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CrispyBassist

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Everything posted by CrispyBassist

  1. CrispyBassist
    Exactly, just 8 more studs. Boxcar Open Doors by Matt Csenge, on Flickr Here's one side. I made them slightly different so they were open different amounts. And here's a just for fun one of all my freight cars together: Lego Freight Train by Matt Csenge, on Flickr (Don't mind the clutter, I really need a layout to get them out on...)
  2. CrispyBassist
    Got another new one that I just finished, this one is a 50' version of the BMR PS-1 boxcar in Boston & Maine colors: B&M 50' PS-1 Boxcar by Matt Csenge, on Flickr I really wanted to do a boxcar with the doors open and a couple hobos ridin' the rails, and I wanted the open door to cover part of the stickers. I chose the 50' version, because the door of the 40' version would cover too much of the sticker. The hobos seem to be enjoying the breeze! B&M 50' PS-1 Boxcar by Matt Csenge, on Flickr I also did some work on my New Haven MOW gondola that I run with my wrecker. More pics of both can be found on Flickr (since it's not a BMR car :-) ). Freight Cars by Matt Csenge, on Flickr
  3. CrispyBassist
    Bam: Gotcha, thanks for clarifying!
  4. CrispyBassist
    Are these comments from the book? I haven't read it, but haven't found the listed issues to be a problem for any of my long 8-wide builds. The weight can be an issue, but there are ways to work around this, such as ball bearings for axles (discussed in a separate thread). I've had the opposite problem with my long 60+ stud passenger cars, where my train was almost too fast through curves! (Pulled by 2 PF train motors) The overhang can be worked around by not placing structures as close to the tracks or using larger radius curves and switches, though often the wider cars can run around the standard curves and switches - Tony Sava, for example, builds the vast majority of his MOCs to run through standard track geometry. And as far as the wheels spoiling the overall impression, I simply haven't found this to be true. I'm sure many 8-wide builders would agree with that, or they simply wouldn't build 8-wide. Overall I'd say go for 7 or 8-wide for the benefit of extra detail! There's plenty of ways to work around the impractical scale of the standard Lego track geometry, and plenty of us willing to give advice and solutions if you run into problems!
  5. CrispyBassist
    Thanks, all for the kind words! Just the photo, the reds match very nicely in reality. The trucks have changed, though that was done previously. Here's the current trucks: NYNH&H GP-9 Truck Detail by Matt Csenge, on Flickr As you know, I personally like using PF train motors with plate-built sides. I've got similar setups on my RDC and my three big boxcabs (with a fourth in the works). Sorry to switch teams on ya, though NY was where I started out :-)
  6. CrispyBassist
    I recently rebuilt my GP-9 to resolve some aspects of it that I was unhappy about. Here's the final result: New Haven GP-9 Rebuild by Matt Csenge, on Flickr Primarily, I rebuilt it so that the section around the battery box and IR receiver is truly 5-studs wide. After that, I added the fuel ports to the sides of the fuel tank. Then, being inspired by Aaron Burnett's amazing Central of Georgia GP-9, I modified the ends using less-than-half-stud offsets to get rid of the stepped slope typically seen when using cheese slopes. I also added lights using Brickstuff's new Power Functions Power Source v2, which includes directional lights. Unfortunately when I moved back to NY I misplaced my controller, so I haven't tested it yet... Stickers from OK Brick Works and Jim Pirzyk. New Haven GP-9 Rebuild by Matt Csenge, on Flickr New Haven GP-9 Rebuild by Matt Csenge, on Flickr And here's the pre-rebuild version: NYNH&H GP-9 by Matt Csenge, on Flickr
  7. CrispyBassist
    I cranked out a couple BMR flat cars following the tankers I built: BMR Flat Cars by Matt Csenge, on Flickr The first is the Southern Pacific car in dark red that BMR offered stickers for. I had a custom order with OK Brick Works and asked for the SP heralds in addition. I came up with the tarped load using the fabric piece from the Indiana Jones Race for the Stolen Treasure set (7622). Southern Pacific 142588 by Matt Csenge, on Flickr Second is the Turtle Creek Central car in reddish brown. When cleaning I came across a sheet of TCC decals that were included in an issue of Model Railroader Magazine from 2002. While the sheet was made for HO and N scale models, the heralds (as you can see) fit perfectly on 2x2 tiles! The aforementioned OK Brick Works logo took care of the rest of the stickers. Turtle Creek Central 132 by Matt Csenge, on Flickr So far I've got a pretty good train going! Lego Freight Train by Matt Csenge, on Flickr
  8. CrispyBassist
    Nope. I'll buy the Power Functions bits and track to support tlg, but the sets don't appeal to me anymore. I'd rather moc things that I want to and make them as realistic as possible. I was tempted by the Maersk set though...
  9. CrispyBassist
    THAT is a great point that I completely forgot about. My Budd RDC is log and low enough that it still hits the switch stands without the levers. If that becomes an issue, one of the aftermarket track manufacturers (can't remember which one) makes switches with the throws on the other side.
  10. CrispyBassist
    Depends, too long for what? My longest loco is ~68 studs long (and properly scaled), and I know others who have longer. The longer it is, the more it will overhang going through curves (especially Lego r40's) but with the right amount of rotational freedom in the trucks it'll run just fine.
  11. CrispyBassist
    I've seen a few people (*cough, cough* legoman666) on this forum use metal model railroad wheels and create custom track power pickups. If you could get your hands on some metal train wheels maybe you could use something similar to provide track power? Not sure how good you are with wiring and electronics, of course!
  12. CrispyBassist
    Speaking of long trains, these would be great because unlike the magnets there's some play in a knuckle coupler instead of the cars being rigidly coupled. This would allow the locomotive to overcome the static friction of the cars one at a time, theoretically allowing it to start a longer train.
  13. CrispyBassist
    BMR Tank Cars by Matt Csenge, on Flickr Just got around to taking pictures of my BMR tank cars. I definitely enjoyed the builds, especially after not building anything for a few months. I departed from the design slightly here and there, including a red 1x1 tile for the hazmat placard, chains (piece 92338) on the brake rigging, minifig axes for the journal boxes (though I'm not 100% sold on this), and three domes on the Esso rather than two (no particular reason here). I tried to number mine differently than the standard sticker set, but completely forgot in my excitement to sticket the Shell car. The redesigned trucks shown here look great, so I'll probably convert to those soon. Next up I'm planning two flat cars: Southern Pacific in dark red with a generic load, and Western Maryland in reddish brown. After that a couple more hoppers, a bunch of boxcars, and a special car or two all to make up a nice consist for my EF-1. As for the discussion on the bar clips for the trucks, I've found this method works real well without pieces popping off: NH Osgood-Bradley Lightweight Coach Truck by Matt Csenge, on Flickr The "bar holder" ends of the bar holders fit over the 1x2 plate with handle, making them much more secure. Substituting the 1x2 plate with handle and closed ends (48336) with the one with open ends (2540) would probably help even more. I run these on some of my passenger coaches and haven't had any problems with them falling off (then again, I haven't had any issues with the traditional bar clip method).
  14. CrispyBassist
    The top left are attached with 1x2 plates with clips on the short side (part 63868) and I build the sideframes out of SNOT plates with clips and bars. It also gives a slimmer profile to the sideframes, which I prefer. There's a bit more explanation on my Flickr.
  15. CrispyBassist
    These are looking very nice! You don't have to use the Lego motor frames with the PF motor, my GP-9 for example has built up sideframes for extra realism.
  16. CrispyBassist
    Woah, these are neat. Any plans for producing them in the flesh (or plastic, as it were)? They would certainly bring a lot of options for layouts.
  17. CrispyBassist
    The door and ring are because the tender is a corridor tender, with a small hallway so that on long trips the relief crew to get from the cab of the locomotive to the train. The ring is a window to illuminate the passage. See this article for more info.
  18. CrispyBassist
    Those even look a lot like MU couplers, which often have power transfer built in. I might have to try this too...
  19. CrispyBassist
    For those that build with a digital program that might work. Not all of us do though, and tracking down all the parts strewn across the floor gets old quick. So does spending hours rebuilding the thing every day. Just because it's "supposed to be a kids toy" doesn't mean everyone sees it that way or wants their best builds smashed repeatedly. I've not had issues with this, and mine are all long, heavy 8-wide. I keep a layer of bubble wrap under them and on the sides, which actually might help support it by the low parts between the trucks.
  20. CrispyBassist
    This is actually the opposite of how the real railroads would do it: flashing aspects always (in the US at least) are less restrictive than solid ones. This is so that if the flashing mechanism fails, the signal doesn't erroneously show a more permissive aspect. In other words, the flashing green would mean the next signal is clear and the solid green would mean the next signal is red. Granted, you're not trying to replicate the real railroads, but I thought I'd comment on the fail-safe nature of the system.
  21. CrispyBassist
    This may be true, but I use them exclusively on my rolling stock and have never had an issue. I've even ran them on very uneven tables at high speed without issue.
  22. CrispyBassist
    I've had issues with this in the past too. On Flickr I go to the pic I want to add, click the download button (bottom right corner), click "view all sizes", pick the size I want (based on Eurobricks guidelines), right click the picture and select "Copy image address" (may be something different, but similar for browsers other than Chrome), then when I drop the link in the box here it automatically becomes an image. Hope this helps.
  23. CrispyBassist
    The London Underground has two power rails as well, one on the side of the track and one between the running rails, so a line of tiles down the middle of the track for the road wheel to run on would actually be prototypically correct for the system. This line of tiles could be built up to the height of the rail and possibly make a smooth transition over switches.
  24. CrispyBassist
    This is a great idea, particularly because it saves us from having to cut apart standard Lego turnouts to get these geometries! Just to confirm, will these geometries will allow for proper switch ladders with tracks at standard spacing?
  25. CrispyBassist
    Nice water effect with those tiles not fully pressed down! I'm gonna save that idea for future use...
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