bricks n bolts

Wow, this is going to be a thing of beauty / awesomeness when complete.. can't wait! And agree rebrickable is a great piece of software, tried it out for Maeask pieces just to find it was no cheaper unfortunately..

Good to see these in action, fantastic video of the Big Boy. Yes, you can but then you don't have as many amps to draw on, here the Big Boy requires quite a bit.. Two things seem to create heat, take out the resistors / DC to DC conversion and don't over charge the supercaps over their rating and you won't see much heat at all. This is what you can do with a 7.5V 3.3F 3 series array supercap (got mine from here - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261843729617 - absolutely amazing things..), about 4x4 stud wise, enough to power a PF motor under load around 3 loops with no power when charged (with bridge rectifier of course) :

Nice train and concept, should be attractive to a wide audience, supported! In mean time, if desperate enough, you could combine clone wheel supports (i.e. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUSINI-Train-City-Cargo-Freight-Classical-Locomotive-Model-25610-No-Box-/221947982517?hash=item33ad2172b5:g:VJYAAOSwp5JWUd4s) with BBB or Toy Story Western train chase red wheels.

Hi RailCo, pictures look good enough to me. Is spot on the classic train. The problem you've got is the classic train base plate was always too low for larger wheels, unless you up the size generally or break the plate line. I would mix it up, at most you might be able to get away with 2 pairs of BBB medium wheels, other than that have small red BBB wheels at the back and go for one pair at least of the classic 4.5v red spoked wheels at the front, connecting the axle pins to free moving technic pins (like Ben Beneke's BR23)

Wow, you've managed to capture a certain feel in all your work, great attention to detail, like the drain pipes.

Amazing carriages, great details on the bogies, and diorama is a fantastic job. The roof on that train station is something else.

Very nice build and boiler design Dutchiedoughnut ! Another great design from you. For more power should be possible to swap out for an L motor I would have thought. Also, If you don't power the axle nearest to the motor you can use that space to gear up for speed, downside of that is you'd probably have to move the motor higher up in the build to make way for a larger gear.

Hi Asper, I'm about to start a project integrating Brickster modules into a webserver. So proxying bluetooth commands to multiple Brickster modules on a webserver running on something like the Pi or GuruPlug. Currently Brickster is limited to an Android App. Should be easy enough for the Brickster modules but also want to be able to integrate other Arduino type modules for switches and sensors (maybe the ESP8266?). Was thinking nodejs for the web server, websockets and HTML5 canvas for the GUI to keep it responsive. Let me know if you'd like to do a joint project? If interested, you can get in touch with Legoman666, he may be able to help you by making up some Brickster modules. You can get a single PF plug made in Shapeways , but may not be worth it considering it's probably easier to chop the end off a wire to get one. May also be worth looking at the Brickster case as that has PF plug contacts integrated on both the top and bottom :- https://www.shapeway...tionId=43490793

Does beg the question, either on what motor controller combination you would use to step up the voltage, or whether we could just swap out the internal PF motors for ones that could run under 5v so they could be wired directly to the Arduino Micro PWN outputs. Maybe something like http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mabuchi-FC-280SA-Motor-4-5-V-DC-Dual-2mm-Diameter-Shaft-Small-Hobby-Motor-/280812744244 - a new 4.5v era awaits!

Oh, ic now... Yes, think I have some of those hinges still as well. They are red http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=314&in=S plus http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=314&in=S Although they never separated into two pieces as long as I've had them. You're right, also appeared in more recent space sets..

Nice work, then I guess you can talk to the raspberry pi via your phone or tablet on the local netowrk?

To pivot the crane? Don't think I'd pick that part now. Whilst mentioning old coal cars, still have some of those white triangular pieces for the end caps, can't think of a way to reuse those now either except as more coal cars...

This is my favourite, total genious! Great for clearing up after the kids have been on the layout. Who could forget that, classic...

That's lovely. Guess LDD doesn't have the old square looking wheels with studs, anyone have a use for them? They have friction ridges unlike the blue era spoked wheels so on 'modern' trains are pretty useless as far as I can tell.

Wow, missed this thread, lot's of brilliant ideas.. Personally I'm waiting another year or so before investing in any wider radius curves as then I should have more space for my layout. That should be enough time for you or ME to offer something in metal. I would rather have something 9v compatible then the current ME offering. It's great to see new switch points as any replacement 9v system wouldn't be complete without them. Also great you can use servo motors on them. If the Kickstarter happens before then I may sign up anyway. Would also like to see sleepers/frames in light grey rather than just brown or bley.

Check this post out : http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=79312 Has a set of narrow guage points and also shows that if you use one 12v inner rail for every other 'outie' you're only half a stud off. Also some cool (powered) trains.

Magical layout. Love to know how that steam rake in the video was motorised. There's also the tantalising picture of half a switch point... and the turntable is simply awesome For curves I think you have to use the 12v inner rails as outer rails also and it all somehow works out..

Extremely good job squeezing all the PF stuff in. Now you have a shunter that can shunt with a long harbour career ahead of her. Are you going to build decouplers too?

Loving your work DutchieDoghnut For the drive version how did you gear up the drive wheels from the M motor?

For Codefox's bluetooth receiver I think legoman666 can build some based on the released specifications if you send him a PM, I maybe doing the same thing myself very shortly for another project. For size of motor and Lipo, maybe if you went all the way down to 4.5v motors you could also get a smaller battery. If you don't aim to get power to the second bogie, certainly using technic wheels with bands on the unpowered bogie is going to add friction, especially with the old toothed track. Replacing the technic wheels would be ideal, but not sure how that would be possible on narrow gauge, you might be able to use 12v style wheels stuck into the older technic pins rather than a 2x4 brick but then that won't match the height of the powered bogie, certainly the best wheels friction wise are the modern non-technic type but don't know of a way of fitting those without using the wheel holder. For straight track you could see if you could get some ME-Model straights, as they are single piece I'm guessing they could be adapted for narrow gauge by changing the sleepers.

Wonderful creation, can easily spend all day staring at the details. Congratulations on the masterpiece, hope you win many accolades and definetly the best large building at show as far as I can see. The coal delivery depot is also amazing and the most thought out lighting all round. What track pieces did you use for inside the roundhouse? They are a lighter grey and must be single length pieces to allow for the pits.

This is a great idea. Had just bought the cargo station but have yet to build it, now I can see a lot can be done by adding a yellow aframe piece, will hold off and shamelessly copy

If it's not a problem, can he also do train track molds in multiple diameter curves and colours?

You seem to have already put the weight brick as close to the powered bogie as possible. I assume you've tried different gearing. Other things you could try, maybe a 9v 4x4 motor (or old 4.5v technic motor even) would have better traction even if slower, certainly would give you bit more space. Also for space you could make or get one of Codefox's open source 2x3 bluetooth receivers which would be smaller than an Sbrick. For the battery you might be able to get a very flat Lipo, like the one's they use for model planes/drones, which would give a bit more space also (see http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=120326) If all that space saving works than you might get the space required to add another 4x4 motor and power the second bogie.

Look good to me, I'm sure you could get used to it