Toastie

Well, with all these big stories about voter fraud evolving from - well I really don't know where they're evolving form - Valhalla? No, these were Vikings, they were pretty straight out - it is really easy to see things clearly. I have another one: Maersk - when you read that >backwards< ... ksreaM, replace the ksr with L and the aM with GO (you did not see that one coming, Emanulele, did you?) and then print it in ALL caps - what do you get? Tatatataaaa ... LEGO. Why am I not surprised. I knew it. But back on topic: These locos are just breathtakingly nice! 10-wide surely gives you some freedom, but filling that freedom with actually something this nice requires surely inspiration and superb building skills. These machines are so good-looking from the outside - and at the same time with panels etc. removed. Fantastic work @Terry Akuna! Thanks for sharing!!! Best wishes, Thorsten

Ha - I just wanted to say the same thing: The Maersk always looks best. I also know why: They are from Denmark. And they pay TLG big time to make it look best. No. That is a lame conspiracy theory. Hmm. The families sit together from time to time, near Billund - in a gigantic cottage/castle, drink some super expensive Whiskey, I smell Cigars (outside only of course) - the kids play inside with all Maersk Blue LEGO bricks ... and then Mr/Ms Maersk asks Mr/Ms TLG: Maersk Blue is the best ... OK, wait: and wait: Best Thorsten

I see the way you are going: Using commercially available USB A/B/C connector cables designed for rough = all day usage. That is not required though for trains, I believe. I will try to assemble some pictures tomorrow or the weekend with my approaches. Using 8878 you have exactly the same trouble: It has this nasty socket on top. There is no plain vanilla plug/cable available that allows you to fit that one comfortable into any 6/7 wide train. As far as I found out. You need custom cables. I may be wrong. The example you showed is really restricted in space. I don't believe that this is generally (but of course here specifically!) the case. Correct me, if I am wrong. Next: We were discussing PF as well. Question is: Regarding space: What is freely available in the left engine? (Just to make sure: I do very much like these discussions. Honestly. As I [and maybe we] can learn from that. It is really relevant to me. Maybe I am too blunt - my apologies if that is the case. Last night was a nightmare over in another forum regarding the Colosseum) Best regards (!) Thorsten

Ahh, makes sense. What about doing it this in a way with your universal connector brick aligning "vertically" with the KB one/2I/O hub? With no studs/anti-studs at all? Full height/width but maybe just 1 wide? I like the idea of screwing on the supply cables very, very much (this is the idea, right?). It is a pain in the butt to supply power to 8878 in a train. I needed to always make my own "plug", sort of 90 degrees type thing, all plastic removed, painful soldering. As @legotownlinz said: Trainwise, space is >not< big. Not as in: "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." (Douglas Adams - of course ) With no studs, but just 1 wide, it could be "tucked in". No tolerances in the way other than: 1 wide fits. Just tossing around random ideas. Best Thorsten

You wrote that before and I don't get it. Are you referring to TLG trains? Or MOC's? With TLG's trains that is true for some of them, but certainly not all. With a bit of modding and the option of moving the KB one box+converter into a car, I believe there are lots of solutions? Or do I miss something? Best Thorsten Edit#2: Is there a thing such a "zero width" USB A - micro USB adapter (male/male)? Did not find one Edit#3: What if the converter brick had a male micro USB "plug" type thing - which snaps onto KB one?

OK. When this is draft - I just threw all my drafts (papers and stuff) into the garbage. That is exactly what I meant. Should this not catch on all the PF folks? With the wide-range -> 5 V brick product range (2I/O Hub LiPo, PF LiPo, converter brick) this is basically serving the entire PF/PUp community! In a most flexible way, as far as I am concerned. The system is modular, flexible and modest on footprint. Yes, for universal PF, there is the additional converter brick. I can surely live with that! It is compatible with future power pickups or home-brew stuff. And what do we have from TLG in this regard? "Nothing". 8878 is gone ... Wow. I really do like this. Thank you very much for doing all this!!! Best Thorsten

And we have a winner! Never thought this is even thinkable. Man this is seriously degrading here. Just to make sure: Who is "they" - I just want to make sure.

Did you actually read this twice? Or was this the result of utter and uncontrolled anger? Just asking. I just looked up the original 1999 paper of J. Kruger and D. Dunning in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Nice read. Has nothing much to do with defecation and diarrhea though. Quoting from a Pixar movie may be OK, but not with that - well - how do want to put this? - verbal whatever in your preceding paragraph. I do follow your arguments (but absolutely not the wording you have chosen to express yourself) - in part that is. However, what you wrote puts an end to "criticism" for virtually each and every box, TLG throws into the market - for me that is: I don't have the skills, nor the parts and resources, nor the money, to compete at any level with TLGs builders. In other words, regarding the Kruger/Dunner paper, I am disqualified. Which is OK with me, I can live with that. Hell, I bet I can nail that guy who made the Colosseum in Quantum Mechanics. Hmm, well, maybe he had enough physics classes. So maybe not. Who cares anyway. BUT: I will always have an opinion. I will not like some colors. I will like other colors. I will not like some pricing politics - or maybe I will. Because I have these thoughts. I will not bow and remain there in eternal worship because it came from TLG. Never. Elevating opinions to criticism though is a very, very personal and complex mechanism. Having an opinion is one thing. Criticizing another. The question is: Is "voicing an opinion" automatically "criticizing"? No way. It becomes that though, the very moment somebody feels offended or attacked or personally insulted, takes damage, and so on and so forth - the whole ego and financial world is ready to rumble. And then language. Phrasing. Man with your phrasing skills, nor only being a native speaker of the English language, but with your enormous width and depth - maybe better on the other side of rage - you can phrase things in a way so polite and at the same time with so razor sharp clarity, I am certain. I just wonder why defecation and spew diarrhea actually had to show up? And then Rome. The ancient city. Been born there. That creates some very strong feelings other people simply cannot embrace. That building is almost 2000 years old. Germany did not exist - the folks here were running around in the woods and were ... I don't know what they were doing. At least they did not build anything comparable to that building. And the US were not discovered by the Vikings - that happened about 1000 years later. And they were not the US. Whatever. OK, should one voice an opinion in the way this model was done? Maybe more polite. With more ... empathy for others. But never with: Don't say it. In the beginning, God this mess was about color. You guys freaked on color and shape. Of some plastic bricks in plastic bags to be assembled into an assembly of such bricks from a toy company in Denmark. My 2 cents? Not worth it. Not one second. And this is just my >very personal< opinion, no criticism here. Have a nice evening (it's about 9 pm here), Sit back, relax and enjoy - life. I get myself a beer. Best regards to both of you @Itaria No Shintaku and @koalayummies and all others Thorsten

I go almost entirely with @Paperinik77pk and @LEGO Train 12 Volts: 4.5V blue: 181 (because this is the only one I have) 12V blue: 727 - I like that Diesel engine so much - simple, but really nice colors and shape 12V grey: 7740 (no doubts) 9V : Super Chief w/ cars PF: None PUp: Crocodile (if that counts at all) Best Thorsten

Wow! How cool ist this?! This is fantastic! Does your software run on the Arduino nanos as well? Thanks a lot for sharing! Best Thorsten

Hi @kaxynet, "emulate for" or "use with" Arduino? Best Thorsten

Well that is good for you! And I hope you enjoy the build. But there are quite a few people out there in this world who actually may have a problem with such a price tag. Oh, sure: Then they should have a pass on that one. It is just good from time to time to realign with reality and gauge LEGO from that perspective as well. In a decent discussion. This set seems to be designed for a rich people world. Nothing wrong with that!!! And discussing whether this should be maybe an architecture style set or not is - well no nonsense at all, IMHO of course. Plus: As I well never buy this set due to its insane price tag (not per piece, on an absolute scale) - but if I would, believe me, I would ask exactly >that Italian guy< whether or not the color is OK. I would not want to have such a huge model that doesn't fit anywhere other than on its own stand - in the wrong color. Not for this price tag. Which also can buy you a really nicely equipped laptop some people are in desperate need in the times we have passing during these days. Don't get me wrong: It is really nice that you are so fortunate to worry about where to put it! I really mean that. But this is your very own personal perspective. Others have other perspectives. Maybe would have liked it as an ingeniously made small-sized set. Or whatever, this is a very diverse world. What I just don't like is calling a discussion "nonsense". It is not. Not regarding color, price, building style, too tall, whatever. For €500 - it better be no nonsense. When you like it: Get it, when can afford it! When you don't: Leave it. There is no obligation. I for myself enjoy this discussion - including you post!!! - very much. Including spicing it up with a little ... sarcasm, jealousy ... All the best and again: Enjoy the build and enjoy finding a good place for it! Best regards, Thorsten

Oh yes. It does. I do teach at a university for more than 30 years now. Believe me: It does. It also encourages. It motivates. It generates trust, as you get closer to a person. And that for more than 30 years now, purely taken from my own experience. @Jim re-phrased something way up in this thread: A model example. I also believe that this "unnecessary" talk should actually be gauged from at least three perspectives: 1) I believe with "tweets & company" just being allowed to be so and so long, even beginning with "Good afternoon" or "Dear All" is already too much, not even talking of a closing remark. 2) Age: Younger folks do talk and communicate differently than older folks do (I can tell). 3) Age: Experienced people have a - well much more experienced way of looking at things. As an example: When you do the same PChem lecture for the 6th year in a row, people hearing it apparently get dumber and dumber. Each year. And you go faster and faster and add this and that because everything becomes trivial. So I said to my colleagues: Now way. We will rotate the entire lecture series every year. It works. I also believe it would work here: Technic freaks: Go and build a modular house with interior on this theme: Classical Spanish town. So take your gear boxes apart and off we go. It puts things into perspective. And before any rant: I know that there is a dedicated forum for that, was not the point. And we can go on and on and on. One thing appears to be a "constant in communication" though: "unnecessary, positive, talk". Not too much, just a little. I like to call it Empathy. Again: It worked when I was 30 years old it works now, as I am pressing 60. Student populations and their socialization have "changed" big-time - naturally, has to be that way, is good. But appreciation and most importantly mutual respect have not. Well they may have but should not. They are still door openers. Nice discussion - which is another constant factor here on EB (for the decade I am here). Best wishes, Thorsten

After such procedures as described White is not White anymore. It is ... dirty yellowish grey-brownish something. I can tell that for sure because I am somewhat colorblind. Best Thorsten Shoot - wait - her it is:

That is what @MAB suggested: Ship it out in white. Then: Let kids play with all white parts it for a couple of years; that is not a big deal at all - the Colosseum is almost 2k years old ... Or put all the white for a couple of summers or weeks/months, depending on where you live, into the sunlight ... Or put them for a couple of weeks/months (depending on UV power settings and electricity bill limits) into a tanning bed ... I agree, the resulting color shades must be perfectly matching - what do you think @Itaria No Shintaku? Best Thorsten

I "have been there" - only once so far - and I do share @Itaria No Shintaku's notion. To be honest, it took my breath away. Entirely. Not from the outside, not from the structure - that was simply unbelievable - but because of what it was built for. What the purpose was. What happened there. Not that is has to be completely accurate at any rate, but at €500, the going gets tough, imho. "Been there" means: "Saw" it, walked around there - and then left. It was ... incomprehensible. Maybe such places should not be the #1 target of TLG's 18+ program. History tells us what happened there - and why. Sure - it is all education. And history. But then: Doing the bizarre dance on the Technic Osprey and then celebrate the Colosseum as if it were just that, an 18+ set ... well. Who is actually in charge at TLG's headquarters to gauge these things? Do they? Or should they? Oh well. €500. Glad, that selected societies can actually be an "identified target market" for such a sets/cost. They have certainly carefully balanced that. @Itaria No Shintaku: (Literally) walking around in Rome (for endless hours) made me feel ... much, much smaller than I ever felt. It was an experience I >never< want to miss. With very best regards, Thorsten

Agreeing with all you said. With regard to the above: What would be the difference other than the casing? Why not going with indicators for the charging state, etc for PF as well? The difference would be powering a PF receiver vs powering a 2I/O hub, right? The PF receiver is much more tolerant with regard to power supply; I have a PF receiver driven 4.5V train (181) here (was a little tight to get the receiver + RF extension into the loco though), which gets its power from the 4.5V battery wagon - and it works - on the low voltage side. There is no harm to let it go up-to 12(+) V; I am running 727 with a PF (+RF) receiver off from a 9V block battery (just for moving it a bit) and 7740 with a PF (+RF) receiver form 8x1,5 AA batteries in the loco + first coach. I also operate one PF receiver at 15V directly from track power for lighting. KB one should thus be a perfect PF power supply fit - they would "just" need to make a (3D printed) top that features a PF socket. Which would keep the number of versions to support to a minimum. Or do I miss something @keybrickone? Other than that I don't have a clue - zero - how to 3D print. Best Thorsten

Absolutely! And of course. Thought that was very clear from the beginning. That was why I was asking what the goal is. Chances are they'll do it anyway, should it catch their attention for whatever reason. They already make the electronics devices, they make the LiPos, they make basically everything including ABS molding. Over here we think about how to arrange all the stuff they make for us and others in a new fashion. The other thing is: They're certainly not stupid ... some of the circuity used in the KB one may already be available as well ... not in the way it is done here, but in principle - as very attractive replacement for the 6 AAA batteries (which drain at breathtaking speed and then go into the garbage - no recycling). It is what it is, I guess. Best Thorsten

So now we are getting into the cost reduction and marketing business ... in a country where we pay easily 5(+) Euro for a coffee (provided the name is fancy - maybe even French ... or Italian) Question is: What is your goal? Becoming famous? Making money? Having it all in your hands or simply provide novel ideas eventually to be realized? All together? One route would be: Call up some folks in China, convince them, give them the plans (just in case they don't have them already, who knows, they make a lot LiPo stuff), ask for a small extra per sold unit for you. They offer it for >max< $20, provided they catch on. Look at the BlueBrixx RC receiver box for €15. Very nice molded ABS plastic box, LiPo battery a little weak though and 2.4 GHz RC. No BLE but well - the things in there are not that much different - price wise that is. Of course this is not very attractive - but it all depends on your plans. I would not bring down the price for the features you mentioned, certainly not for the charge state indicator. And what is a year for an inbuilt battery ... Best Thorsten

Thank you for your kind words. Oh yes, I have. I am currently using Cornelius Munz' legoino sofware for Arduino to control the Crocodile (10277) from an ESP32-board. So it is less programming the hub, rather exploiting its built-in firmware features such as access to acceleration/deceleration profiles and PID controlled speed settings, as this is all I want to do. This works of course only with motors having a built-in rotation sensor (such as he PUp L motor - but not with the train motor) but it is fun to do. I am not that much interested in autonomous train operation - there is simply too much of mixed, 4.5/12/9/PF track here all gobbled up in one messy layout with about 30 switch points (also controlled by software). No way I can ever automate that ... But yes, looking into PyBricks is definitely something for the future to do! All the best Thorsten

I would be my honor, Sir! Best Thorsten

Sometimes. I have a Black Pearl here for 39 Euro. It is sitting on a shelf, with a good deal of changes I made with original bricks. At first, I thought they either will never clutch, go off in flames, implode, melt down, just evaporate, beam back to Billund - nothing happened. Then I thought in the next weeks: They will get after you. Some day, some time they'll show up in a black car. Wearing black suits, black ties, black sunglasses. I was prepared to ask them "Are you the police?" But: Nothing happened. The set needs the 5000+ pixels. It just worked out without any problems - and no one can tell. Time moves on, I guess. Best Thorsten

Not even to repair a lost soul broken piece? Like bringing it back together - to reanimate it? Thorsten

Well, I don't want to self advertise but when you look at these data, it should simply run forever. This is for the 8878 but the LiPo pack is comparable and the charging circuit should not be light years away: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/45963-some-powerfunctions-insights-the-lego-lipo-rechargeable-battery-and-l/ Best Thorsten

Yes, that is exactly what I am looking for. >Exactly< that, as it is painful to the extent not wanting to do it. My solution so far is: 8878 + 2I/O hub. Which is "huge" in every regard: Volume-wise as well as money wise. And not possible for several trains I have. The Keybrick One + 2I/O hub solution is getting much closer to what is possible, as it combines intelligent charging with intelligent remote control. Adding the universal voltage range for charging would have done it 100% - just the 2I/O space. But then PF was worse: Battery + receiver. We are getting very close to what is currently possible. Best Thorsten I'd say: True for train heads, wanting this for >trains<. I like to entertain the idea of using the BLE devices for other things as well. Stationary. In this case the product is far from incomplete. It would be a car without 200W sound system. Best Thorsten