WesternOutlaw

TRAIN TECH Help, General Questions & Talk to the Staff

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42 minutes ago, RuffDraft said:

Shame I don't really have much of a space for a LEGO train if it's not underneath a Christmas tree.

That was my rationale behind it. "I don't have space for permanent layout, but since the Christmas tree is going to occupy some place, I might as well put a train below it!"

I also had a plan of doing some automation (and lights possibly), but of course time didn't allow to. So yeah, maybe next year!

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4 hours ago, Bartosz said:

That was my rationale behind it. "I don't have space for permanent layout, but since the Christmas tree is going to occupy some place, I might as well put a train below it!"

I also had a plan of doing some automation (and lights possibly), but of course time didn't allow to. So yeah, maybe next year!

Ah well! We can post our setups next year and see how we're getting along! At least we had our train this year - I loved it!!! :blush:

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Hi I was curious and apologies if this has been posted. 

If I was to buy  the 60197 Passenger train. Can you use the motor and base to build MOC trains. 

Is there a certain weight that the motor stops working.

 

any help would be appreciated 

cheers 

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40 minutes ago, ColAus said:

Hi I was curious and apologies if this has been posted. 

If I was to buy  the 60197 Passenger train. Can you use the motor and base to build MOC trains. 

Is there a certain weight that the motor stops working.

 

any help would be appreciated 

cheers 

Yes, the LEGO train sets are a good place to start. People use that LEGO train motor for lots of custom engines.
 

The motor will start to struggle with too much weight behind it or too many axles (too much friction) to pull. You should be ok for probably double what comes in the set before it starts to have a hard time.

In previous generations of LEGO trains, it was easy to add a second motor, but with the new Powered Up system that's more difficult to pull off. I think there might be custom control options to make it easier but I'll let someone more knowledgeable than me chime in if that's the case.

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Thanks mate. Appreciate that. 

16 hours ago, Daedalus304 said:

Yes, the LEGO train sets are a good place to start. People use that LEGO train motor for lots of custom engines.
 

The motor will start to struggle with too much weight behind it or too many axles (too much friction) to pull. You should be ok for probably double what comes in the set before it starts to have a hard time.

In previous generations of LEGO trains, it was easy to add a second motor, but with the new Powered Up system that's more difficult to pull off. I think there might be custom control options to make it easier but I'll let someone more knowledgeable than me chime in if that's the case.

 

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14 hours ago, ColAus said:

Thanks mate. Appreciate that. 

 

Look at it this way 

PU hub - 50 dollars

PU controller - 23 dollars

PU train motor - 14 dollars

Total 87 dollars

The set is passenger train is 160 dollars it comes with those components and a loop of track (about 20 dollars) 

If you can use the bricks for other MOCs then great if you dont need track or dont want the bricks then get just the parts.  All are in the lego store or bricklink (or others)

Buying the set will give you other train parts you may need depending on your moc ... They might be cheaper to just buy bricks you need shop around

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On 7/10/2019 at 3:15 PM, Roadmonkeytj said:

Look at it this way 

PU hub - 50 dollars

PU controller - 23 dollars

PU train motor - 14 dollars

Total 87 dollars

The set is passenger train is 160 dollars it comes with those components and a loop of track (about 20 dollars) 

If you can use the bricks for other MOCs then great if you dont need track or dont want the bricks then get just the parts.  All are in the lego store or bricklink (or others)

Buying the set will give you other train parts you may need depending on your moc ... They might be cheaper to just buy bricks you need shop around

That is a better idea. I didn’t actually think to look on Bricklink for the parts. Idiot lol 

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On 5/25/2018 at 10:17 PM, zephyr1934 said:

Yes it did (was 9v themed, probably been gone about a year?). Anyway, thank you thank you for the theme change, I can see my unread threads again!

Remember this?

48294026812_6c7ba38aca_z.jpg

Eurobricks banner by Duq, on Flickr

According to the Wayback machine we've had these silly rabbits for well over 2 years now....

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23 hours ago, Duq said:

Remember this?

48294026812_6c7ba38aca_z.jpg

Eurobricks banner by Duq, on Flickr

According to the Wayback machine we've had these silly rabbits for well over 2 years now....

Where can I vote to get this banner back?! We desperately need this one. The current one is indeed so absolutely silly...

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The current banner is "nothing" in a color that is "nothing" to me as well (I am color blind). I don't get the "silly" bit - there is simply nothing. That may be regarded as "empty" but not as "silly", or do I miss something? Bunnies?

Best
Thorsten 

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9 hours ago, Toastie said:

The current banner is "nothing" in a color that is "nothing" to me as well (I am color blind). I don't get the "silly" bit - there is simply nothing. That may be regarded as "empty" but not as "silly", or do I miss something? Bunnies?

There are indeed several very silly bunnies and a bee (all CMF 'suits') in the current train tech banner. I don't mind the colours, its.just that these Easter / Spring designs make no sense whatsoever for a Train Tech Forum. That's what's so silly if you ask me ;)

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As far as I know: since forum upgrades, the season-theme-changing for the rest of the site (and some fixed themes, such as Trains and Technic) started causing problems. These were solved by leaving the default setting to "Spring_2018"; lavender-and-green, bunnies and all. Some forums, such as Technic, have created and installed new themes, similar to the old; some haven't.

However, all is not lost; the "theme" of the site can be selected manually! Scroll to the very bottom of the site, underneath the advert banner, and click on the drop-down menu "theme". I've got mine set to "City", the fixed theme used in the Town forum; I suspect @Toastie's is "TEST" or "Unedited New Theme (DON'T EDIT)".

I would love it if the EB team could create and install a new train theme (perhaps Maersk, TGV and EN might look good); however, I appreciate it's probably not at the top of the priority list!

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On 7/15/2019 at 5:39 PM, Duq said:

Remember this?

48294026812_6c7ba38aca_z.jpg

Eurobricks banner by Duq, on Flickr

According to the Wayback machine we've had these silly rabbits for well over 2 years now....

I like this much better and is much more appropriate than what is there now.

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11 hours ago, ColletArrow said:

I suspect @Toastie's is "TEST" or "Unedited New Theme (DON'T EDIT)".

Yes! That was it. I forgot. Sorry. The bunnies were - after a while - too much for me. So "Test" did it - better nothing than bunnies. OK, the bunnies are cute. There are cute trains as well - but most of them are - well - heavy or ... whatever, but not necessarily cute.

Thanks a lot for refreshing my mind. I am getting old I guess.  

All the best
Thorsten

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On 8/15/2019 at 7:33 PM, Modeltrainman said:

@dr_spock, thank you! How much speed do you have to give it to get moving? Mine needs 30(%?)(I know this should be in train tech, but it's more a motor thing.)

@Modeltrainman  Yeah, it take a few clicks on the BT remote to get my train moving.  I think about 3 clicks.

Personally I like he rotating knob on the IR speed remote. It is easier to change speed quickly than multiple +/- clicks on the BT remote.

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Now that I have a Lego space, I'd like to have a train set up of some sort. I'm curious what a small to average size set up might be. I can defiantly go the standard 4x8 sheet of plywood or even a 6x8 sized set up. An 8x8 is doable but not much room to move around the layout.

I'm not looking to go crazy just enough to have the train move around some. I'm currently about half way finish brick linking the Maersk Train. And here's where I'll loose some of you I'm sure. I also love Star Wars, so I'm looking to do a Star Wars layout with a train similar to the one posted below. Thanks in advance. 

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Train?file=Conveyex_SWSG.png

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If you look through some threads here you'll find a variety of creative layout solutions, large and small. Myself, I went small. Here's a link to my layout. Good luck with yours and start a new thread with lots of pics to keep us updated. 

 

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5 hours ago, murtaughf3 said:

I also love Star Wars

Your avatar gave you away (grin). You could also consider creative ways to use trains, e.g., have low flying star-fighters chasing each other around the track. The train in your link looks more like it would be on the roller coaster track, but that is just because the image shows it suspended in the air. There have been several star wars and classic space themed trains on this forum before. A google search would likely turn up many inspiration pieces. If you wanted to be true to the franchise you would just have to pick a prototype to model, or capture the essence of your favorite period/planet and build a train they might use.

As for the Maersk train, it is a great set. But if you like the style without being particularly concerned with the livery, it is a lot cheaper to build a repaint. A quick google search will turn up many such builds.

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Short of sourcing a 3rd party motor, you're probably limited to using one of these:

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2986

In order to keep it narrow enough, you'll probably need to attach a worm gear to the end of that motor and have it drive a small gear mounted between 2 thin Technic liftarms, though that may still be too wide. I'd have to play with it a bit in Stud.io to see what works.  I'm not sure what his Eurobricks handle is, but Rob Hendrix has motorized a number of tiny locos.  You can find him in the LEGO train groups on Facebook.

Would love to see what you build.  This sounds great.

 

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1 hour ago, ISD said:

Could someone help me to create motorized bogie for this track? It is for the steam engine, so valve gear is also needed.

That's a tough one, a single stud between the rails. Here are a couple of builds that have two studs between the rails: example 1, and example 2. Bonus example 3. I've seen at least two or three others but do not have those links handy.

 

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1 hour ago, zephyr1934 said:

That's a tough one, a single stud between the rails. Here are a couple of builds that have two studs between the rails: example 1, and example 2. Bonus example 3. I've seen at least two or three others but do not have those links handy.

 

One example:

1080996150_rsz_untitledmodel-min(1)(1).png.120e41a486acb986f9d930edc2c53119.png

It is driven using a belt + that yellow parts.

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22 hours ago, ISD said:

It is driven using a belt + that yellow parts.

Belt drive is iffy, you need high tension to ensure the yellow bushing will turn, but that then results in high friction between the technic axle and lift arm. I tried it with this little engine, and it probably cannot pull much more than the battery box car. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that it will be non-trivial

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