andythenorth

They can be had from Bricklink. The grey and blue colour scheme isn't too expensive. Some of the other colours cost more :) Quarter round panels: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30562 Quarter round bricks: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=2577 8x8 Radar dish for the ends: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=3961 Would a parts list be useful? I'm not promising to find the bricklink page for every single piece but I don't mind listing the basic inventory for one of these wagons.

It's a nice idea. It would be nice to have sound. A sound brick seems obvious...but it does waste a channel. And activating it would make more sense with the push-stick PF remote (up for horn, down for whistle), but that means an extra remote alongside the train PF remote. How about an addon to the remote itself - just a simple sound module with buttons for horn, whistle etc?

Great :) Will be good to see photos of it. I thought of doing my tanker MOCs without the chassis, but I couldn't figure out a nice way to do it. Looks like you did :) Like the dark red colour scheme. Shame there's no green ends / yellow curved panels, this colour scheme is vivid! http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tank_car2090.jpg

Forgot to post the link to my blog post on these - full building pictures with comments :) http://ttfoundry.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/tanker-wagon-mocs-inspired-by-10016/

The PF XL motor will happily destroy transmission components like gears and universal joints. A stalled PF XL motor has enough torque to visibly bend liftarms. A motor with higher RPM and less torque, geared down massively at the final stage will put less stress throughout the model. I'm not suggesting that makes the train motor useful for Technic, it's just an extra comment :)

May not be needed if you just use the PF motor + PF battery box (or with PF receiver). PF Motor and PF receiver both have built-in wires. The conversion wire is useful for mixing PF and 9v components, or extending the built-in wires.

That is outstanding :) I especially like how you achieved the curved roof, and the front bufferbeam. Is it powered?

Windscreen wipers

Nice The crawler crane is a good set, and this is an equally good MOC :)

There are some old pictures on flickr here (not very good quality). Also there's a set of images from the build. EDIT. I am also planning to build a Rolligon Brute 8x8 truck, this *will* be motorised. I'll build it light and flexible, with either four or eight motors for power. http://www.nov.com/Well_Service_and_Completion/All_Terrain_Vehicles/Bodyload_Units/Rolligon_8X8_Brute.aspx http://www.foremost.ca/index_preown.php?subaction=showfull&id=1269288586&archive=&start_from=&ucat=53&

The Foremost Commander is a heavy-duty off-road hauler used for projects like oilfield construction. Produced in Canada, it hauls about 27t on terra tyres which provide high flotation on mud, muskeg etc. This MOC is over 1m long and weighs...a lot :) It's not motorised. I constructed it to be very strong, and the weight would be too much even with 1 motor per axle. There's no room for motors in any case - most of the chassis is blocked by reinforcing beams Features full walking-beam rear suspension, working ten cylinder engine, a rear brake and dual winches. Uses Power Puller wheels. It's fully 6x6, with a centre-differential between front and rear transmissions. Play value isn't great...again it's too big and heavy...but it looks great Right now the MOC is covered in dust and missing some parts due to a house renovation. Maybe I should spruce it up and take more pictures... Umbrella for scale! V10 Power!

Got some more photos up on my Flickr page. I'll do a blog post with more info soon :) I owe some of the inspiration to these two Brickshelf galleries: Gras1 - Tanker Penumbra - Tanker The pictures also show how the chassis is a direct borrow from the 2010 Cargo Train container wagon :)

MOC of tanker wagons inspired by 10016. I'll post more pictures (including build) when I get some done :) There are 3 of these in dark-bluish grey, I'm also building some in white. I did buy parts for an exact build of 10016, but when I got started I decided I didn't like the look of 10016 that much. The container wagon in the 2010 Cargo Train gave me ideas for a much better chassis. Getting the ladder area right took much trial-and-error though

I'm going to build a few more...I think it will be interesting to try alternative ways of doing the stakes (different parts). I have an unused bunch of these red 6.6L bar parts from the 8284 tractor set which I'm going to experiment with. I was thinking about how to make a bogie stake wagon. It would be tricky using the normal bogie train base part - there's nowhere good to attach the stakes I've got a few more train MOCS I should take photos of, including a MOC version of set 10016 tanker. Just need some good light and some spare time :)

I had some spare green parts and a bunch of yellow 4l lightsaber blades, the result was this nice little stake wagon MOC. It was a quick build and the design just fell into place. I'm pleased with the colours and it looks great with Cargo Train Deluxe :) The photos aren't as good as I wanted, the daylight was fading :( More photos - including all building stages - on my TT Foundry blog here. I'd write more, but there's not much to say about something this simple :o

The PF Cargo Train actually uses the new PF train motor bogie (it's available on the Lego store in some territories if you want to see it). The XL motor has more torque than the M motor. Both are most commonly used in Technic. They can be used for trains, but need gears etc, and can be harder to fit into MOCS. The PF Cargo Train engine will haul about ten wagons for me. Depends on - track: curves slow the train down due to wheel friction. The engine can also lose traction on points (switches). - wagon weight. - type of wagon. Wagons without bogies have more friction in the curves. cheers, Andy

I recently bought both the RC cargo train deluxe and the new PF cargo train. Both are great. The typical eBay / Bricklink price for the RC train is *high*. If money is a factor, I'd say get the PF train and don't worry about the alternatives. The difference between the control systems isn't much in practice. I have enough space (more space than money!) for more trains in future, so I'm planning to buy more of both RC and PF. That means I can have up to 11 trains on different channels some time in the future (8 PF and 3 RC) Some key differences - The horn on the RC train handset is fun. - The RC baseplate is much less flexible for MOCs, but it's easier to swap batteries (the screws on the PF battery box are frustrating). - The RC motor I have seems to run smoother and quieter than the PF motor. It's supposed to be weaker, but in practice it doesn't seem to make much difference. Wheelslip kicks in before either motor stalls out. - both engines are attractive, robust and have good play value - the PF set has slightly better wagons / accessories, and includes some flex track. cheers, Andy

Sometimes :) I don't plan to rebuild the trains I have (neither the TLG ones nor the MOCs). Whether they get rebuilt by a child is another story I haven't got around to making stickers for MOCS, they might improve the appearance. Some of the TLG designs look much better with stickers on to my eye, but some of the stickers are unnecessary. Same goes for Technic - some of my models are highly stickered (including MOCs - using sticker sheets from Bricklink). Others have none. The right sticker can be a nice finishing touch. As other posters have said, I generally don't like decorated bricks, apart from tiles for gauges etc.

"No PF" is classic Technic style :) There are so many things you could build, why have a look at old Technic sets on Brickset Some things I've learned about PF models are: 1. Playability comes from controlling the model remotely and having it respond well. 2. building with PF is a challenge of fitting in motors / battery box / gears and driving rings. 3. handling torque is also a real challenge with large PF models. Getting enough torque through drive systems to power a big model without breaking components is a challenge. 4. PF is great fun, and most of my current projects are PF...but sometimes it's nice not to be changing batteries time and again. This changes when there's no PF. For a complex model the challenge is combining manual playability and good looks. - Having all the controls easily used by hand is important. - It's fun to make the controls fit in to the model appearance, but still have it so people can pick up the model and figure out what to press / turn / push :) This Foremost Commander off-road truck I built looks good, but is a *bad* manual model. It's huge (1m long), heavy, and lacks playable functions. It would have been a good PF model, but the components would break often. This JCB Fastrac is not too bad, crams in an awful lot of functions though :) Lego 8285 is my favourite set of recent years. This winch-truck MOD of it has about the right balance of looks / playability (engine, steering, stabilisers, crane rotation, crane up/down, sliding fifth wheel, fifth wheel lock, winch with two speeds).

No, I think this one is 'done' :) I have a lot of MOCS which are 'not done', so I guess I should spend time on those :) This Picker Truck for example needs finishing:

Really nice MOC. Tempted to build this :) I've tweeted it here: http://twitter.com/andythenorth

8285 is an awesome set. Modding it about four years ago ended my dark ages, and started a Bricklink addiction which eats all my spare cash :) Flickr gallery here: Mod features: - extra axle, with pneumatic lift - extra cylinders added to engine - moved fuel tanks - cosmetic changes (filled in roof of sleeper bunk for better appearance) - rebuilt rear lift Mod was originally inspired by Grazi's very cool Black Cat Tow Truck. EDIT: added some pictures here.

I found this a pretty fascinating reply. I'm fascinated by how mass production works anyway, and it's a nice insight into the internals of production at Lego. I've been trying to figure out what the issues would be for Lego in serving niche, low-volume sets for AFOLS. This is pure conjecture, but I was thinking: - marketing cost is €low: product pack shot, description, upload to web cms for store(s). Not in retail channel, bought by AFOL via online store lego.com. - SKU entries in retail systems, parts control in MRP €low - design of set, build test, quality: €expensive - low volume production runs - picking bricks €?? - setting and print of box and instructions €expensive? I work in a completely different business (web apps and advertising), but we spend a lot of time trying to balance production on multiple lines. Coping with peaks is a headache :)

More wagons would be great. Sets like the 10016 tanker and 4536 hopper wagon fetch high prices on eBay and Bricklink. Straight track always goes for high prices too. I would happily buy a set such as: - a four-wheel cargo van (similar to the red one in Cargo Train Deluxe); another general cargo wagon (van or flat wagon), four pieces of straight track and a fork-lift truck. - two hopper wagons (of different design), four pieces of straight track, and something like a conveyor belt or excavator to load them. For this I'd pay perhaps £30 sterling? And if they were in the catalogue for 2-4 years, I'd probably buy maybe four of each set. :)