My Own Trains

[Locomotive Annie]

I know I'm being a wide eyed newbie with Lego trains, but the more I look at and read about the 'My Own Train' series the more keen I'm becoming on this whole series of Lego sets. Firstly let me say that I think it's regrettable that Lego doesn't make sets like this anymore because the idea is a really sound one. Afterall model train manufacturers have been doing it successfully for years which goes to show that selling locos, track and rolling stock individually as well as in sets is a winner of a sales technique.

Anyway the result of all this looking and reading is that I've made up my mind to collect the locomotive sets from the 'My Own Train' series as well as basing the MOCs I build on the locos and rolling stock that make up the series.

To start my collection off I purchased one of these on Bricklink. It's a KT307 loco, - the grey version.

One small hitch I have though is that all my track is the plastic R/C kind and the MOT series is 9 volt. I'm thinking that a suitable box van set up to be a battery carrier should solve the problem as there isn't exactly a lot of room for batteries in the locos themselves.

I did some further Bricklinking last night to top up my small supply of Technic gear bits and axles as well as buying some motor blocks and some of the new PF electrical bits. Now I just have to be very patient and wait for all this bounty to arrive so I can properly motorise my locos so they are no longer just push along toys.

By the way, what do you do if you don't want all your locos to be No: 317? I was thinking of scanning the stickers into a graphics program and making myself some alternative numbers.

[WesternOutlaw]

Hi Annie - these days, I don't find myself reading a whole lot about LEGO Trains (at least in terms of articles/topics related to older set releases), but I honestly find this an interesting topic. I remember shortly after coming out of my dark ages with Wild West, the My Own Train sets were released. I had waited for years for LEGO Trains to be available in the US having never had one as a kid (from the old 12V and blue track era). One day, I got a LEGO catalogue with a bridge and locomotive 317 pictured. I was thrilled and started diligently planning what I would need for a complete set-up. The long engine (in traditional black as you have pictured), green Pullman, red caboose, 9V track, transformer, and light were among my selections. Some of the sets were still in the release phase and the order did not even come as one package waiting for the green wagon and caboose to arrive in the upcoming weeks/months. Eventually, I would have my first LEGO train and a layout worthy of a Wild West town.

Let me see, I may have a video... yes, here it is: Big Bad John.

LEGO SAH had a really neat application that allowed you to create a combination of trains wagons, choose the background, then speed up and slow down the train (and get the price of your selected train items). In addition, they had a train mystery relating to a train heist as you walked through the green Pullman train cars. This came a bit later but I really enjoyed the story and the graphics.

So in summary, I can completely understand your enjoyment as you search out these trains from the 2nd hand markets. Personally, I've always liked the green wagon and caboose the best. There's a review of each if you check the Review Index. I also wish that LEGO would return to their old train roots in offering single cars and wagons. In fact, here's an article on the topic: What Ever Happened to the Single Train Car?

In regard to decals, they're really easy. You can try your method or simply create a black square in PowerPoint or photo program with the size you need (based on the 3x4 side panel), print and tape. Photo paper works better if you have a pretty good printer.

Here's an example of the result:

or even:

Good luck with obtaining your trains Annie and I enjoyed reminiscing.

[Locomotive Annie]

I just found a Lego man swimming in my cup of tea........?! Luckily he was a fireman and had the special training to cope with such a situation

I've been spending the day sorting and re-organising all my bricks from what was previously setup for building models for brick wargaming to now having everything nicely to hand for railway building.

I really enjoyed your video Brickster. Your wild West town looked great and was very much a complete layout to my eyes. Do any photographsstill exist of it at all? - because I'd love to see them

Thanks too for the tip about decals as I do have a decent colour printer and it will be fun to have a mess about to see what I can come up with.

I loved the Gravestone photo, great photography and composition. That would be one railway that wouldn't have to worry about vandals damaging company property.

Seeing your American 4-4-0 reminded me that we did have similar locos here in New Zealand in the early years, so I think I'll add one to the build list for my own railway layout.

I've read several times on the forum where members mention their 'Dark Age' and what prompted them to return to Lego again. Well for me this is my first time around with Lego, so I guess I had a reeeeally long 'Dark Age' lasting several decades before I was awakened to the delights of plastic bricks. Too much time looking after my children when they were small, holding down a job, tertiary study as well as holding down a job! - teenager taming! - and etc all served to keep me away from discovering Lego. Though I did manage to build the odd high quality railway model in brass and steel from time to time. Oh and in case anybody is wondering my kids never got the Lego bug, though I'm sure they knew about it from visiting their friends after school.

So there you are, that's why I find the older Lego trains so interesting, - I've never seen them before and discovering them for the first time is wonderful!

Edit: Oooooooo I've just discovered I've got a title thingy under my avatar. It's great, - I love it. Thanks Brickster.

Edited November 10, 2012 by Locomotive Annie

[Luke_likes_Lego]

Hi Annie,

Couldn't agree more - there are some great models out there - and what better medium for model trains than LEGO.

Welcome to a great hobby that I'm sure you'll get years of fun from.

One small hitch I have though is that all my track is the plastic R/C kind and the MOT series is 9 volt. I'm thinking that a suitable box van set up to be a battery carrier should solve the problem as there isn't exactly a lot of room for batteries in the locos themselves.

A tender car to hold the battery might be the answer (the Emerald Night does this - I think there are instructions for it on the LEGO website somewhere) . There are lots of ideas here at Eurobricks too. A search for keywords like:

MOD Powering PF 9V

should help.

Good luck with this and your sticker project. Don't forget to tell us how it goes.

LLL

[zephyr1934]

In regard to decals, they're really easy. You can try your method or simply create a black square in PowerPoint or photo program with the size you need (based on the 3x4 side panel), print and tape. Photo paper works better if you have a pretty good printer.

And to help camouflage your stickers printed on white paper you can go around the edge with a felt tip pen to hide the white edges.

[Duq]

Hi Annie,

If you don't want to go messing with Technic gears there is of course also the PF Train motor:

Bricklink

As for stickers, you can have a look for model train decals on eBay or you could get some bricks printed...

[JopieK]

We might be able to help out with the stickers :) plenty of experience! Our machine can print white on transparent we do that for 12V series as well...

[Hrw-Amen]

Nice to see those old trains. I did not get any of them unfortunately as I was in the Dark Age. Still, they look good so lets hope you enjoy them.

[Phoxtane]

I remember seeing those in the Lego catalog as a kid. Back then I was limited by my allowance, so I never got one

One thing that bothers me now: Why fluorescent green for the train lamps? I would think that trans-clear would be a more realistic solution!

[Alasdair Ryan]

Hi Annie,

If you don't want to go messing with Technic gears there is of course also the PF Train motor:

What..... but that's the best part of technic especially if you get backlash.....

But honestly if you gear down a pf motor it will be much faster than a standard motor,and if you get stuck come and see us on the technic forum.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Alasdair Ryan

[El H]

Nice to see the love for older trains but I can understand why these weren't wildy popular at the time. The Lego diesels of the early 2000's were big, bold and realistic.

The steam engines however just don't have the same appeal, to me at least. The solid, unbroken colours, the blockiness of it all, and the wheel set up..It it just doesn't convey the power and grace of the steam era.

BNSF or the Super Cheif don't look too shabby when placed next to their spiritual successor, the big Maersk. These trains are not in the same league as the Emerald Night though. Maybe with a bit of MOC/MOD stream lining and rebuilding the wheels they'll look better.

Good on you for going down this path though, they're definitely a niche.

[Locomotive Annie]

Thanks for the comments and advice everyone

EIH, - I do agree that the MOT steam locos do look a wee bit odd, but then I come from a part of the world where smaller sized articulated steam engines were familiar things both in the historic railway sense as well as in industrial settings. I'm going to post a thread for my WIP 'R' class single Fairlie loco and this particular MOC of mine was directly inspired by the MOT locos. I have other ideas up my sleeve for other MOT inspired articulated locos that worked the branch lines and timber tramways her in New Zealand. I plan on collecting the MOT loco sets over time and these will of course be left in original condition, but as to MOCs inspired by them there are plenty of prototypes to keep me amused.

Duq, - I've got train motor blocks in both R/C and PF forms coming via Bricklink as well as all manner of Technics bits so I can have a go at building up my own motorised loco underframes. For a start I will most probably just use the standard train motor blocks to keep things simple, but I do want to master the art of building my own mechs using Technics bits. When I was still building locos in metal I managed to get an electric motor and a bunch of gears to co-operate and work together, so I feel reasonably confident. And yes Alisdair, you will see me over at the Technics forum from time to time with questions to ask while I'm getting everything figured out.

JopieK, - thankyou for your kind offer regarding the stickers, - I will be in touch once I've figured out the sticker designs I want

[dr_spock]

Annie. If you've done electric motors in brass engines before, you can do it in Lego. It is not too much different, other than you don't have to solder, screw or drill. JopieK is a good guy for stickers.

[zephyr1934]

Duq, - I've got train motor blocks in both R/C and PF forms coming via Bricklink as well as all manner of Technics bits so I can have a go at building up my own motorised loco underframes. For a start I will most probably just use the standard train motor blocks to keep things simple, but I do want to master the art of building my own mechs using Technics bits. When I was still building locos in metal I managed to get an electric motor and a bunch of gears to co-operate and work together, so I feel reasonably confident. And yes Alisdair, you will see me over at the Technics forum from time to time with questions to ask while I'm getting everything figured out.

One of the biggest challenges with lego steam engines is figuring out how to make them work well on uneven track. Unlike most diesels, often steam engines have three or more sets of wheels on the track. If they are in a rigid plane, you'll likely have one set of wheels lift off the track when you hit a bump. If your layout is nice and flat (e.g., on the floor) it shouldn't be a problem. If you are contemplating bumpier terrain, then I'd suggest starting with the mechanicals and making sure it behaves when going over a bump (my test bench is an unconnected plate or technic axle placed under a rail joint, see "Northern Exposure" in Rail Bricks #5 for a few photos of what I mean). I've gotten to the point where I can handle some serious bumps (grin).

[Locomotive Annie]

Thanks Zephyr. I had another read of the 'Northern Exposure' article and this time around I did get more out of it as the first time I read it I hadn't attempted to build any locos yet. I find your locos inspiring to study and I hope one day I will be able to fearlessly build a large tender loco. Perhaps an 'Ab' class Pacific like my grandad used to drive

I guess with building a single Fairlie as my first loco MOC I have some of the advantages the diesel guys have in that an 'R' class single Fairlie rides on two bogies and is fully articulated without any pony trucks or other complications.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Locomotive Annie

[demaarten]

Old topic. But Today I just made a catch.

The complete my own train collection. With the black engine 10205, and all of the other trains 10013,10014,10015,10016,10017. The black engine included power functions which was nice. Bought for the original lego asking price in 2002.

Collection is getting to it's end. (Just want the christmass train, but it is just toooo expensive)