Toastie

Hehe, I'd challenge this - there is quite some space in the middle section - and there were some nice posts about how to realize close coupling in this forum ... - Sergio will make it happen, I'm sure. Regards, Thorsten

Hi Sixoh, it is not the dark side - it is an alternative. Who knows what comes out? Maybe you like it maybe not. As simple as that - in my opinion. Best wishes, Thorsten

Hi Annie, you know what I really like about your approach, all your posts, and the way you are talking about "it"? Honesty. Do it as you see fit - there is hardly any reason to justify what you are doing (well you know that but ...). "We" - that is this community including you and all other members - have some sort of an issue with clone brands. Granted. Hey, "we" have serious issues with TLG as well - just look at the track - hmm - stuff they are offering us right now. BBB, Me is what we are anxiously waiting for - just as one example. I am not saying that I like the way cloning is happening - seriously not at all. So I don't like the way TLG is hearing us out. But cost, availability, and simply making-stuff-people-may-find-useful is simply another world. And I am 150% sure that TB is not even considering doing anything to your avatar - which you have truly(!) earned. Ready to take the heat folks - regards, Thorsten

Hi Bricktrain, yeah saw manometer in Seepos's breath taking Peterbilt thread - for the first time. Thanks for the link! What I meant though was a switching functionality - as far as I know the manometer does not have that, right? But Alasdair Ryan has shown in the very same thread how to get that, entry 7. This is a very elegant solution - no PBricks required at all, I love it. Regards, Thorsten

... well I guess they do that deliberately. That makes them look even closer to original LEGO. Regards, Thorsten

Hi Eric, as Zblj said, air will alway leak somewhere, most probably from the cylinders directly (from the high pressure to the low pressure compartment) - the hoses are pretty much tightly sealed to the plastic enclosures of the pneumatic elements. Had the same issue - and in reality you have that as well. Re-pressurizing the system is the way out. Not straight forward to implement, but entirely possible: First you have to detect the pressure loss. Since there are no off the shelf LEGO pressure gauges you need to have a sensor somewhere. In case of your boom it could be a touch sensor mounted in a way that is pressed or released immediately after some downward movement. Hook that up to any of the LEGO intelligent bricks, attach a motor to drive a pneumatic pump, favorably feed the air into a tank as buffer reservoir and hook that up to the main pressure line. You could also build a pressure gauge from a cylinder, a shock absorber providing the counter force, and a switch. In that case you could adjust the trigger point in a way that the boom doesn't even move at all. Lot of work for just that (and somewhat costly) - but it is close to reality and fun to watch. Or use, as Zblj suggested, LA's Regards, Thorsten

Hi Paddyb98, I have a bunch of the 9V speed regulators (this is what we are talking about, right?). One is from the US - used to live there for a couple of years, the other are European style. They all have a "9 ... 12V ~" imprint close to the jack. I once opened up one - they have a rectifier along with some DC voltage stabilization stuff inside. This means that you can basically use any cheap power supply and run the regulator off from that. I tried +12 ... +15 V DC as well as +9 ... +15 V AC supplies on any of the US or European versions of the regulator. Regards, Thorsten

Hi JopieK, this would be awesome! I think this would be a perfect series for RailBricks. Regards, Thorsten

Hi Phoxtane Shoot, I saw this one coming ... but you are right of course! There are many, many up and downsides of PF and they have been amply discussed. What you said is entirely true. The only thing is that IF 9V would not have been discontinued then you would not have to pay +60€/$ for a 9V motor; track in these days was also reasonably priced, and so on. But it has been and so this is all history. I can very well live with the PF stuff as well. Actually I really like it. But as an add-on rather than a replacement. Recently baught some 9V straights in perfect condition for €2.30 a piece ... Best regards, Thorsten

Agreed. Easy: Because that system was superior to everything else coming about. (I know, I know, don't beat me up, it is simply like that - Money money money, always funny, in a rich men's world ...) Regards, Thorsten

This is why I like bumping from time to time very much ... Missed this entirely. It is absolutely brilliant. That bulky piece (the RC train failure base) is rusting somewhere deeply buried in some box ... time to get it out! What a cool design Solta! The very slim design is really nice. And it comes with the batteries nicely wrapped up. And it does not interfere with the PF channels. And you can run it with the much more better PF train motor. Absolutely nice. Best regards, Thorsten

... glad this thread surfaced again ... Big Bangs are so stressing ... @Asper: Do you mind posting the image that showed how you mounted the little springy thing? Thanks a lot!!!

Azzepa, fair enough. It would be nice if you could share your results here. Since I am lucky to have the serial tower, the USB/RS232 thingy, and the beautiful RCX1.0 (with power jack as you have), I will ask my daughter if I may install some software on her W7/64bit laptop and let you know as well. My laptop is running XP, I am getting too old I guess ... Regards, Thorsten

Hi Azzepa, share your frustration. But you need the RCX computer IR link to make things work. First you need to download some firmware, e.g. the "latest" RCX2.0 firmware from last century ... Now, can you get hold of an old IR tower, the one with the RS232 serial port? If so, do you also have access to an RS232 - USB converter? If so, I'd download the BricxCC package and try that out. It for sure works with 7/32bit (what a surprise), but as far as I understand the RS232/USB converter should take care of the 64bit issue, since the dumb serial tower device is happy with what it gets through the wires ... Regards and good luck, Thorsten

Hey Steinkopf and Carrera124, what I really appreciate is the passion and dedication you are putting into this discussion. There are a lot of good points in both of your replies. As far as I am concerned both of you are right. I also believe that the folks at TLG have made their homework. Well, homework sometimes should go directly into the trash - at least with my students that is. And yes, that we should build our very own models, since this is what LEGO is all about. And that the internet is a reality - even a lot of grand parents have figured it out. Bley, ditching 9V trains, making train noses that resemble Playmobile rather than LEGO parts ... they not only survived but they are doing well right now. One thing that is always important to me: TLG folks are just that: Folks running a high powered company. Sometimes I have the feeling, they function like any other large company that somewhat lifted off the ground: Super smart financial power players from Denmark at the top, ingenious builders dwelling somewhere, and then all the people making it happen. But they are not necessarily logically responding to our very own observations and wishes - the folks at the top apparently see the big picture, which is apparently much more complicated then we all believe. I doubt that. It is just the pieces of information they have that we don't have. Or at least I don't have. Don't know about you guys, I am to no extent in any reliable information loop if there is any. Again: From a purely logical standpoint I can easily follow almost every of your arguments. Provided the numbers we are all speculating about would not be just that: Speculations. At this point the discussion may always take sharp turns; provided this is right then that is wrong etc. TLG wisely hides this critical information; too much competition and blah blah. One thing though is certainly true: They are the Gods of LEGO bricks, yes, but that really is all. Everything else is pretty much business ground work. And of course some lucky or unlucky decisions - we have seem them all, including bringing TLG to the verge of going out of business ... I enjoyed your discussion very much! I learned a lot form both of you. This is another good reason to be a proud member of the Eurobricks community. Thanks a lot and best regards, Thorsten

Hi LT12V, beyond believe. As simple as that. That mechanism is beautiful - it looks great to see all that movement - plus: Almost as in reality. You captured that perfectly well. Too bad you could not get real steam into the boiler and pistons - oh well, i guess if you really wanted, you would have done that as well ... A beautiful model AND all that brilliant technology. Another master piece. Oh and look, the BR numbering scheme leaves you with dozens of further models to build! Congratulations and hope to seeing more stunning models from you! Best wishes, Thorsten

Sariel, beautiful! Is the data stream [NXT (bluetooth RF)] <-> [(RF bluetooth PC) <-> SomeWindowsProgram <-> (PC USB)] <-> [(USB handheld device)]? That is way cool! If the main connection is bluetooth, what distance can you bridge? Wow. Have to check out yoour website info. Regards, Thorsten

This is a stunning mini train series, Zephyr. It does perfectly combine all the wonderful things the LEGO universe is giving us: In the local TRU kids want to play hours with the Brio set-up they have there - pushing along trains, cranes, going up the slopes and all that. Plus, you have shown how beautiful and diverse the trains can be made - this is what LEGO is about - there is virtually no limit to the varieties of rolling stock, trains, and track side stuff (provided you have the skills to do that, as you have). Plus: No track issues. The wooden train series have quite a bit of straights, curves, points, bridges and so on. At the local IKEA, you can even buy a Brio compatible straights + curves pack. Like in the good ol days of 9V! Love it. Kids love it. Very well done and very cool idea. Regards, Thorsten

Spot on, LLL! A power company like TLG does certainly have a couple high-paid power market analysts to maximise profit. I would do exactly the same if I would have so many people on the pay roll - making them all happy and me even happier :classic: Best Thorsten

Tony, your first version of the GS-4 4-8-4 was already way beyond believe for me - I was just sitting in front of my computer and enjoyed this beautiful steamer. Got a bit into the history of American steam locomotives. That was triggered by your LEGO models - in the beginning I could not believe that these were models of real steam locomotives. Well, I was dead wrong. But as far as I am concerned, your second version is topping it all. The locomotive is still a beauty - I would not have noticed the changes at first sight - but the technology you are applying to match the challenges LEGO track is imposing on every sophisticated train design is breath taking. To me, these "technical" changes are ingenious and make the most out of your MOC. Taking the challenge and coming up with such a stunning solution is incredible. Just brilliant. Oh, and the swinging was not a risk to the public, it was a risk to the locomotive. Best regards and congratulations to this 20th master piece (my favorite) Thorsten

Thanks a million!

Dear admins, I am not a native English speaker - did the spell check feature disappear or am I too dumb to find the right button? I really liked that one. All the best, Thorsten

Isn't it time to move on then? I mean first there is The Big Bang (I sure hope all those high energy physicists were looking very close on this one - we have actually witnessed the big bang! So this resolves the mystery: Yes there is life before the big bang, it takes about 5 days of darkness and then there is light again ...) then they behave like - well - and then it takes how many days to get an envelope from Germany to Belgium, which is right around the corner??? I don't know, but if I want to send stuff securely from Germany lets says to the US I am using TNT Courier Service, pay 70€ and sure know that this envelope is handed over the next day (or the day after, depending on when you sent it) to the hands of the person I adressed it to. Jeez, this is the year 2012, right? Anyway, I am very thankful for all your efforts in getting this up and running again. Simply amazing. As so many people said before: You guys rock. Regards, Thorsten

I have followed this discussion before and after the big bang and find it very interesting. I completely agree with Zypher on most what he said before, and nesquik's observations (very valuable to see the entire discussion from this particular perspective!) do support Zypher's comments as well. The one thing that may be worth a thought is: TLG is maximizing profit, and yes they have to, and this is the way they are playing the game. So far so good, no problems here. However, maximizing profit in a world without competition isn't very hard to do. All we are doing is shouting at someone who is in a very, very comfortable position. Or let's say we are trying to convice that someone with ever increasing effort - but no success. In contrast. Times have been better with straights sold separately for example. But that was overall more expensive for that someone. Why is that possible in todays world of "making the most out of everything you can think of"? Well, there is no competition. I believe that is all. And in LEGO stores there'll never be. Or in retail stores. I'd love to see a completely independent track system fully compatible with L-gauge. Not with the LEGO track connectors - that may cause IP trouble or at leat cause legal issues with big brother. Just the gauge. Adapters may serve as connectors between the two systems. And I hope (and believe) that BBB's coming up alternative is exactly that. It just depends on how to get that effciently distributed so that TLG "feels" something. Regards, Thorsten

Yesss! This is it! When Ben does it, it will going to be gold standard. Simply wonderful. Thanks for sharing. Regards, Thorsten