Renovating trains (so far models 4558 and 4563)

[Garrcomm]

Hi there!

Lets start with a short introduction of myself.

I already introduced myself here: http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=88886

Short story: I got inspired back into Lego after 20 years or so and used to have some Lego trains sets.

A few weeks ago I went to my dad to visit his attic and find back my old stuff:

Yes, that's a lot of dust and very old bricks.

I already recognised some stuff while collecting these bricks, but to be able to rebuild my old sets, I had to sort the bricks.

So a week later I had this:

After sorting, I started building. Funny thing; I remembered which sets I had, roughly.

I found 5 building plans online which recalled some parts of my memory.

But I was wrong. After building 3 sets, I already found that I made a mistake and probably never had the Road N' Rail Repair (4525). but instead I had the Road and Rail Maintenance (4546).

That mistake was easy to fix, getting other parts, building everything together, and voila; a week later I have this setup:

At some places I've been creative, since I'm missing a few parts. Already ordered a lot at Bricklink (Regretfully I found that website :) ) so hopefully in a week or so I have both trains complete.

When this is all completed, I'm going to look if I can upgrade everything to be used with the Lego Power Functions, and in a final step I want to be able to control the trains with my computer.

I'm not sure if the progress of this project is something that's interesting enough to be posted on this forum, if so, please let me know, and I will use this thread for future updates :)

[Heppeng]

Oh I am sure its worth posting! Its a lot of fun restoring old sets, and perhaps even putting your own interpretation on it - In lego anything is possible - especially with the help of bricklink!

[dr_spock]

Welcome aboard. It would be interesting to see how the restore turned out.

[peterab]

I'm interested to see how you go about computer control. There are tech docs available for the IR controllers and receivers so if you built a controller which interfaced with a PC you would get pretty close to your aim.

[eurotrash]

Good luck with the rebuilds and please keep us informed of your progress.

[Garrcomm]

Welcome aboard. It would be interesting to see how the restore turned out.

Thanks! Well, so far I have the metroliner for 99% complete. I lack only a few bricks of which the windows are the most difficult to find I think. So that's no biggy.

The other train is lacking a lot of parts for the locomotive. I think I have another box somewhere, but no idea where, which contained my tracks and the red locomotive.

I already ordered some 9V tracks (my plan is to use only 9V metal tracks since it's using the same track width as the current LPF trains) and some parts for the red loc.

Here is a picture of the metroliner completely assembled (a few replacement parts), and the crossing.

I'm interested to see how you go about computer control. There are tech docs available for the IR controllers and receivers so if you built a controller which interfaced with a PC you would get pretty close to your aim.

My goal is to use a microcontroller, embed it with ethernet, put infrared transmitters (for the LPF trains) and a h-bridge motor driver (for the 9V tracks). I'm going to design my own PCB for that, and when it's done, I'll publish all documents, schematics, etc. online. It´ll be a difficult but interesting project I believe.

But first I want to have 2 trains running; one on LPF and one on 9V.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Garrcomm

[Lazarus]

Ahh I love the 4563 that was my first set ever when I was about 7y/o. I still have that complete and run it on my new layout just for me. It is nothing compared to some of the custom locos I have but still my first so its my Fav.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Lazarus

[roamingstop]

If you don't have all pieces let me know - I'm reducing my collection and have some 4563 road n rail bits

You will need 10 posts to use PM

Complete locomotive but no motor - send me your address.

[Garrcomm]

If you don't have all pieces let me know - I'm reducing my collection and have some 4563 road n rail bits

You will need 10 posts to use PM

Complete locomotive but no motor - send me your address.

Oh that sounds awesome!

This is post 6, still counting. I'll upload some pictures again tonight, so I'll gain 10 posts this weekend I suppose ;)

[kungpo]

I have quite a few Metroliner spares too, so let me also know via PM what you need and I might be able to help you.

[Garrcomm]

I have quite a few Metroliner spares too, so let me also know via PM what you need and I might be able to help you.

Thanks! The metroliner is very much finished, but I have a list of parts that I'm still lacking. Most difficult ones are the windows. I currently need one small and one big window.

Also, I'm thinking of making another car, so it'll be 4 wagons. I really like the looks of it, and a longer train is pretty cool in my humble opinion. For this I need 10 large windows and 8 roof tiles. I already have 4 additional doors with stripes, and the other bricks are quite common.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Garrcomm

[kungpo]

I think I have most of the pieces you need - in "restoring" my Metroliners I picked up a few sets on eBay to make a complete one, so I have a few windows, base plates etc. Send me a list of the bits you need and I'll check what I have. Definitely have all the big windows and probably the small windows too.

[medib]

If you are expanding your metroliner, you might as well think about getting a club car (or two).

[Garrcomm]

If you are expanding your metroliner, you might as well think about getting a club car (or two).

Yea, I've looked at those, they're very nice. Currently I have to watch my budget, so my first step will be to complete what I have and get it running. But after that, I'm seriously going to see if I can extend the trains I have.

By the way, another photo update, last weekend I finished the central station:

Hopefully I find some time tonight to work a bit more on completing models. Just received a bricklink shipment, so I can complete the crossing, metroliner, and work a bit more on the red locomotive.

[Luza]

Thnx for sharing! Love to read about people building up their old LEGO:)

[Garrcomm]

Today I received the final parts to get my metroliner running. I made a small video, demonstrating that it works :)

http://youtu.be/KiMelu4bQPo

[Garrcomm]

So my metroliner is using 9V on the rails. Because I also wanted to experiment with the IR system, I modified the Load N' Haul Railroad locomotive to work with that, including lights in the front:

To store the battery, I just used one of the cargo cars, and made both the battery and IR sensor a cargo item:

I have restored all sets I had as far as possible, and only lack a few bricks which I will probably order next month or so.

Besides that, a friend helped me getting an additional car, which is also shown in this movie:

http://youtu.be/Zl76QZcmZGU

Don't mind the mess on my table please

[Hrw-Amen]

Yes it is worth posting. It is always nice to see what people do with their old favourites and what they have in the attic. I have found a lot of my old stuff but still most of it is packed somewhere in mother's attic. One day I will find it. So keep everyone up to date. I am also interested in your idea of controlling from a PC, I have to say I am not very electrically minded but I would really like to see how other people do it and maybe learn a bit if it is quite easy.

[Garrcomm]

I am also interested in your idea of controlling from a PC, I have to say I am not very electrically minded but I would really like to see how other people do it and maybe learn a bit if it is quite easy.

My plan is to design two printed circuit boards (I've got some experience with designing those), that will actually fit in Lego.

One PCB will be in a watchtower, just to put infrared LEDs in it. From that board there will be a two wire interface to the other board, the main board.

The main PCB will be put in a power shed nearby the 9V tracks, so it can also provide power to the tracks. From the control shed, an ethernet cable can go to a local network.