WA AB Class Locomotive and train - LDD

[ummester]

Around half of this design is completed in bricks. Flickr album updated here https://www.flickr.c...57650687174452/

Locomotive:

Gondola cars, based on zephyr's

Container car - there are 2 of these but I haven't got the parts to make any containers yet

And the tank car, that was planned before anything else - This one is in BP colours to suit the Ozzie theme. I want to make a longer grey or black one of these now but I'm not sure how much the parts will cost.

Edited March 21, 2015 by ummester

[ummester]

The trucks on the Loco are annoying me - seeing it in bricks, I find everything but them looks close enough to the reference photos. So I have been working on new truck designs.

The top design shows trucks with true six axles and gears, aka the type of trucks legoman666 makes. The bottom design is faux truck detail over 2 axles per truck in PF motor configuration (the PF motor is in the front truck).

I know the top truck looks better but what I can't decide is whether or not it looks sufficiently better for the internal remodeling required on the loco, not to mention the performance drop that might occur with a single truck running on a single PF technic style motor. I really can't decide which way to proceed? Advice?

Edited March 23, 2015 by ummester

[M_slug357]

Nice to see it in the brick though, keep it up!

[zephyr1934]

That is coming along nicely. As for your truck dilemma, could you build up one of each (or modify one to the other) and just see if in bricks the change is worth it? That way, as long as you did not need to run through curves I do not think you would have to rebuild before making the call.

[ummester]

I've made one fake truck - with the wrong colors - and it runs very smoothly, a bit smoother than the passenger train, because this loco is fair bit heavier. From a distance the fake trucks look fine, as it is quite dark under the loco and the brick work hides where the wheels hit the tracks - the only time where the illusion fails is around corners, which is where the running for different truck models fails.

Man, I'm starting to dislike LEGO corner tracks - but the flip side is the gauge of the trains is so big you need a lot of space to play with layouts, so I can see why they tried to keep the corners tight.

I have some Steam drivers on order zephyr, so I am going to take you advice and muck around with a steam train chassis first, before I try and build the whole thing. One thing this diesel loco has taught me, with LEGO trains, is to start from the wheel design, then work out what kind of motor you need, then model the train.

[jamesed_1971]

If you have the room, you could always buy ME Models Wide radius Track (from R56 to R104, R56,R72,R88,R104) as standard Lego Curves are R40 in Radius and good luck on building your steam locomotive

[jtlan]

I have some Steam drivers on order zephyr, so I am going to take you advice and muck around with a steam train chassis first, before I try and build the whole thing. One thing this diesel loco has taught me, with LEGO trains, is to start from the wheel design, then work out what kind of motor you need, then model the train.

An important lesson to learn (and one that I know that many builders haven't already learned...!). Good thing you learned it here on a diesel locomotive instead of something more complex.

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, you might consider using the three-axle truck design from Railbricks #6, powered using PF M or L motors. You should be able to power both trucks if you're willing to sacrifice the interior of the cab.

[ummester]

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, you might consider using the three-axle truck design from Railbricks #6, powered using PF M or L motors. You should be able to power both trucks if you're willing to sacrifice the interior of the cab.

You mean this one jtlan?

http://railbricks.com/instructions/three-axle-truck/

That design, like the one I was using initially, has the wheels too close together to corner well.

The only other 3 axle design I can see on Railbricks is this one

http://railbricks.com/instructions/3-axle-shared-passenger-truck/

The only way this could be powered is with a motor inside the loco and gears.

EDIT - just found the actual magazine, Railbricks #6 and saw the 3 axle design in it. Again, it is a truck that needs to be gear driven and powered by a motor other than the PF train motor. From what Legoman666 posted, a single small motor will not compete with the PF train motor.

The original issue still stands - there is no close to perfect way to power a 3 axle truck with the PF train motor or in a less than 7 wide loco design.

Edited March 27, 2015 by ummester

[ummester]

Sticker Questions, drawing attention to the reference pic for this loco again:

I could do the white strips with cuts from a LEGO sticker sheet and the designation with a clear tape in a label maker. The only thing I can't work out how to make sticky is the WA railways logo. I could replicate this easy enough in Photoshop - I just don't know how to get it on a small transparent sticker. Anyone have any ideas?

[Phoxtane]

Anyone have any ideas?

A print/graphics shop in town may be more than happy to do whatever stickers you'd want - for a reasonable fee, of course.