vgo

Paper, plastic pretty much anything (also glue :P) on the axles fixes the problem. Or use BB wheels. :)

Honestly it doesn't look much like a 911, if I hadn't known what it's supposed to be 911 wouldn't have been my first guess, or second for that matter... The classic 911 body shape is one of the difficult cars to build in Lego, I think that Arvo has captured it quite well in his models (but not perfectly).

The best use for those parts that I've seen! :)

This is one of my favorite sets, I have two of the original MT 5541 sets and I've had them on display (the main model + alternate) for a long time. :)

Here's some pictures that I could found on my ballast: The gray looks so boring... Tried the same with white-yellow-tan-reddish brown... BR 80 peeking from the tunnel.

How many? Thousands, haven't bothered counting them...

8866 is the old RC motor and 88002 is the new power functions motor. EDIT: Fixed the links.

This year I haven't bought anything yet, but last year I spent about 5000 euros on BL and probably more a year before...

I have some motors that have been opened, then cleaned and lubricated. I've used two 7735 locomotives to run tests and some motors do run faster, after running 5-10 min on the same small loop the faster one which started just in front of the other is right behind the slower one. This makes running two trains on the same loop quite challenging, I need to test various trains (different combinations of locomotives and cars) to find two that run about the same speed.

The easiest way to open the 12v motor is to place it against a metal anvil or something so that the edge of the top case is on the anvil and the bottom is free to move down. Then use a screwdriver or similar to press hard (or hit it with a hammer) through the two holes where you plug in the lights on top of the motor, the metal under there can take severe punishment. After you get the motor open in one end you can start prying it open with a screwdriver. This method works if nobody has opened the motor before and not glued it back together with wrong type of glue... You need to replace the rubbers on the PF motor's wheels to get better traction on the 12v track.

If you had the decoupler mechanism in every wagon, then I'd call it "flexible". I've made a simple decoupler mechanism that is embedded in the track, two "fingers" raise from the track and push the magnets apart.

Use the Search, Luke! http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=306136

Here's Alpo: He likes to play with Lego, he plays with them like with a ball, pushes them around with his paws and tosses them in the air etc. It's a bit annoying when I'm trying to build something and suddenly half of the parts are on the floor. :P

I've decided to fix that problem on my next 12v layout by raising the track. I have 3 brick high base which has space for all the wiring and then green base plates that have ballast and the track on top of that.

You beat me to it! I'm working on a similar mod, except that the pickups are in the locomotive... Excellent mod! :)