kyphur

Current Status: I have 1 of the Big Hulk Figs: Both have been opened and lightly handled. I also have 2 of the Small Hulk Figs: Both are still sealed. Here are the SW MiniFigs I want: Dengar (10221) Greedo Various Astromechs (only have R2, snow R2 and T7-01) Red and Black Protocol droids Han Solo (MF that goes into the Carbonite piece) Kithaba Emperor (gray head) Jabba the Hut (new version) Either PM me or post here and let's see if we can trade...

NO MiniFigs, Horses or anything else not in the photo. NO Instruction Manual or Box. This has been sitting in a layer of dust in my younger brother's room for years. He just gave it to me Sunday. I know it's in rough condition but I also believe at least 60 - 75% of the original castle structure is there so this could be a good way to save some money acquiring this iconic castle set. All I'm really looking for at this moment in time is some SW MiniFigs ( LIST HERE) or cash to get them. Contact me via PM or post here if you're interested.

Looks like you've got the first BIG Hulk to go! There's stil 1 BIG Hulk (opened) and 2 Little Hulks (sealed) up for trade. OP list of Figures I'm looking for has been updated.

I have 1 of the Big Hulk Figs: Both have been opened and lightly handled. I also have 2 of the Small Hulk Figs: Both are still sealed. Here are the SW MiniFigs I want: Dengar (10221) Greedo different astromechs (only have R2 and snow R2) different protocol droids (white, red or black) Han Solo (MF that goes into the Carbonite piece) Kithaba Emperor (gray head) Jabba the Hut (new) Either PM me or post here and let's see if we can trade...

Since there have been a lot of views but only a few comments (all positive BTW) in my thread about a Train Tech Community Build (with a twist) I figured I'd give everyone an example: For this example I've chosen to create a Flying Saucer for the CMF Alien Gray. I hope the rest is self explanatory. I haven't designed the actual cockpit yet but I will be building this model in real bricks...

Looks like I'll be getting two of these!

Nice design, I do think white is a bit overused though. To me this would be better with more light gray.

This makes perfect sense to me. Trains can't exist in a vacuum, without freight or passengers they simply don't serve any purpose. To have freight or passengers there must be stations, citys, airports, harbors and such. Trains are fun to watch going around track but it's all kind of pointless if they don't have places to stop and reasons to stop there.

My vote simply has to go to the Santa Fe Super Chief (10020) and it's Cars Sets (10022 & 10025)... Here is my updated version of it (yes I do own a complete original version which includes a custom EMD 7-B unit and Pleasure Dome).. Even though the Bogies in the pic are black I do have them in Light Blu-Gray but can't update the pic right now as he is in storage for now. THe think the reason for this is personally when I think of American Locomotives the EMD F7 (and those that look similar) are what comes to mind first. The snub-nose with centered lights is just the most iconic Loco from my youth (which was in the 1970s) on TV & movies as well as in person.

If I wanted to I could easily just add 2 more "center" carriages which would give you a five unit group. If I remember correctly, I read that 3, 5 & 7 long are the most common configurations. Since a group of three is the same length as 4 of the Maersk Intermodal Carriages I figured that's plenty long enough for most layouts. Thanks for the compliment. BTW, those 10 wide monsters sound awesome, saw a few trains on that scale at Brickworld last year. I stick with 6 wide (for now) because it keeps the layout smaller. I've been considering 7 or 8 wide. Thinking that 7 wide would allow my 6 wide stock to remain unaltered and still look okay on the same layout but 8 wide would be too obvious.

Here is is in "Real Bricks" on a curve: It's long but it does fit around curves! Now I'm just waiting for the Repo Stickers from JopieK to polish the look...

Wouldn't it be nice to do a themed community build, something fun and enjoyable for everyone, not just us Train Techies. My thought would be to combine trains with another theme that doesn't seem "train friendly". My favorite non-Train theme is still Star Wars so I'd love to go that route. Next we'd need catagories. I'd suggest 3: Complete Trains: Requires one Locomotive and at least 4 bits of rolling stock following a singular theme, imagine a Bounty Hunter Train with Boba Fett Loco and Cars for other Bounty zhunters. Stations: Take an iconic location and theme a train station on it, imagine Death Star Central Station. Trackside Structures & Maintenance of Way: This would encompass all of the misc things we see everyday that get taken for granted, imagine an Endor Level Crossing. What would it take to make this happen? I'd be willing to volunteer my time to organize/manage this if we could do it...

Here's a slight redesign (Conceptual) of the Bogies. I was already wanting to replace the Axles on the shared bogie with pins to give better stability around corners when double stacked. This would lengthen the Bogie to be 9 studs from front to back. The additional stud in the center of the shared bogie would allow the two cars to navigate curves without touching. I'm not really sure on this change yet. I can take one of 3 routes here: 1. Do nothing and continue using the 8 long bogies. 2. Only rebuild the Shared Bogies to 9 long to improve "curve flex". 3. Rebuild both Bogie designs to 9 long for consistency. Looks like I'll need to make another BL order or 2...

Here is a test negotiating a standard curve using MLCad (LDraw): As you can see (especially in the full size image here) it is very close as to if the shared bogie connections will flex enough to make this curve. Hopefully I'll have the last of the parts needed to finish the real model and can test all 3 sections on a physical curve.

Yeah once I get the last of the parts for this initial working design I'll dig out just enough track to test standard curves and switches. I've also made alternate colored versions of 10219 Container Cars. I did them in Gray with Black trim and Black with Gray trim, I preferred the later as you can see in this pic... I used the exact bogie design of the Official TTX Intermodal Cars Set. Since those cars are 28 studs long and mine are 46/47 studs long it makes sense to bogies look too small. I'm hesitant to lengthen anything at this point because I don't know if the current length will negotiate a standard curve or switch so if I lengthen each bogie by 2 studs that could make it not fit. As these are heavy duty cars designed to each carry up to 4 containers (double the Maersk design's capacity) it makes a lot of sense that heavy duty bogies would be used especially for the shared bogies which would support up to 8 containers each. Based on this image: I would say that the shared bogies are okay as they are as long as 3 wheels. The End bogies (which are the same as used in 10219 Container Cars) could be swapped-out for a modified version of the shared bogie with a singular mounting post and maybe even use the Yellow Bogie Plate and Tiles for the top of it. Something like this:

Here's an update: Comparison shots with the Container Car from Maersk 10219 Set... Here you can see the Lowered Deck is the same length as the whole 10219 Car which make the whole Car 10 studs longer for a Middle Car (uses shared bogies on both ends) and 11 studs longer for an End Car (shared bogie on one end and bogie with coupler on the other end). Here you can see that on the bogies this Container Car rides at the same height as the lower deck of the Container Car from 10219

Just waiting for 2 BrickLink shipments to finish it then I'll dig out some curved track to test it. I'm confident that using the two end cars (1 shared bogie) will make the curve but I hope the 3 car version will also .

Actually if you just color the trucks black it doesn't look half bad... When I did my version I was able to build the A and B units for about $60 each (not counting the bley train wheels, deco sides for the motors, couplers and PF components)! Since I'm not working right now I might be able to find time to clean-up the files and produce instructions finally.

This set is on my buy list and I will MOD it to open like the Modular Buildings (each floor comes off) as that will work best on a Train Layout. I'm just wondering why so many seem to think this is a Modular set when it clearly isn't?

Here's another pic, slightly modified and this time it.s 3 carriages long... As I make more pics (rendered and real) I'll post them in this set. I plan to start generating a parts list and reorganizing the MLCad file to create instructions this afternoon. I want to order the parts in the next few days and see how it works IRB (In Real Bricks), I'll either dig out my containers or just build a few more for this set. Maybe I should Cuusoo this idea, what do you think?

Sadly my LEGO is all stored away for the time being but I still have LDraw/MLCad. I have the TTX Intermodal Carriage and Maersk Sets. I've been thinking of doing this MOD for a while and the newly posted review of 10170 has motivated me to actually do the design work so here are a couple of preliminary images. I'm hoping to get the parts ordered and build it in real bricks within the next few weeks. Unfortunately I can't test how it navigates curves and points for a while.

I've been thinking of rescaling this model to the Maersk containers, that would be loong rolling stock though...

Honestly, LEGO Trains as a hobby is in itself "slightly financially unwieldy" but anyways.... I only quoted the last part of you post because I think you're over simplifying the issue of increasing train length. The biggest 2 problems I've encountered are the magnetic grip strength of the couplers and the amount of traction (or lack thereof) where the rubber meets the rails! Neither of these issues would be addressed by going Pneumatic.

I actually have some ME-Models track I'd like to sell: 6 Double Length, 8 Single Length, 12 Half Length they include Dk BluGray Sleepers. I'd like $70 plus shipping for all of them.

Here you'll find my truss bridge, the track on the deck is all flex-track! Here you can see the layout I started before moving to Savannah GA, notice the inclines leading up to the bridge, they are ALL flex-track. It works well for that purpose. Be aware of the fact that you'll need 11 baseplates length of incline on each side of the bridge forbthe height I achieved!