saturncoupe1999

Car One Complete Car one finished! But wait!? Where are the wheels? Could they be in bag two? Actually, putting the tires and wheels in a different bag from the cars is a good idea. I've noticed that some of the tires can leave an oily, icky coating on any parts they come in contact with. So this would prevent the need to clean the parts for the cars before building. I doubt that TLG is listening to only me, but I did offer the suggestion to bag the tires seperately. Let's see if this practice continues.

In the latest issue ( #5 ) of RailBricks, Ben Fleskes, creator of BBB Wheels, says this: "It would be a sincere honor to have LEGO choose to distribute Big Ben Bricks train wheels. In terms of official correspondence on the topic, I can't say any more." My interpretation of the words "...I can't say any more." is that there is already a deal in place to supply the wheels to Lego. I hope I am correct in this, because this would seem to indicate that the "Emerald Night" would be the first set to feature the wheels. In this case, I tend to believe that this is a real set, and NOT a fake.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Here's hopin' me luck might change this time! Add me to yer list, then, matey!

I would be most graciously honored to be allowed to take part in this raffle. May the Force be with us all!!!

I agree that this is a very good looking set. I just finished building mine yesterday, and I love it. But here is one suggestion. Trim the large sticker that goes on the roof of the vehicle by cutting along the angles at the front of the sticker. If you use it as it is, it will extend beyond the "flat" surface of the roof and will overlap the lower sections. Past experience with stickers has suggested that this sticker will "lift" at the front corners. Lego stickers are probably the best that there are, but sometimes modifications must be made. Now I want that large Coast Guard helicopter, #7738!!!

Thank you so much, highlandcattle, for your gracious critique of my methods. While it is true that I DO pay a lot of money for misb ancient sets, it is also true that there is no other way to get the rare parts that can not BE replaced. If I had my way, and I do not, I would have two of each set. In this way I could build one 9V style set ( the age of the parts wouldn't matter in this case ) and one "pure" set. But everyone marches to the beat of his own drum, my friend. So I would suggest that in the future, if you decide to refer to someone as a *wacko* , you include the letters "IMO". Then the readers can decide for themselves. Ciao! Trains On, people!!!

It was my intention, from the start, to use as many NEW elements as possible. While I admit that there is a certain amount of nostalgia in using the old pieces, the new one generally look much nicer. The plastic is different and the colors have a better shine. Also, the mold marks on the newer elements are on top of the studs in most cases. Plus, I can not claim to be a Lego "purist" as I have already modified the style of the sets. And now I will have quite a few old, but still unused, parts going to ebay. Anybody interested???

Oh, the shame! In my earlier post I mentioned sending pictures to Mr. Hobbles. I was a bit goofy there, for a while. I wanted to say that I had sent them to Hobbes. *wacko* Apologies to both, from the bottom most reaches of my heart! :-$

Hello to all! In response to the requests to see my other recent conversions, as well as to satisfy my desire to show them, I present four Lego railroad cars. Here are sets 123, 124, 131, and 137. Here you see set #123, Passenger Coach, from 1969. It is always special to be the first to open and build such an old set. This was my second attempt. I had purchased one of these about two years ago. The box was not wrapped in cellophane, but the seller gave his word that the set was brand new. A look at some of the elements raised doubts in my mind, however, so I sold it on ebay. But I DID tell of my doubts in the auction's description. Honesty is best. My second purchase was in a cellophane wrapped box. Joy! Again, however, I used as many brand new parts as possible. In this case, only the windows and the printed bricks ( Int-Europe ) are original. The printed bricks, by the way, are not printed in the modern sense. They are actually engraved and filled with the white paint. In this picture you can see a close-up of the 9V style wheels and part of the undercarriage, copied from set #7818. Next on display is set #124, Goods Wagon, also from 1969. This one came to me from ebay, cellophane wrapped, and looking good. Here there was a small problem, though. As you can easily see in the picture, the doors and the printed bricks have a slightly different shade of blue. These are the only original parts and they make it easy to understand why some older blue elements are referred to as "slightly yellowed". But for me, they retain the integrity of the model and look good doing it. Here, again, is a close-up of the 9V wheels and the undercarriage, this time "borrowed" from the freight wagons of set #7735. Now came the real challenge. Here is set #131, Passenger Coach, from 1972. This is a beautifully colored set with awesome windows, a door on each end ( they don't open ), and moveable gates. The doors, windows, and gate posts are original. Everything else is new. But ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!! There was the DSS! Normally I don't have a problem with stickers. Naturally I prefer printed parts. But you have to live with what you get, sort of. In this case, the stickers consist of black printing on a white background. But these stickers were so old that the white was a creamy yellow! What to do? To solve this problem my daughter scanned the sticker sheet into her computer using an Epson all-in-one printer. Then she sent the images to me via email. From that point it was a not-so-easy task of "fixing" the color, using a version of PhotoShop that came with my Canon camera, and printing new stickers on Avery Gloss White CD Label paper. This paper is slightly thicker than original Lego stickers, but the glue is strong! Also, if you look at the back of some older Lego sticker sheets, you will find that Lego used Avery paper too! To make an already long story short, the duplicates are a nearly identical match in size and color with the originals. What do you folks think about it? In this picture you can see a close-up view of the larger sticker. The rough edge at the bottom came from trimming the sticker with a paper cutter that had a blade contaminated with glue from several previous cuts. I didn't notiice this until I sent copies of this work to Mr. Hobbles ( know him? ). Since that discovery I have removed ( difficult ) and replaced the sticker. Finally ( whew ) there is set #137, Passenger Sleeping Car, from 1975. The only original parts on this one are the windows. By the way, the undercarriage detail on this set and set #131 are also copied from set #7818. This set also had a DSS, but in this case the problem was much worse. Again, the white was not so white. But to really ruin everything, the stickers were pre-sliced THROUGH the left edge of the picture of the bed! :'-( Using the same technique as described above, however, saved the day ( and the model ). Here is a close-up of the big red and white "137" sticker. And here is a picture of the "bed", now in one piece *sweet* Well, I hope that you have enjoyed the show. It's been fun presenting it. Comments are always welcome, so please don't hesitate to post them or to contact me via email. I never get tired of talking about Lego! Next up will be a 9V conversion of set #7755, but that may not happen until the summer. Thanks for looking. TRAINS ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quite a few years ago ( maybe 6 or 7 ) I was lucky enough to "win" a MISB 7760 from an ebay seller in Germany. I am not one of those who likes to keep the prize in the box, but this was a fairly expensive purchase and I was waiting for just the right time to build it. The challenge was to convert the set from 12V to 9V. I prefer my trains to operate on only two rails :-) During my waiting period I decided that when I would build the set I would use as many brand new elements as possible. So that is what I did. Because of the "conversion", I had to eliminate those wonderful connecting rods on the driving wheels. I can not understand why Lego had to discontinue that feature when they changed to the 9V system. I believe it could have been continued without problem. But that is old history now. So as we wait for 2009 and the NEW ( again ) train system, I present a few pictures of MY 7760 built in the 9V style. Here you see the diesel engine with the 131 Passenger Coach in tow. You can see the beautiful blue color of the new elements. In this case, the old elements also looked fine. But they had those unsightly "pip" marks on the end of the bricks. Ugh! In this second photo you can see the 9V motor, along with the expertly *sweet* placed stickers. The third photo show the front of the diesel, along with the troublesome yellow/black stickers. I say troublesome because they had to be trimmed quite a bit to fit within the size of the bricks. This is important because if the stickers overhang the brick they can catch on fingers and start to peel off. Their integrity is assured when they are entirely within the proper space. Lastly, you can see the coupler at the front of the locomotive. Here is the least important change of all. I merely prefer to use the 9V style of magnet holder ( no rod hanging down ) on all of my trains to keep them all uniform. So there you have it, and I hope this works :-$ ! If it does, I will bring you photos of my 123 Passenger Coach, 124 Goods Wagon, 131 Passenger Coach, and 137 Passenger Sleeping Car. Ciao for now!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Please take heart and stop this very unnecessary vision of doom and gloom. Lego trains are not going away. They are simply moving to the next stage of development. I have read many comments from many different writers, and most paint a very bad vision of the future. Why? These Lego trains are, after all, toys. But to many of you, as to myself, they have become more than just

A few years ago I was lucky enough to win an ebay auction for a MISB 7760, and I believe the cost was somewhere around $600 *sweet* . I have not opened the box yet, but I certainly will at some point. Lego sets aren't happy when they are only kept in their boxes, but at the moment a have no room for a train layout :-( . But when I build my 7760, I will build it with a 9V motor :-/ . The reason for this decision is that I want all of my trains to be able to play on the same railroad. I am telling you this, Hobbes, because when the time comes I will be more than happy to send you the new rubber tires. I hope they won't be dried from age, however. If you are interested, please send your mailing address in an email to saturncoupe1999@yahoo.com. Enjoy your trains!!!

Well, I've seen the pictures posted so far. It definitely looks as though I'm the Grandpa of the group! But Lego keeps you young at heart. Right????

As I have no Grandparents or parents left, and my Father-in-Law has passed in January, I can say that I feel your sense of sorrow and loss. I am the Grandparent now, and know that one day it will be MY turn. Take comfort in the fact that someday we will ALL be together, sharing ALL of the Lego. A very old rock and roll song says "You don't know what you've got, until you lose it". How true. The person is gone, but the memories remain forever.