AirborneAFOL

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. But my read on the secondary market is that the various components of 60052 sell at a notably higher rate than 60098. Certainly "dollar votes" are being cast in favor of the 60052 engine, loading dock, and wagons (with the exception of 60098's hopper). Of course, that's just my impression - I could be mistaken, or it could be due to underlying buyer-trend factors...

60052 has indisputably better design, better resale value. Should be a no brainer.

Fantastic mod. I've had this set, intact, for several weeks now pondering the appropriate mods to full enclose it - your approach is brilliant in keeping with the "open-able" design, and great inspiration!

I'm no stranger to Friends sets as MOD candidates to modularize. This one is a dissappointment, though. The wall(s) are too minimal, even by Friends' norms, the cart/rack seems ill-concieved, and there's not really any cleverly designed internal elements. Regrettably this is one Friends set I'll have to pass on :(

I think some of us are quietly hoping Lego will eventually release a new generation of track that has curves designed in a manner that can attach securely, directly to baseplates... though nobody is holding their breath given how relatively recent the PF/flex track is and how low Lego seems to prioritize development of the Trains theme...

I've seen this once before a couple months ago, and went to far as to chastize the poster and send an IM to alert the original designer. It really pisses me off. I truly enjoy browsing the remarkable builds on this site and draw immense inspiration from them. It bothers me that plagerists would try and profit because it inevitably gives pause to some folks about sharing their builds. I dabble on Ebay ('VeritasBricks' - mostly just parting out unwanted components of sets or PAB surpluses to help fund more Lego) - but it seems to me that there's an easy way to go about this kind of profiteering behavior. Send a message to the original designer, let them know you do a fair bit of selling/Ideas-posting, and offer to give them a cut of any profits (aka, "royalty fees") if they endorse your sale of their creation. Heck, I know I'd personally be thrilled if someone extended that courtesy to me, and would be happy with just a few bucks. But if they didn't, I'd do everything in my power to not just discredit their plageristic posting, but their operation as a whole. I'm hopeful we can root out this guy, so I can go about blacklisting him from any of my own future Ideas-support / secondary market shopping. Maybe Eurobricks should even create a formal "blacklist" of plagerists, akin to the thread for calling out trustworthy secondary market sellers?

There's guys (like myself) who build things off the cuff, tinkering as we go, using the bricks we have readily available. We're amatuers. Then the there's guys, like many around these parts, who use LLD and spend intensive time planning and bricklink it to life. Sometimes its a beautifully sleek design, sometimes it's innovative technique, and occassionally it's both. They're "master builders". And then, Sir, there is you. A league of your own. I can't even think of an adjective that is worthy of this impressive build.

No, this one was well underway long before I came across that recent warehouse. Ghent Harbour is where I drew the original inspiration: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=107836

Appreciate the feedback. Yes, lots of refinement yet to be done - I only build in "real brick" (no LDD tools) and tend to "make it up as I go". Tried to incorporate the look and some key components of the 60050 Train Station (as xboxtravis noted), while enhancing it into a more "modular/expert" calibre. Some refinements I'm planning once I can have some more build-time... 1. Tweaking the pillars in front at the corners of the stairs - I like the style / colors, but think they need to be just 1-2 bricks shorter, or taller. 2. The white arch over the "City Station" entry signage needs some refinement to give it some better aesthetic decor appeal. 3. Landscaping out the backside (tiling/foilage/cargo accessories/etc). 4. Some decorative touches to the rear platform access (above the turnstyles). 5. Tower doesn't quite look as sleek as I'd prefer - need to make some adjustments there so its more uniform on all-4 sides. I'd certainly appreciate any other suggestions! I'm a city-theme builder dabbling into trains (unlike many guys here who seem to be train-afficianados dabbling into Lego), so I'm frankly pretty clueless about "key components" train structures would typically have.

Thanks for the kind words. As I said in the Train Station thread, this one still needs a good bit of refining, but with the imminent birth of new twins, I may have to table any plans until spring. I don't use design software so I just tinker with the bricks I have. Amongst my polishing work to do yet on this one: 1. Re-tiling the track/ground in front to replace those flat tan tiles with a more "natural/rugged" landscape. 2. Adding some lights/door-handles/etc (to some of those exposed SNOT bricks. 3. Adding some stored crates/goods to the interior. 4. Tweaking the trim around the main entry (far left) door. Very much open to other ideas/suggestions. Was shooting for something that looked "well used", but not exactly "creepy"!

Maybe a trash can, and/or a "rain drainage" pipe running vertical 1-2 in studs from the back corner? It's a great structure, I suspect just a few decor/detail touches will give the backside the pop you're hoping for.

Another one... Again, still needs a bit of polishing, but you get the idea. It was heavily inspired by one I saw here a few months back, but for the life of me I can't find the original post and properly attribute credit... Untitled by Ryan McNamee, on Flickr

Not fully finished, but wife is due with twins (Lord help me...) any day now, so not sure when I may get a chance to polish it up. MOD of 60050, with some heavy modifications inspired by the scores of amazing builds I've been lurking in this forum. (Technical difficulties, can only get 1 pic posted - but more in my Flickr) Untitled by Ryan McNamee, on Flickr

The case is fanastic. Brilliant approach for keeping it clean, safe, and easy to transport. I think the only downside is there's no "display" ability. Now... I only wonder if my wife will let me put my shotgun on the fireplace mantle, and my trains in the case... ;)

Impressive layout. I think the only think remaining to really bring it to that elite calibre is "surfacing". By that I mean sidewalks, grass, water, etc., such that tiles / foilage / etc is covering all the currently-exposed baseplates. Your beach is a good example of the "surfacing" - expanding what you've started there to the entire thing. The drawback is that (1) it's time consuming to cover, say, a blue water plate in trans-blue (or other water technique) tiles, (2) it's costly to acquire the vast sum of tiles/foilage it can take, and (3) it can reduce the flexibility in re-arranging the layout (move one plate and suddenly the sidewalks don't align and you're back to the time issue - rearranging one thing means retiling everything adjacent). But, if you're layout is displayed in a location that you don't anticipate moving it for several years, it can definitely be worth pursuing and really make a big aesthetic "wow" factor. I've also found that by tiling open space surfaces (as few exposed studs as possible), it can make it very easy to remove the dust that inevitably accummulates (either just a wet-wipe or a can of pressured air).