Well, some of you may have seen the LDD screenshot that I posted in the Meaningless Thread, and since my massive PaB order arrived two days ago, I've finally been able to build it.
I proudly present the GG-2a electric locomotive, my "What-if" imagining of a modernized Pennsylvania RR GG-1.
GG-2a Side View by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
The GG-2 series of electric locomotives entered service in the years leading to the Final War, due to the fact that the world's fossil fuel supplies had been virtually depleted, making diesel far too expensive to profitably run a railroad. After the Final War, the Federal Republic of America and the Republic of New Jersey continued GG-2 production, and these trains are the primary mainline service locomotives for both nations' Class I and Class II railroads in the core areas. Biomass-fueled Steam Locomotives (primarily wood pellet burners) ply the rails in the Borderlands and areas near war zones where enemy action and wasteland raider sabotage tends to make running line-powered electric trains problematic.
Map of the factions in post-Final War North AmericaThe pictured GG-2a belongs to the Norfolk-Southern Railroad, one of the few Class I railroads to survive the Final War, and proudly wears their black and white livery.
GG-2a Front View by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
Despite surface similarities, and the obvious inspiration, the GG-2 is quite different from the GG-1 under the hood. While it has the same articulated 4-6-6-4 wheel arrangement (2-Co-Co-2, to use the international wheel notation), the GG-2 locomotives' drive wheels are directly powered by AC induction motors and are equipped with dynamic braking capabilities. In dynamic braking mode (where the induction motors become induction generators), the power generated by the braking process is fed into a rectifier/inverter array and is stored in two super-capacitor banks. This allows for quicker acceleration and reduces overall power consumption. Furthermore, as is plainly evident, the single, incandescent headlamp of the GG-1 has been discarded in favor of dual super-bright Xenon HID headlamps, which provide better visibility at night. Finally, instead of the old "basket" style pantographs, the GG-2 has modern, high-speed pantograph pickups, which can handle its maximum top speed of around 200 Mph (320 km/h)
GG-2a Interior/Top View by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
Here we have a shot of the locomotive's interior. Both operator's stations can be seen, along with the "lounge" area for operators to grab a quick bite or cup of coffee while waiting at a station, or on longer trips, where the off-duty operator can relax before taking their turn at the throttle.
GG-2a W/ Hogwarts Express Coach by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
Finally, here's a pic of the GG-2a pulling my modified Hogwarts Express coach (it happens to be the same length as the Emerald Night's dining car) to give an idea of how big this beast is.
The LDD file (albeit with much simpler interior) can be found
here (search username Hikaro_Takayama)... Yes, I managed to build this thing using only bricks that can be purchased through PaB/DBM... I may see about making more of these, probably in CSX livery and Federal Republic of America National Railway (FR-line) colors as well... Not anytime soon... Excluding the interior stuff (chairs, table, etc), this thing weighs in at over 360 pieces.
Last of all, a big thanks to DANDEN and
Magimutti on Brickshelf, whose design and instructions, respectively, served as a starting point for this project (not to mention that I only made a few small changes to their wheel base design).
Tell me what you think of it.
