hoeij

Ah, that explains why there's so little 4.5V and 12V track left on bricklink! (I bought my track about 2 years ago, and at the time there were a lot more bricklink shops where I could buy track from).

The track is very nice, and the track-side structures add a lot to it (especially little details like the traffic signs). If you have two sets of the white high-speed train, you can make one more train car (though it'll have a white roof instead of a white and transparant-black).

Of course it will come available soon. Why else did lego retailers receive this picture? You'd need to have some distance between the ship and the train because it's on different scales. If the ship is still some distance away from the harbour, then the smaller scale will be OK (do you have blue base plates?).

When it's open, do you see the brushes sparking (you can't see the brushes themselves because the motor inside the 9V train motor is closed, but the plastic does let some light through, so you can see it if it is sparking. If it is, then clearly it's toast, but you may be able to repair it if you can find another 2-axle DC motor that fits in the spot.

I see the problem, this PF connector is a tiny little bit thicker and longer than the old 9V connector, but that's enough to cause problems. It's surprising that lego is still selling this motor (instead of the much better motor that sits in the current train sets). To the original poster, I would ask lego for a refund for your motor, and then buy the new motor from bricklink. There's one listed for $15 (that's without the wheels) (actually, to get these wheels, you probably have to keep the motor you bought from lego.com). Note that this new motor doesn't just fit better, it also runs much better, so you'll enjoy your train more if you have that motor in it. PS. In case you're new to bricklink, the motor that you want is this one: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=x1688a PS 2. I have both the old and the new motor, and compared them side by side. Given the same voltage, the new motor is about twice as strong. This allows you to pull longer trains, and moreover, it also gives you much better speed control. A cargo train needs to be able to go slowly without stopping in curves. The old motor can't do that, and the new one can. Batteries will also last a lot longer with the new motor. You definitely will like your cargo train much better if it has the new motor in it. It's really a shame that lego is still selling the old one instead of the new one.

If you have a lot of trains, and you cut and reconnect wires this way, it saves money because you only need to buy half as many cables (I did this for some of the wires for the lights in my 9V trains).

Does it matter which hole in the base plate the motor is attached to? The underside of the base plate has a part that is flat, a part where studs can't attach to. This flat part is there so that the studs (on top of the power cable that is connected to the motor) can slide under the base plate. I'm puzzled why this sliding is not working? Experts: does this work for some trains and not for others? Or is this an issue with that motor for pretty much any train?

I'm pretty sure that this Maersk train will be powered not by an XL motor, but by a regular train motor (like the one that sits in the current passenger and cargo trains. Hopefully lego will start selling those separately). The 10219 is 3 feet long, so two copies make a 6 feet train. One motor should be enough to pull that, if you don't have too many curves in the layout.

Copying pictures from the internet is not a profitable business model. So they must have received that picture from the lego company. Likewise, the information they posted (that it doesn't come with track or motor), I'm sure they received this information from the lego company. There were lots of complaints when 9V ended, but since then, we've seen the Emerald Night, and now this train, so things are really good for adult fans of lego trains.

For those of us that want to buy 2 copies of this set, it is good news that no motor or track is included (I certainly wouldn't like to be forced to buy 2 controllers/receivers/motors). Hopefully lego will sell the PF-train-motor/receiver/batterybox to those that need it (that would make a lot of sense!). It certainly would be a good thing if those become available as separate items. One of my favorite trains is the BNSF locomotive 10133 connected to a few sets of the double-stack container cars 10170. It looks wonderful going over the track. Unfortunately, 10133/10170 have become quite expensive, so it is very good news that this new train is coming out. The engine is longer and so it's more realistic, and the new color scheme is wonderful. It's going to look great having both trains on the track! To all of you writing what you're willing to pay: Write a *small* number. After all, we don't know if the price has been decided yet. For a set with no motor and no track, $125 is a pretty steep number (that's more than the hobby train, the holiday train, or the Emerald Night). The BNSF + double-stack containers were $40 + $40 = $80. Add a few years of inflation, my guess would be $99.

Even though 8868 is indeed one of the most awesome lego sets ever, it often sells for a very reasonable price on eBay. With a little bit of patience you can probably get one for less than $100.

If it takes 5-10 minutes for the faster one to catch up with the slower one, then you can run two trains on the same loop. Just build a siding with an interrupter rail where you can temporarily part the slower one to allow the faster one to pass. Interrupter rails are expensive on bricklink, but it's easy to make them yourself (you'll need two of them for every siding where you want to park a train). Bend the metal clips at the bottom until they are completely straight. Then (and only then) can you lift off the metal part (you only need to do that on one side). Then make a small cut in the metal, and put it back. I put a little bit of tape on top of the cut so that the train runs smoothly over it. At our local train show last year, I had 6 trains on a large 12V loop, typically 4 were parked and 2 were running (unfortunately, the only video footage that I have was when I was eating lunch, and only 1 train was running at that time).

Mixing three different train sets is probably not going to lead to a nice looking train. Even if the individual coaches are nice, if the color scheme doesn't go well together, it might still not look so good when put together into one train. If you go for option 1, then things are easier, because you know it will look good together. If you don't need the second engine from the Emerald Night, then just sell it on bricklink a year after it sells out on lego.com (if you sell it while it is still available, you won't get the best price).

After running a fast and a slow motor, for the same amount of time, and the same voltage, is the slow motor warmer than the fast one?

When properly lubricated, their speeds are quite close to each other. Here's how you can see this: run two motors, same voltage, same amount of time. The slow one will be warmer than the faster one (check that!). The slow one is only slow because it has a lot more friction. To overcome this friction, the motor has to work a lot harder than the fast motor, so the slow motor draws more current, and hence it gets warmer than the fast motor (if you don't lubricate it, then it will also wear out sooner than the fast motor). If the slow motor is lubricated, it'll run about same speed (at most 10% slower or faster) as the fast motor. I've opened up 4 or 5 motors (the slowest ones that I have), and they all run as fast (within a few %) as the fastest motor that I have.

I listed mine on bricklink for $58, and it sold within a month.

Looks awesome. I'm impressed!

Those are excellent pictures, especially the first picture. You can see lots of things in that picture. First of all, you can see why these motors are quite heavy: they have two large metal blocks in them. They are labeled A and B. In the first picture, on the metal block that's still in the motor, you can see the label A (hold the picture upside down). The metal block that's taken out of the motor is labeled B (although I can't see the B in the picture). On part B, you can see three contact points (likewise, A also has 3 contact points). I've taken picture #1 and added some notes to it, see the edited picture on: http://www.math.fsu.edu/~hoeij/t/motor_edited.jpg The contact point one on the left of part B touches the cylinder shaped piece of metal that in turn touches the track. I indicated that in the edited picture with the number 1. The same is also true for the right-hand side (number 2). Note: these cylinder shaped pieces of metal that touch the track, they tend to be the first things that fall out when you open up the motor. Don't lose them, when you open up your motor, do expect something to fall out. The contact point in the middle of part B touches the commutator from above. I indicated that with the number 3. Likewise, part A touches the commutator from below (indicated with the number 4). Those middle contact points on part A and B, the part of those contact points that touch the commutator are made of carbon (look carefully, you'll see that that part has a slightly different color (it's hard to see that in the picture). If you stall a motor and then send lots of current through it, then that burns off the carbon. These motors have quite a bit of carbon so they don't die quickly. If all the carbon is gone, then that's pretty much the end (the only way to repair that is to take parts A,B out of another dead motor). So for the motors I opened up, the first thing I always checked was to see if there was still carbon there. All of them did, which indicated that all of these motors had a good chance to run properly again after lubrication. Indeed, they did. What you can also see in the picture is that these three contact points 1,2,3 on part B (and likewise on A) are fairly thin. Try not to bend them when you open up the motor. One time I did accidentally bend contact point #1 in a motor, the result of that was that the part that touches the track was no longer pushed down hard enough to make good electrical contact. That motor had to be re-opened, and after bending #1 back to where it was supposed to be, that motor ran fine again. So, if you accidentally do bend one of those contact points #1,2,3, you can probably bend it back again, but of course, it's better to try to avoid bending those parts when you open up the motor. Anyhow, you can see in the picture what you can do after you've opened it up: Lift off part B, then you can lift the motor out, and only after that can you take part A out. Ask the hobby store what the right kind of lubrication is (I used WD40 but I learned later that that's not good for plastic, so I'm not going to use that again). To put it back together again, first put in the cylinder shaped parts that touch the track, then part A, then the motor, and then part B. When you put the motor in, push it in far enough until you can feel it click. Also while opening it up you might accidentally break off a little piece of plastic from the casing. So when you put it back together, make sure there's not a tiny little piece of loose plastic inside the motor. Looking inside and seeing how well these motors are made, I believe that these motors will last a long time. However, if you have a motor that is in desperate need of lubrication, then such a motor will always draw lots of current and will thus wear out quickly. If the motor already moves with as little as 2 volts, then do not open it up. But if it needs 6 volts before it finally starts to move, struggling, then I'd definitely open it up because after its lubricated, it'll draw much less current, and thus live longer. Do you have a volt meter? To check the status of your motors, measure the lowest voltage at which the motor starts to spin. If you decide to open up a motor, I would start with the one that runs the worst. That way, you lose the least if something goes wrong.

Don't try to pull the other 4 wheels off. I can make a picture of an opened motor later today or tomorrow.

Let us know if the good motors are now running well on the cleaned track. Keep cleaning until no more dirt comes off. With track that hasn't been cleaned (with the right cleaner) in a long time, it's quite a lot of work to clean it. But once it is well cleaned, then the next time it'll be much less work because it won't be as sticky and can come off more easily. To open the motor, I use 3 small screw drivers. I keep prying until I can get one of them in there, and use it to push it open as far as I can. Then I leave that one in there (to prevent it from closing again) and use the next screwdriver to open it up some more. There's quite a lot of force involved and some of my repaired motors have a visible bent casing at the bottom.

I don't see much value in a rail rubber either. Your Methylated Spirits or something equivalent, that's the only way the train will run properly. Neil, did you try applying a voltage directly to the motors, to test if they're OK? Do you have the cable that sits between the motor and the lights (e.g. 7745 or 7740 have that). Then just put one end into the motor and hold a 9V battery to the other end, and see if it spins smoothly and with little effort. A good motor will spin with as little as 2 volts. A motor that has lots of hair inside, or is in need of lubrication, such a motor will probably still spin with a 9V battery, but you can hear it struggle. Another way you can tell if the motors are in a good condition is this: If they're all good, then in this test they'll all spin at about the same speed. Let us know how your motors do in this test.

For the B-model, I compared the maximum weight that it can lift (the 8878 versus a fresh set of batteries). It's the same. The speed is also the same. So despite the voltage difference, it works as well on the 8878 as it does on a fresh set of batteries. With regular batteries, it becomes slower when the batteries are no longer full. With the 8878, you have full performance until the battery needs to be recharged. It's not voltage that gives the motor torque, it's amps.

One more question: do they typically get stuck at the same piece of the track? If so, then that would be a track problem. The pickups on my motors don't look clean either (they don't look shiny) but the motors do work well. In my layout at our local train show I had five 12V trains (I alternated them every couple of minutes). Sometimes I'd run them quickly, and sometimes slowly, but during the whole day not once did a train get stuck. The same was also true the year before: By the way, each time I set up the track, the 12V track on top of that bridge needs a lots and lots of cleaning. Without serious cleaning, trains stall on the bridge. That's because the track on the bridge is exposed the whole year long (I don't disassemble the bridge) while the rest of the track is stored in zip-lock bags (so those tracks collect much less dirt). In fact, even the 9V track on that bridge needs cleaning.

It sounds like you really did clean the track. To be sure that the problem is the motor, and not the electrical connection, try the following: you can insert a plug (the same kind of plugs as for lego 4.5 volt system) into the 12V motor. If you don't have such a plug, don't worry, just use some electrical wires to connect the motor to the transformer. Do you have a volt meter? I've bought about 10 motors (all used). Five or six of them worked very well (they start turning with as little as 2 volts). Some of them didn't work so well, and needed 4 volts, and in one case as much as 6 volts, before they would turn at all. I've opened those up for lubrication, I think 4 or 5 of them, and they all work well now (they all turn with just 2 volts). That one that wouldn't turn on anything less than 6 volts had a lot of hair in it, no wonder it didn't work well. It's not easy to open them though, so before you do that, I'd first measure it to see how many volts it takes before it starts to turn. Do you have a 4.5 volt battery box? That's the quickest way to test a 12V motor. With 4.5 volts (applied directly to the motor, without using track), the motor will turn fairly slow, but it should definitely turn at 4.5 volts. If it does not, then I'd open it up. These 12V motors are good quality built (you can see that when you look inside) but some (I guess depending on how they were stored) need lubrication. Still, it seems unlikely that all your motors are bad; of the ones I bought, about 4 or 5 out of the 10 were "bad" (and all of those are OK now after opening them up, removing hair and other dirt, and lubrication). So test them to see if they turn OK when you apply the voltage directly to the motor. When it is all set up right (the track cleaned, the contact points on the motor cleaned, and the train having run a number of loops) then it really does work very well. I can set the train at a very low speed, crawling, and it does not stop anywhere on the track. By the way, when it works well, it seems that if you use it every day, then little cleaning is necessary. Only when you haven't used it in a while, that's when it seems to need cleaning.

It's been reported here on eurobricks that to charge the 8878 battery, you can use any 12V DC power supply. It's quite likely that you already have a suitable charger in your home somewhere.