legoman666 Posted December 27, 2013 Posted December 27, 2013 Hi all! This build is for my LUGs next show in April. I might still make a few small changes between now and then, but for the most part it's done. In all its glory Custom Narrow gauge curve built from old 12/4.5 curved track. It can also run on the narrow gauge track from Indian Jones and The Lone Ranger (which is a tighter radius). Inside the powered cart. Motor is in the second cart. The third cart has the IR receiver and the last car has a 9V battery box. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P5lmRiPXFM In motion. My narrow gauge track is a little short.... Quote
Man with a hat Posted December 27, 2013 Posted December 27, 2013 Very nice. Amazing you managed to put PF in such a small model. Well done. It looks like it is running smooth a well. I always thought those small train wheels were having a lot of friction. Quote
legoman666 Posted December 27, 2013 Author Posted December 27, 2013 On 12/27/2013 at 7:43 AM, Man with a hat said: Very nice. Amazing you managed to put PF in such a small model. Well done. It looks like it is running smooth a well. I always thought those small train wheels were having a lot of friction. Thanks! I will admit that I replaced the stock friction bands with something better. I also had to solder an old 9V lead on to the IR receiver because the PF extension cable is wired weirdly. Quote
zephyr1934 Posted December 28, 2013 Posted December 28, 2013 Wow, impressive how you fit everything in while also including so much detail in a train that small. Quote
BricksMcgee Posted December 28, 2013 Posted December 28, 2013 Great work! Love the train. (Liked the RATM track in the background of the video too :p ) Quote
legoman666 Posted December 29, 2013 Author Posted December 29, 2013 (edited) On 12/28/2013 at 3:50 PM, zephyr1934 said: Wow, impressive how you fit everything in while also including so much detail in a train that small. Thanks! I was trying to figure out how the hell to fit the AAA PF battery box in when I remembered the old 9V box existed. I know the battery won't last long, so I bought some rechargeables. On 12/28/2013 at 4:29 PM, BricksMcgee said: Great work! Love the train. (Liked the RATM track in the background of the video too :p ) Haha, thanks. Good ear. The model I more or less based my locomotive off of. Alas, it's not even authentic, but it was doable ;) Edited December 30, 2013 by legoman666 Quote
ritzcrackerman Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 I looked for another comparable topic, so thought I would start a new one. Has anyone had success with a motorized narrow gauge railroad? I have been perusing Eurobricks, and finally have a design concept in mind - I found this little gem on Cuusoo, which I intend to borrow heavily from. http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/35520 Railbricks Issue 12 also has instructions for a mining cog train in 5-wide, that required a modification to the small train wheel to fit a Technic axle pin. I figure I will: 1) Build the locomotive, and two carriages - locomotive will have a modded small train wheel 2) Second carriage will house a PF M motor 3) Third carriage will house power supply (modded PF cable and standard 9V battery, per this page: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/168223) Oh, I wish LEGO would relase a "S" PF motor... It would make things so much easier... Has anyone had any other success using "illegal" techniques - such as third party motors, or power supplies to cut down on weight/size? Anyways, post your solutions and/or successes below. Quote
JopieK Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 @ritzcrackerman: well... here you go... (merged your topic with this recent thread!) Quote
jrathfon Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 I got some responses on my narrow gauge thread, but this guy used a small older 9V motor. I am doing a 6-wide oversized narrow gauge (see thread) as this fits my engine style. Thus, I will be doing an M-motor inside the tender with receiver and battery inside some other rolling stock (baggage car or something). Quote
ritzcrackerman Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 On 1/3/2014 at 6:31 PM, jrathfon said: I got some responses on my narrow gauge thread, but this guy used a small older 9V motor. I am doing a 6-wide oversized narrow gauge (see thread) as this fits my engine style. Thus, I will be doing an M-motor inside the tender with receiver and battery inside some other rolling stock (baggage car or something). Thank you for posting, I was able to find some other places for inspiration as well. I'll tackle the bricks tonight! I guess "narrow gage" is probably not the right term for me to have used; more, 4-wide track layout with a mini train. Quote
legoman666 Posted January 4, 2014 Author Posted January 4, 2014 On 1/3/2014 at 6:31 PM, jrathfon said: I got some responses on my narrow gauge thread, but this guy used a small older 9V motor. I am doing a 6-wide oversized narrow gauge (see thread) as this fits my engine style. Thus, I will be doing an M-motor inside the tender with receiver and battery inside some other rolling stock (baggage car or something). How did he get those pins on to the standard technic train wheels? I've been trying to get some working steam rods on my mini train with no luck. I wonder if he cheated... Quote
greenmtvince Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 I totally cheated. I put them in a jig on an end mill so I'd have a precision hole on each one. My rationalization was that modding the small wheels would be no different than using a Big Ben Bricks driver. I don't have pics of the completed porter up but I also have to cut down two technic pins to get half lengths on both sides for one set of wheels. If you're concerned about purity over appearance, try the technic crankshaft piece to get that half stud offset off the axle. Tony Sava uses them in his GE 45 tonner model. I think that part is referenced in the thread with the Porter locomotive. Quote
legoman666 Posted January 4, 2014 Author Posted January 4, 2014 On 1/4/2014 at 6:06 AM, greenmtvince said: I totally cheated. I put them in a jig on an end mill so I'd have a precision hole on each one. My rationalization was that modding the small wheels would be no different than using a Big Ben Bricks driver. I don't have pics of the completed porter up but I also have to cut down two technic pins to get half lengths on both sides for one set of wheels. If you're concerned about purity over appearance, try the technic crankshaft piece to get that half stud offset off the axle. Tony Sava uses them in his GE 45 tonner model. I think that part is referenced in the thread with the Porter locomotive. Lol, thought so ;) I have no problem with small cheats if Lego doesn't provide a viable alternative (train wheels, rods, batteries, wires, etc). I'll try the piston crankshaft piece, maybe I can cut it down some.... Quote
zephyr1934 Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 On 1/3/2014 at 9:09 PM, ritzcrackerman said: Thank you for posting, I was able to find some other places for inspiration as well. I'll tackle the bricks tonight! I guess "narrow gage" is probably not the right term for me to have used; more, 4-wide track layout with a mini train. Here's one of the better 4-wide trains I've seen... On 1/4/2014 at 5:22 AM, legoman666 said: How did he get those pins on to the standard technic train wheels? I've been trying to get some working steam rods on my mini train with no luck. I wonder if he cheated... This was my pure 5 stud spaced rail locomotive with working rods using the crank shaft parts (I borrowed this idea from someone else, but I don't remember who). It isn't pretty, the crank shafts have poor clutch, but it still gets the job done. Quote
legoman666 Posted January 5, 2014 Author Posted January 5, 2014 On 1/4/2014 at 10:39 PM, zephyr1934 said: This was my pure 5 stud spaced rail locomotive with working rods using the crank shaft parts (I borrowed this idea from someone else, but I don't remember who). It isn't pretty, the crank shafts have poor clutch, but it still gets the job done. I modified mine last night. Not super happy with the length of the crankshaft piece (or its clutch strength), but otherwise looks okay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaJxYwdGhJ8 Works well in any case. Quote
jrathfon Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 On 1/4/2014 at 5:22 AM, legoman666 said: How did he get those pins on to the standard technic train wheels? I've been trying to get some working steam rods on my mini train with no luck. I wonder if he cheated... Like greenmtnvince said, the other option is to use medium drivers from Big Ben Bricks: http://bigbenbricks.com/products/products.html Quote
UrbanErwin Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 Thanks for posting this! I think I can use some of your solutions for my own version if you don't mind Quote
peterab Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 You might find Alex's Puffing Billy 4W layout interesting; Quote
ritzcrackerman Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 On 1/7/2014 at 6:11 AM, peterab said: You might find Alex's Puffing Billy 4W layout interesting; http://www.flickr.co...uge/9655019706/ Thank you, this is an awesome post; he's captured the 6W train on 4W gage track look, which looks amazing! Quote
peterab Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 On 1/7/2014 at 11:51 PM, ritzcrackerman said: Thank you, this is an awesome post; he's captured the 6W train on 4W gage track look, which looks amazing! Take a good look around his and Teunis' flickr stream; http://www.flickr.com/photos/33949953@N07/ I'm pretty sure you'll find internal photos and all the trackwork such as the working narrow gauge points. If you'd like anything more our biggest display for the year is a couple of weeks away so I should be able to get photos then, just let me know. Alex is a volunteer on the real Puffing Billy railway, so all his rolling stock is pretty accurate although somewhat unpure (pure as mud). His 12 wide rolling stock are things of beauty. Quote
Doom2099 Posted January 9, 2014 Posted January 9, 2014 This is a very nice narrow guage set up! Though it seems to me that since Lego has nice curves and ramps from sets like the Temple of Doom, that eventually they'd put out straight sections in 4 wide so we don't have to resort to old 4.5v track? More track options in a town is always a good thing! Quote
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