Adding rods to MOD set 75955, the Hogwarts Express

[zephyr1934]

Someone recently asked about adding rods to the new Hogwarts Express and I am glad to say that after a bit of tinkering that I have come up with a solution. The actual mechanical build on the unmodified set is very similar to the Lone Ranger set, about as tight as you can get with a ten wheeler, and not much space to fit cylinders in. With the Lone Ranger locomotive I wound up rebuilding it from a 4-6-0 to a 2-6-0 just to make room, but since the HP Express is the Olton Hall all dressed up, one really could not change the wheel configuration. So that set up quite a constraint, how to get the cylinders in as tight as possible without interfering with the pilot truck. Here's what I came up with,

Compared to the unmodified set I think it looks a lot better

I tried to keep the look and the feel of the set in my rebuild and use the minimal number of extra parts in the redesign. These are the additional parts that I used.

The full set of rebuilding images will be available once the folder is moderated. For those interested in building their own, I've added a superlot for the rods to www.TrainedBricks.com.

 

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[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

You have done a great work for all of us 

The part list is the icing on the cake! 

[zephyr1934]

The gallery has been opened...

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[Roadmonkeytj]

I really like the look of this.   I'm still trying with keeping the original intact and tearing it down for a more realistic model but I may still buy the set up for the gf's train as she wants to "keep it stock"