Ashi Valkoinen

CAF Urbos 3 tram, Budapest [REAL MOC]

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Hi all,

few months ago I introduced my CAF Urbos 3 type tram, delivered by the spanish company for Budapest public transport company in a LEGO Digital Designer format. Bricklink orders arrived and in the last two weeks I could finally have the tram for real instead of LDD print screens. In this topic I'll show the building tricks I used in the vechile (I dare to say it features some really unique ones) and how it was build.

The tram is 8 studs wide, with the length of 7 and half normal length straight tracks. It consists of around 2500 parts in the cost of around 300$-s. The LDD-design took around 40 work hours, the building and getting rid of some failures in LDD-design (such as suspension and coupling) took other 25 work hours. I plan to implement PF-based indoor lights and front/tail lights later, keeping the 9V driving system.

So, an overall photo:

caf_00.png

Tram has five sections, number 1,3 and 5 have wheels, 2nd and 4th one are suspended on the neighbouring sections. First and last section is powered by 9V train motor.

caf_01.png

First and last section.The yellow bricks, plates and tiles next to the wheels, the bottom and the roof of the tram are built in normal direction, but entire windows, doors and narrowing front wall is built in SNOT. Note the yellow tiles under the door and driver's cab looking downwards and the black hinge plates serving as life-saving-frame. And yes, real tram exactly has the same long nose.

caf_02.png

Non-driven wheels under the middle section. First I used simple train wheels, but then I discovered that it runs straight on a point set to curve, so I replaced traditional metal-axle wheels with PF-train wheels and axles, because the gauge between wheels can be set up in this configuration to avoid friction and derailments.

caf_03_hinges.png

Front section hinge solutions, hinge parts marked with red circles. The middle hinges prevent the two sides of driver's cab from dislocation.

caf_04.png

Driver's cab door can be opened. It was hard time to get two of these airplane windows in black, but the real tram has a little window for selling tickets with rounded edges and black frame. So, there it is.

caf_05_attach.png

Red circles show where the roof and the body of the tram can be connected. At the front there are hinge brick 1×2's to prove the needed angle for front window, other hinge plate 1×2's lock the front window to the roof (yellow ones, no red circles around them). White plates connect the two parts at the driver's cab. On right there are some SNOT 1×1 bricks with side studs in the SNOT window panel.

caf_06.png

Tricky part was this. The slope 1×2×2/3 is needed at the beginning of the narrowing part, since a simple brick or tile won't fit there without a gap. But the little 1×1×2/3 yellow slopes look forward at the front of the tram, I turned 180° with two headlight bricks inside the structure.

caf_07.png

A simple pantograph design using hinge plates, cutable 3 mm rigid hoses and minifig hands. Top part is built from two ski plates. You can also take a look at the coupling system, SNOT panels and slope bricks grants you can't see through the coupling from side view, but it allows the tram to take curves.

caf_08.png

I experienced the most problems with the coupling system. The middle cars have some weight and a single connection with technic beam or plate let the middle car go a little down, get stuck on switches and I hated when the line between black and yellow wasn't exactly on a horizontal line as I expected to be. Also I had no space at the bottom since it is a low-floor tram to build connection between sections, so I had to figure out something on the roof. Two rigid connections are between the cars, one of them is a 2×8 plate, connected with 2 pieces of 2×2 turntables to the wheeled sections.

caf_09.png

...and the second connection with a non-shown-here 1×7 technic beam. It also caused problem that the weight of the middle cars often pulled of the 2×2 tile with technic pin from the middle car roof, then I discovered these fantastic 2×4×1 bricks with technic pin (two next to each other on left, locked with 2×2 tiles to the yellow curved bricks). These bricks with 2 studs × 4 studs area connecting to the roof are strong enough not to be disconnected by the weight of the middle car. Only disadvantage that the tram can handle only little horizontal changes - no more than 1 plates / 32 studs slope is allowed.

caf_10_parts.png

Middle car SNOT solutions. Note that the windows on these sections are a little taller then other windows on wheeled sections. They are one plate higher, and to have this height the SNOT 1×1 bricks under the windows are replaced with non-SNOT bracket, plate and trans black tile. Half plate height of bracket, 1-1 plate height of black plate and trans-black tile (2,5 plates) gives the width of a single stud.

caf_11_bracket.png

Other solution I'm really proud of is the top of the doors. Door glasses are one plate higher then the top line of windows' glass, but doors wings are separated be only one SNOT plate, it was a hard quest to put one more layer glass to the top. On the top there is a SNOT tile locked between trans-black plates in the door, and the remaining stud of the tile is filled with half-plate bracket, 1×2 black plate and 1×2 trans-black tile (2,5 plate height, which works exactly the same as described above to have the 1 stud in height). Bracket is connected to white roof's SNOT 1×1 brick with one stud on side. The 1 plate gap between the two brackets is build leaving not 2, but 3 plates between the SNOT 1×1 bricks with one stud on side. Headlight bricks connect the SNOT roof to the non-SNOT roof-parts.

caf_001.png

Coupling in work. The tram is tested be now, and it is working on every single LEGO-track geometry. You can find a video here (Facebook-login required):

https://www.facebook...53529083453657/

(and I'm not sure, maybe a Membership in LEGO Train Fan Club Facebook-group is also required, but basically every content is set to public in this group)

Commenst and critics, as always, welcome.

Edited by Ashi Valkoinen

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Ashi Valkoinen,

Now this is ironic. I was just looking at an article about the latest CAF Urbos trams entering service in Budapest, specifically the 55.9 m long, 9-unit models.

Longest tram enters service in Budapest

I see you went for the more economical 5-unit variant instead! I do recall having seen this MOC back when you first posted it. Its great to see that you were able to bring it into brick form. From what I can tell it runs like a champ though I am sure on tighter track geometry it would benefit from closer axle spacing on the trucks|bogies. Now the city running awaits!

3D LEGO

PS: I am not sure why but it makes me think of a yellow snake when I watch the video. It probably has to due with the close coupling and the segments moving in such fluid movement. (I am sure the 9-unit variant would feel even more so.)

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Fantastic moc and clever building technique! :wub:

Thanks for sharing! :classic:

I would just repeat -- technique is more than excellent :)

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Thanks for all comments!

3D LEGO

Actually the title "longest tram" is false just like it was with Combino SUPRA NF12B trams (54 metres, in Budapest route 4-6), the title "longest passanger tram" should be used since the CargoTram of Dresden with 5 BoBo wheel arrangement cars are the actual longest trams. But not long, they won't have any work after the factory they served closes in Dresden.

Anyways, my LEGO-model is the more economic shorter CAF Urbos (the trans black plates 1×2 and bricks 1×4 and yellow curved bricks were incredible expensive in the quantity I needed), but later could be upgraded easily to the longer tram, four additional sections needed, but they are simpler and a little cheaper than sections with driver's cabs.

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Your tram looks marvelous. I admire the solution you've found for hiding the links between modules. :thumbup:

Edited by Severus A

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Right,You really know how to make the best use of snot. thanks52.gif

Edited by fazirao

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Great MOC. Lots of detail all around and very creative ideas on how to solve the numerous issues the real design presented.

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Ashi Valkoinen,

Ah, my bad. I had forgotten about those parts shuttles for VW in Desden. Maybe they will get a chance at a second life like they are doing down in Vienna. (As far as the article goes, someone else made the error.) But it is like you say, luckily the cheap parts are what you would add if you ever wanted to expand it. Oh, there is an idea: do they ever cover them with full body advertising decals? If so then you could... I think you get my point.

As I stated previously, it is a very well done model and you have given the real tram credit where it is due, in all the right places.

3D LEGO

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Thanks for all of you! I'm really glad you like this MOC, and however I have really lots of MOC trains based on Hungarian rolling stock, I think right after my non-hungarian narrow gauge Končar-tram this CAF Urbos was the hardest thing to design and build.

3D LEGO

No problem, every article describes CAF Urbos 3/9 as the longest tram, I'm afraid nowadays journalists takes less effort for writing precise things - and the title sounds well "the longest tram" and noone pays to much attention to two unknown, non-passanger tram. And other journalists just takes the data from a false article, and it goes like this.

I wish Budapest buy those cargo trams, there are quite often transports between tram sheds, renewed tram bogies, rail segments, portable temporary switch and other things are transported almost daily on Budapest tram lines. But I'm afraid it is just a dream of mine. :(

Fortunately our trams are not covered by full-body advertisements, so no, I can't build 3/9 from various bricks to be covered by decals, but as I did before with quite little money I'm sure I can continue with my train stuff and upgrade this tram to 3/9, or even build a new one once. :D (maybe LEGO is a reason why I never got addicted to parties, alcohol and cigarettes while my university years :D ).

And I forgot, a video of the tram running:

Edited by Ashi Valkoinen

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thanks for sharing

I like the snot work and overall look

How does the overhang in front and rear look in curves?

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Fantastic! Will you be adding lighting? Really would show off the snot work on the windows.

I plan to do so, but I totally depleted my resources right now, the 6 pair of Power Functions led lights will go as indoor lightning of my RailJet train. On the other hand I may use non-LEGO leds, but meh, after so much work on the tram I cannot deal with using non-LEGO solutions. So later I'll add lights, but I can't tell you, when.

thanks for sharing

I like the snot work and overall look

How does the overhang in front and rear look in curves?

If you check the video posted above, there are couple of shots from above on curves. The overhang is not really terrible since the front is narrowing, 2 studs overhang from the edge of 2×8 plates under the rails.

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