23 replies to this topic

[AussieJimbo]

I've spent some more time on my small scale railway and I'm happy to present my new small scale diesel loco.

It's driven by 2 PF M-motors with integrated receiver and the battery box is towed in the van behind. The powered bogies are again based on Space2310's excellent design.

Thanks to a couple of bricklink orders, I've also picked up enough straight rail pieces and grey narrow gauge curves to assemble an improved layout where I've started to build a little town and port.

I hope you like it.


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I'm hoping to get a video up over the weekend.

Feedback and suggestions always appreciated.

Edited by AussieJimbo, 29 March 2012 - 02:39 PM.

[Sokratesz]

It's adorable  

[roamingstudio]

Sokratesz, on 29 March 2012 - 03:16 PM, said:

It's adorable  

Now this really reminds me of Chur - and other places in Switzerland where we have two rail gauges on the same track...

[ZueriHB]

roamingstudio, on 29 March 2012 - 03:54 PM, said:

Now this really reminds me of Chur - and other places in Switzerland where we have two rail gauges on the same track...

Sorry, but this is more like Chur:


Back to topic: Cute little layout you have here, also the cargo ship is now to scale!

Edited by TheBrickster, 30 March 2012 - 03:56 AM.
Removed quoted image

[Andy Glascott]

That is very impressive, like it.

Andy

[Hrw-Amen]

That is actually very nice and a good idea for those of us with not a lot of room. Good to see you have been building some trackside stuff as well to make it look even better. I guess all those small creator vehicles will be good for this size layout.

[Rail Co]

This is very cool. I love how detailed the train is, but I see a lot of train wheel in the front, if you chose to use it I have a suggestion. Just add (as LEGO calls it) "Angle Plate 1X2/2X2" to the front and back. (here is the link)http://shop.lego.com...A-Brick-ByTheme (use the design ID as 44728.)

[Capt. Stabbin]

Nice job Jimbo!  looks like your off to a great start.  

[AussieJimbo]

Sokratesz, on 29 March 2012 - 03:16 PM, said:

It's adorable  

Thanks, Sokartesz.

roamingstudio, on 29 March 2012 - 03:54 PM, said:

Now this really reminds me of Chur - and other places in Switzerland where we have two rail gauges on the same track...

A true dual-gauge loop would be awesome but I don't think it can be done in Lego, apart from perhaps a simple oval using some old style separate curved rail pieces next to the narrow gauge curves. Other than that you might be able to scratch build track with ME rails.  

ZueriHB, on 29 March 2012 - 04:18 PM, said:

Cute little layout you have here, also the cargo ship is now to scale!

Cheers, ZueriHB. I'm really pleased how the ship fits in, just looks like a bigger ship once you get rid of the minifig. I'm thinking of enclosing/modifying the bridge to conceal any remaining minifig-scale cues.  

Andy Glascott, on 29 March 2012 - 05:15 PM, said:

That is very impressive, like it.

Andy

Much appreciated, Andy.

Hrw-Amen, on 29 March 2012 - 07:07 PM, said:

That is actually very nice and a good idea for those of us with not a lot of room. Good to see you have been building some trackside stuff as well to make it look even better. I guess all those small creator vehicles will be good for this size layout.

Cheers, Hrw-Amen.

Yeah, it's really nice to be able to fit a whole layout in a relatively small space. It sits on a 900mm x 1200mm piece of MDF with a few baseplate overhangs here and there. It's small size means I can leave it assembled to work on.

One of the next steps is to build some appropriately scaled 4 wide vehicles to go with the creator mini-models. The little fire engine set is just the right scale.

Rail Co, on 29 March 2012 - 11:50 PM, said:

This is very cool. I love how detailed the train is, but I see a lot of train wheel in the front, if you chose to use it I have a suggestion. Just add (as LEGO calls it) "Angle Plate 1X2/2X2" to the front and back. (here is the link)http://shop.lego.com...A-Brick-ByTheme (use the design ID as 44728.)

Thanks, Rail Co.

I was surprised how much detail I could include in the end because there is very little room to work with, particularly on the main body of the loco. I might give your suggestion a go but it may be tricky to get it attached. Concealing the wheels a little has been one of the more difficult challenges.

Capt. Stabbin, on 30 March 2012 - 02:10 AM, said:

Nice job Jimbo!  looks like your off to a great start.  

Cheers, Cpt. S.

Thanks again everyone for your comments.

Edited by AussieJimbo, 30 March 2012 - 08:39 AM.

[Younge]

Love your work Jimbo!!!! I myself am currently playing with a smaller layout (limited space to display in at home), and this concept of yours is great inspiration.

It would be great to see your layout in the flesh. Where in Australia are you located?

[fred67]

Wow.  I like this a LOT.  I'd like to see more about how you integrated the narrow curves with the straight tracks.

Then engines and cars are awesome for the scale; I like the whole layout.  Congratulations!  It's like combining LEGO and n-scale to have a reasonably sized layout. (I know it's more comparable to HO, but I think of "n" when people want to conserve space).

EDIT: I guess I've not encountered any of the separate straight rails (aside from ME Models) with the tab. (runs off to Bricklink to look them up).

EDIT 2: I can't find straight track pieces with tabs... what did you do?

Edited by fred67, 30 March 2012 - 04:00 PM.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Superb work and great layout!  
This kind of scale remember me a vintage lego set of early seventies with those houses with small windows ...but with the new beautiful colors!  
The train is fantastic and hard to build!  

[legotrainfan]

Your layout looks most impressive. You must've spent a lot of time on and put a lof of thought into assembling the engine. It looks quite complex. The wheel constructions on both waggons and engine also look quite special and elaborate.

[Asper]

This is really great! The scale is fantastic. Never thought that it is possible to build working trains 4-wide before I've seen your work.

(Must be a great layout if trains like this are combined with Jonathan Lopes' "4wide" creations on mocpages)

[Hikaro Takayama]

Nice Midi-scale train, Aussiejimbo!  I'm glad to see you've gotten the Power-Functions for Narrow-gauge LEGO trains problem solved.

[AussieJimbo]

Wow, what a great set of comments to wake up to.

Younge, on 30 March 2012 - 01:55 PM, said:

Love your work Jimbo!!!! I myself am currently playing with a smaller layout (limited space to display in at home), and this concept of yours is great inspiration.

Thanks, Younge. I hope you post pictures of your layout when it's finished.

fred67, on 30 March 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

Wow.  I like this a LOT.  I'd like to see more about how you integrated the narrow curves with the straight tracks.

Then engines and cars are awesome for the scale; I like the whole layout.  Congratulations!  It's like combining LEGO and n-scale to have a reasonably sized layout. (I know it's more comparable to HO, but I think of "n" when people want to conserve space).

Much appreciated, fred67.

I'm really pleased with what I've been able to achieve so far. You're on the money with the N-scale comparison. My floor layouts ramble through the house which is great fun but the brick count required for scenery of any great extent is prohibitive (and impractical on the floor anyway).

The straight rail pieces are from the Red Cargo Train set, the first time they've appeared in dark grey.


Dark Bluish Gray Train, Track Plain Rail Straight (no slots, no notches on end)
http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=3228c

I'll take a few photos later but basically the end of the curved rail butts up against the straight rail piece. You have to use jumper plates for alignment. The other rail overlaps partially with the notches on the borrowed rail from the standard gauge straight piece.

You'll see what I mean when I post a photo/video later but the upshot is a good connection that the train passes through smoothly.

LEGO Train 12 Volts, on 30 March 2012 - 05:57 PM, said:

Superb work and great layout!  
This kind of scale remember me a vintage lego set of early seventies with those houses with small windows ...but with the new beautiful colors!  
The train is fantastic and hard to build!  

Thanks LT12V.

I know the sets you mean. The step down in scale has been fun. A small window becomes a standard window, a small window plus a 1x2 brick on a half stud offset makes a door. There are a lot of jumper plates used in the various houses to achieve features like half stud eaves, doorways and profiles.

The loco was certainly difficult to build. It's almost all mechanism, I was wondering mid way through how I'd ever get a body onto it but it came together in the end.

legotrainfan, on 30 March 2012 - 06:37 PM, said:

Your layout looks most impressive. You must've spent a lot of time on and put a lof of thought into assembling the engine. It looks quite complex. The wheel constructions on both waggons and engine also look quite special and elaborate.

Cheers, legotrainfan.

It was quite a challenge. Getting a working mechanism was hard enough, turning it into a believable locomotive was just as tricky.

Asper, on 30 March 2012 - 06:55 PM, said:

This is really great! The scale is fantastic. Never thought that it is possible to build working trains 4-wide before I've seen your work.

(Must be a great layout if trains like this are combined with Jonathan Lopes' "4wide" creations on mocpages)

Thanks, Asper.

There are some great models on Jonathan's page, plenty of ideas to pick up on.

I wasn't sure it was possible either when I first started toying with the idea last year but thanks to suggestions, encouragement and prior work by others, it's evolved into a real working system.

Hikaro Takayama, on 31 March 2012 - 01:37 AM, said:

Nice Midi-scale train, Aussiejimbo!  I'm glad to see you've gotten the Power-Functions for Narrow-gauge LEGO trains problem solved.

Thanks HT. It's been a fun journey from those primitive prototypes to the working model.

Stay tuned for a video later this weekend when I get to it.

Edited by AussieJimbo, 06 April 2012 - 07:44 AM.

[fred67]

AussieJimbo, on 31 March 2012 - 02:40 AM, said:

The straight rail pieces are from the Red Cargo Train set, the first time they've appeared in dark grey.


Dark Bluish Gray Train, Track Plain Rail Straight (no slots, no notches on end)
http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=3228c

Ahh... I have tons of those (light gray, of course), I could have sworn I saw tabs to connect directly with the curved rails.

EDIT: OOHHHH!!!  I see what you did there... OK, cool.

Edited by fred67, 31 March 2012 - 03:17 AM.

[LiamM32]

I like your train and the rest of the display. I just have a question. I was thinking of making a train locomotive powered by a PF M or XL motor, in a way similar to this, but I was concerned that it would curve in one direction better than the other the way the gears work. Did you have this problem?

[AussieJimbo]

Thanks, Liam.

I had the same concern but it really hasn't been an issue.

[azuremoon]

great layout and an even better train!

though i cant figure out what you use for the couplings

[AussieJimbo]

Thanks azuremoon, glad you like it.

For couplings I am using technic axle with tow ball and a small rubber band.


http://www.bricklink...Item.asp?P=2736

Sorry for the delayed update (I should know better than setting deadlines for myself). That being said, I should have a video up before Easter is over. Missed that deadline too. I've been busy. :-)

Edited by AussieJimbo, 25 April 2012 - 01:42 AM.

[azuremoon]

well of course i like it.
i use this scale as well!

[mrlegoman]

Love your locomotive - it seems that it would have quite a bit of pulling power with those two PF engines.

[The Rip]

How did you get the straights?    <---- Monkey? why is there a monkey here....