Steam locomotive in eight wide

[simonwillems]

Hello my dear community,

Some time ago I received my first order of Big Ben Bricks custom trainwheels and soon after that I started experimenting. I bought these wheels thanks to our member Tony (Savatheaggie) who inspired me with his beautiful trains.

I decided to go back to my childhood and reconstruct the model train locomotive I was given as an 8 year old. It took some time to get used to the new dimensions of the wheels and the correct way to apply the connectionrods between the wheels, but I managed, and want to show you the result below.

It has become an eight-wide model with working front light (only one) and working fire using the light provided by the RCX lightsensor connected to a 9v battery inside the locomotive.

The motor in the tender powers the train and also the taillights mounted in the rear of the tender.

Excuse me in advance for the darkness of the pictures, this is the best my camera can do and I found it very hard to take good pictures of this big black model....

Here you can see an overview of the locomotive, together with it's drivers,

a view from the side

more detailed view, showing the side connectionrods on the wheels,

front view, showing the only working headlight,

here you can see the angled 'cockpit'

view from the rear, showing the taillights on the motorized tender,

this one's kind of blurry, taken without flash to show the fire burning inside. The lightsensor provides such a strong light that it blinds me every time I look at it and the camera suffered likewise.... :'-(

the same picture, but taken with flash. I made the fire using this piece filled up with round 1x1 transparant red and yellow 'lights'. The lightsensor is placed directly behind it shining his light through. You can see the round pieces in this picture as well as the reflection of the sensor itself which is blue.

In this picture you can see a technic liftarm on the side of the kettle with a technic axle on one side, this is the hidden switch that controls the lights, it can be turned causing the polarity switch, hidden inside, to switch on the lights.

A view from above,

the tender, you can clearly see the motor here, the front wheels swivel, allowing the tender to get through all the curves,

the model I used to build this train in comparision,

can you see the difference....? :-)

and from the side,

the underside,

the train in the layout.... Hey what's that!? Engine trouble solved practically with live stock on the road parallel to the tracks... *sweet*

this one is to show the size of the locomotive compared to the original 4554 station,

here you can see that the train is capable of taking every curve.

The Brickshelf gallery

And that concludes the sightseeing, comments are welcome of course!

:-)

[Stealth Hunter]

It´s wonderful!

A true beauty! *wub*

[Dragonator]

That is a wonderfully build engine well done! *y* The wheels look very nice, Perhaps I should get some to try out...

I like the way you've done the fire, very ingenious, and the greebles give a very realistic impression of steam pipes and valves etc.

Great work, you seem to have a real talent in these! *sweet*

[legotrainfan]

Wow, what an excellent locomotive! And you added some nice details! It really looks like the model train! And you didn't forget that it should be able to go through curvy areas of your layout! Congrats for this unique MOC! *y*

[Asuka]

A very fine engine indeed, detailed and marvelous, and the idea with the working lights is pretty smart too. And that sloped cab looks really cool! :'-)

[Hinckley]

This is such a beauty *wub* Wait until Hobbes sees it. *sing* Hey Hobbes! Look at this! :-D :-D :-D

Seriously, it's one of the best steam locomotives I've ever seen. Eight Wide On! Wouldn't it be beautiful for LEGO to start creating sets in this scale. That's a real train, man. I love how much detail you got in there and the "cab" (is that the right word for where the engineers drives it?) is just ingenious. I love the way you used the hinges to create that unique curved shape. I can't wait to see more trains from you. I really like your building style. *sweet* *y*

[SavaTheAggie]

Well done, a fine looking kettle. I've been thinking about doing a European/German style steamer for a while, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to it.

My only nitpick is your pistons are far too high. 99.99% of all steam locomotives (where the pistons pushed the drive wheels directly) had their pistons level with the drive wheels' axles. The reason for this is to balance the performance of the locomotive as well as to reduce wear on the rails. If the pistons were off center or angled and were attached directly to drivers the pushing stroke could 'hit' the rails, causing undue stress and friction. This is sometimes hard to do in LEGO, and while I've only been able to accomplish it on a few of my locomotives, if I have to put them off center I always try to have my pistons at most a plate-height off.

--Tony

[MatthewUSA]

I can only express my reaction with two words, VERY COOL!! Your MOC is great simon. I would have to say that your model has definitly inspired me to look into purchasing some of the steam locomotive wheels as well. I had not realized that the wheels were that realistic and well designed/built. Thank you for sharing your model with us.

Model On!!

[simonwillems]

Thanks guys, glad you like it. All these kind words really mean a lot to me! :-$

... and the "cab" (is that the right word for where the engineers drives it?) is just ingenious.

Thanks! Yes, I think that might be the right word. I called it 'cockpit' before but your suggestion seems more suitable :-D

Well done, a fine looking kettle. I've been thinking about doing a European/German style steamer for a while, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to it.

My only nitpick is your pistons are far too high. 99.99% of all steam locomotives (where the pistons pushed the drive wheels directly) had their pistons level with the drive wheels' axles. The reason for this is to balance the performance of the locomotive as well as to reduce wear on the rails. If the pistons were off center or angled and were attached directly to drivers the pushing stroke could 'hit' the rails, causing undue stress and friction. This is sometimes hard to do in LEGO, and while I've only been able to accomplish it on a few of my locomotives, if I have to put them off center I always try to have my pistons at most a plate-height off.

--Tony

Thanks for commenting on my engine, nice to read some words from the train expert here on Eurobricks.

As to the pistons: I couldn't get it quite the way I wanted and spend hours trying and experimenting with the various possible driving-rods. The model I modelled my locomotive on had a very complicated system of pistons, levers and hinges which was not at all possible to make that way, so I tried some configurations of my own.

I encountered various problems with the rods sliding out of the pistons at certain times and decided to go for the construction with which the train rolled the best. But I still think it needs some work....

I took some this picture of the work in process before I received the correct wheels, it shows the complexity of the real modeltrain's side. You'll also notice the lack of the sidepanel up front, playing with this train as an eight year old caused the glue to dissolve.... :'-(

:-)

[Captain Green Hair]

Excellent work as always Simon! *y*

I wish i had the room do do a train layout :'-)

Hey Simon, since we live so nearby eachother maybe we should get a beer sometime?

[SavaTheAggie]

I've usually foregone building all the myriad of valves and switches when building pistons, opting to capture the much more simpler action of the main piston. The other valves and switches are there to allow the locomotive to run well in both forward and reverse and to allow the piston to push with both in and out motions. This wikipedia page has a great animation of how it works:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walschaerts_valve_gear

I recently updated the pistons on two of my locomotives and took some close-up pictures of them. Maybe they'll give you some ideas on how to resolve any issues you have.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/savatheaggie/2333549800/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/savatheaggie/2333549596/

--Tony

[simonwillems]

I've usually foregone building all the myriad of valves and switches when building pistons, opting to capture the much more simpler action of the main piston. The other valves and switches are there to allow the locomotive to run well in both forward and reverse and to allow the piston to push with both in and out motions. This wikipedia page has a great animation of how it works:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walschaerts_valve_gear

I recently updated the pistons on two of my locomotives and took some close-up pictures of them. Maybe they'll give you some ideas on how to resolve any issues you have.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/savatheaggie/2333549800/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/savatheaggie/2333549596/

--Tony

Thank you, your solution looks great and if it works just as good as it looks I must certainly give it a try!

Great wikipedia animation as well:

As soon as I get back to my Lego (I live in Amsterdam, my Lego is in a different part of Holland with my parents) I will start experimenting some more.

[zouave]

GASP Which one lego and which one is the model? Very wonderful job.

[simonwillems]

GASP Which one lego and which one is the model? Very wonderful job.

Well..., the smallest one in this picture would be the model ;-) :

Thanks!

Edited March 29, 2008 by simonwillems