If you’re anywhere near a TV or radio during the month of March, chances are you’ve probably heard some buzz about ‘March Madness’ aka the NCAA National Basketball Tournament. Every year schools from all over the country compete for the shot at a National Championship trophy, and a chance to etch their names into the history books. While the teams compete, their faithful fans are filling out tournament brackets – each one with the goal of predicting that ever elusive perfect bracket.
The tournament itself is a month- long spectacle full of traditional powerhouses, middle of the pack mainstays, and those dreaded dark-horse bracket busters. In total the tournament features 68 teams, and is divided in 4 blocks where each team is given a seeding based on their regular season performance. In preparation for the tournament, fans will often fill out brackets predicting the winner of each game, and eventually the championship team itself.
This part of March Madness is especially fun because it gives all of us a chance to be a part of the big stage in a small way. While difficult to predict the perfect bracket, few have beaten the odds, and have stamped off a crisp 100% bracket. As for the rest of – things are going great until first-ranked Kentucky somehow manages to lose to some middle of nowhere school usually named after a president and the bracket is completely ruined.
Basketball is fine and all, but this is model trains. And while we’re not shooting 3s and hitting slam dunks from the free-throw line like old Mike Jordan himself, we can still have our own form of madness. So for the first time ever, Trainz.com has decided to hold the inaugural Trainz Madness tournament.
That’s right, Locomotives from all eras, all backgrounds gathered in one bracket with a chance to stand above them all. You’ve got your powerhouse favorites like the legendary Union Pacific Big Boy and the Pennsylvania GG-1 coming to play alongside some dark-horses like the California Zephyr and the diesel GE ES44. The best part? We’re asking you to join us for Trainz Madness, where we’ll fill out our own brackets, vote on a matchup winner, and in the end – we’ll reward participants with those most accurate brackets with a special prize from Trainz.com.
Who’s in? Who’s Out?
Coming up with the list of participants was not an easy task. After all, how do you decide who the most popular locomotive of all time is? Well, my solution was a 16-team bracket featuring some of the most iconic locomotives to ever hit the track. By scouring hours and hours of top 10 lists on the internet, and studying some of the best selling locomotives at Trainz.com and the general market – I was able to come up with a formidable set of participants.
Each participating locomotive is seeded #1 - #16 based on their popularity and historical relevance with the lowest seed playing the highest seed in the opening round. Each week, the people will get to vote to see who progresses further in our tournament. So without further ado, let’s meet our participants:
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Union Pacific Big Boy
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J-Class Hudson 4-6-4
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Alco 4-6-6-4 Challenger
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Pennsylvania GG-1
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Lima Berkshire 2-8-4
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Mikado 2-8-2
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Erie 2-8-8-8-2 Triplex
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EMD F-7
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Alco RS1
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The California Zephyr
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6-8-6 Steam Turbine
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SD-70 Diesel Engine
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Great Northern R-2 2-8-8-2
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GE ES44
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Baldwin DR-12 -8-1500/2
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John Bull Steam Locomotive
I did my best to include locomotives that we’ve all heard of or have owned at one point in our lives. Each week we’ll put the competing locomotives up for a vote, and we’ll break down the winner during our weekly blog updates. With the rules in palace and the stage set, let’s preview the opening round matchups.
Opening Day Match-Ups!
Game 1
Kicking things off is my pre-tournament favorite, the Union Pacific Big Boy going up against another legend, the John Bull Steam locomotive. The John Bull has a mountain of a task in the opening round taking on a powerhouse in the Big Boy that’s seen an iteration in every scale from Z-Scale to G-Scale. Seriously, we sell so many Big Boys at Trainz.com, that I’m thinking Union Pacific’s steam giant might just steam roll its way through the whole tourney. Is a championship the Big Boy’s destiny? Or is the everlasting John Bull going on a Cinderella run?
Game 2
Our second matchup sees the iconic J-Class Hudson take on the Baldwin DR-12 8-1500/2 in a battle of titans. Most are going to argue with the Baldwin’s seeding, but according to the internet – the bottom of the pack is right where the Baldwin currently stands. It’s steam vs diesel on day 2, and personally my favorite of all of the opening round matchups.
Game 3
Day 3 is another big match-up between fan favorites with the diesel GE ES44 going toe to toe with the almighty ALCO 4-6-6-4 Challenger. If you’re an avid enthusiast of model trains, chances are you’ve owned both of these two – now I’ll make it hard for you, pick just one to go through!
Game 4
Another matchup of stalwarts, this one sees a pair of 20th century icons dueling it out for a potential shot at a meeting of top seeds against the Big Boy in the semi-finals. Both engines fall on the Big Boy’s side of the bracket, and if you’re wondering who has the best shot at dethroning the heavily favorited Big Boy on that side of the bracket – look no further than the pair pictured above. Boasting class, legacy, and power -- this is one of the tournament’s premier matchups.
Game 5
Something tells me that the SD-70 could potentially have a lot to say in this tournament. During my time spent traveling the country with Trainz.com owner, Scott Griggs, I’m pretty sure I saw an SD-70 on just about every layout I came across. Could definitely be a favorite, unless of course the Lima Berkshire has anything to say about it…
Game 6
Game 6 pits two all-time steam greats in the wartime hero 2-8-2 Mikado and the 6-8-6 steam turbine. Both locomotives have iterations dating all the way back to the Pre-War era making this matchup a long time coming. While history has enough room for both engines, the tournament sadly does not. Tough match up with this one that may strike up an argument or two.
Game 7
So this is probably the only matchup that’s not going to have controversy behind the seeding. These two mainstays are found in most collections, so I can definitely see some difficulties coming up in the decision making process. Alas, only one goes through, and that’ll be up to you!
Game 8
The final round 1 matchup features another battle of model train mainstays. Both locomotives have a shot at doing some serious bracket busting with the winner even potentially getting a shot at the Big Boy assuming that matchup goes the way I think it will. One way or another, they both find themselves on the grind side of the bracket, and a win is going to be especially tough to come by.
The Stage is Set!
Now that you’ve been familiarized with the tournament and its participants, all that’s left to do is make your prediction and wait! We’ll be updating the bracket and the blog as the tournament progresses so be sure to check in regularly for results.
