7760 from 12V to 9V

[saturncoupe1999]

Quite a few years ago ( maybe 6 or 7 ) I was lucky enough to "win" a MISB 7760 from an ebay seller in Germany. I am not one of those who likes to keep the prize in the box, but this was a fairly expensive purchase and I was waiting for just the right time to build it. The challenge was to convert the set from 12V to 9V. I prefer my trains to operate on only two rails :-)

During my waiting period I decided that when I would build the set I would use as many brand new elements as possible. So that is what I did.

Because of the "conversion", I had to eliminate those wonderful connecting rods on the driving wheels. I can not understand why Lego had to discontinue that feature when they changed to the 9V system. I believe it could have been continued without problem. But that is old history now. So as we wait for 2009 and the NEW ( again ) train system, I present a few pictures of MY 7760 built in the 9V style.

Here you see the diesel engine with the 131 Passenger Coach in tow.

You can see the beautiful blue color of the new elements. In this case, the old elements also looked fine. But they had those unsightly "pip" marks on the end of the bricks. Ugh!

In this second photo you can see the 9V motor, along with the expertly *sweet* placed stickers.

The third photo show the front of the diesel, along with the troublesome yellow/black stickers.

I say troublesome because they had to be trimmed quite a bit to fit within the size of the bricks. This is important because if the stickers overhang the brick they can catch on fingers and start to peel off. Their integrity is assured when they are entirely within the proper space.

Lastly, you can see the coupler at the front of the locomotive.

Here is the least important change of all. I merely prefer to use the 9V style of magnet holder ( no rod hanging down ) on all of my trains to keep them all uniform.

So there you have it, and I hope this works :-$ ! If it does, I will bring you photos of my 123 Passenger Coach, 124 Goods Wagon, 131 Passenger Coach, and 137 Passenger Sleeping Car.

Ciao for now!!!

[Ricecracker]

very nicely done!! i want to see your conversions on the other sets and am willing to bet other people want to too (without tutus :-P ) i wish i were as good as you are... ah well i can still try

[General Zen]

Awesome! I am quite fond of lego trains. *wub* *wub* You did an amazing job modernizing and constructing it! *y*

[simonwillems]

This conversion looks well done, shame indeed that the 9 volt system never used those connecting driving rods and no middle wheel... :-(

This model is high on my list of wanted locomotives (although I don't have any 12v train tracks/regulator, so a conversion is part of the program) I always liked it but find it to be a bit overpriced on Bricklink and Ebay.

I did some modifications on the 7740 myself (made in eight wide, 9 volt and blue) and I'll post some pictures of it when I can.

I'd like to see your other converted models!

[saturncoupe1999]

Hello to all!

In response to the requests to see my other recent conversions, as well as to satisfy my desire to show them, I present four Lego railroad cars. Here are sets 123, 124, 131, and 137.

Here you see set #123, Passenger Coach, from 1969.

It is always special to be the first to open and build such an old set. This was my second attempt. I had purchased one of these about two years ago. The box was not wrapped in cellophane, but the seller gave his word that the set was brand new. A look at some of the elements raised doubts in my mind, however, so I sold it on ebay. But I DID tell of my doubts in the auction's description. Honesty is best.

My second purchase was in a cellophane wrapped box. Joy! Again, however, I used as many brand new parts as possible. In this case, only the windows and the printed bricks ( Int-Europe ) are original. The printed bricks, by the way, are not printed in the modern sense. They are actually engraved and filled with the white paint.

In this picture you can see a close-up of the 9V style wheels and part of the undercarriage, copied from set #7818.

Next on display is set #124, Goods Wagon, also from 1969.

This one came to me from ebay, cellophane wrapped, and looking good. Here there was a small problem, though. As you can easily see in the picture, the doors and the printed bricks have a slightly different shade of blue. These are the only original parts and they make it easy to understand why some older blue elements are referred to as "slightly yellowed". But for me, they retain the integrity of the model and look good doing it.

Here, again, is a close-up of the 9V wheels and the undercarriage, this time "borrowed" from the freight wagons of set #7735.

Now came the real challenge. Here is set #131, Passenger Coach, from 1972.

This is a beautifully colored set with awesome windows, a door on each end ( they don't open ), and moveable gates. The doors, windows, and gate posts are original. Everything else is new.

But ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!! There was the DSS! Normally I don't have a problem with stickers. Naturally I prefer printed parts. But you have to live with what you get, sort of. In this case, the stickers consist of black printing on a white background. But these stickers were so old that the white was a creamy yellow! What to do?

To solve this problem my daughter scanned the sticker sheet into her computer using an Epson all-in-one printer. Then she sent the images to me via email. From that point it was a not-so-easy task of "fixing" the color, using a version of PhotoShop that came with my Canon camera, and printing new stickers on Avery Gloss White CD Label paper. This paper is slightly thicker than original Lego stickers, but the glue is strong! Also, if you look at the back of some older Lego sticker sheets, you will find that Lego used Avery paper too! To make an already long story short, the duplicates are a nearly identical match in size and color with the originals. What do you folks think about it?

In this picture you can see a close-up view of the larger sticker. The rough edge at the bottom came from trimming the sticker with a paper cutter that had a blade contaminated with glue from several previous cuts. I didn't notiice this until I sent copies of this work to Mr. Hobbles ( know him? ). Since that discovery I have removed ( difficult ) and replaced the sticker.

Finally ( whew ) there is set #137, Passenger Sleeping Car, from 1975.

The only original parts on this one are the windows. By the way, the undercarriage detail on this set and set #131 are also copied from set #7818.

This set also had a DSS, but in this case the problem was much worse. Again, the white was not so white. But to really ruin everything, the stickers were pre-sliced THROUGH the left edge of the picture of the bed! :'-( Using the same technique as described above, however, saved the day ( and the model ). Here is a close-up of the big red and white "137" sticker.

And here is a picture of the "bed", now in one piece *sweet*

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed the show. It's been fun presenting it. Comments are always welcome, so please don't hesitate to post them or to contact me via email. I never get tired of talking about Lego!

Next up will be a 9V conversion of set #7755, but that may not happen until the summer.

Thanks for looking.

TRAINS ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MatthewUSA]

Very, Very Cool saturncoupe1999. The conversion on the locomotive and railcars look like a success. You did a GREAT JOB on the change over. Also noticed you received some great old parts as well. Very Nice!!

Model On!!

[saturncoupe1999]

Oh, the shame! In my earlier post I mentioned sending pictures to Mr. Hobbles. I was a bit goofy there, for a while. I wanted to say that I had sent them to Hobbes. *wacko*

Apologies to both, from the bottom most reaches of my heart! :-$

[voltio]

I'm in awe of those old train cars...I was not even aware that Lego was producing trains in 1969. :-$ Thanks so much for the amazing photos. I am a little confused as to why you used as few of the original bricks as possible when building the train cars, however. Are you protecting them from sun damage?

[saturncoupe1999]

I'm in awe of those old train cars...I was not even aware that Lego was producing trains in 1969. :-$ Thanks so much for the amazing photos. I am a little confused as to why you used as few of the original bricks as possible when building the train cars, however. Are you protecting them from sun damage?

It was my intention, from the start, to use as many NEW elements as possible. While I admit that there is a certain amount of nostalgia in using the old pieces, the new one generally look much nicer. The plastic is different and the colors have a better shine. Also, the mold marks on the newer elements are on top of the studs in most cases. Plus, I can not claim to be a Lego "purist" as I have already modified the style of the sets.

And now I will have quite a few old, but still unused, parts going to ebay. Anybody interested???

[Hobbes]

Because of the "conversion", I had to eliminate those wonderful connecting rods on the driving wheels. I can not understand why Lego had to discontinue that feature when they changed to the 9V system. I believe it could have been continued without problem. But that is old history now. So as we wait for 2009 and the NEW ( again ) train system, I present a few pictures of MY 7760 built in the 9V style.

I saw this on ebay shortly ago. Check out the video link in the description...

[highlandcattle]

So you pay a lot of money for misb ancient sets and then not use 90% of the parts . You my friend are a *wacko*

[Hobbes]

So you pay a lot of money for misb ancient sets and then not use 90% of the parts .

He only replaces standard bricks, most important are the special parts (like the 2x2 windows for the passengar cars or several blue pieces for the 7760).

[saturncoupe1999]

So you pay a lot of money for misb ancient sets and then not use 90% of the parts . You my friend are a *wacko*

Thank you so much, highlandcattle, for your gracious critique of my methods.

While it is true that I DO pay a lot of money for misb ancient sets, it is also true that there is no other way to get the rare parts that can not BE replaced. If I had my way, and I do not, I would have two of each set. In this way I could build one 9V style set ( the age of the parts wouldn't matter in this case ) and one "pure" set. But everyone marches to the beat of his own drum, my friend. So I would suggest that in the future, if you decide to refer to someone as a *wacko* , you include the letters "IMO". Then the readers can decide for themselves.

Ciao!

Trains On, people!!!