andythenorth

I'm thinking to just cut the PF wire to the motor and reconnect it with reversed polarity...modding electrical parts just doesn't seem like cheating to me

I hadn't thought of that It's not an issue for RC, but with PF it will be. How about....crack open the case, rewire the motor, problem solved? Guess that's non-standard

Fitting an extra RC motor to the green locomotive from Cargo Train Deluxe is a good move. Smoother, more consistent, doesn't spinout on points/flex track. For the price of a motor and wire, this is a good performance boost. I'll try the same with a PF motor from 2010 Cargo Train when I have a spare one.

This would be really interesting for Technic applications as well. Specifically PF vehicles with turn signals, brake lights, reversing lights etc.

So the digger. Two black gears on the roof control digging arm motions. As pointed out elsewhere, there's a pin joiner by the rear right mudguard. This looks to be rotatable - it seems to be vertical in the smaller image. Wonder if it moves the outriggers directly, or if it shifts a driving ring, allowing the roof gears to move the outriggers....if it's a driving ring, the other gear might allow the digging arm to slew left/right. I can't see if that's possible, but it seems that the digging arm could be centre-pivoted. Looks like the front arm is raised by the black gear, directly attached to the mini-LA. Brutally simple, but probably effective. Exhaust seems to control bucket.

I'll look into it. Routing past the diff will be tricky. I might rebuild the rear of the chassis anyway though, to fit double wheels on the third axle. The easy way to do this would be steering using PF m motors & hockey stick springs

No there isn't Routing is possible with universals. The result isn't great. The steering angles are correct, but there is too much slack in the system. I also had to: - lengthen the chassis 2 studs at the rear - move the rear axle back 1 stud to allow the wheels to turn without contacting other parts - move the motor back 1 stud (it's attached to the rear axle) I'm going to leave the mod in place for now. If I double the rear wheels on the third axle I'll need to narrow the chassis and the steering mod will need removed

Tried and failed to mod this to rear steer There is a path through the gearbox for an axle to transmit steering control. However there's no way to gear from the existing steering to the axle without a major rebuild of the gearbox area. I tried using universal joints, but these parts contain too much slack and so the rear steering action is delayed / slack. Defeated for now. I might try again though

I'm looking at the truck again, I reckon I can see a clear path for an axle through the gearbox. It's a convenient gear spacing from the existing steering gear as well. However it needs the tricky addition of some liftarms. Routing through rear of the truck actually looks harder - to do it cleanly anyway. Also, I noticed it would be a trivial mod to make opening doors. It just needs some pin joiners moving around, no big changes. Maybe TLG never tried it, but more likely it's hard to latch them - they'll swing open, particularly when tilting the cab

Fair point - I checked the page you linked. The train motor is shown in the PF section. It's not named as PF like the other components, but there is a big PF logo on the product detail page. So hey....marketing is messy Not unreasonable at all. Quite reasonable. Hopefully PF M and XL motors will be around a long time. If the PF M and XL motors are discontinued then there's always bricklink....and if you're not buying train motors there, it's one less buyer in the market Hey, if you can convince everyone to not buy PF train motors, you will probably be proven right in your assertion that PF train motor is likely to be discontinued

I have the low speed whine as well. RC train motors I have don't do this :o

Fred, I can't help but read this as you're just being difficult I'm sorry if that's not the intent. I just hope we're not being trolled here If we follow the logic you're applying in one direction, that makes the following PF: - all the older technic motors using the quarter-stud electric connection system - the technic RC motor - all the 9v light bricks - all the 9v sound bricks - all the battery boxes using the quarter-stud electric connection system - the technic control center - probably the bar code system - all of mindstorms (using adapter wires) - all the quarter-stud connector wires and plates Or alternatively, the logic could be used to imply that PF simply can't exist as a definition, because it's compatible with older (mostly 9v) lego electric components PF has two key hallmarks: 1. the PF protocols: for IR communication: and for the 4 wire system of transmitting power and control. 2. a system of physical connectors. These connectors provide the 4 wires for the PF power and control. The older electrical systems do not support the PF protocol, therefore they are not PF. The RC protocol is limited to the IR transmissions, and just uses standard 2 wire connectors. It is semantics, but anything that requires a definition of something is semantics, that's kind of the point. Labelling a chair 'chair' is semantics. I missed a third hallmark of PF: 3. PF is what Lego define PF to be. They control the semantic space in which the definition exists most usefully. There are other semantic spaces where the definition of PF could exist, but they aren't as useful I think you call this right. The whole train line seems to have a fragile existence. Lets hope the 2010 sets sell well :) I have zero concerns about PF motor being discontinued. I don't have $thousands invested in 9v though. Other people's perspective may vary. If my PF or RC train motors fry and no replacements are available, I'll do some or all of the following: - rebuild the model with a different motor - rebuild the motor (crack open the case, find a similar replacement from one of the hundreds of widely available off-the-shelf motors in a similar size) - not worry too much. It's just toys

Hey, it's now a challenge I have no idea if it's possible without serious modification, but I'm going to have a look tonight

If you have an 8258 crane truck nearby, have a look at the rear axle. Does it look like TLG designers left the possibility open to mod it to rear steering axle? Would be a nice easter egg. Real life example would be something like this: http://www.ditzj.de/html/en/trucks/scania/arrighettir164g.html

It wouldn't be a Technic set in that case. It would be a creator set or similar. TLG are *not* going to release a model of this size where the only 'technic' mechanism is steering. Nor would they: - ship a model with 3 or so 'move this' wheels and levers which have no purpose - ship a model with bevel gears pointlessly attached to friction parts. These are LAs of some form, or I will also eat a hat

It's an actuator. There are bevel gears driving it. Look at the 'functions' picture on the box with the arrows indicating the controls and the available movements of the backhoe. The exhaust stack flips backwards and forwards, likely to a driving ring. There are finger wheels (probably black bevel gears) on the roof and sides of the backhoe. Might be on both sides (so 3 in total), judging by the number of functions, depends how the outriggers deploy. Looks like a nice set. Good run of Technic sets in 2010-2011. Wish I had money to spend on these! Maybe I should stop spending it on Town + Trains

I guess so - if you need train windows, doors etc, they are pretty expensive For bricks, plates, tiles etc, a couple of orders from stores with a lot of inventory can produce massive stock of parts for MOCs

Bricklink Yes, it's work to find all the parts, and it doesn't come with the satisfaction of opening a Lego box, but everything you need to MOC is available in quantity

You can always see the cheapest stores on bricklink for any part. Also for train wheels, there are two similar parts, they are identical in function and size: http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=233&colorID=11 http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=64880&colorID=11 (also available in grey)

I've seen the dust too on RC and PF trains which use technic axles for the unpowered wheels. Cleaning out the dust does reduce rolling friction a bit. Also the axles are wearing smaller due which is the source of the dust Technic axles are cheap though When I was a kid I melted plastic parts using the wrong oil. ABS is relatively tough, styrene is much easier to damage. A silicon or teflon based lubricant should be ok (but I'm no chemist). You can get them for radio-control cars which use plastic parts, try online or a hobby shop. Oil can also have unintended effects - the oil can trap dust or fibre, increasing wear. So on carpet etc it might hinder not help. Plausible, but if the wheels slip it equally could cause wear due to the high rotational speed

Pretty self explanatory. What to say? - the roof was inspired by Brickhead - the door plates go alongside a 4-wide floor plate (not on top of a 6-wide plate as Lego-designed vans usually have them). This keeps the overall height down, which is useful with with the curved roof bricks. - I like blue and white :) P9121357 by andythenorth, on Flickr

Simple mod of the open wagon from cargo train deluxe. I like this wagon, it's simple and functional. Green / grey looks good with the green crocodile engine. I'd like to build some more using these colours. Blue / white matches the cement truck, which is a classic in its own right :) Also matches to the smart cars from 2010 cargo train. See the Flickr set here. There are two mistakes. Can you see them?

I guess some things are worth a double post

Not mine Coney's. He has a YT channel linked from his brickshelf gallery

Really liking this MOC by Coney, high speed dozer, power functions, pneumatics, black tracks. Really nice :) Brickshelf Gallery