60052-1 Locomotive Variants

 

In my opinion, the 2014 Cargo Train set, 60052-1 (above), is the best City cargo train Lego have released to date. The combination of a nice locomotive; a good range of freight wagons; a great container terminal; and a reasonable price make it my all time favourite. The only caveat is that the Maersk Train 10219-1 is awesome but is a Creator Expert set.

I was never completely satisfied with the 60052-1 locomotive, as good as it is. It looks so much like an SD-40-2 loco from the US that I had to have a go at modifying it. The Maersk loco inspired me to make the effort.

Evolution 1 - Stretching

The standard 60052-1 loco always looked a bit short. Lego have to try to keep sets affordable so these kind of sacrifices are inevitable. This first stage variation adds six studs in length by adding a stud to the front & rear decks as well as four studs to the rear of the engine.

The additional stud on the front & rear decks allows for the addition of two yellow steps to be built into the bogies. I've added a pair of lights mounted to the rear of the engine. The picture above demonstrates the additional four studs added to the rear section of the engine. Below the single cab spotlight has been replaced by a pair and a wheel has been added to the nose.

The front bogie from the standard loco has a design which includes technic bricks with cross axles connecting the wheels. This design is fraught because frequent use damages the parts and they start to be quite noisy. The rolling resistance of this design also slows the loco down & runs down the battery. this alternate design incorporates the wheel assemblies with the steel pin that is typically used for wagons & coaches.

The end result is a solid improvement to the original build.

The Studio file & instructions for this variant are available on Bricklink & Rebrickable.

Evolution 2 - Conversion to SD40-2

The next evolution is to change the cab to more closely resemble the SD40-2 locomotive. The cab has some borrowed detail from the Maersk Loco (10219-1).

This build has a decent amount of re-arranging of the above deck structure compared the Evo 1 without using too many additional parts. The rear of the loco is very similar to the Evo 1.

 This build isn't as accurate or detailed as the Maersk but it is a good result re-using the parts from the 60052-1 set.

The Evo 2 is available for download on Bricklink & Rebrickable.