zephyr1934

O-my, get a load of this MOC

Recommended Posts

s40.jpg
 

[gallery]

 

It has been WAY TOO LONG since I've built a new steam engine. Finally happened... well... I built this engine almost a year ago but then rebuilt it last month to get the proportions better and eliminate a structural weakness. While not really based on any specific locomotive, it borrows heavily from Reading and PRR locomotives. It brings together a couple of things that I've been meaning to do for some time: a camelback, and a slope back tender (see later photos). Of course I had to work in valve gear too (grin).

 

The engine design was one of efficient packing, with only 4 studs behind the battery box empty,

 

s41.jpg

Note how the IR receiver is actually holing the smokebox on (hard to tell in this image, but there is a pair of grill tiles concealing the actual receiver dome)

 

But all of that is secondary, that was just my wish list that I pulled out and overlaid it on top of mission one: build an O-Gauge lego train.

 

s10.jpg

 

I can't imagine that I am the first person to attempt such a thing, but I haven't seen any other O-guage lego locomotives. The thing that makes this a real challenge is that you effectively have only 3 studs to work with between the rails. O-guage is about 5 mm narrower than lego gauge, so you don't even gain a half technic beam to work with.

My son joined a model railroad club and they all figured me for one of those parents not interested in trains. I told them I built lego trains and got the "yeah yeah, sure sure." Then I showed up at their holiday open house last year, threw down my brand new bricktraks R120's, and watched their jaws hit the floor when my trains started running (tee hee). Still though, their space is already full with Z, N, HO, and O, so G and L are just occasional visitors to the club. They sometimes take their layouts on the road, so I wanted to have a train that I could play with when my son is at shows. So began my quest to make an O-gauge lego train.

 

Between the cutaway screen shot above and this view looking up from below you can get a good idea of how I got the power to the wheels.

s44.jpg

 

The one not so obvious bit of secret sauce are the three size #8 flat washers on each axle to get the roughly 3 mm spacing necessary for the O-gauge track beyond the 3 wide frame.

 

For the rest of the train I just grabbed two of my regular L gauge rollingstock and swapped out the trucks

s91.jpg

 

 

With the odd spacing I had to use technic axles and the drag from 12 of them is quite a bit (this train might have as much drag as my much heavier 7 car Superliner consist). Still, the L motor is happy to drag the resisting cars kicking and screaming behind.  I'm looking to upgrade to roller bearing axles, but all in due time.

 

Here I figured I had the first lego on the layout, and technically I do, but I spied some clones repurposed to good use

s23.jpg

 

 

That's the story so far, but let me leave you with a couple of gratuitous shots

 

s12.jpg

 

s11.jpg

 

s14.jpg

 

[full gallery]

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, that is lovely.

The problem with Lego camelbacks (and this is nothing exclusive to your model - mine suffer the exact same issue) is that the cabs are so narrow that you can't fit a minifigure unless they are sideways and half out the window. :P

Edited by ProvenceTristram

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Really nice camelback! The scenery reminds me of that catalog from 2001 that showed the Lego trains running through some non-Lego landscaping. It almost makes me think that the ideal layout might be a combination where everything "manmade" is Lego and everything "natural" is O-gauge scenery.:shrug_oh_well:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is ingenious!!! :drool:

Apart from the mind-blowing design of the running gear, I'm amazed how you managed to structurally integrate the receiver. I once tried to do a similar thing - and failed, because the receiver's edges were not exact 90° angles, so the resulting strain tore the whole construction apart. Maybe my receiver was B-stock?

6 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

With the odd spacing I had to use technic axles and the drag from 12 of them is quite a bit (this train might have as much drag as my much heavier 7 car Superliner consist). Still, the L motor is happy to drag the resisting cars kicking and screaming behind.  I'm looking to upgrade to roller bearing axles, but all in due time.

Did you lubricate the axles? During some tests, I found that lubricating with Teflon spraywas way more efficient than roller bearings - they tended to cant on the Technic axles, thus producing even more friction.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We now know the O in LEGO stands for O gauge.  Well done.  That's some clever PF packaging.  :classic:

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ohhh that looks good in "scenery" I really like this engine and my favorite is the tender...  Because of the shape but the Lego lines brings it home lol

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, Eggyslav said:

Yeah, that's a nice train, but you shouldn't give your topic such a clickbaity title...:hmpf_bad:

EDIT : Said things I shouldnt have. 

Edited by supertruper1988

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great story! Your loco looks right at home on that layout. Very well done!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@CaL @Roadmonkeytj @sed6 thanks for the kind words, I was going for the right form factor while capturing the essence of both Lego and Lionel. Hopefully without looking closely closely someone might not even realize that it was Lego

@Eggyslav sorry about that

 

On 12/14/2018 at 7:07 AM, ProvenceTristram said:

Wow, that is lovely.

The problem with Lego camelbacks (and this is nothing exclusive to your model - mine suffer the exact same issue) is that the cabs are so narrow that you can't fit a minifigure unless they are sideways and half out the window. :P

It isn't just camelbacks, I've had problems like that on a northern even. Them darn minifigures are not even proportionate to themselves. In this case I used a 1x4x3 panel to create a two deep cavity for the "cab" while hiding the battery box behind it.

 

 

On 12/14/2018 at 8:14 AM, Pdaitabird said:

Really nice camelback! The scenery reminds me of that catalog from 2001 that showed the Lego trains running through some non-Lego landscaping. It almost makes me think that the ideal layout might be a combination where everything "manmade" is Lego and everything "natural" is O-gauge scenery.:shrug_oh_well:

That seems to be their thoughts at the closest Lego Discovery Center, I thought it amusing that we used more lego on my club display than the discovery center did.

On 12/14/2018 at 8:51 AM, Tenderlok said:

That is ingenious!!! :drool:

Apart from the mind-blowing design of the running gear, I'm amazed how you managed to structurally integrate the receiver. I once tried to do a similar thing - and failed, because the receiver's edges were not exact 90° angles, so the resulting strain tore the whole construction apart. Maybe my receiver was B-stock?

Did you lubricate the axles? During some tests, I found that lubricating with Teflon spraywas way more efficient than roller bearings - they tended to cant on the Technic axles, thus producing even more friction.

I managed to attach the IR receiver and I still don't know exactly how I made it work (grin).

As for the axles, I'm trying to get rid of all of the technic axles except those on the drive wheels. For the normal trucks, I'm planning to test out the roller bearings from BMR and either cut the axles down by 5mm or use the 9v style train wheels with a hole all the way through.

 

 

On 12/14/2018 at 9:29 AM, dr_spock said:

We now know the O in LEGO stands for O gauge.  Well done.  That's some clever PF packaging.  :classic:

 

Thanks, though are you sure it is not what the L in Lionel stands for (grin). I started with the motor and built the rest around it. The underframe was the biggest nightmare to design... and then redesign.

 

 

On 12/14/2018 at 9:43 AM, pirzyk said:

Nice showing up those model railroaders :)  Just like at NMRA!

Not showing them up, just educating them about a still wider world (grin)

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very cool model, and fitting onto O-gauge track is even cooler.

I'm definitely going to have to study what you've done! My grandfather-in-law has some old O-gauge track and I've long wanted to build him a LEGO Phoebe Snow Locomotive that can fit on the track he has. You've certainly proved to me the concept is very possible!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, Daedalus304 said:

Very cool model, and fitting onto O-gauge track is even cooler.

I'm definitely going to have to study what you've done! My grandfather-in-law has some old O-gauge track and I've long wanted to build him a LEGO Phoebe Snow Locomotive that can fit on the track he has. You've certainly proved to me the concept is very possible!

Excellent! Maybe we can start a new O-gauge thread and give those monorail and duplo threads a little friendly competition (both of which are way cool... but my wallet starts growling at me if I spend too much time looking at the monorail posts). Just need a good solution to the technic axle trucks and it could work on a larger scale (as per my earlier comments, roller bearings could be just the trick)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great work merging O and L gauge. The train looks great on the tracks and doesn't seem out of place with the rest. The strategic use of LEGO here and there adds to it, giving a nice layout the combines both while staying pleasing to the eyes. Only the slight increase in size and studs on the caboose give the LEGO away which is neat.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

From a longtime I was wondering if it could be possible and you have demonstrated it is! now some question and one purpose:

- the flanged wheels, are they working well on these rails? I noted they are old O-gauge and not today standards (the totally absurd Lego flanges are not working well on code 180-200 modern rails)

- since the O tracks gives you power with the third track, why not using it to move a Lego motor? (an avatar of the 9volt era?)

many compliments and best wishes for Christmas and new year

Sergio

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Awesome build! Looks great.

I am working on a narrow-gauge prototype that uses O-gauge track but in a larger scale (SM32, representing 600mm gauge). My attempts so far have found that the flanges on Lego wheels bump on the sleepers (I'm using PECO SM32 track). How did you get around this problem? 

Justin

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 9/2/2020 at 6:32 AM, princeofgonville said:

I am working on a narrow-gauge prototype that uses O-gauge track but in a larger scale (SM32, representing 600mm gauge). My attempts so far have found that the flanges on Lego wheels bump on the sleepers (I'm using PECO SM32 track). How did you get around this problem? 

Thanks for the kind words. I am not too familiar with the world of O-gauge and in particular the specific variants of rail. The photos at the start of this thread were taken at a local model train club and I've run the train in my son's "tube rail" I believe it is called (the old school O-gauge track). I suspect that more realistic two rail O-gauge has shorter height in the rails. I'm not sure how to get around that, things I would start with are replacing the traction bands on powered wheels with similarly sized o-rings for plumbing (google "o-rings lego trains Eurobricks," should yield more info) to gain a few mm. Then, I believe Big Ben's Bricks small wheels have a smaller flange than lego wheels, but the technic axles have a HUGE friction drag. So before going to roller bearings it took an L motor to move 3 cars.

The setup I have works, but not "great" because the running surface on the lego wheels is a lot narrower than the standard o-gauge wheels, so it generates binding friction on curves.

In short, you might be better sticking with o-gauge trucks, or perhaps o-gauge wheels attached to lego trucks for the cars.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
22 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

I'm not sure how to get around that, things I would start with are replacing the traction bands on powered wheels with similarly sized o-rings for plumbing (google "o-rings lego trains Eurobricks," should yield more info) to gain a few mm.

 

On 9/2/2020 at 6:32 AM, princeofgonville said:

I am working on a narrow-gauge prototype that uses O-gauge track but in a larger scale (SM32, representing 600mm gauge). My attempts so far have found that the flanges on Lego wheels bump on the sleepers (I'm using PECO SM32 track). How did you get around this problem? 

Again I didn't ever build an O gauge train BUT, I have a few ideas.  You could try to sand down the flanges to make them smaller. And make sure to test them on switches as the flanges must be a certain height to go through them.  It may take some time but you could make a setup with a wheel attaches to an XL motor and on the side of it sand paper attached to some springs. This would allow you to let it run for hours without watching the wheel and assuring to get a round(ish) finnish. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.