Tube Map Central

[MOC] New Tube line opens to Botanical Gardens station

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This new train came about as a result of my combining some parts and suddenly getting a flash of inspiration, that aircraft pieces might make a rather nice Tube Train. The basis for this is London Underground Gate Stock, the first generation of EMU trains used on the earliest tube lines. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground_1906_Stock

Because of the small tunnels (just 12 feet diameter) not only were the trains reduced in size, but early electric motors were too large to fit under the passenger saloons. The solution was to have large powerful motors plus all electrical and air equipment together on a motor coach in a big compartment behind the cab. Long trains could have a motor coach at each end but motor coaches were forbidden in the middle of trains because of the safety requirement that passengers should be able to walk from end to end of a train in case of emergency without encountering electrical equipment.

Air doors were not introduced on the London Underground until the 1920s. Until then, cars had gates at their ends, opened and closed by gate operators. A six coach train would require a rear guard, four gate operators and a driver. Initial passenger loads on the new Underground lines were disappointing and labour costs were ruinous, plus boarding/unloading, and departures were slow.

But back to Lego City, where the year is still 1905 and a new tube line has opened to Botanical Gardens.

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/182622-moc-botanical-gardens-station/
 

Gate_Stock_side.JPG

Hmmmm, the track in the yard is somewhat uneven!

 

Gate_Stock_rear.JPG

The rear car is a control trailer, with no motor but controls for operating the motor coach remotely.
 

Gate_Stock_front.JPG

You can see, posed next to the main line EMU trains, just how much I have shrunk down the tube trains. I could have gone even further, but I wanted a top-hatted figure to be able to sit down in the saloon.
 

Gate_Stock_motor.JPG

You can also see the size of the motor bogie compared with the trailer bogie. The tram wheels are awful but in the end they were not a bad size relative to the standard wheels for showing the effect.
 

Gate_Stock_gateman.JPG

Here is a gateman, signalling to the rear guard that all is clear for his section of the train.
 

Gate_Stock_gates.JPG

More details of the gate end, and lots of illegal build techniques in evidence, but the gate top was so perfect I had to adapt it. The large round central buffers are prototypical, so the coupling distance is not too awful.


Gate_Stock_saloon.JPG

Not many seats, one per window. Minifugures are too wide but these new 1x3x3 windows are perfect.
 

Gate_Stock_coupling.JPG

This is how I joined the cars together. There is just enough clearance for a thin liftarm. Annoyingly it is not quite long enough: the corners of the rear platforms just catch each other on curves. If I motorise this, I will either file off the corners or else stick to R56 track. Motorisation is unlikely because of the drag caused by five bogies of those wretched tram wheels. Spot more illegal build techniques. Once you have killed your first Lego brick, it becomes easier to do it again.

Final thoughts:

I am not quite happy with the fronts, I think that the problem is the windows, which should really be dark red. Lego produces a terrible range of windows in a lamentable range of colours. I could have used clear panels, but they would have looked too modern for a train this age

I wish I had sorted the dark red pieces before using them. The two shades are noticeably different.

I am currently investigating flexible hoses for air and electrical connections between cars.

I am also investigating self-adhesive printable vinyl to depict opening side windows.

These coaches are slightly longer than the main line EMU prototypes I showed before, so now these will definitely have to be lengthened.

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/183244-moc-prototype-electric-multiple-units-for-botanical-gardens-station/

I really need a tube station to go with these, a wonderful one was posted here years ago, but it looks as though it would eat up bricks for a full length train.

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/49533-moc-london-underground-tube-station-and-train/

Edited by Tube Map Central
Typo

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12 minutes ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

None of those photos work. I suggest an image hosting site like imgur.

Or Bricksafe. Awesome site.

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There do seem to be device issues, works with some but not others. Bricklink won't let you upload a dud link, it tests them all before accepting them.

No chance of me going to a third party web page I'm afraid, too many issues. Tubemapcentral is my own professionally hosted web domain that I use for my business activities. I'm not going to elsewhere when I have my own server. Eurobricks is the only website which generates these issues.

The links are with the images, so if you can get to the links, copy them and paste them into your browser.

Edited by Tube Map Central
Extra suggestion

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13 minutes ago, zephyr1934 said:

Neat to see the cars complete and the comments at the end of the original post are spot on.

Thanks, yes, I was meaning to reply to your o/p but I got sucked into the build! There are lots of coupling solutions for me to experiment with but it's a bit moot because thanks to those wretched tram wheels I don't think it is ever going to run. 

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Congrats on making your design work. The thin liftarm does well as the coupler between cars. I see how you mutilated a baseplate to secure the bottom of the tram wheel equipped bogies. Glad my design thoughts were helpful. It looks wonderful completed. Now can we see it with the Botanical Gardens station?

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Thanks for the kind words, all the suggestions were really helpful.

I do need to put all the pieces together, my grand idea has main line EMUs at the station and the tube trains in tunnels underneath. I might even give the Tube Station it's own entrance, I was really sad when this one expired, it was clever and original:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/2c3772a1-ddff-45fd-90ef-8196c894dcaf#&gid=1&pid=1

Until the grand scheme is built, I'll have a go st some combined photos soon!

 

 

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