40 years of Grey Era LEGO trains ... celebrating with some 12V MOCs

[HoMa]

In 1980 the golden (grey) age of LEGO trains started. The Grey Era was lounged with a firework of great sets like #7740 and #7750 and the train station #7822 and the entire rail system with remote controlled switches, signals and later level crossing and decoupling unit.

After collecting the missing sets over the last years, I thought of building some MOCs in the classic grey era style, maybe using some newer colours and elements. But to keep the characteristics of the original sets. @Paperinik77pk already came up with a lot of extraordinary stuff for the grey and blue era. So I took the social isolation time this weekend, lowered the blinds and got the photo equipment ready for some shots.

Mallet Steam Engine (inspired by #7750 and the Baureihe 99 … I just wanted to build a "large" 12V style steam engine without copying the great work of @Paperinik77pk or the large steam engine in #7777)

It opens like #7750

Rear view:

Full side view:

With historic cars:

I build 3 of these cars, inspired by Hofzug Kaiser Wilhelms II.

The cars are longer then the classic 6x28 train base plate. I added a 2x6 plate at each end. This requires a special way to lengthen the couplers and buffers. The bogie plate can not be moved outer due the limitations of the train base plate. And see the simple solution to fix the minifigure shield which I use as logo of the train:

V100 diesel engine (based on #7755 with shorter base and 5-wide body)

V100 diesel engine and so called "Silberlinge", very typical local train in Germany in the 1970s/1980s:

Trains like this were able to operate in both directions due to a steering post in the end car:

Side view of the "Silberlinge":

Classic 12V style interior in both cars:

Small electric engine in medium/blue and hopper car #4536 in brown, ready for the 12 volt system:

Small electric engine in green/red hopper cars #4536 in brown, ready for the 12 volt system:

Green electric locomotive with a red 12 volt motor inspired by Baureihe E 44:

Green electric locomotive inspired by Baureihe E44:

 

Enjoy and stay healthy these days!

Best regards,
Holger

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Selander]

Love your retro models ?

[Paperinik77pk]

 

Great MOCs Holger!!! That mallet locomotive is spectacular!!!

And many thanks for your kind words!!!

In these days we need a new slogan! "Keep Calm...and Build 12v!"

Ciao!

Davide

Edited April 6, 2020 by Paperinik77pk

[Evans]

Here are excellent creations!

Use of Green, Dk.Gray and Old Brown gives an authentic look to these trains. It's so rare to see stainless stell cars creations fitting for 12V layouts.

I love the way you've put the shield on the Kaiser car. It's just missing some white train windows. Good technique to make such offset doors on these cars.

[HoMa]

33 minutes ago, Evans said:

I love the way you've put the shield on the Kaiser car. It's just missing some white train windows. Good technique to make such offset doors on these cars.

@Evans thanks for your feedback! If you look a prototype pictures of the "Hofzug" cars you see that they are not rounded and more traditional rectangle styles windows. So I decided to use the newer windows rather then super expensive train windows and especially glass for train windows. If you google for "Hofzug Kaiser Wilhelms II" you will find some Märklin images. I reducued details like brown frame around the windows and many other details. But hey, it's 12V toy train ;-)

[Jerry McGlade]

Like the colour contrast!

Edited April 6, 2020 by Jerry McGlade

[zephyr1934]

Amazing work, I never thought it could get better than 7777!

[Evans]

3 hours ago, HoMa said:

But hey, it's 12V toy train ;-) 

I understand your choice concerning the windows shape, considering it's a wooden car.

12V being a toy train is the best vision we can have. Most important it to evocate a model, and give some impression with some important details or with a particular paint scheme, rather than overdetailling in order to be accurate. These inaccuracies are what makes 12V system coherent and fantastic.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Amazing models, this is the red motor festival!

The steam engine (also on the front page) is crazy for the gray era!

I like your building technique for the buffers to allow longer wagons 

[Feuer Zug]

Nice collection of classic styled designs.

[Duq]

Nice idea and excellent execution!

Pity they didn't make the 1x6 with light prisms in more colours.

[WesternOutlaw]

What a nostalgic and enjoyable collection of custom trains.  Love it.

The Kaiser Wilhelm train is most creative!

[Pelzer117]

Hello Holger,
as usual,  amazing work!

The colour scheme of the "Silberlinge" doesn't fit in my opinion. If the grey parts would be beige too, it may look better. But maybe this is because I have only the picture of the ÖBB 5145 in mind?..

On 4/5/2020 at 11:53 PM, HoMa said:

Trains like this were able to operate in both directions due to a steering post in the end car:

To compare:

Best Regards from Austria
Patrick

[Pdaitabird]

Awesome! My favorite is the Mallet tank engine! 

[Thai bricks]

Patrick,

I think Homa had this German version in mind:

https://images.app.goo.gl/Z4L4fH3sNZBJWM3m9

Edited April 13, 2020 by Thai bricks

[PeteM]

Wow, love these! The larger green engine is especially reminiscent of early 12v designs but on steroids! I think my favourite is the little blue engine, like an updated 7720... :)

Edited April 13, 2020 by PeteM
Clarify which green engine I’m talking about!

[HoMa]

11 hours ago, Thai bricks said:

Patrick,

I think Homa had this German version in mind:

https://images.app.goo.gl/Z4L4fH3sNZBJWM3m9

Totally correct. The German end cap on Silberlinge was tan/blue and the rest was unpainted metal with a silver shine (when new). The grill bricks from Santa Fe wagons work well here. 

Holger

[The-Bard-of-Shale]

I'm a fan of trains, and really do like seeing these awesome builds. I've got a small Boxtank locomotive in the works right now myself.

[mark6399]

These are awesome re-imaginations of the classics! I think the V100 Diesel is my favorite. I really like how you integrated the exhaust tower.

[BillytheKid]

, WTF. Yours green locomotive is a beauty . Very clever to make use of those rods and 2 12v motors. I think I want that too, got an instruction .........

All other trains, very nice done with those colors.

[Pelzer117]

On 4/13/2020 at 11:24 PM, HoMa said:

Totally correct. The German end cap on Silberlinge was tan/blue and the rest was unpainted metal with a silver shine (when new). The grill bricks from Santa Fe wagons work well here. 

Holger

oooooh.
Never saw it before. The model itself is very accurate to the original. But the Silberlinge looks still strange for me.

[harnbak]

Good work! Love it

[GewoonWouter]

I just rediscovered my old 12V cargo train set and I must say, I really like your builds. They look very good, and first time I see a steering post in Lego, nice feature!

[HoMa]

... it has been a while, but now I can give you some update on my ongoing LEGO 12 Volt MOC project:

LEGO 12 V Crocodile MOC

After the hype around the LEGO 18+ Crocodile 10277 I thought of a 12 Volt compatible version, in 6-wide only, but showing all the iconic charateristics of a Crocodile engine. Of course, I looked carefully at the old prototype of a LEGO 12 V crocodile which shows a pretty long version using two 12 V train motors:

As only non LEGO element I've choosen BigBenBricks wheels in size "M" (same size as it was used on the #7750) from @benfleskes. My 12 V version is powered by two old 12 V Technic motors which are located in the middle section. Some gears and axles bring the "power" down to the center wheel of the 3 larger ones. Sorry, I had to cut the 3L axle with stop to make it a 2.5L version. The power for the motors and the 12 V lights in the front and rear are picked up by some old power pick-ups from the 70's.

Unfortunatelly the resistance of the gears, axles and especially the connecting rods is very high, so the maximum speed of this Crocodile is rather poor. For more speed I need to add a second locomotive with a regular 12 V train motor pushing this engine.

I am quite happy with my simple solution to keep the dark grey boat studs in place in the 1x4 arch bricks. At the bottom the vertical boat stud edge is held in place by a 1x2 grille tile. And when the arch is attached this is a nice and sturdy solution.

Finally you can see this Crocodile in action over at YouTube:

Other 12 Volt MOCs

While I had set up a little test loop I took some scences of some more of my 12 V Train MOCs (and the famous #7740) ... enjoy:

And don't miss the 12 Volt train powered by Power Functions using 3D printed wheels in 12 V style on a regular Power Functions train motor:

 

 

 

[zephyr1934]

Amazing work, all of the trains are fantastic. its as if I just opened a brand new lego train catalog in the 1980's, or perhaps a 7778 book (grin). The crocodile is brilliant, those 12v motors are a great find, just one question, is it slow because of the friction or is it slow because you geared down the  motors? If the latter, perhaps it has a strong pulling power.