kyphur

Yes he did, that's future tense though. If he's on a budget then he might appreciate being able to just get the PF stuff for his current trains now and wait for a great sale at Toys R Us (I got my second 3677 at 1/2 price) to pick up the $160 3677 Set. As I've pointed out he could power both trains (with Rechargeable Battery) for the cost of one 3677!

Normally I would agree (and I have not myself) but it sounds like the OP doesn't have one yet so the rest of the IR/PF gear is useless without at least one.

Also remember that you don't need to have a controller for every train. To convert both per their instructions here is exactly what you'd need: 2 Each: $12.99 - 88000 PF AAA Battery Box $14.99 - 8884 PF IR Receiver ======================================== $55.96 1 Each: $12.99 - 8879 PF IR Speed Remote Control $ 9.99 - 8882 PF XL - Motor $13.99 - 88002 PF Train Motor ======================================== $36.97 If you want the Rechargeable Battery Boxes Remove 88000 AAA Battery Boxes (-$25.98) and add: 2 Each: $49.99 - 8878 PF Rechargeable Battery Box ======================================== $74.00 Price Difference Don't forget you'll need to either get the LEGO Charger ($24.99) or go to Radio Shack for one at half that price. So with AAA Battery Boxes your total is $92.93 or with Rechargeable Battery Boxes it will be $166.93 plus the cost of the charger. If you don't mind partially disassembling the Maersk to swap the battery box between sets and won't run them at the same time you could start out with just 1 Battery Box also.

+1 for Labot, friendly and willing to deal. Won't hesitate to use him as a source for future UK exclusive sets...

Here in the US the PF Components aren't all that expensive: $12.99 - 88000 PF AAA Battery Box $12.99 - 8879 PF IR Speed Remote Control $14.99 - 8884 PF IR Receiver ======================================== $40.97 - Total for Basic IR Control Now you just need to add the Motor: $ 9.99 - 8882 PF XL - Motor . or $13.99 - 88002 PF Train Motor Now if you want the Rechargeable Battery Box (the Train Sets all include the AAA Battery Box) you'd replace 88000 with: $49.99 - 8878 PF Rechargeable Batter Box ($37.00 price difference) When I'm ordering PF components I try to stock-up because if you get enough then they start discounting them. I only paid about $43 for each of my Rechargeable Battery Boxes because I always order at least 2 and some other PF parts to get my order total over $100. They also discount the other components a bit at those levels.

I wouldn't say the XL motor doesn't fit easily, I don't remember having any problems installing it in mine. It is annoying that the XL Motor fills the Engineer's Cab and then you have the PF cable running from the Loco to the Tender. While the EN is a great looking model I don't really like it as a Running Model. After motorizing it I ran it a few times and then just pulled the battery & receiver leaving the train to sit on a shelf in favor of my other sets.

If you go that route wouldn't you want to at least consider gutting most of the gearing in the Locomotive to reduce resistance?

Yes you can motorize the Maersk Train with the PF bits from 3677. For the Emerald Night you won't use the PF Train Motor and will need to purchase an XL PF Motor.

And here is roof style 3 in RED: And a small video:

I won't tear apart a receiver either but aren't you 6-wife for 4 studs behind the receiver? Oh no, it's only 5 wide upon closer inspection. That's a compromise I'd be willing to make, just bump that are out to 6 wide and turn the receiver around... Heck you might even get away with mounting the whole received in that bump-out if it was 6-wide! The cab issue not withstanding I do want to say that this model has beautiful lines. I really like to see older 9v models upgraded to PF without changing their footprint too much (like going to 7 or 8 wide). My Santa Fe EMD-B unit is kind of a cheat for the Super Chief as it gets the PF out of the Locomotive but it was only recently that I undid my original PF Conversion of the Loco in favor of the double motor PF EMD-B Unit. Have you thought if getting some vinyl sticker sheets in orange & green to see if they match the color close enough?

Nice... The only thing I would change is the PF connections being in the cab. I like to still have a seat for the Engineer to drive the Locomotive (but that's just me). I'll be interested in how you color match the stickers. I like your hidden power switch, have been thinking about doing something similar for my EMD-B Unit so that I can the removable roof all together. It seems if you extend the power switch assembly by 1 stud then you'd just need to remove it for charging access but in this model that would require the rear plate to hang on 2 studs instead of 4, would that be enough?

Here is the second of 3 Transfer Cabooses (or Cabeese) for my fleet (and the 7777 Redux Contest Entry) Aside from the color and the Roof the model is identical to the first. Roof Style 2 in Yellow: Yes, there are 4 white pieces on the roof that need to be replaced, just waiting for the BrickLink Fairy to deliver. The 3rd and final variant will be red with a much flatter roof covered in Tiles, 1x2 Grille (again, waiting for BL Delivery). For the 7777 Redux Official Entry I'll provide instructions for the base model (Caboose without the roof) and each of the 3 roof designs. I'll also list in which colors the model can be built.

Okay, I guess I was just thrown off because you said that posability was important but these legs don't do any pose that the original ones can't do. I can however see that you could make statically positioned sets of legs that mimic the more rounded shape of these legs for consistency. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not criticizing just asking so I understand.

Other than everyone wearing size 18 shoes what do you gain from this mod? They aren't more posable than the stock MF legs...

Since I'm in the US that's what I'm familiar with and that's the context that my replies will be seated in. "Fair Use" is a rather broad legal term here (in the US). I covers such things as: Students photocopying textbooks. Teachers/schools copying material for educational use. Individuals copying others' works to be used in their own. Making Back-up Copies of Computer Software. Making Back-up Copies of CD/DVDs. For each of these the requirements to be considered "Fair Use" varies. For example a student can photocopy parts of a textbook or reference book (encyclopedia for example) as long as they are only copying a portion (not the entire book) for use related to classwork. I can copy Movie Posters as long as the copies are resized and/or reshaped to an extent that they can't be confused with the original work and they are being used for non-commercial application personal use. Media in general can be backed-up if you intend to store the original for safe keeping and use the back-up in it's place. Technically one could argue you are doing exactly that with the stickers. I'm sure most countries that honor copyright/patent/trademark laws/concepts have a similar set of exceptions. But I think the bottom line is that as long as you're copying the stickers for your own personal use and not reproducing them in mass then selling them you're okay. FWIW: - I am not a lawyer - I never played a lawyer on TV - I can only share my layman's understanding of such concepts - I make no implied promises regarding your experiences in such matters

I've been using a 9v Train Motor in the Locomotive, once up to speed it seems okay but getting going from a dead stop took effort. A single PF Train Motor was slightly better but still didn't like to get it moving at speed setting 1. 2 PF Train Motors will get it going on Speed 1 even with the front & rear both sitting on curves. BTW, your Club Car Conversion looks nice. I'm slowly gathering the parts needed to build mine in old gray.

Actually under "Fair Use" it is legal to make a copy of copyrighted material if you legally own an original and will use the copy in place of the original. This goes for CDs, DVDs, Computer Software etc. Think of if as ripping mp3s from your original CDs.

I wouldn't say 2 motors is the minimum, I'd bet one PF Motor would pull the train with six cars (each original SF Car and a Pleasure Dome) especially without a B-Unit but even with the B-Unit. Like I said the one 9v Train Motor was pulling the whole train it just wouldn't get moving from a dead stop on speed 1. With the 2 PF Train Motors it started moving on speed 1 even with the Locomotive and tail car both sitting in curves! It moves pretty good at higher speeds also, I think I almost derailed in a curve a couple of times (the B-Unit is unstable in curves at high speed because it's top heavy). If you don't want to do a B-Unit you can use the techniques from my B-Unit on your Locomotive but the interior will be extremely crowded. Why wait until you have it all done? Show us the progress as you build it...

How did you handle reversing the front Train Motor? Instead of stickering the Battery Box and IR Receiver have you thought about maybe tiling the side with plates ala Maersk? That's the route I have been contemplating for my own BNSF pf conversion (now that I finally received the 10 PF Train Motors I had on backorder with TLG). The cars on my Santa Fe Super Chief are the standard LEGO Stock designs. My big project for next year will be a Complete 8-Wide Santa Fe Super Chief Train (Locomotive, B-Unit & one of each Car including what ever "Pleasure Dome" Car I decide on for the 6-Wide Train). I need to decide if I want to make the 8-Wide taller or not before I even begin designing that one.

That was my first thought but I nixxed it because: The Train Motor is longer than the Brick Build Trucks, I would have to re-engineer the front truck and the mechanical undercarriage for it to fit properly. The interior of the Locomotive (A-Unit) is already crowded with the Engineer's Cab and PF so the reversing switch wouldn't fit. Of course the first point holds true for the B-Unit conversion also. My second thought was just add a single PF Train Motor to the B-Unit but the downsides of that would be: Using 2 each Battery Box and IR Receiver. If Line of Sight is inturrupted for either receiver then their speed settings would get out of sync. So in the end it just seemed to make more sense to double-up the motors on the B-Unit. I think I'm going to leave the light in the Locomotive but add an on/off switch and use the 9v Battery to PF adapter I have for power.

Anyone who has read my threads here knows that of all of my LEGO Trains the Santa Fe Super Chief is my favorite Train. After having previously converted my 10020-1 Santa Fe Super Chief Locomotive to Power Functions I found the 9v Train Motor struggling to get the full train (Loco, EMD-B Unit, 1 each of the Santa Fe Cars which totals 7 Units) moving from a dead stop. Eventually I want to add at least a "Pleasure Dome" Car to My Chief and that would make the issue even more noticeable. My solution to the problem: remove the PF from the Locomotive and convert the EMD-B Unit to run 2 PF Train Motors in sync. Here is the beginning of the process: At this point I have not undone the original PF Conversion of my Locomotive, just removed the PF stuff. I EMD-B Unit PF Conversion is complete, Dual PF Train Motors driven by a single IR Receiver and powered by a single LiPo Battery Box. I do need to clean-up a few details like the Side Decorative pieces on the rear Train Motor, tiles around the IR Receiver on the roof, a few missing parts for the Mechanical Undercarriage and a few parts in the correct color. BrickLink orders have been placed so next week he should be done! EMD-B Unit Interior: PF LiPo Battery Box in the front end. IR Receiver at the rearr. PF Switch is used to reverse direction of the front PF Train Motor. There is plenty of space for all of the wires. Here is the Set on Flickr

Welcome to "Train Tech"... There are already a few discussions about motorizing 9v/RC/PF Points. If you find those threads then you'll get some good links to solutions others have used. If I ever get the time I just might take a look at NXT and see if I can do something with that. If I do down that path I just might experiment with automatic level crossings also. You might want to Introduce yourself in the Train Tech Registry.

I can't comment on the quality of MegaBlocks, ever since I saw that their idea of building planes & tanks is to have 3 large specialty parts in a set with a dozen bricks I turned away and never looked back. Regardless of quality they just missed he concept of a Building Toy. I've had BestLock in my hands and it was total crap, wasn't aware of the recent [!?] merger and quality increase. I also can't say anything in regards to oxford as I've only seen reviews on this site but never handled their product. Regarding Enlighten, their parts have a few issues: Train bases are weaker plastic that isn't as straight as LEGO train bases. Most of the studs have very visible artifacts from being cut from a spru. A lot them are not just visible but required trimming so that I didn't puncture my fingers while building. Color consistency is not up to LEGO standards. Trans Colors are cloudy. The smaller parts are too soft. Examples are the 1x2 tile grill & any hand tools for MiniFigs. I completely agree with everything you said here...

I keep a watch on the Train Tech forum, definitely interested in this when you do create a thread. My main desire is the second scenario I mentioned, charging TLG LiPo Battery while the train is running. The thought would be to have a section of track powered so that when the train runs over it it would add juice to the LiPo. That way I don't need the whole track powered and don't need to worry about reversing polarity or the drop in power at distances from the connection. Additionally I could park a train on powered side track for it to just sit & charge. That re-seller is a bit expensive. For the Frisco Fe they want $22.99 shipped while I only paid $17 to an eBay seller. If anyone is interested just PM me and I'll send you the eBay User ID of the guy. I ordered 1 each of all 18 Enlighten Trains for a grand total of $244 shipped which averages out to $13.55 per set!

I don't know that I would say 90-95% same quality as LEGO, maybe 75-80% at most. I will say that there are a few unique Enlighten pieces I wish LEGO would make like the 2x2 Plate with Studs on both sides. I'd be interested in contributing resources to a project like this that ends up with power pick-ups that can be used for each of 2 applications: 1) Directly Power TLG PF System 2) Plug into TLG LiPo Battery and provide charging while running. Got any info on this "Train Head", who makes it? Do you have any links?