Capturing a mainline 4-8-4 in bricks looks like the hardest part of this project, and Glenn Holland gave it real time: design work started in Spring 2024, and the whole effort stretched across two years. The running gear is where that patience pays off, with driving wheels connected and linked by valve rods.
The locomotive and tender are brick-built at scale, put together primarily from black and dark gray elements plus light bluish gray pieces. Custom XL driving wheels and a KMR knuckle coupler sit alongside 3D-printed parts for the headlight visor, the number boards, and the bell cradle. A gold-colored bell is the one warm accent in that palette, and in my view it is a welcome touch against all that dark brick.
Power comes from a pair of Lego Power Functions L motors, driven at 1:1 through the third driving axle. The maker aimed at 1940s mainline railroad modeling, and the stated goal is fast freight running on home loops and show layouts.
At the moment the model is presented on display track, where it serves as a detailed static display piece. The fast freight duty is still ahead of it, and that is the one open chapter worth following.
Project by Glenn Holland. Watch it on their YouTube channel: