Space2310

I'm not sure whether it has been said before, but the main reason why I think that model railroaders would object that LEGO trains are model trains is the track gauge. For trains to be true to scale, they would have to be about 10 studs wide, but usually they are somewhere between 6 and 8 studs. It was never really a matter when talking to the public at train shows, I guess most people won't even notice, but at some occassions I was asked what gauge the LEGO track is, or what scale it is - by model railroaders. And then you unwillingly have to admit that there are actually two different scales, one for the track and one for the trains. Honestly I don't care whether someone wants to call his LEGO trains model trains or not, but if you want to discuss this with a model railroader you will need to find some excuses why your trains aren't true to scale, which probably leads us back to track geometry.

So there are no plans to include narrow gauge curves in the future? I don't like the Indiana Jones tracks, they are too small. Is it possible to slightly bend the rails like you could with the 12V rails?

I always came back here to see whether someone had already built a narrow gauge switch by now. Unfortunately not. So I finally gave it a try: Still a WIP though. It is a so called spring loaded switch. It means, there is only one direction. Driving direction of the straight track is from left to right, driving direction of the curved track is from right to left. Other directions are not possible with this switch. This will be used on a single-tracked line with an interlocking station in the center. There are two platforms, one for each direction, so a "real" switch would make no sense anyway. This spring loaded switch allows for an automated process. Watch the video to see what I mean ;) Video Flickr or Vimeo

Thank you! I don't mind if you use some techniques, that's actually why I posted the bogie ;) As I have a flickr and MOCpages account, I don't want to get too involved here though. I'm mainly here for reading :P

Sounds interesting. I couldn't think of a way to build them so far. Hope you will find a solution. :) If you are interested, I finished my working narrow gauge train today. The technic axle is directly connected to a PF motor. For the curves I'd rather use the technique by Ross Neal.

I seriously can't find the similarities between both builds. Sure, it is the Taj Mahal, but the building techniques are quite different.

Very cool, especially the colours! I'm pretty new to this forum myself and I'm not familiar with this train at all, but there are some questions... First, about the picture that shows the real train, aren't these all engine cars? I mean, it would be strange if passenger cars had such small windows. So, did you intend to recreate this photo, or is this your own version, where there's only one engine and two passenger cars? Is the different level of the roofs intentional? It looks a bit disturbing to me, in my opinion it would look much better if the cars were on the same level. Otherwise this looks really great though ;)

Then you probably have to look better ;) I know of many stations where the doors first open on one side to let the passengers get out of the train, and then they open on the other side, so waiting passengers can board the train. That's quite efficient and therfore can be found in countries with high numbers of passengers to avoid overcrowded platforms, for example in Japan. Edit: And if I remember right, I've seen this on single tracked railroads as well, one platform for each direction, so passengers won't accidentally board the wrong train.