A holiday train question

[TheLegoDr]

I am extremely new to trains. The only trains I own are the 2010 Hogwarts Express and the most recent Lone Ranger Constitution. With that said, my wife wants me to build her a Christmas train with power functions to go around the tree. I've done some research on where to place the power functions, but since I've never worked with them before, I don't really know where to begin. My questions:

How should a Christmas train look compared to the two trains I listed above? As in, what elements can I take from them and create an awesome looking train?

Where exactly should I put the PF motor? Should it be in the tender or somewhere else?

Is the new track in the Lone Ranger set the same as the boxed track I saw at the LEGO store?

I will have to measure exactly to see how big of a circle/oval she wants, so I will figure out how much track is needed, but otherwise I don't really know where to begin.

Any help will be most appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[DaveBey]

Check out 10173: Holiday Train for some inspiration from LEGO's offering from 2006. This is designed to be motorized with the 9V motor under the tender.

The great thing about LEGO is it can look however you want! Using Power Functions, the biggest issue is where the place the battery box. 10194: Emerald Night is the first Power Functions train and the battery box is in the tender with an XL-Motor supplying the power. The IR Receiver is placed in the boiler. Power Function trains are generally scaled larger than 9V trains due to the additional components required.

You can use 88002: Train Motor but you may be limited in placement with a steam locomotive. Some folks have placed the Power Functions elements inside a boxcar (battery and receiver) with the motor as one of the bogies.

The track included with 79111-1: Constitution Train Chase is the same track as in 7499: Flexible and Straight Tracks. Curves are no longer available in a track set but are available from Pick-A-Brick.

I hope this helps and I can't wait to see with what you come up!

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

[peterab]

Historically Christmas trains have just been normal trains decorated with wreaths and possibly with Father Christmas on board. They are often museum engines such as steam engines pulling historic rolling stock.

Obviously if you wish to make a complete fantasy train you can do anything you like. Many Christmas train sets take this approach, including the 10173 holiday train.

From your choice of trains I'd probably use the Constitution engine, build a powered parcel van as described above, a passenger car (see the holiday train or My Own Train sets for ideas), and maybe a flat car with presents. Add some Christmas decorations and it should look the part. After that you could add more cars such as sleigh and reindeer transport, elf toy workshop, mail sorting wagon, or literally anything else that tickles your fancy. Be aware that you'll need two motors if you plan on having more than about six wagons, and longer wagons should stick to double axle bogies on each end to lower friction.

[FlyerNut]

I bricklinked the holiday train (10173). Based on another user, I placed all the power functions in the passenger car. There's still space for passengers and it's not very noticeable.

[TheLegoDr]

Thanks for the replies!

I am really new to the train world, so any information will be helpful. I did read somewhere about which pieces of PF to pick up, but I hadn't considered the XL motor, only the train motor.

I will have to pick up some track, hopefully that set will be available for a while.

I think I should do something like a normal train and then just have different Christmas moments/decorations throughout instead of making it too crazily colored.

Should I go bigger than the Constitution in terms of scale, or is that one about right for height/width?

[Hey Joe]

Should I go bigger than the Constitution in terms of scale, or is that one about right for height/width?

I'd say that the LR Constitution would make a great start for a holiday train, especially since you already own it. You could MOD the jail car to hold the PF, it's a tight fit, but I think it can be done. Take the gun off of the flat car and put a tree and presents on there. Really; after doing that you would just need to build a little passenger car to cart Santa and some children around. Peterab has some great ideas above.

Of course you could always splurge and get the Emerald Night! Maybe ask the better half which she thinks would be better? The Constitution is on the small side, but is a perfectly fine looking engine IMO.

Joe

[peterab]

I am really new to the train world, so any information will be helpful. I did read somewhere about which pieces of PF to pick up, but I hadn't considered the XL motor, only the train motor.

I wouldn't recommend the XL motor for a beginner in trains, building your own powered bogie with it can be difficult (it has enough power to push a badly designed bogie to pieces) and many people find it too slow. It can be the centre of a very powerful train, but sometimes requires a lot of trial and error to run reliably.

Should I go bigger than the Constitution in terms of scale, or is that one about right for height/width?

I'd recommend you stick with a similar scale for your first train. Many train builders build slightly larger (7 and 8 wide are common) but for ease and reliability six wide can't be beaten. You can certainly use longer wagons if you want too, many of the official sets are longer, and as long as you are a little careful not to make them very heavy, they should be fine. As I said before for long wagons use double axle bogies to keep the friction down.

[zephyr1934]

I will have to pick up some track, hopefully that set will be available for a while.

...

Should I go bigger than the Constitution in terms of scale, or is that one about right for height/width?

If you don't have track yet, why not pick up a starter train set with track, train parts, the PF bits you need, etc.? I would also say start with 6 wide until you have a feel for what you like. The train system was designed with 6 wide in mind. Then if you find yourself thirsting for more detail then go wider, but keeping in mind that 7 and 8 wide trains are heavier.

Happy holidays

[fred67]

Agree with peterab, the train motor will be easier. The holiday train was old style steam, like the original 'my own trains.' (just smaller train wheels, as the large ones did not exist at the time). If that's not unacceptable, you can brick link your own Holiday Train. That's what I did, too. Using the tender for the powered motor would probably be a good solution for TLR Constitution.