MOD of 76423, Hogwarts Express with Hogsmead Station

[zephyr1934]

I am happy to present my MOD (actually two MODs) to Lego set 76423, Hogwarts Express with Hogsmead Station.

As you likely know, last month Lego released their 91st version of the Hogwarts Express. I think this one is the nicest standard gauge version Lego has released so far. Yeah, that is not saying much, but I think the engine is very well proportioned at 6 wide. That means it feels even smaller scale than the city trains, but if you ignore the fact that it is tiny next to a minifig, it has good proportions and I like how they hid the flanges on the drivers.

I've now made two MODs to the locomotive that retain the general appearance but enhance it in various ways.

The first MOD is simply cosmetic, adding side rods to the locomotive.

 

I really wanted to also add connecting rods but the locomotive is just so tight at 6 wide that anything to add connecting rods has too much of a trade-off. Either going over 8 wide on such a short engine or adding a few studs between the driver wheels and the cylinders. The latter is definitely doable, but it would be a much larger reworking than what I was aiming for.

The second MOD is more ambitious...

... I know, doesn't look much different in pictures, but that's because pictures don't move.

 

 

A Circuit Cubes motor fits nicely in among the drive wheels

 

And the Bluetooth controller/battery fits within the space of the existing tender

 

The power cube easily pops out for access to the power switch and charging port

 

The spacing works with the stock Circuit Cube wire

 

I did make one purely mechanical mod to the tender, removing the center axle to facilitate rounding R40 curves while retaining the wheel holder to maintain appearances.

 

 

Access to full instructions for both MODs can be found here for free

 

Enjoy!

 

[Feuer Zug]

Great work on the mods. The siderods alone do wonders for this model. Adding the circuit cube motor is icing on the cake. Well done.

[Murdoch17]

Great work! Glad to see you were able to motorize it without changing that much.

[zephyr1934]

Thanks for the kind words. I was amazed at how well the circuit cubes fit in, it was as if the stars aligned

[ejayb]

It runs okay driving just the rear axle and relying on the side rods? 

I had trouble doing that with my 08

[zephyr1934]

4 hours ago, ejayb said:

It runs okay driving just the rear axle and relying on the side rods? 

Actually it is driving the front axle, but yes. Note that I only put traction bands on the front axle, so the rear is really just for show. Most if not all of the propulsion is coming from the front axle.

Driving on one axle is probably best for most steam engines, otherwise, on curves (especially R40) the different axles will fight each other due to the non-equal radii of the two rails. In fact I've heard some folks say only use a traction band on a single wheel so that the other slide can slip, but I prefer to have traction on both rails.

Mind you, this is a light train and the circuit cube is a small motor and small battery. So there is a limit to what you can move with it.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Side rods and electric motor, two substantial modifications that make this little locomotive a living jewel!

Great improvement as usual from you!

[zephyr1934]

14 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Side rods and electric motor, two substantial modifications that make this little locomotive a living jewel!

Great improvement as usual from you!

Thank you thank you, though I must admit, I think the motorization might outshine the rods in this case and the motorization went almost as if the original set designer had planned for the two necessary open spaces to be where they were.

 

[idlemarvel]

Wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or add to this one, but as it is quite recent I chose the latter.

I got this set #76423 "for my grandson" and we enjoyed making it together.  He wanted it motorised.  I have a Circuits Cube but I thought I'd see if I could use the more conventional Lego Train Motor and Smart Hub.  There's no room for either of these in the loco but the motor fits nicely under the tender and plenty of room for the hub in the first carriage.

The second picture shows the motor under the tender.  This way around the motor is going "backwards" which you have to remember when using the handset - the cable is long enough to have put it the "right" way round.

The third picture shows the carriage with the hub inside.  Plenty of slack in the cable.  The green thing is "the world's smallest Bluetooth speaker" an i-Star 79268 which is a 4 ohm 2 W speaker smaller than 4 studs square and 3 bricks deep.  It is linked to the tablet with the Powered UP app so the sounds come from the train not the tablet.

With more time I could have made a better job of the tender, like adding a row of dark red tiles under the tender sides to match the 6x8 plate that was removed, but it shows in principle that this approach will work.  The tender needs more weight as there is quite a bit of wheel slip if you start on a bend, but there is no trouble pushing the loco through R40 points and S bends. Short video below:

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by idlemarvel
typo

[zephyr1934]

52 minutes ago, idlemarvel said:

The green thing is "the world's smallest Bluetooth speaker" an i-Star 79268 which is a 4 ohm 2 W speaker smaller than 4 studs square and 3 bricks deep.  It is linked to the tablet with the Powered UP app so the sounds come from the train not the tablet.

That's brilliant in the simplicity

[ejayb]

On 7/13/2023 at 4:10 PM, zephyr1934 said:

Actually it is driving the front axle, but yes. Note that I only put traction bands on the front axle, so the rear is really just for show. Most if not all of the propulsion is coming from the front axle.

Driving on one axle is probably best for most steam engines, otherwise, on curves (especially R40) the different axles will fight each other due to the non-equal radii of the two rails. In fact I've heard some folks say only use a traction band on a single wheel so that the other slide can slip, but I prefer to have traction on both rails.

Mind you, this is a light train and the circuit cube is a small motor and small battery. So there is a limit to what you can move with it.

Sorry for the late reply!

The reason I asked was because I had trouble with my BR 08 (0-6-0) binding when driving only the rear axle and using side rods.

I had better results driving the middle axle but I ended up driving the front and middle axle.

 

 

This YouTuber managed to fit 88008 motor in there.

[dvw2]

Has anybody seen a digital build of the Hogsmeade Station from this set? I'd love to Bricklink the pieces for it and add it as a second destination alongside Kings Cross from 75955.

[Murdoch17]

1 hour ago, dvw2 said:

Has anybody seen a digital build of the Hogsmeade Station from this set? I'd love to Bricklink the pieces for it and add it as a second destination alongside Kings Cross from 75955.

@dvw2 On this Rebrickable page for the set, scroll down to "sub sets". You'll see the station there. Click on it, and it has an inventory of all the parts used.

[dvw2]

Aha! Thank you, @Murdoch17! That's perfect. Onward!