MOC - 7720 reloaded (DB E69)

[Paperinik77pk]

Hi all, 

I'd like to show you a little thing I made 6 years ago for my daughter...and then became unused on the shelf since it was "retired" by Duplo trains. It was a sort of DB E69, used to transport frogs and penguins (all made with Lego Basic sets instructions). After she saw the real 7720 she liked the whole set. So I created a newer "clone" of the 7720 locomotive. This weekend I decided to revamp it a bit to make it work again.

So I modified the roof, the handrails, the pantograph (which now is very similar to swiss ones) and made it a bit more "studless".  The battery car is now blue instead of Yellow.

It was - and still is -  powered by a Medium PF motor, since it was not Infrared controlled and the standard PF train motor was too fast. Instead of IR receiver, it kept a "vintage" solution to be started.

I used the PF lever the same way the 7720 used the red  lever on battery box car. The IR receiver can be put inside the battery car if needed.

As you can see, I have the same 7720 inverters placed on PF track...and the result is the following (sorry for the video quality, the phone cannot do better than this).

The cat likes this "reversing"  feature a lot! 

Next steps: two long two axles wagons resembling the 7720 ones, and the white doors on blue wagon created in SNOT mode (or a simple sticker, if I fail )

It is a silly train, but I hope you like it!

Edited February 14, 2018 by Paperinik77pk

[Trekkie99]

Awesome little train! I love it!  The reversing function is a nice touch as well.  

BTW can we get a video of your cat watching the train? 

[Paperinik77pk]

Absolutely yes! I will do it...she was asleep at the time of video recording!!! 

[zephyr1934]

Excellent bit of retro building!

[Stefaneris]

That's a nice little train and I guess the first Train Moc I've ever seen with such a function.

[JopieK]

Great idea Paperinik77pk, bringing that 7720 to the PF Era.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Fantastic MOC and impressive realization!

I love to see the old 7720 back to the future!

[Paperinik77pk]

Thanks to all for your kind words! I love the 7720, it gave me so many hours of fun - I thought it deserved a second chance!  

[Paperinik77pk]

After a bit of work, I managed to create a door in bricks for the battery box  using SNOT (I'm still learning how to use it) - I think it is acceptable compared to the original 4,5v one. There should be a white bar connected to the two holder bricks...and a pair of wheels 

 

...but I cannot find a lot of parts in LDD like train wheels, PF parts and bars - are they downloadable in some way? 

[ColletArrow]

That looks really nice! I'm sure when it's built in real bricks, not so many of the lines between the parts will be visible, making it look much neater.

When you fire up LDD, do you start a new project in standard mode (top toolbar is a light-ish blue), or extended mode (toolbar is black)? The latter has a much wider range of parts, and no restrictions on colours whatsoever. Although I don't think it has the older train wheels you're looking for.

[Paperinik77pk]

Thanks @ColletArrow, this evening I'll try this setup!

I've always used LDRAW, but LDD is easier since it suggests the correct brick linking. Since I am in "learning mode" it is very useful for me  - I agree with you, once built in real bricks it will be nicer!

[Paperinik77pk]

Thanks to @ColletArrow suggestion I completed the design of the PF battery wagon, it looks much better now. 

 

This weekend I'll try to find the parts to build it, I think I'm a bit short of blue tiles 

[bmassaer]

I do like this vintage-car rebuild!

[Paperinik77pk]

Thanks! Now I'm searching for the other two wagons of the 7720 set. Since the locomotive has changed to something more similar to a real model (the DB E69), I'd like to understand what inspired Lego designers at the time for the other two wagons, which for sure are based on real "guterwagen" from DB.

For the wheel loader wagon I found a good inspiration on this one - DB KKLM 505 - It also exists in grey color, so I'd say I'll go for this one - it even has a bulldozer on it! 

And then the yellow one with brake cabin - it seems an older wagon to me, so I chose this one - DB OM90:

 

I did not find it in yellow - I think TLG applied the colour-proximity principle - so red for the cabin instead of brown, and yellow to emulate not-painted wood (maybe?).

Ok - who cares - my next step is to render these two real wagons in LDD, I'll keep the colour scheme of the 7720 even if it is not so close to reality. 

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Paperinik77pk

[Paperinik77pk]

After a bit of CAD work, the gondola car is ready!

 

It is a long bed version, therefore the two axles can turn and will be interconnected by a rubber band.

The SNOT building made it quite narrow inside - so for sure the wheel loader won't fit  - and this is quite annoying me. Maybe I can make a smaller one but in 4-wide it could be quite a difficult task.

In the meantime, in the real world, the battery box is being adapted to the new design  - I just discovered I'm missing a lot of blue plates!!! 

 

Edited February 25, 2018 by Paperinik77pk

[Paperinik77pk]

Hi all, also the Yellow wagon is now ready:

The rendering sofware has cleaned the Tiles, but in reality the horizontal lines of the wooden planks are all visible. I'm not so much convinced about the side of the roof, I have to study a cleaner solution to avoid those blocky "holes". It is the first time I manage a slope not made by slope bricks, so any suggestion is really welcome.

Here's the full set of wagons:

I made also a version of both in reddish brown - and they sure look more realistic, but the 7720 was made with the above colors, and I'll keep them this way since  I'd like the whole set to be recognisable  as a reloaded version at first glance.

The only thing that comes to my mind now is that the locomotive is too small - I think I've to increase its size.

An E69-005 is 8700mm long, and a KKLM505 is 10005mm long over buffers - these new cars are longer than original ones, so also the locomotive needs to be bigger. I do not know, probably I'll keep my daughter's locomotive as it is (converting it to PF standard motor and IR system)  and make a new one, more similar to the DB E69-005.

 

 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Great work Paperinik ...I've always loved the yellow wagon with brakeman's cab, and you reload version looks cool!

[Paddi]

Cute :)

Nice job!

[Reza]

Great idea!
I loved the reversing feature.
Would love to see a video of your cat watching it!
Please stay faithful to all dimensions,... to the original 7720. your other wagons seems to be longer.

[Paperinik77pk]

4 hours ago, Reza said:

Great idea!
I loved the reversing feature.
Would love to see a video of your cat watching it!
Please stay faithful to all dimensions,... to the original 7720. your other wagons seems to be longer.

Thanks! The wagons seems bigger because...they actually are!   As an example, the battery wagon is bigger to fit the battery box and eventually the IR receiver, plus the switch between the wheels. The locomotive is a bit smaller than 7720 (6x16 over buffers instead of 18). 

The other two wagons are a pure exercise on SNOT, I can make them smaller without problems...but I like them a bit more "realistic".

Let's see, I'm still working on LDD to make some practice!