Quest for Inter-City Train

[questforcastle]

Greetings from a newcomer to this part of the forum! Some of you may remember my project to build the classic 6080 King's Castle, from spares and new brick acquisitions, over at the LEGO Historic Themes area (http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=67256).

I'm still in the process of doing the castle and learning LEGO anew after all these years. Alongside it, I am starting my second AFOL project after coming out of the dark ages, building the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train - again from spare parts, brick purchases and perhaps some imagination. I never had much of the classic 1980s LEGO Trains as a child, so I'm looking forward to reliving some of that through this project, as well as learning more about LEGO and the AFOL hobby.

As I've enjoyed the replies from fellow Eurobricks members during my previous project, I'll try to pop in from time to time and note my progress here. (If anyone cares further, you can read my full beginning thoughts here: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/category/quest-for-inter-city-train/)

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[medib]

Greetings from a newcomer to this part of the forum! Some of you may remember my project to build the classic 6080 King's Castle, from spares and new brick acquisitions, over at the LEGO Historic Themes area (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67256).

I'm still in the process of doing the castle and learning LEGO anew after all these years. Alongside it, I am starting my second AFOL project after coming out of the dark ages, building the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train - again from spare parts, brick purchases and perhaps some imagination. I never had much of the classic 1980s LEGO Trains as a child, so I'm looking forward to reliving some of that through this project, as well as learning more about LEGO and the AFOL hobby.

As I've enjoyed the replies from fellow Eurobricks members during my previous project, I'll try to pop in from time to time and note my progress here. (If anyone cares further, you can read my full beginning thoughts here: http://questforbricks.com/category/quest-for-inter-city-train/)

Good luck with your projects Quest.

The good news with the inner-city train is that the main colours are yellow and red. The 12 V elements are quite pricey as are some of the rare elements like the doors.

[JopieK]

Good luck with your projects Quest.

The good news with the inner-city train is that the main colours are yellow and red. The 12 V elements are quite pricey as are some of the rare elements like the doors.

The windows of the loc are not that cheap though!

[Hechristensen]

I understand your need for 7740 completely... But why dont you buy a complete set on Bricklink? Building a complete set from spareparts can sometimes end up being just as expensive as a complete set will cost you.

[questforcastle]

I understand your need for 7740 completely... But why dont you buy a complete set on Bricklink? Building a complete set from spareparts can sometimes end up being just as expensive as a complete set will cost you.

Good question, something that has certainly become obvious to me during my previous project to build the 6080 King's Castle in a similar manner (still missing a few small pieces). Although I guess in theory I'm still a bit under a full set there... (http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/category/quest-for-lion-knights-castle/)

But this is more about the journey at the moment. Sourcing parts and becoming acquainted with all the AFOL resources is rewarding in itself. More so, than just acquiring a set and then building it, which would be over and done rather quickly. I may purchase vintage sets later on, but for now I'm still in the mode of reusing existing pieces and gathering new spares... Sort of a fun way to reconnect with childhood parts and sets, while making and learning new. Doing a project piecemeal like this has certain demands that, at least for me, have forced me to look into various ways of acquiring pieces, cleaning bricks, doing minifigure surgery, researching components/alternatives/variants and whatnot, that I might not otherwise do.

Consider these my self-appointed initiation rite to graduate from a former KFOL (two decades ago) to a true AFOL.

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[domboy]

I understand not wanting to buy an older train set outright as the prices they go for are usually not pretty. About 1.5 years ago I decided I really wanted a 10133 BNSF but I didn't want to buy the set so I also decided to do a reconstruction project on it. I think I calculated at the end I probably spent around $170 which was not far from the cheapest one on Bricklink was at the time (and still outragous considering it was originally a $40 set...). In retrospect it probably wasn't the best idea, as that locomotive has quite a few parts in either rare colors or rare for train parts (dark green and orange, specially the train windows). The positives about it was I was able to spread the cost out over a few months time, I had fun, and it's a bit more valuble to me due to the trouble I went through to gather all the pieces. My biggest issue with a reconstruction project is the question of stickers if the set includes them. So I'm curious if you've thought on how you are going to handle that part. I guess I need to go read up on your progess.

Edit: Side note: I've also reconstructed 10027 Train Engine Set and the My Own Train sets (10013-10017) and had much better luck as these contain a lot more common (cheaper) pieces, and no stickers... I just don't have any hard price numbers as these projects got mixed in with other unrelated projects so I lost track. Guess what I'm trying to say is whether it's cheaper to "bricklink" the parts to build a set or buy the set outright might depend on the set. So again, I'm curious to see how your project goes...

Edited October 15, 2012 by domboy

[questforcastle]

Thank you for the comments, guys! Always nice to get some feedback.

My biggest issue with a reconstruction project is the question of stickers if the set includes them. So I'm curious if you've thought on how you are going to handle that part. I guess I need to go read up on your progess.

Fair question, I've tried to set out some written ground rules for myself (e.g. here http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/ground-rules/) to map out the scope and goals of the project. My previous spares project, the 6080 King's Castle, didn't have any stickers to worry about, but on a similar vein there I'm not aiming for 100% minifigures because they are a little harder and more expensive to come by.

For the train, I am not insisting on the stickers, but perhaps something springs to mind or crosses my path when the project progresses. Which, to be honest, it hasn't for the past couple of weeks. Sorry about that. But I will get back to it as soon as possible... The fun part of going it piecemeal is not really knowing what comes next. It's all about enjoying LEGO in many different ways.

It really isn't so much about the price for me - not to imply an unlimited budget, just saying the price alone isn't the decising factor. Even if using spares is somewhat more expensive, that's okay as long as I'm having more fun than with a ready-bought set. Maybe this will change in the future, but for the moment I'm still in this particular frame of mind.

If someone is looking for a quick link to all my train updates (which isn't much yet), this is the way: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/category/quest-for-inter-city-train/

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[questforcastle]

After a hiatus of some months, I have recently continued with the project to re-create the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train. I have built and tested the regulator (http://questforbrick...he-transformer/), begun scavenging my old collection for train parts (http://questforbrick...train-stickers/) and currently I'm sorting through what I have and what I still need. My hope is to actually get the train built in the coming weeks, not months...

So far it looks like building the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train out of "spare parts" is significantly harder (and more expensive) than the 6080 King's Castle, which I have almost finished recently in a similar project. While the 7740 has more still-in-production parts and colors, it also has a lot of very specific parts that were available only in a few sets, where as 6080 is fairly generic in its composition.

[JopieK]

Your story is b.t.w. not totally correct, there are no US stickers on the original 77xx series trains.

These are all the different available logo's on those old sticker sheets:

B (Belgian)

Brittish Rail

DB (German)

DSB (Denmark)

NS (Dutch)

NSB (Norway)

S (ÖBB, Austria)

SBB (Switserland, <+>)

SNCF (French, letters)

SNCF (French, old round C)

VR (Finnish)

Most of them are white on transparent, even some are a combination of black and white on transparent, some are totally black. I guess they used PVC for the stickers in those days.

[questforcastle]

Thank you, JopieK. I have updated the article to reflect this and linked to your excellent summary!

My misunderstanding stemmed from a Google image search that showed non-American railways logos in a search for American logos.

[Ambroise]

Very interesting quest...

Sorting some City lot from the 80's, I noticed a lot of train windows (like the ones from my 7710, but yellow instead of blue). After a little search I found they were from the 7740. Unfortunately, there were no train bases, no boogies, no couplers, no track, and no motor. But almost all the other bricks, windows (some rare and expensive like the small grey ones), slopes (yellow, grey, corner), were there !

I then started a quest similar to yours, but noticeably different : my 7740 now runs with Power Function, new boogies, new couplers. I agree this is not the real one, but that was the trade-off to have it running without exploding my budget...

[questforcastle]

Thank you, Ambroise, for the encouragement and your experiences.

I acquired some Power Functions components last year too for this project (http://questforbrick...ower-functions/). It isn't my primary goal, 12V is, but I think I will explore PF a little too.

[questforcastle]

So, I recently started organizing the train pieces I had acquired, collecting around 51% of the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train in brand new, sorted parts (a pic: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/half-the-train-brand-new/) - all from current sets and LEGO Pick a Brick. The rest, the used parts required, are waiting in BrickLink orders for the next steps.

I did put the train parts I have together with some Power Functions parts, here's a picture on how that platform turned out: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/lights-camera-action-go/ I know many others have done similar mods, so probably nothing new there for you, but it was still nice to figure out on my own how to put all those piece in place "inside" the old locomotive design.

I have been quite impressed how compatible the new(ish) Power Functions system still is with the 1980 LEGO train. It simply "plugs in", which is pretty great. Also, the 51% count for brand new parts for this train is more than I expected - LEGO still makes quite a few of the parts used in 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train.

[questforcastle]

It has been around twelve and a half months since I started this thread and the project, but my re-creation of the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train is now finished. Despite my concerns, in the end using brand new bricks for around half of the train - and old collection/used BrickLink for the rest - works really well in my opinion. I wish I had a larger 12V system to run the train on, but for the time being I'll let that thought simmer. One thing that really caught me by surprise is how large and heavy the locomotive is. Of course the large size means lots of bricks, but the side weights and the 12V motor add significant bulk to that.

One topic that came up, upwards on this thread, were my plans for stickers. In the end I left the train with only a few stickers that came on BrickLink acquired pieces. It is enough for me, for now at least. But I was also pointed to an online store that sells replacement stickers, so it is good to know help is at hand if need be. Big thank you to all who have encouraged me and given valuable feedback and tips. It has been a fun project and especially fun sharing it with you guys!

A few pictures and comments: http://questforbrick...nto-the-sunset/ For the sticker story and a lot more older blog posts on this "quest": http://questforbrick...ter-city-train/