also pictured is the Clown in his Human Cannonball outfit. This actually works for the show.

I hope you all enjoy this post. There's still more to come yet. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate for yourself, but please do not monetize my designs.

Here's the next installment of my Circus Train exhibition, starting the segment on flatcars.

Up top from Left to right we have the car with a container, in which the tent flags & flagpoles are stored. Then there's a popcorn cart designed by a friend of mine, a claw machine game, & finally the Parrot cage from the previous post.

Second we have the car with a souvenir cart, a container of tent poles (yes, they are actually used in the construction of the Big Top), & finally a special aquatic cage, based on the Hippo enclosure from the classic animated Dumbo movie.

Third is the flatcar with a small cage, used for transportation between the animal living quarters & the show. To its right is the Calliope, a steam powered organ which creates the distinctive music synonymous with the circus. (I'm working on a complete redesign of this, & will post an update inn the future.) Finally we have the clown car, which actually uses the Ronald McDonald piece from the 90s Happy Meal Lego sets to show a clown driving.

On the bottom we have the Performing Seal cage, the Show Dogs' cage & a generic trailer for supplies.

I hope you all enjoy this newest post. There's still so much more to come. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate for yourself, but please do not monetize my designs.

Here's the third post in my Circus Train exhibition, & the last one containing animal cars. (For now at least. I'm already cooking up another one due to the release of the unicorn.)

Up top we have the giraffe car, heavily influenced by the design from the classic animated Dumbo movie train. The doors fold down to become ramps, while the roof comes off in 3 pieces to accommodate their long necks.

Bellow that, are 2 cage carriages on a flatcar, the one on the left being for the performing seal, & the right housing the show dogs.

On the bottom we have 2 cages of exotic birds. The one on the left is parrots & requires the forklift, while the carriage on the right has other types including a cockatoo & other rarities. The difference is due to their sideshow placement, which requires different staging.

Some of the keen-eyed among you will notice that the last photos are of incomplete cars. The reason for this is because while this segment is about the animals, not all of what goes on these cars is. Please look forward to seeing these cars in their entirety in the upcoming segment: 'Flatcars'.

I hope you all enjoy this latest installment. There's a lot more yet to come. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate for yourself, but please do not monetize my designs.

Here's the second in a long line of posts showcasing my Circus Train MOCs, 4 cars for this post.

Up top, we have the Exotic Jungle Animal car, featuring an Alligator & some Monkeys. The Alligator has some fish to eat while lurking in his pool, and the Monkeys are enjoying a climbing structure. There are 2 removable roof sections that allow access, along with the end doors.

Next is a flatcar with 2 rolling cages, one for a Cheetah & one for a Tiger. The roofs cone off of each cage to allow access.

Next to that on the right, we have the car for the Performing Zebras. 7 Zebras in total, they are stocked with hay, food, & water, and also some toys to keep from becoming bored.

Last we have a car on the bottom that I cannot take complete credit for, the Lion Car. It includes a Mom, Dad, & 3 cubs, as well as a few steaks to keep the family happy during transit. I found the original design on Bricklink, but modified it for my purposes. The original design is by bb-866628.

I hope you all enjoy this installment. There's much more to come. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate, but please do not monetize my designs.

This is the start of several posts I'll be making over the coming days, showcasing my Circus train MOCs.

To start we have 3 of my animal cars. On top we have the elephant car, which actually uses the Duplo baby elephants. I've found them to be mainly comparable to Minifigure size and they work great on 6 wide trains.

Then we have the Hippopotamus car, which again utilizes the Duplo hippo. I've included an interior shot to show how I make habitats for the animals. All my Circus Animal cars have customized habitats, mainly drawing from the scenes in the classic animated Dumbo film.

Third we have the show horses, on the bottom of the collage. I hope you all enjoy this & also what's to come. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, & even recreate, but please do not monetize my designs.

This is my MOC of a Circus Advance Car. Most folks aren't familiar with the concept these days, so I'll explain. Back in the good old days, the circus would have these specially decked out cars that would travel a few months ahead of the actual show. Their job was to put up advertising (think of the old posters & paste buckets routine), drum up excitement, and sometimes even have a small preview show. Often they would create contests at the local general store to win tickets, which included the ever popular jellybean guessing game. The special 'Advance Cars', as they were known, traveled from town to town attached to whatever freight or passenger trains they could hitch a ride on. My MOC uses stickers to recreate the advertising banners, but all things pictured are indeed Lego animals that I have in my Lego Circus. The brush & paste bucket are located on the back railing, & the word "Circus" is brick built. Hope you all enjoy. As always, feel free to recreate & ask questions, but please do not monetize my creations.

This is my MOC of the rocket train from the movie The Great Race. I'll leave a link to the scene below. I actually found some photos of the real thing online that I used to create the stickers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNkHt3f4VWk

This is a Lego MOC I made of a military locomotive I saw some years ago. The photo of the real thing is directly below. After doing some research I discovered that the gauge on these is adjustable, because they were meant to be used overseas wherever the Army needed them. Last I was able to determine, this was headed for private use at a chemical plant.

These were taken by me all over the Midwest USA, over a couple decades.

This Grain Train was photographed from a rest area in Nebraska, not far from Alliance.

I was fortunate enough to visit the depot in Whitefish Montana when the fence was down for maintenance, leaving just the poles in front of the engine. This locomotive is on display outside the depot.

This was taken in Montana, as we paced the train.