SteamSewnEmpire

Neat. Always loved New Zealand railroads.

Because it bothers me on a fundamental level to have an unpowered locomotive :P. I don't like the idea of the tender being the "engine." Stupid? Unreasonable? Impractical Yes sir. But when I drop $50 on high-end 3d printed drivers, I want those puppies to spin under power.

Overall, great. I'll offer some minor critiques: Did you consider widening the boiler to 5 studs width? It looks a bit narrow at 4 to me. I think it's possible that the stack could be closer to the real-deal. For example: You could also probably use a more severe angle on the roof of the cab. These are pretty small nits, though - I can't really spot anything else. Great job.

I was able to squeeze 2 large PU motors and two battery packs into the loco/tender. Optimistically, that should do it.

I'm increasingly of the belief that the PU XL motor isn't going to work with this particular model - it's simply too big, and I am having to make structural concessions in order to get it into the locomotive. Does anyone think two PU Mediums will be enough?

Fascinating. I will try that. You're a miracle worker - that fixed everything. So, yes, that would definitely imply that some files within LDD develop some kind of bizarre "hangup" that is directly coupled to the bricks. What a ludicrous design flaw - it's almost like a game with a memory leak, but with a file.

The nonsensical division of parts in Stud.io makes it completely unusable for me.

Honestly, my LDD is crashing every time I attempt to save the model right now. I am so frustrated with this terrible program that I'm on the verge of just giving the whole thing up.

Also, would using two Powered Up XL motors then require 2 battery packs? I read that you can only use one motor per pack.

Okay, now I am just all over the place. What is the best option here? 1) I could stick with PF and remove the additional motor in the tender. While this would half the locomotive's power, it would also be the easiest choice, would lighten the tender significantly, and wouldn't require dramatically reconfiguring the internals of the locomotive to accommodate different motors. I might also - conceivably - be able to move the battery box from the tender into the locomotive, thus increasing overall weight there, though I haven't investigated that option, as I never thought it would be necessary. 2) I could go with the Powered Up medium motors in both the Loco and the Tender (did Lego never release the PU XL motor? I cannot find it listed anywhere). Do I then need to use the boost hub, too? 3) A lot of people seem to use the WeDo motors from the Batmobile, though this comes with the same difficulties as option 2), since it will require altering the internals rather dramatically to make them fit. The most that this locomotive would ever be expected to pull is its own tender plus three scale coaches (I would never invest in more). If a single PF XL motor is enough to accomplish this, when powering the main drivers, then that's all I need. If it's not, and the second motor is a definite requirement, then I suppose PU is necessary. But I need to figure this out (and make necessary changes if applicable) now, and not when I am assembling things. As an aside, the more I look at Lego's power options, the less regard I hold the company in. These rapid shifts from one system to another only seem to be having the effect of letting the customer base down. Parts aren't a smart phone; I don't think people, and especially children, should be asked to "upgrade" every year or so, and I expect Lego to settle on a system and stand by it for at least 10 years. Releasing multiple - in some cases, seemingly competing - systems is nothing but a headache.

So do I need to incorporate the boost hub, or just the hub and motors? And what has become of the powerfunctions infrared sensor? Is that just no longer necessary?

That's likely not in LDD, I take it? Do you happen to know what its dimensions are?

I dunno. This begs the question: will I ever run it? Which seems unlikely. I guess if Lego's tech isn't up to that yet, I'll wait until such time as it is.

Actually, no, I have never experienced this. I think there are people who go over-the-top on the density of scenery and achieve a kind of "carnival prize booth" effect where their layouts are cluttered beyond all comprehension... ... and I think this tends to detract (heavily) from a good scene. When we look at the world, it is - by and large - populated by foliage. The effort to "pave over" - in the form of random festivals, businesses and industries of every sort, shops, houses, sidings, light fixtures, or just modeled trash and junk piles - to achieve some kind of visual candy store is completely misguided. Earth just doesn't tend to look like that. But when it comes to photo-realistic models, no, I think everyone should be trying as hard as they can to look real. Real never gets old for me: In fact, scenery is one of the reasons I can never fully give up on traditional model railroads, even though I find Legos more satisfying overall - because we just can't do that ^. And that is amazing. Awesome as our mocs may be; creative and even ingenious as they may become, they will always be limited by the medium we have chosen - they are never going to be anything but toys. Really cool toys... but toys. And I'm okay with that. I love Legos - I love, even as an adult, playing with Legos. You really cannot do that with a model railroad (you can follow train orders and 'play engineer,' but you can't move figures and objects around in the same way; Sephiroth, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Doc from BTTF cannot take tea in a dining car on an HO model railroad like they can with Lego). There are huge advantages to Lego that traditional model railroading will never possess. But no, when it comes to a stand-up competition in looks alone, they beat the snot out of us.

I'll look into the ladders. And the claw part is just a placeholder. It's going to require a custom piece. Actually, the motor powers the drivers. There's also a second motor in the tender powering one of those trucks.

Late to the party, but this stuff is first rate. I may have to leave room for it in my trains moving forward. With regards to the track, the funny thing is that this is really the opposite direction that the traditional hobby is going for model railroading. I think, almost certainly, that battery power is the future for N, HO, O, etc - it just solves so many issues with track. I understand that we don't paint our rails or weather, or put down real-rock ballast, or any of that - but dust is still a thing, and cleaning is a requirement when you are drawing from the rails. Not mocking people who go that route, as there are still big advantages - just saying, it is strange to see some Lego train people pining for a power source that is going to fade away in the mainstream.

Here's the full loco. It has 2 large can motors - one in the engine, and one in the tender:

Lol, that was a suggestion for him, not me. That is the "hush hush" locomotive.

Wow, that's GREAT! You have any ambition of selling the plans? I could definitely see this as the ideal starter locomotive for people looking to break into 8w.

Yup. That's the plan. The only problem is that Schupp's drivers look to me to be in the 70-74 inch diameter ballpark, whereas the J3s had 79 inch wheels. I know this doesn't sound like that much, but it had the effect of skewing the proportions of the engine very slightly. The other - bigger - issue is that the running boards are a plate too low. Because of the way the boiler is designed, I could either choose structural rigidity, or something that was aesthetically a bit closer to the mark. I went with the former, but it's still "off" to my eyes. Unfortunately, such are the limits of our artistic medium :P.

Can't believe I missed this - this is great! I want one!

That cab is excellent. First-rate. Can I trouble you for an end-on shot from the cab-side?

Thanks. I think it only came out so-so. There's no really good way to do the front end (I actually tried two versions before I settled on this one), and the actual locomotive was far rounder than I think Lego can capture in this scale.

... for Shupp's XXL drivers in LDD? I was considering designing a locomotive again, but I don't want to begin with "off" proportions. Is there a part that matches these wheels in terms of size? Thanks.