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Hey guys, here is a long-anticipated project of mine that I'm finally starting. It is a model of NJ Transit's 2020 New Flyer XD60 articulated bus.

My model will be fully motorized, with remote-controlled drive, steering, and opening doors. It'll be either controlled by the PF IR system or by SBrick. The model will be propelled by a PF XL motor, which is already in place. The power source is a PF 8878 battery sitting in the very rear of the chassis. So far I have the rear portion of the chassis built - just missing most of the seats. I've already been building the model digitally on Stud.io for about a month, mostly working on the chassis, so this part should be done relatively soon. However, this is not taking into consideration any potential issues that may arise as I build the chassis in real life. I also have prototypes for the doors' and bellows' mechanisms ready (not pictured), and they seem to work pretty well. So overall, it'll just be a matter of putting these mechanisms together into a coherent chassis. Aesthetics wise, my model will mostly be about the outside appearance, which means I'll focus much more on the bodywork than the interior details-wise. However, the seating layout will still be identical to the original bus, with a total of 59 seats.

This is definitely a project I'm really looking forward to. It'll be the first time I model a particular real-life vehicle. I'm a huge fan of NJ Transit's buses and buses in general, and these artics IMO are some of the best buses they've ordered in recent years. And because I'm doing a digital build while simultaneously building in real life, I plan on publishing instructions for this MOC when it's finished.

Photo:

U4CHt13.jpg

Edited by JLiu15

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1 hour ago, suffocation said:

Great project and a very promising start :thumbup:

Thanks! Definitely looking forward to this one :classic:

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11 hours ago, Good old Lego builder said:

Looking forward to this project! We don’t get that many buses here.

Thanks!

Fun fact: NJ Transit is the 3rd largest transit system in the US :classic:

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UPDATE 1/27/21

BrickLink order arrived today, so all 31 seats in the rear section are now installed.

Photo:

eNuL4l6.jpg

Edited by JLiu15

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UPDATE 1/28/21

After putting the seats on yesterday I felt like the rear wheels were a little too close to each other, i.e. when the bodywork is in place they'll be too "recessed" into the body, especially with the wheel arches that stick out from the body a little. I noticed that the middle and rear axles' wheels are a little more outward than the front wheels on the real thing. Because there was plenty of space, I decided to go with dual wheels on the middle and rear axles to make it more realistic. I had to modify the chassis a little to make them fit, but I think it turned out pretty well.

Photo:

DcCVgic.jpg

Edited by JLiu15

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Looks great! Maybe use this piece to make the seats more complete?

PA18654-GRBL-N_1.jpg

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On 2/1/2021 at 3:28 PM, JintaiZ said:

Looks great! Maybe use this piece to make the seats more complete?

PA18654-GRBL-N_1.jpg

Thanks! I'll probably play around with my Stud.io model to see if it will work well with the seats.

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UPDATE 2/6/21

Lots of progress here. The entire front section of the chassis is complete, with all seats (except the driver's) in place. The second axle has dual wheels but is undriven, just like the real bus, and the front wheels are steered by a PF servo motor. In front of the front axle, the front door opening mechanism is integrated into the floor, with an axle connection for the motor which will be placed in the roof. The doors are opened using a mini LA geared 1:4.632. Note that the door opening mechanism for the rear door will be identical, but placed in the roof instead.

The good news is that everything worked as intended. The model drove very smoothly when I tested it, and nothing was too weak or strained. I was initially anticipating having to make some changes due to having only built the model digitally, so this was a pleasant surprise. At this point I'm planning on controlling the model with SBrick, as having proportional control of drive and steering will be really useful for things like backing up.

Photo:

1mzIM2i.jpg

Edited by JLiu15

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UPDATE 3/15/21

I've made a good amount of progress on the model over the last month. The driver's seat and steering wheel are in place. The support structure for the front end is partially there - I'm taking advantage of the new 15L beam with alternating holes to reinforce it. The gray beams to support the bellows are now gone - they will be entirely supported by the body. The rear section was also given a major redesign where I lowered the 11x15 frame to make the floor "lower" and so that the front section will be above the rear at the articulation joint where they meet at the turntable. Note that I've left the wheels off for now for easier building.

The biggest change since the last update is the rear roof support - this section contains the motor and mechanism for the rear door, which is powered by a PF M motor and uses a mini LA, just like the front. Pillars in the chassis support this section and provide vertical bracing that the bodywork alone can't provide. There's a second turntable to further support the articulation joint, and there will be a roof support for the front section of the model as well - I'll likely show that in the next update. I had some struggle with the rear door mechanism at first - due to friction, the rear panel would not open all the way. It took some trial and error, but I was able to get it to work pretty well, and it should be even better when the bodywork is added as right now the roof support structure is sagging a little bit due to the lack of vertical support right now.

If you guys have any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Photo:

VAFbcXJ.jpg

Edited by JLiu15

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Glad to see you making progress, been following since the start, looking good.

Mostly I am looking forward to seeing how you do the accordion part, I want to build one of these too but I have yet to come up with a good design for that middle section.

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34 minutes ago, Johnny1360 said:

Glad to see you making progress, been following since the start, looking good.

Mostly I am looking forward to seeing how you do the accordion part, I want to build one of these too but I have yet to come up with a good design for that middle section.

Thanks! I've actually got an accordion prototype all worked out, it's just a tiny cross section but it works flawlessly. I might put a pic of it in the next update or something, as it's gonna be a while before the accordion part is fully installed on the model (the bodywork needs to be built first).

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When I was in the USA, the very important moment for me about their public transport is that the busses have bicycle carrier in the front. So it will be highly appreciated if you will implement one.
Good luck! I like your project btw!

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UPDATE 3/18/21

I've rebuilt the rear roof support and redesigned the rear door mechanism to include 2 mini LAs. The previous design with a single LA had significant backlash that often prevented the doors from opening completely, especially the rear panel. Now with 2 LAs it works much better. It isn't perfect and there's still a slight difference between the two panels, but it's not too noticeable and should be better once the bodywork is installed (right now I think it's because the front panel is closer to a vertical support beam, reducing friction on that side hence why it opens slightly better).

@Aleh my model will include a bike rack, although it will most likely be removable. This is because not all of the fleet have them, so I can achieve both looks by having the bike rack be removable. Most of Hilton's and Big Tree's units, which serve Newark-area routes, have a bike rack, while Fairview's and Meadowlands's don't as they serve routes to NYC and bike racks are not allowed inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

If you guys have any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Photo:

trAKLF6.jpg

Edited by JLiu15

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UPDATE 4/3/21

At this point, the chassis and mechanical features of the model are essentially finished and I'm ready to move onto the bodywork. I've gotten a lot of work done on the front portion of the model since the last update, with the front roof support and motor for the front door mechanism in place. I've also gotten started on the bodywork a little bit - the front end and the bumper are built now.

Overall, the mechanisms all work pretty well. The doors sometimes might not open fully due to backlash in the mechanism, but it's pretty negligible. The front panel of the front door was a struggle, as on the real New Flyer Xcelsior it's curved a little bit at the top. I ended up using a 4L 3mm hose and bent it a little bit before putting it in as they are pretty stiff. As for the front end, the use of System pieces gives it a clean finish, but a drawback is that there are some gaps around the headlights which sit at an angle to follow the curve of the front end. Another drawback is that the headlights are kind of small. However, there are not that many trans-clear pieces available to model the complex curve of the Xcelsior's headlights and have them sit properly angled. Using trans-clear plates and tiles and cheese slopes could have made it bigger, but it would not be as smooth and clean as my solution.

If you guys have any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Photos:

Lbx8iZK.jpg

dQN9Dbm.jpg

Edited by JLiu15

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7 hours ago, I_Igor said:

Imho front parts looks very clean and nice

Thanks! Some parts I feel could've been better (e.g. the gaps around the headlights and the headlights being too small) but ultimately it's Lego and Lego has its limitations.

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UPDATE 5/31/21

I've finished designing the bodywork for the front section of the model. I haven't gotten to physically building it yet and only have it designed in my digital build, but overall I'm satisfied with how it turned out. I decided to go for a studfull finish rather than a studless one, as studfull allows for a greater level of detail. This will be a first for me, as all my previous MOCs have been primarily studless.

The bodywork has been a largely modular build, with the body and roof panels being built separately and attached to the Technic frame. My personal favorite parts are the roof HVAC unit (which was modeled accurately thanks to a Facebook photo showing the real bus's roof) and the roofline curves towards the front. I anticipated that being one of the hardest parts as the curves seemed really complex for LEGO pieces at first, but the extensive use of curved slope pieces (and some held at angles) allowed for an overall smooth finish. There are some small gaps here, but thankfully they're not too visible.

Right now, the model is at just over 3000 pieces.

Photos:

S5WTVwm.png

ZNghkwK.png

68Nh4hs.png

krZom7B.png

KgL78p6.png

The real-life version, for comparison:

NJ Transit 20857

NJ Transit 20862

If you guys have any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Edited by JLiu15
Replaced Stud.io screenshot image links with the images themselves

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OMG! That looks fanatstic alrady! Can't wait for the final result!

As for the interior - it has so many seats and no one is blue? It looks like the first model with so many non-blue seats :grin:

 

Edited by Void_S

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3 hours ago, Void_S said:

OMG! That looks fanatstic alrady! Can't wait for the final result!

As for the interior - it has so many seats and no one is blue? It looks like the first model with so many non-blue seats :grin:

 

Thanks!

The real bus’s seats are a bluish color, but they’re closer to LEGO’s light bluish gray rather than blue, so I decided to go with LBG for the seats.

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53 minutes ago, JLiu15 said:

Thanks!

The real bus’s seats are a bluish color, but they’re closer to LEGO’s light bluish gray rather than blue, so I decided to go with LBG for the seats.

Well, it was a joke actually. There were some years when LEGO used only blue parts for seats in Technic models, so it became a kind of stereotype to have blue seats :classic:

I only regret the new busses have a driven and fixed rearmost (the 3rd) axle. Personally, I loved the steering geometry of old busses with non-driven steered 3rd axle that perfectly followed the tracks of the front axles. But it had so many disadvantages to be used in modern vehicles. 

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57 minutes ago, Void_S said:

Well, it was a joke actually. There were some years when LEGO used only blue parts for seats in Technic models, so it became a kind of stereotype to have blue seats :classic:

Lmao yes, I wonder why LEGO often chooses blue for the seats. I see a lot of MOCs have followed the trend too, such as Sariel's Pagani Zonda.

59 minutes ago, Void_S said:

I only regret the new busses have a driven and fixed rearmost (the 3rd) axle. Personally, I loved the steering geometry of old busses with non-driven steered 3rd axle that perfectly followed the tracks of the front axles. But it had so many disadvantages to be used in modern vehicles.

Never seen an articulated bus with a non-driven steered 3rd axle. Most artics today (at least in the US) are rear-engined, so it's easy to just power the rearmost axle. What articulated buses have a steered rearmost axle? That sounds pretty interesting.

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