Hobby Trains alternative build 16 Bo-Bo e-lok motorized

[idlemarvel]

I'm a beginner with Lego trains.  I've learned a lot from this forum so thank you all.  

This is my first attempt at some "give-back" so I hope I don't mess things up. 

I want to show you how I motorized this loco with PoweredUp but as I can't get the preview to work I will start out with one picture of the completed model prior to modification before I post the rest.

More to follow....

Okay that worked so here is the rest.

First thing to note is that the motor block has a longer wheelbase than the bogies on the model, see below:

So I modified the non-powered bogie to have 3 studs between the wheel pieces rather than two, and added a small embellishment to fill the gap, see below:

Then of course the block between the bogies is too wide, because the bogies are now each one stud longer.  So I needed to reduce the block to two wide, see below:

I fitted the two bogies, one powered one not, and threaded the motor block cable into the cab.

You can perhaps see that the hub (battery box / receiver) will fit in the cab, but one set of inset doors will have to be modified, and some of the bracing struts will have to go.  

This is the cab stripped down.  The excess cable has been treaded under the bonnet of the loco.

These are the modified cab sides, retaining the building style but making room for the hub.

The rebuilt cab with some modifications to the right hand side to make it easier to remove the roof to get to the on/off switch.  The doors on the right are not recessed but I reversed the transparent brick so the window part is recessed.

That all seemed to work so as I was on a roll I decided to add some lights into port B on the hub and modified the front of the loco to add some light bricks. It was hard to find room for all the excess cable but it just fitted into the cab driver space.

Here is the finished model with lights blazing.  If you use the hand controller pressing + makes the lights brighter.

Hope this is helpful to someone.  I have short video clip of the loco running but I haven't figured out how to imbed a video clip yet.

It would perhaps have been better to extend the loco cab by two studs so that the PoweredUp hub is hidden and I could still have both sets of doors recessed, but this is my first attempt so I'm happy for now that it all worked.  We all have to start somewhere!

[zephyr1934]

Nice MOD

[ColletArrow]

Good work! I've never really paid much attention to the Hobby Train set, it was a bit before my time in LEGO Trains, but this looks like a neat little engine and you've done well to fit the PU gubbins inside neatly. Do you have any rolling stock she can haul?

[idlemarvel]

Thanks for the feedback @zephyr1934 and @ColletArrow.  No rolling stock yet I'm just starting.  I have the Crocodile set which I have built and powered, and the Hobby Train set.  I'm learning some of the basic tricks of snot building and trying to get to grips with Powered Up.  I have limited space for a layout so I have been pondering whether to stay with 4 wide "standard gauge" track or go with 2 wide "narrow gauge" track.  This is a well versed dilemma, trying to get some reasonable compromise of loco size and track width which is close to scale.  Narrow gauge track locos say 6 studs wide are easier to build but harder to power for a beginner.  Standard gauge locos should really be 8 or 10 studs wide but they then become large and expensive.  I'll probably stick with 6 stud wide on standard gauge track for now.  

[Feuer Zug]

Nice adaptation to PUp. Your work looks good while retaining the character of the original set. There's nothing wrong with staying on 6-wide locomotives and rolling stock either. I do it for similar reasons. It can be challenging at times, but as long as you're having fun, that's what counts.

[ColletArrow]

Definitely nothing wrong with standard-gauge 6-wide - it's what I nominally stick to, although often with overhangs I end up at 7w, but that size works well for the slightly smaller British loading gauge.

Regarding narrow-gauge being "harder to power for a beginner" - have you seen the Circuit Cubes motors and battery pack? Many members of this forum have proven how incredibly versatile they are - with their much smaller footprint they make narrow-gauge builds significantly easier. I'm sure you'll be able to find plenty of inspiration if you choose to go down that route instead!

[idlemarvel]

Thanks for tip on Circuit Cubes @ColletArrow I'll look into it/them.