TF Twitch

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Posts posted by TF Twitch

  1. Posted

    I have a couple of locomotives with PF LiPo, IR receiver, and two XL's on a single output channel and have never had problems (and that is pulling trains long enough that they want to pull off the track in the curves). You might want to give it a try with a single IR receiver first to see if it works. In any event the progress is looking good.

    I appreciate the feedback. Which of your locomotives run that setup? Also, would you please provide links to them so that I can further take a look at that particular setup?

  10. Posted

    Once again, I really do appreciate everyone's very thoughtful and helpful feedback. I really want to push myself and my creativity and find my own style. I think that I will find a good balance between realism and play factors since I do like working passenger car interiors and places for minifigs, and also to remind everyone that these are still just plastic bricks. With that being said, during this past week I have been working on a new MOC that is more "realistic" in terms of looks and techniques than my regular Emerald Night mod/derivative locomotives, and I am still not done with it yet. My thread about "Emerald Night locomotive mods" (or whatever it is called) has more information about it!

  11. Posted

    While the changes are small the impact is large, that looks a lot better than the stock EN

    Thank you! The Emerald Night really got me out of my dark ages in 2011, so it will always have a special place in my heart. It is because of that reason that I have always sought to improve upon the original, and it is always an organic process that may never be finished, as seen by this particular thread.

    The Emerald Mikado is fine looking! Well done.

    And that Vanderbuilt tender. Yeah buddy! My closest heritage railroad, the Heber Valley has a 2-8-0 with a Vanderbuilt tender, and I can tell your MOC is a spot on representation.

    Since my first (failed) attempt at an Emerald Mikado many years ago I have picked up a few techniques that really shone through here and made this one very unique to me. Thank you for the high praise!

    Really like the Mikado and the Christmas train! Can you provide some closer shots of the Christmas wagons?

    The back three wagons are the standard Emerald Night coach with swapped colors. I did alter the end of the last coach to be more of an end car, but it was a really easy mod. I will be sure to post pictures of the different train cars soon. The flatbed that has the trees was just a straight copy from the last 9V Holiday/Christmas train.

    And now, on to the next MOC/WIP:

    2-6-4 Tender Locomotive

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    This WIP is quite different from my standard steam locomotives in multiple ways. The first is that it is obviously not an Emerald Night derivative. It is not based on any one locomotive in particular. This is me using some of my know-how to build a more realistic locomotive that features two XL-Motors in the boiler.

    The techniques used have been used in a plethora of other builds by a lot of other builders, so I cannot really cite any one or two builders as inspiration; this is just a culmination of various techniques that I have picked up on. The pistons and driving rods are more realistic than the standard Emerald Night design that I use, the pony and trailing trucks have more detail than my normal designs, and even the windows of the cab tilt inward.

    I decided on the color scheme during the frame's build. I did not know initially if I was designing a freight, passenger, or mixed traffic locomotive, so I decided to design one that was neutral, and this color scheme works well for that. The tender is still being worked on, but will feature two IR Receivers and the larger AA Battery Box (compared to the smaller AAA Battery Box that I normally use).

  12. Posted

    4-6-2 Emerald Night (Improved)

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    Here is another upgraded version of the Emerald Night locomotive. Originally I set about to shove two L-Motors inside of the boiler, similar to the other Emerald Night-style locomotives that I have done. I found, however, that due to the shorter boiler of the Emerald Night that routing the wires from the front lights would be an issue, so I downgraded the motors to two M-Motors. The other tender that I designed was built in 7-wide and housed the AA Battery Box, but the tender looked to bland and square. The solution was to take the tender from the Emerald Northern and change it to dark green. Overall I like the new appearance.

  13. Posted · Edited by TF Twitch

    Here are a few more of my MOCs, some of the Emerald Night design and some others.

    2-8-2 Emerald Mikado

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    I messed around with an Emerald Mikado a long time ago, but I did not like how it came out. I decide to have another go at it, and this is the result. I used the 4-8-2 Emerald Mountain as a base and shortened the locomotive section by 2 studs. The Vanderbilt tender was made mainly from scratch, and the entire length is actually a tad longer than my 4-8-4 Emerald Northern.

    Arctic Swift

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    I wanted to make a Christmas Train, and I wanted to use a bland freight-type locomotive to head the train, just to break the norm. I created the Mikado first, then the train cars. The back three passenger cars are recolored Emerald Night coaches.

    Arctic Swift headed by Emerald Mountain

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    Just for fun I wanted to see what the Emerald Mountain would look heading the Arctic Swift.

    New 4-4-0 Humble Sapphire Tender

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    As suggested by others (mainly Murdoch17), I redid the wheels of the tender. The bogies are of a standard setup, and are each one stud shorter than the original tender bogies. While it does not have the added detail, it still works as intended. Also shown are two old west-styled passenger cars. I would have to do a practice run with the locomotive to see how much it can actually and reliably pull, seeing as how the train motor drives the locomotive's driving wheels.

  14. Posted

    Thank you everyone for the kind responses! I think that I will make my MOCs a tad more realistic in the future, but still retain that play value. I may venture into building in 7-wide, since that would allow full interiors of passenger cars and allow two rows of seating instead of only the one that can be done with 6-wide.

  15. Posted

    I have a question for my fellow Train MOCers. To build realistically, or build for play value? I see lots of great MOCs here, on flickr, and on MOCpages that are super realistic and look like more like models, but they lack what I consider "play factors" (aka opening doors, full interiors, and being able to interact with Mini figures). So far I have made my train MOCs in 6-/7-wide so that they scale better with official sets. So far I build this way because I like the challenge of including the "play" into my MOCs. Another reason is that each year my wife and I set up her Winter Village around the Christmas tree with the train going around it all. I feel that having a more realistic model train would not be in scale and would look out of place.

    With all of this considered, I have wanted to venture into the realm of more realistic train MOCs. I do feel that my current build style is "inferior" in terms of realism and looks, but I like having the "play factors". I have thought about expanding into building everything in 7-wide, but I know that it can be a hassle structurally.

    Does anyone have any advice on this matter or their own input? Anything is appreciated.

  16. Posted

    I like the newer version's tender too, but I'd have to say that I agree with Murdoch that the 2 bogie version seems more appropriate to the model as a whole. The one element I miss the most from the first version's tender is the l.gray 2x12 section on the sides.

    I will upload newer pictures later that have the new two-axle bogies. I did not include the gray sections on the side since I wanted to decrease the tender's size both in height and width. Originally a sticker that says "Humble Sapphire" would go on that gray area, but now it will be gold letters on the blue side.

  18. Posted

    I personally like the newer version. The size is more prototypical for the mid-1800's... though the three wheel design might not be. You could use two bogies or a two wheel design instead, right?

    I did see some pictures on the intrawebs that show a three-axled tender on 4-4-0 locomotives, although you are correct that the two bogie design is more common. The new design does feature a floating middle axle, which will help it out with turns. I may redesign the dual two-axle bogies so that they are smaller than the original tender bogies.

  19. Posted

    I have done some work to my 4-4-0 "Humble Sapphire" locomotive. The largest changes were adding a 5-wide section to the rear of the boiler (just in front of the cab) and a new tender. I would like to ask the community which tender version they think looks better.

    Original Humble Sapphire

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    New Locomotive with Tender

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  20. Posted

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    Here is a new "theme" that I am working on, the RamPart Defense Force. The design of the RamPart Armor Systems (the mecha used) is meant to be modular so that different components can be swapped out for a different loadout, similar to the Armored Core series of video games. The color scheme is meant to be able to fit in with other Space themes. The "story" is that the RamPart Defense Force is a QRF that protects the galaxy. They helped the ADU repel the alien invaders and fought alongside the Galaxy Squad against the buggers. Sometimes the Space Police request their assistance against Blacktron incursions, and they have even been a security force for the Classic Space astronauts.

    More of this theme will be posted when I make more components for swapping.

  21. Posted · Edited by TF Twitch

    Here are two small and minor updates, one each for the Emerald Norther and the Emerald Mountain.

    Emerald Northern

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    The Emerald Northern class received a new streamlined smokebox with the "passenger/express" streamlining package, along with new smoke deflectors.

    Emerald Mountain

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    The Emerald Mountain received a small super heater on the top of the front of the boiler's smokebox.

  23. Posted

    It would seem as though Postron and myself would be the first two members. Hooray! Now, how does one go about starting a LUG? I mean, do I need to design a website and t-shirts? Because I am horrible at both. A coffee mug, on the other hand, is a different story.

  25. Posted

    I thought about that, but I think the pony truck I used wouldn't work so well next to blind drivers instead of flanged. If you did use blind first, you'd have to have a different kind of pony truck, something like this...

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    This is what my first MOD of Anthony Sava's original Berkshire looks like with regards to the pony truck. It is hinged between the first and second axle by a 2 x 14 plate and 2 x 2 turntable. I now use the Emerald night pony truck instead of this, as the original one had problems falling off the turntable at times of uneven track, such as the lead-up to a bridge.

    Does this help any?

    It does since my Emerald Northern is a B-F-B-F setup to eliminate rear overhang. I think that the front overhang will be fine with that setup, but I have not fully tested it yet.