Vintage monorail and siding track

[cimddwc]

Hello everyone,

a little vintage-style train for the monorail part of my layout:

Unfortunately, the motor in the middle is about half a plate to tall, so the parts don't line up properly, and there's not enough space to work around this with these roof slopes...

A look inside:

And a siding track for cleaning and maintenance - above normal tracks (which are just lying there for now, I haven't built ballast and surroundings yet...):

A worker informs his superiors about a missing railing - which is of course missing because I must be able to reach the knob. :)

I didn't want to put the platform behind the monorail tracks because of the position of the train track and the posts.

» Flickr album

Hope you like it...

[cgarison]

Very nice design and a wonderful fusion of styling with the traditional monorail.

[Man with a hat]

Normally I don't really like Monorail trains, but this one is an exception. What a beautiful creation.

[Breakdown]

Upon second look, I noticed that this is 6 studs wide. In the words of the immortal Jesse the Body Ventura: "That illegal!!"

But seriously how stable/tipsy is a 6 stud wide design?

[marook]

Wow, love it!

And I don't mind 'illegal' designs.. ;-)

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Normally I don't really like Monorail trains, but this one is an exception. What a beautiful creation.

I agree ...this little monorail with modern pieces is a lovely masterpiece! :wub:

I like also the stairs of your amazing monorail' station!

[cimddwc]

Thanks everyone!

I didn't notice any serious stability problems (though admittedly the walls at the gaps touch each other in curves). And no problems from the little extra weight.

Did Lego ever specify what's officially legal with the monorails? The white space train had some stuff on the sides making it 6-wide there, too... And as far as I remember, Jesse Ventura never showed expertise in Lego. :)

[Breakdown]

Thanks everyone!

I didn't notice any serious stability problems (though admittedly the walls at the gaps touch each other in curves). And no problems from the little extra weight.

Did Lego ever specify what's officially legal with the monorails? The white space train had some stuff on the sides making it 6-wide there, too... And as far as I remember, Jesse Ventura never showed expertise in Lego. :)

As far as I'm concerned there are no rules with lego. I just found it odd and kept looking at it until I realized . . . 6 studs wide, and got curious as to how it performs. You're talking to someone who's cut their bricks or at least plates (which I consider actually illegal), I was just making light of the situation.

[dr_spock]

Very good looking color scheme and design.

[Artanis I]

Really nice. Shame about the uneven height. I wonder if it looks a little bit better if you use dark blue tiles under the doors? I don't like when the line is completely interrupted! I do like the doors other than that.

[harnbak]

Adorable!

Edited April 14, 2015 by harnbak

[cimddwc]

Thanks again!

I wonder if it looks a little bit better if you use dark blue tiles under the doors? I don't like when the line is completely interrupted! I do like the doors other than that.

A thin blue line under the doors? Hmm, I didn't consider that... I only thought about continuing the complete thick line (it might be possible to change the door hinges accordingly), but then preferred the interrupted look (so it's easier for the passengers to see where the doors are).

[Mestari]

It looks great! I think this is the best looking monorail I have seen to date :)

Do you have a video of it running through your town or is it still work in progress?

[Silly_donkey]

Love the colors on this. It would take a major redesign but a technic pin under the bogies might give you the half plate height to even things out with the motor. But it looks great even with the height difference.

[cimddwc]

No video yet, there's too much work in progress. But I guess I can make one when I built the planned house the monorail will drive through...

[Artanis I]

A thin blue line under the doors? Hmm, I didn't consider that... I only thought about continuing the complete thick line (it might be possible to change the door hinges accordingly), but then preferred the interrupted look (so it's easier for the passengers to see where the doors are).

I thought that may be the case. In a less-regulated than real life Lego world, we can go with a bit of a trade-off between what looks perfect and what is most user-friendly for customers. Or ignore user-friendly and tell the customers to just deal with it, find your own doors, I'll put a line where I want!

[zephyr1934]

That monorail is fantastic work. Great colors and great shape to the body. While you are clearly aiming for a modern look, the front kind of looks like a PCC streetcar to me.

[arator]

I did once a (digital) version on a 6-wide monorail. I guessed cornering would be a problem, so I replaced the cornerbricks between the cars with some panels 1x2x1 sideway fixed with a half technic pin. So I created room for the motorcar to swing in. Didn't try it in real bricks though. I love your colorscheme

Edited April 24, 2015 by arator

[AlmightyArjen]

Love it, looks awesome. Like a monorail could look like in a modern set. :)

[Breakdown]

One suggestion to deal with the half-plate discrepancy would be Tyco Stupidblocks. Unless somethings' changed in the last 20 years, their plates are 2 plates = one brick and not three like Lego. If you jam one Tyco stupidblock plate on top of a lego plate (assuming that you can get the colours to match) that motor will line up with the cars pretty good.

[cimddwc]

Thanks again!

But no, I'm not going to "cheat" with third-party/knock-off parts here (or, for that matter, use non-Lego double-sided plates or studless bricks in buildings, as useful though they might be). Kinda a point of honor. :)

[ReplicaOfLife]

Great design.

The color scheme reminds me of a color scheme that was employed by Deutsche Bundesbahn in the 70ies, though rolling stock with those colors was around up until the 90ies..

[Q3671]

nice train, like it