BlueBrixx
BlueBrixx US Shunting Locomotive Set 104004
BlueBrixx's US Shunting Locomotive is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from 898 blocks, measuring 37.6 Γ 6.5 Γ 10.3 cm assembled. Designed by Eugen. Age 14+.
The instructions are a download
Worth knowing before the box arrives: BlueBrixx supplies the building instructions for this set as a free download from its website after registering an account. There is no printed manual in the carton.
It is how BlueBrixx keeps its Specials range at the price it is, and many builders prefer working from a screen anyway β you can zoom into a step, which no printed page allows. But it should not be a discovery you make after opening the box.
A switcher never leaves the yard
Look at the shape and you can read the job. Everything about an American switcher is designed for one task: moving wagons around a yard, all day, at walking pace.
There is no pilot at the front, because it will never run at speed on open track. The hood is low and the cab sits well back, because the crew spends most of the shift looking backwards along the running board at a man riding the step and giving hand signals. The frame carries as much weight as possible over the driving wheels, because a switcher needs to start a long cut of wagons from a standstill β which takes far more effort than keeping them moving.
In exchange it gives up speed entirely. A road locomotive runs at 100 km/h and more; a switcher is geared for perhaps 40 and will never need it.
They are the least glamorous locomotives ever built and they did most of the work. Every freight train that ever left a yard was assembled by one.
In the BlueBrixx range
Sets 101043, 102535 and 102788 are the station, platform and freight shed that make up a yard for this locomotive to work in.
Specifications
Pieces: 898 Β· Designer: Eugen Β· Series: BlueBrixx-Specials Β· Age: 14+ Β· Instructions as free download, no printed manual
Model dimensions: 37.6 Γ 6.5 Γ 10.3 cm (14.8 Γ 2.6 Γ 4.1 in)
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