Articulated Container Cars

Articulated LEGO® Container Cars

If you're like me, LEGO® trains are your favorite toy/hobby, and you prefer cargo trains to passenger trains. From 1993 to 2001 the best LEGO® train kit - in my opinion (IMO) - was # 4549 (the "Road 'N Rail Hauler seen with my articulated cars in these photos). Now - again IMO - the best kit is the articulated container cars you see on this page. I hope you will agree. J

Articulated container cars differ from regular train cars - container and otherwise - in the way the car body sits on the trucks. (The sets of train wheels are called trucks - I don't know why.) As you can see from the diagrams below, while regular cars have trucks at both ends and are joined by couplers, articulated cars share a truck (and have no couplers). This makes for a shorter train with less rolling resistance. Now this same cool looking type of train that you can see in real life is available for your LEGO® train layout.

As you can see from the new photos, I have updated my articulated container cars. They are now sleeker - and more accurate - in appearance, while remaining just as strong as before. I have also been able to dramatically lower the price - since I can now buy the parts I need for less. Previously I had four slightly different versions - now I just have the top model (which includes a 6x16 plate - the second largest plate made by LEGO®). These model kits feature bound instructions and will be shipped to your door in a sturdy box. E-Mail me or visit my BrickLink store. [Note: I haven't had a chance yet to update the instructions.]

Three articulated cars (plus an End kit) is the recommended minimum, and five or more is suggested. The End kit is needed due to the "everybody sit on the knee of the person behind you" nature of this type of train. It also includes the pieces needed to interconnect your articulated train cars with other LEGO® train cars and engines. A train with only one or two articulated cars will work fine, but with two cars, only one end of each car is articulated. Likewise, a single car (with end kit) will work, but wouldn't be fundamentally different from a normal car.

My container cars fit/hold "containers" with the same dimensions and contact points as the container car kits from LEGO® themselves, including having tiles on the "deck" for easy loading and unloading at the container port. Since genuine LEGO® containers are so hard to come by, I've also made a full line of cargo for your container cars to carry, using (IMO) the best consistent coloring scheme. With solid uniform color (except for company color 2 x 4s) construction, they simulate loaded/full cargo containers and - like my container cars - are a dimension and contact point match for standard (4x16 "full" & 4x8 "half") LEGO® containers.

As you can see from the photo below, the overall cargo capacity is approximately the same as the 4549 drop-center car. Two articulated cars hold four containers (or equivalent) while one drop center car holds two full plus two half containers in about 3/4 the length. What you can't see from the photo is that the center of gravity is a bit lower, as the cargo is closer to the rails than with the drop-center car. You can run them - single stack - at full speed. Double stack at full speed may work too, but it may also be hazardous to your minifigs health... J

September 22, 2001 - The premiere of my articulated container cars at The Great Edmonton (model) Train Show (GEmTS2001) Here are a bunch of photos - and a short movie clip - that I shot at the show. (Thanks to James & Raven for the use of their camera.)

The "first five" seen at the show have been sold by auction. These articulated container cars and cargo are of the high "as close to new as we can make them" quality you expect from The Guild of Bricksmiths™. As always, if anything you receive displeases you, please LMK.

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