XL-Drivers from Big Ben Bricks

[HoMa]

Hi all,

recently I've recieved some prototypes of XL Drivers and Blind Drivers of Big Ben Bricks www.bigbenbricks.com.

The size is similar to the old spoked wheels from the 70's:

The new XL wheel comes in a standard and a "blind driver" version, both have a counterweight similar to the Emerald Night wheel.

This picture shows all four sizes from Big Ben Bricks, from left to right:

XL ... the new size

L ... same size as the Emerald Night wheel

M ... same size as the old LEGO wheel from #7750

S ... standard LEGO train wheel size

Every next size you need another plate height to get them in right order.

I used these XL wheels in a Power Function BR 23. The loco has one train weight brick and one XL motor. This gives enough weight so the wheels do not slip and they have enough grip to pull a tender and 4 old, badly running waggons. The recargeable battery box is in the tender.

See pics and videos at: my flickr album

NOTE: I don't know when these XL wheels will be officially available, I don't know in whick colors they will come and I also don't know how much they will be. Please check Big Ben Bricks www.bigbenbricks.com for further information.

Holger

[HoMa]

Hi,

just got some more information from Ben:

XL drivers will be available around the end of the January in Red, Black

and Dark Gray.

Holger ... in behalf of Ben

[missouri_bb63]

That is great news! I almost regret buying the wheels for my next MOC last summer, but I am sure I'll still be able to put them to use somewhere.

I have been searching the net for trains which would compliment this size of wheel. I was originally going to build a Challenger but I am not sure whether these wheels are the right scale. I'll be looking into that and the opinions of fellow Eurobrick users are welcome too!

Which locomotive would, or will you guys be building with these wheels?

[SavaTheAggie]

Typically, I use large BBB drivers for steam engines with drivers between about 55"-65", and medium BBB drivers for steam engines with wheels smaller than that. So with these new XL drivers I'll be using them for steam engines with drivers larger than about 65".

Currently I'm looking at building a 5AT with my XL drivers. I briefly considered retrofitting my T1 for the XL drivers, since the prototype had something like 75" drivers, but I've decided against it - I'd have to do a lot of rebuilding to get them to fully clear all the articulation I built in.

--Tony

[missouri_bb63]

Hi Tony, thanks for feedback! I just looked up the Challenger and it seems to have 69" drivers so I think th XL's would probably look quite good.

I can imagine it will be a lot of work to retro-fit the T1 but I think it would look amazing. I can't wait to see your interpretation of the 5AT. It seems so have a very curvy, aerodamic shape so it will definitely be a challenge. My alternative to the Challenger is the British Tornado which can be found here. I wouldn't mind having something in green for a change. Only drawback is that the wheels are green too.. so I might have to wait a bit.

On a side note, I am not sure how long it will take Ben to find someone to make LDraw/CAD versions of the XL wheels, but thanks to HoMa pointing out that it is the same size as the spoked wheels (part 35), one can use those in MLCad instead.

How about the rest of you guys? Which trains would you build with XL drivers?

[peterab]

These wheels look great and are a welcome addition.

That is great news! I almost regret buying the wheels for my next MOC last summer, but I am sure I'll still be able to put them to use somewhere.

Which locomotive would, or will you guys be building with these wheels?

Oh my, I also seem to have bought some BBB wheels which may now have to be repurposed for another engine. Once I've finished my BR50 (it is still progressing, just not very fast) I plan to build a BR01 or BR03 since they are so similar (at least the boiler size, cab and tender). These extra large drivers will be perfect.

Edited January 12, 2010 by peterab

[Leergut]

Hi.

Since the Emerald night parts (the wheels) appeared on bricklink in europe, some european people have no need to order BBB wheels in the usa. Perhaps the new xl-drivers (could) change this??

Leergut

Edited January 12, 2010 by Leergut

[Helmantel]

Hi.

Since the Emerald night parts (the wheels) appeared on bricklink in europe, some european people have no need to order BBB wheels in the usa. Perhaps the new xl-drivers (could) change this??

Leergut

But they only come in black. For the popular German engines with the red wheels you would still need the BBB wheels.

Nice wheels! I'll order a set when they come out.

Nice engine by the way. Those great looking tankers that it's pulling, are they made of parts of the MOT 10016 tanker? That would make them 8 wide, which I think looks too big on that one, but on yours they look much better in proportion. They look like 6 (2 x 3) wide, but they don't exist.

Edited January 12, 2010 by Helmantel

[SavaTheAggie]

Hi.

Since the Emerald night parts (the wheels) appeared on bricklink in europe, some european people have no need to order BBB wheels in the usa. Perhaps the new xl-drivers (could) change this??

Leergut

Not only do BBB large drivers come in other colors besides black, as previously stated, you seem to forget Big Ben Bricks also offers medium drivers and small train wheels, all in multiple colors.

--Tony

[Brickthus]

...

Which locomotive would, or will you guys be building with these wheels?

The previous wheels are 30.4mm diameter, making these new ones 36.8mm diameter, which is 4'7.2" in 8mm:1ft scale.

Therefore I'll use them for locos with wheels between 4' and 5', most likely tank engines.

There are some locos for which suspended sets of driving wheels wouldn't work because there wouldn't be enough unpowered wheels on the track , either in bogies or pony trucks, to support the loco, especially going round curves. The larger drivers alleviate this, enabling locos with too few pony wheels to be built, such as an 0-4-4 or 2-4-2.

I might do an "Oliver the Western Engine", an 0-4-2 whose drivers are 5'2" IRL. I already have Toad the brake van and Scruffey the trucks' ringleader from the Awdry story!

I was really hoping Ben would make some wheels of 49.6mm diameter, which is 6'2.4" for larger main line locos.

2 larger sizes to go, because 43.2mm would have to come first. The increments are 6.4mm for the 2 plates' height per size. 43.2mm could replace 40-tooth cogs and maybe these modified model team wheels in some applications.

One thing to remember when doing a 3-cylinder engine, as in the link above, is that you need wheels with holes at 30 degrees to the orthogonal axle orientation in order to get angles of 120 degrees for 3 cranks. In fact the angle wasn't precisely 120 degrees but it's close enough. BBB wheels with 1 hole would struggle to provide this, to they're best for 2 and 4-cylinder locos.

Mark

[HoMa]

Nice engine by the way. Those great looking tankers that it's pulling, are they made of parts of the MOT 10016 tanker? That would make them 8 wide, which I think looks too big on that one, but on yours they look much better in proportion. They look like 6 (2 x 3) wide, but they don't exist.

The tankers are 8-wide and build in the early 2000's using the grey Panels 4 x 4 x 6 Quarter Cylinder from 7106 Star Wars Droid Escape (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=7106-1).

See more of my 8-wide train stuff at:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=matthes

http://www.holgermatthes.de/bricks_us/index.htm

Holger