jtlan
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Everything posted by jtlan
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London Transport 0-6-0pt Pannier ex-GWR 5700 (WIP)
jtlan replied to Srbandrews's topic in LEGO Train Tech
The first thing I can think of is, you should probably use Big Ben Bricks medium drivers for this tank locomotive, since it's so much smaller than the King Class (which should probably be using BBB XL drivers) -- there's a 0.5-meter difference in the driver diameter of the real locomotives, but you've used the same part (the L driver) for both here. This part is also probably a closer representation of the smokestack. I'd also move the front buffer beam forward a bit, and change the cones on the buffers to red. I'll also suggest lowering the splashers/wheel arches the same way I suggested for Redimus's Q class. The footplate is often the hardest thing to model on British and European locomotives (a problem made even harder by the narrower width of British designs). The maroon coloring is fantastic -- I tend to build locomotives in neutral colors, so I'm often envious of these more colorful models. Keep up the good work! -
My Magic: The Gathering background left me unable to read the thread as anything other than "Switch Engine Blue-White". That said, it's a charming little engine with wonderful proportions. There's some excellent SNOT work going on here, with the grills and other details adding interest without making the engine too busy-looking.
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It was the molds... but mainly the process of adding the metal to the rails that made it much more costly than other parts. It was essentially the whole process which, from my understanding, was trouble-prone and expensive. This. My understanding is that they had to mold the track, ship it to a different facility to have the metal sheeting applied (presumably using specialized machines that couldn't be easily repurposed), then ship it back to the Lego packaging facility to be inserted into sets. It's not just the cost of the production process, but all the overhead required to move stuff around that causes problems. Each additional step adds complications that can cause additional delays and uncertainties in the manufacturing process. As an aside, the 9V track mold is probably a lot more complicated than the PF track mold. Fundamentally, track parts are going to be pretty tricky to produce since they're fairly large, but there's also the unique tolerances associated with joining the rails together (on the 9V track, this would have been further complicated by the need to account for the thickness of the metal to be applied later). The 9V track also has holes in the side of the rail for tabs on the metal layer to lock into, which implies that the mold had additional inserts to make those holes (increasing the cost and complication of those molds).
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First, I'd suggest turning on "Outlines on bricks" under LDD's options -- it's a better representation of what the model will look like in real life, as it properly renders the gaps between bricks. In addition, it'll be easier for the rest of us to figure out what's going on in the picture (particularly areas with a lot of dark pieces). Second, I'm guessing from the "5" on the tender (in conjunction with various other features) that this is a model of James from The Railway Series? If so, there's an easy solution to your problem -- James has inside cylinders.
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Welcome to the world of train MOCs, @Srbandrews! You've done a good job of capturing the stepped/sloped look of the boiler. I would recommend using slope bricks instead of bowed ones for the main part of the boiler, to better distinguish the roundness of the boiler from the part above the firebox. You might also consider switching to Big Ben Bricks XL drivers, which I think would be better suited for modeling the King Class' 78-inch drivers.
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As an additional data point, in one of my locomotives I switched from the AAA battery box to a custom 2-cell lithium-polymer battery (the same arrangement that's inside the Lego rechargeable pack). Despite the nominally lower voltage, I got MUCH better performance out of the lithium batteries because they can source a lot more current than AAAs. The AA box is bulky and you might find it hard to hide inside the locomotive. On the other hand, the extra weight should improve the traction of the locomotive.
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You can get a 1:1 gearing by using a 12T half-bevel in place of the tan 20T half-bevel, and using a full 12T bevel on the motor. This is a pretty minor change that won't require changing any of the surrounding structure. This 1:1 gearing will yield more speed at the expense of a little torque, but you should still be able to pull a lot (the locomotive in this video is geared 1:1 with two M motors). However, the top speed still won't be that fast compared to, say, the PF train motor. You could also swap the 20T and 12T gears, as @dr_spock suggested. One thing you might also consider is switching to the AA battery box or the rechargeable battery box; both should be able to source more current than the AAA box, which will affect your motor performance.
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Can you show us a better view of the current gearing? I would suggest other designs, but it's not clear there's enough room for them.
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I tried this out, but it didn't work for me with the torque-limiting gear at that position in the gear train. I had to move it earlier in the reduction stage.
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It's usually better to build these trucks using Technic frames, to avoid the popping-out problem you described. As for the sliding bevel gears, any time gears are used the inter-gear forces will tend to separate the gears (this is a consequence of compromises made in the shape of the gear teeth). This is why it's important to properly support gears; in the case of bevel gears, they should have a solid surface behind them. Try using the double bevel gear, which should fit in the space between the 20-tooth bevel and the technic beam. As for the derailing problem, I believe one of the Railbricks issues talks about how you might mitigate it. I suspect the problem is magnified by the fact that you have a 20:12 gear-up inside the bogie; the effect would be reduced if this gear-up was done inside the locomotive, and the entire bogie was built with 1:1 gearing.
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Unlikely, in my experience, although I suppose the dirt will gradually clear up if you run trains on it for a while. I've typically found that polishing with very mild abrasives tends to work better than chemical methods; you might try using toothpaste and a rag / paper towel, or perhaps some metal polish.
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[HELP] Sealed 4.5v Motor Cleaning/Oiling/Opening?
jtlan replied to Rail Co's topic in LEGO Train Tech
Hmm. You might be able to drip some low-viscosity oil into the works from below using the axle holes (although I'd have to see the bottom of the motor to be sure). Something like 3-in-1 oil, which usually has a fine-tipped dispenser, might help. -
I salute them, for they can no longer salute themselves. I considered using the minifig paint roller there, but they only come in grey and it's hard to get enough of them. I also wanted the first window on the side to be a bit more distinctive, but that probably requires a lot of the 1x1x2 old-style windows.
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4-6-2 LNER Class A3 4472 'Flying Scotsman'
jtlan replied to Paperballpark's topic in LEGO Train Tech
Nicely done. There are a lot of Lego renditions of this locomotive, but everyone seems to make slightly different choices on the details. I don't think I've seen anyone model the dome the way you have, for example, and you've made an interesting choice in coloring the "sides" of the wheel arches (maybe you're considering printing on the sides of the 1x4 bow?). I particularly like the details on the smokebox door. However, the tenders look slightly too tall to me, but I'm not sure why. I assume the printed windows are necessary because 1x2x2 framed windows (in particular 2377/60032) don't exist in green, a problem I also ran into. I wound up building the window using SNOT, but that might not be an option for you due to the small amount of space you have to work with here. It's also a bummer that XL drivers don't come in green (or any colors other than red, black, and dkbley, for that matter) -
I always get really confused when I see models of this locomotive, because the wheels look so small -- but they really were that small! (Big Ben Bricks medium drivers might even work for some renditions). The white and red are nice accents. I also like the way you made the steps at the front using the 1x2 tile with handle. The tender should probably have 4 axles though; I think 3-axle tenders were pretty rare in the States. I also think the boiler is overhanging the front a bit too much. Compare this photo: The smokestack lines up with the pistons, so you could probably move the pistons forward and the front of the boiler back a bit.
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New MOC! This is the first model of an electric locomotive I've built. The Pennsylvania Railroad used these odd-looking twin-unit electric locomotives starting in the 1910s. Each half of the locomotive was powered by a single large electric motor in the body, connected to the driving wheels via a jackshaft and side rods, resulting in an effective wheel arrangement of 4-4-0+0-4-4 (2'B+B2' in UIC notation). To me, the jackshaft-and-side-rods drive system is a key part of the DD1's appearance. Consequently, the first thing I did was to figure out how to replicate the mechanism as faithfully as possible within the width of the model. By SNOT-ing the sides of the locomotive, I was able to make the bodywork only 1 plate thick in places, allowing me to pass a technic half-beam behind them. As a side benefit, the studs on the side line up nicely with the rivet lines on the prototype. After figuring out the mechanicals, I designed the bodywork in LDD, then placed a whole bunch of BrickLink orders with Commander Wolf to acquire all the windows, 1x3 tiles, and the giant pile of brackets required for the SNOTwork. I actually finished the model a couple weeks ago, but the soggy weather and other commitments prevented me from taking photos until now. I also took some video: Brickshelf gallery Let me know what you think!
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[HELP] Sealed 4.5v Motor Cleaning/Oiling/Opening?
jtlan replied to Rail Co's topic in LEGO Train Tech
I'm not very familiar with the old motors -- could you post some photos of the motor you have? -
I've seen it on some other maintenance-of-way equipment too. Maybe they're imported from Europe?
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Buffers can't into 'Murrika either. That said, the cars are quite charming -- I particularly like the flatcar with the Adventurers-style car on it. Some of the other designs are evocative of the official Lego building style. Aside: It might be worth trying to take photos outside, in indirect sunlight. The extra lighting should make the photos less grainy, and is particularly helpful for photographing models that are mostly black.
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Cab-forward locomotives aren't that common. A number of railroads ordered or built experimental ones that they wound up not using. Gr670 and the Southern Pacific ones are the only types of which a reasonable number were produced (unless you count ordinary tank engines as "cab-forward").
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Greetings Train Tech, I finished this a couple of months ago, but I've only just got around to posting it. This unusual locomotive was designed in 1900. The Gr670 is a compound locomotive, featuring two high-pressure cylinders on one side and two low-pressure cylinders on the other. While a cab-forward design seems like a logical way to build a locomotive, it doesn't seem to have been that popular, presumably due to logistical challenges, such as where to store the fuel (note the giant coal bunker behind the cab, overlapping the boiler). The Gr670 was apparently nicknamed "Mucca", meaning "cow". The locomotive is essentially two trucks (one containing the pistons and the drivers) pivoting under a rigid body. It took some messing around to find pivot locations that allowed the locomotive to clear curves without the flanges of the drivers scraping against the boiler. The tender is probably my favorite part of the model. The cab-and-tank appearance of the tender echoes that of the locomotive, lending weight to the theory that the locomotive was nicknamed "mucca" because the locomotive and tender together reminded some observers of a cow and calf. And some video: Full Brickshelf gallery More info on the Gr670 Wikipedia article (Italian) Let me know what you think!
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If you use Jacobs bogies, you can save on wheels relative to cars. It'll also look a bit more modern.
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That's right. Here's what's inside the boxcar: The large black block is an old 9V battery box, connected to an electrical plate (white) to fit under the roofline. One of the slope bricks on the roof, when pressed down firmly, switches on the battery box. Which part specifically? The Fairlie uses Big Ben Bricks medium drivers, and pivots on a pin that connects to the boiler.
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It depends on how much speed you want. My model of 2096 uses two M-motors, geared 1:1 to L-size drivers, and I've never been disappointed with its pulling power; however, I'm also not loading it particularly heavily (4x 10015, or a similar load; It's doing about 50% to 80% top speed in the video). 1:1 gearing is going to be pretty slow with the small wheels though. What do you want to pull behind the loco, and how fast do you want to go?
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If you're having traction problems, switching to more powerful motors will not help. What will help is increasing the number of driven axles (which you might be able to do by switching to PF power), but even easier is just putting more weight on the driven axles, which can be done by: Making the locomotive heavier. Try putting some dead batteries or a weight brick inside the locomotive on top of the powered wheels, and see if that helps. Taking weight off the non-driven axles. Looking at your model, I'm guessing that the weight rests on both the PF train motors and the non-driven axles. If possible, try lowering the top of the non-driven axle, such that the weight of the locomotive rests solely on the train motors.