wtorbeyns

Eurobricks Vassals
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Everything posted by wtorbeyns

  1. Maybe you've converted your Santa Fe Super Chief to Power Functions a long time ago; if so, then please skip this thread. What I'm writing below will probably be obvious to you. I put off converting the Super Chief from 9v to Power Functions for a while, because of the gray 'decorative sides' that were included. These fit the 9v engine, but not the new RC or Power Functions engines. These use a thicker technic axle. The RC 'decorative sides' therefore have a hole for the technic axle, but the gray Super Chief 'decorative sides' do not. In an older thread you will find the following advise: You have some choices to make it work. I went with number 3, until I can get the parts and try number 2. * Use the decorative sides from #7897 or #7898, which should work but aren't available in Light Gray (old). * Use 5-stud Technic axles, which may not go all the way through the wheels on both sides. * Shave a half-stud length off of each 6-stud axle. * Drill out the metal pin holes in the old Decorative Sides to accommodate the larger diameter of the Technic axles. I didn't want to use black sides, I have no 5-stud axles, I didn't want to cut 6-stud axles and I certainly didn't want to drill holes in the gray Super Chief sides. But today I realized the obvious: I could just use the old 9v engine! No need for replacing it with a newer engine. I could just put in the battery and the IR-receiver and connect them to the old 9v engine with the 8886 'Power Functions Extension Wire'. And it just works. The Santa Fe and Emerald Night are now running laps together on my all plastic Power Functions track.
  2. wtorbeyns

    What did you buy today?

    3x 10199 christmas winter toy shop for € 18,5/set. First time I saw a promotion on Lego stuff of this kind.
  3. The Dutch version ("Sik") isn't in active use by main line operators anymore (but it is still used on museum lines), because it is designed to be operated from outside the cabin. Something that is considered unsafe by todays standard.
  4. wtorbeyns

    Powering Enlighten Trains: RC or PF ?

    I have two coaches of the green train. I concur on most of what you wrote: ok-ish quality, good printing, most bricks hold together nicely. I don't think that the colors are a very good match for real Lego, nor are they very consistent. I'm not sure about the weight issue, but I didn't research this, so you're probably right there too. I completely agree on the higher resistance in the wheels/bogies. That's a serious issue. What I really don't get with these sets is the very poor design. The green coaches have part of the roof and one wall that is supposed to hinge out and upward. But the hinges that are used simply haven't enough clutching power for this action. Each time they come loose. The red coaches look nice and simple, but they have one wall that opens like a giant double door. What's wrong with the simple concept of a detachable roof? The two steam engines have boilers that you can open and look inside. And there you'll find a diesel engine! The entire gray part of the Santa Fe ripoff hinges upward! All these design decisions made by Enlighten seem completely silly. They are not realistic and they don't add anything to the play value. The only rolling stock that looks marginally interesting to me are the closed 'freight car' and the 'mine car' (hopper). These are complete ripoffs of Lego models, but they are so cheap that it might actually be possible to built a goods train with a number of identical cars.
  5. wtorbeyns

    project treigne Mariambourg

    I visited Treignes on saturday. The entire display was very impressive. Much better than I expected from the photos I had seen of the work in progress. The Treignes station section was very detailed; I loved the functioning turntable. I also liked the Mariembourg water tower very much. But overall the amount of detail in the whole display was very good. It was hard to get my sons to visit the other highlights of the Steam Festival. It's a shame that you didn't (couldn't?) use some of the more detailed rolling stock that was displayed in the glass cabinets on the track. I hope someone will post some photos of the event soon. I took some photos, but none do the display much justice. Someone must have had a better suited camera with him. Regards, Wim
  6. wtorbeyns

    project treigne Mariambourg

    Looks good. Looking forward to seeing it all in real life next Saturday.
  7. wtorbeyns

    REVIEW: 7938 Passenger Train

    We went on holiday to Denmark this summer and I saw one of the Arriva trains in real live. I think it's very likely that this time the Lego designers found their inspiration very close to home. The large windows are a very prominent feature that the Arriva DMU (and also of the DSB DMU) share with the new passenger train. So the new passenger train is probably not a high speed, long distance train, but a commuter train. No need for additional coaches, in fact: with 3 cars, this train is already 1 car longer then most EMU's in commuter service. But it would be prototypical to connect multiple EMU's in one train.
  8. wtorbeyns

    REVIEW: 7938 Passenger Train

    The new passenger train resembles the Alstom built trains used by Arriva in Denmark. Except for the color, obviously and the fact that the Arriva trains have doors... edit: There is also some resemblance to the Siemens built DMU's operated by DSB. Here the color is more or less right, but again: the DSB train has doors. Still looking for a full scale example without doors that could have inspired the design of 7938...
  9. No Individual Brussels city hall (Photo on Wikipedia) an ocean liner (think: Queen Mary, Titanic,...) I would love a follow up on Emerald Night; maybe inspired by some German steam engines.
  10. wtorbeyns

    MOD: Emerald Night PAB car

    The price difference between Design byMe and Pick a Brick is impressive. I just parted out a small wagon I designed in LDD. Price in Design byMe: € 31,67; Price for the parts in Pick a Brick: € 16,44. That's 2 for the price of one! If only there was an easy way to create a parts list from LDD...
  11. wtorbeyns

    What's your first Train set?

    That would be 181.
  12. wtorbeyns

    Emerald Night Extra cars

    I bought two of these coaches myself. The quality of the bricks is not bad, but it just isn't Lego. The parts are virtually identical in design (with some surprising useful new designs: a 2x4 tile and two 2x2 plates with studs on both sides). The trainwheels have more friction than Lego's. Baseplate, buffers, turning plates are all rather good. The dark green pieces have a golden shine in them. The grey/silver roof pieces have no consistent color (but they are not bad looking). The design of the coaches is very poor. They are too high: 7 brick rows. Part of the roof and 1 side hinges upwards, but the hinges always come apart or break free from the roof. There is no sticker sheet. All decorated bricks are printed, but printing quality is not that great. Conclusion: I wouldn't recommend these coaches to any Lego fan. I redesigned 1 coach, strengthening it by using parts from the second one (I couldn't get myself to use real Lego pieces for this), and my son uses it on his railway. But even he sees that this is 'no real Lego'.
  13. wtorbeyns

    REVIEW: 10194 Emerald Night

    Yes, Bricklink is an option, and it has been very usefull to me in the past, but it is also subject to the laws of demand. An XL-motor from Lego.com is EUR 11.99; the cheapest one within the EU on Bricklink is USD 25. The IR-receiver is EUR 16.99 on Lego.com, EUR 25.00 on Bricklink. If this was sliced bread, I probably would buy from Bricklink. But after all it's still 'a toy'. I'll wait for the more reasonably priced stuff from Lego.com. It's just inconvenient.
  14. wtorbeyns

    REVIEW: 10194 Emerald Night

    I'm a bit disappointed. I finally decided to buy the parts to power my Emerald Night today. But the Belgian www.Lego.com shop states that the XL-motor and IR receiver are backordered, with shipping dates of resp. 20th and 16th april '10. It seems really hard for Lego to keep all the parts available.
  15. ENTERED I hope this will be considered original enough to be entered into the contest. It's my first 'official' MOC an I don't want to hide that it has been inspired by some of the great MOC's that can be found on Brickshelf (here and here or here and there was another MOC I stole the idea of the use of the vertical grilled bricks from, but I can't find it right now). It's different from these MOC's in that it is 6 studs wide. I think that this width fits well with the rest of my rolling stock (untill now only official LEGO train sets). Also, any design I tried in seven studs wide used many more parts and was a lot more expensive. My Lego collection is rather modest and contains hardly any green, so I tested the construction with whatever bricks I had, but designed it in LDD and ordered the parts from the LEGO factory. You might find it in the gallery in a couple of days. My username there is also 'wtorbeyns'. I received the parts today and put it together. It was mostly as I expected. I removed one layer of plates from the original design (something I considered before ordering the parts, but I thought it better to order the parts anyway). The two sets of wheels can pivot slightly on a pin and they are connected to eachother by a rubber band. This way the coach moves easily trough all the normal curves and switches. I had to replace the couplings with the classic variant, as the newer couplings have a pin sticking out at the bottom that kept hitting a crossing on my track. Regards, Wim