Moving vehicles in a Lego city (100% Lego solution)

[ER0L]

HI all,

since there'll be another exhibition soon I'm actually revamping a lot of builds. This is some stuff which has been reactivated and properly modularized on an actual R66 plate (see below). I've combined it with the PF monorail (which in fact is much larger and also has a second train, however it gets quite difficult already to control all the moving stuff, that's why I try to keep things easy to navigate).

Looking at this I get the impression that it's a good idea not only to have some moving stuff on a Lego layout but also to illuminate what can be illuminated, trains included. However, it should be done at an early building state, otherwise it might be difficult to be implemented.

Regarding the actual R66 modules:

One MDF board (3x4 baseplates, 19 mm) with roads, baseplates and railroad tracks + one foldable table (can be omitted if there are suitable tables at the location) + one 60x40 eurobox with buildings, vehicles, minifigs and all other stuff needed on this special module = one R66 module.

Thanks for looking!

 

 

[Mrlikeslegothings]

On 9/22/2024 at 12:45 PM, ER0L said:

HI all,

since there'll be another exhibition soon I'm actually revamping a lot of builds. This is some stuff which has been reactivated and properly modularized on an actual R66 plate (see below). I've combined it with the PF monorail (which in fact is much larger and also has a second train, however it gets quite difficult already to control all the moving stuff, that's why I try to keep things easy to navigate).

Looking at this I get the impression that it's a good idea not only to have some moving stuff on a Lego layout but also to illuminate what can be illuminated, trains included. However, it should be done at an early building state, otherwise it might be difficult to be implemented.

Regarding the actual R66 modules:

One MDF board (3x4 baseplates, 19 mm) with roads, baseplates and railroad tracks + one foldable table (can be omitted if there are suitable tables at the location) + one 60x40 eurobox with buildings, vehicles, minifigs and all other stuff needed on this special module = one R66 module.

Thanks for looking!

 

 

Yeah, I was thinking and I was going to do mils road as well.

[ER0L]

On 9/25/2024 at 12:40 AM, Mrlikeslegothings said:

Yeah, I was thinking and I was going to do mils road as well.

OK, but what is "mils roads"? Is there already a road system with moving vehicles? I'd obviously be quite interested in that. 

Here you can see the 2nd Lenkwerk layout consisting of 3 modules plus a small Monorail setup. I can say that it was quite a success and will hopefully be continued in the future. The idea is to add another feature or even module at every event. 

 

Here you can see the module setup without buildings, vehicles and stuff. This makes it quite easy to set up a layout in no time.

Thanks for looking!

 

Edited October 1, 2024 by ER0L

[Mrlikeslegothings]

On 10/1/2024 at 11:07 AM, ER0L said:

OK, but what is "mils roads"? Is there already a road system with moving vehicles? I'd obviously be quite interested in that. 

Here you can see the 2nd Lenkwerk layout consisting of 3 modules plus a small Monorail setup. I can say that it was quite a success and will hopefully be continued in the future. The idea is to add another feature or even module at every event. 

 

Here you can see the module setup without buildings, vehicles and stuff. This makes it quite easy to set up a layout in no time.

Thanks for looking!

 

Surprised you don't know what mils stands for.

[imvanya]

It’s Modular Integrated Landscaping System: https://www.abellon.net/MILS/ The Town subforum has a bunch of topics for all kinds off MILS plates.

I don’t know much about it but moving vehicles don’t seem to be an integral part of the system. However, the MILS plates are built so maybe your solutions for slot cars could be adapted to fit MILS.

Edited October 3, 2024 by imvanya

[ER0L]

 

On 10/3/2024 at 10:24 AM, imvanya said:

It’s Modular Integrated Landscaping System: https://www.abellon.net/MILS/ The Town subforum has a bunch of topics for all kinds off MILS plates.

I don’t know much about it but moving vehicles don’t seem to be an integral part of the system. However, the MILS plates are built so maybe your solutions for slot cars could be adapted to fit MILS.

Thanks a lot imvanya, I remember I've seen this before. However, as far as I can see via your link MILS roads are tiled, so my system won't work there.

In my experience SNOT roads and pavements offer a lot of possibilities in Town related, vehicle-based layouts (e. g. you get nice curves and thin road markings, also the exact positioning of buildings is much easier than with baseplates, last but not least you can easily install streetlights with cables underneath a hollow pavement) whereas MILS seems to be a great thing when you're focussed on large train layouts with rather demanding landscaping requirements. 

Edited October 8, 2024 by ER0L

[ER0L]

Hi all,

here you can see some details and a rather random video of the actual R66 modular layout I'm exhibiting in my home town two times a year. One has to keep in mind that this is still only my part of a larger project together with two other builders - however things are growing slowly but surely. The fourth Lenkwerk setup combines 4 modules with a small Monorail loop and - for the first time in this environment - a train loop. No new moving stuff, however some newer builds from recent months have been added:

• an updated NYC Checker taxi cab
• 2 overworked hot rods 
• a car transporter with three Porsches and three "Erolton" Roadsters
• a Mercedes Benz /8 Coupé

With the train loop added, this might be the largest layout - more or less - manageable by a single person; further modules (and there's still a lot of stuff in the pipeline) will probably remain rather static. Still dreaming of adding the Chicago style elevated train one day, though ... 

Thanks for looking!

[I_really_want_that_gearbox]

Wow! This looks awesome, I love the details on the vehicles and in the town. Hope to see more like this!

[ER0L]

On 10/7/2025 at 11:27 PM, I_really_want_that_gearbox said:

Wow! This looks awesome, I love the details on the vehicles and in the town. Hope to see more like this!

Thank you, glad you like it! There will definitely be more stuff coming. Even though I’m not building much these days, there are quite a few things in the pipeline that just need to be modularized - mostly busywork. From time to time there’ll be another car MOC or MOD; one is about to be published soon. Plus, there are the two other builders I’m hoping to collaborate with once again.

In this Flickr group, you can get an impression of how the whole project has evolved over the years: https://flic.kr/g/FLdo6

I'd like to add another pic from the last event, more vehicle-focused: 

 

With so much going on, you sometimes forget that the cars are a main feature of this Route 66 layout. At least the subject was chosen to present them in their „natural surrounding“ in the first place.

Another consideration is that when you build cars for displays, they won’t always be photographed from their best angle - quite different from what LEGO car builders on Flickr or Instagram tend to do, where the goal is to capture that one picture that shows off the creation in the most perfect way (I try that too), while avoiding unfavorable angles. You better think of that before putting a car model on display.

Thanks for looking, more to come!