Toastie

Hmm. Confused I am - big are the pictures ... fast time flies ... In this topic (not open to discussion ) @Milan said that @Siegfried said in 2008, not to post images larger as 1024 x 768 (aka the good'ol 4:3 XGA standard, IBM introduced in 1990 ) and where Siegfried suggested to use 800 x 600 (aka the even older 4:3 SVGA standard, IBM introduced three years earlier ), because even in 2008, 800 x 600 shows almost all details you need to discern. I totally agree. In essence, 1024 x 768 is the max. size allowed on EB - since 2008. So nothing changed, for 15 years. 800 x 600 is recommended. Is this correct? Otherwise, I may get keelhauled sooner than later, as I frequently used 1000 x something ... Best, Thorsten @Craig Strader These wheels are >very< nice indeed! The hole close to the center of the wheel is for the connection "pin" to a driving/connecting rod, correct? As they are located on real machines, correct? If so, when wanting to drive the wheels as per this pin, there needs to be some sort of "crank" as well, right? Which would be so lovely so see spinning around - I believe most LEGO models built at this scale don't have these. Thank you very much!!! All the best, Thorsten

Hi Steve, I can't believe I missed this. You are doing this - is so wonderful. I just looked at all your cards - it is incredible. Thank you very, very much. Have a wonderful Christmas season. All the best, Thorsten

Oh my - let's put "politics" aside - as far as I am concerned, your "everyone" stops short "everywhere" with regard to mainland Chinese companies. Back on topic: What about the quality of the bricks? What about the parts count, what about the "battery box", what about the price? And foremost: About the originality of the set? Any comments on that? Best, Thorsten

Folks, I know, this will be not well received in this forum. How-ever. I just watched Thomas' (Panke) Video on MK's set 16052 "City Rail Car". Man. €90 for this set is insanely cheap. Not the point: The battery box (rechargeable, of course) has remote access - and, because it is fun ... a motor in it!!! I see this box as driving unit for sooo many trains. Yes, we need to check on torque etc., sure, but hey, what an idea (at least for me). In addition to this box (check original price for TLG's #8878), you get a remote ^^ - and just to mention it, about 1500 pieces of ABS. Larger pieces, that is. For those interested (in German): There may be other reviews in English as well, just throw them in here. Bricks are from GoBricks (which swiftly approach TLG quality). I have the feeling that the MK folks will constantly come up with other cool stuff as this "battery box" is - thus this thread. Best, Thorsten

As this thread was resurrected for a good reason: I missed this comment - which is 100% my perception. That is - and should very well be - the "purpose" of the global enterprise TLG. What "we" develop, in terms of "believing in", is something entirely different. There are the Gods, there are the believers. With regard to mixing parts: Recently, I acquired two <1990 LEGO Dacta sets - mainly triggered by @evank's hacking challenge. @MAB very well knows what this means: Very nice heavy plastic boxes, neatly organized pieces inside, each Technic axle finds its place in a nicely crafted insert ... As these sets were used in schools for educational purposes, some of the items inside show some wear - others seem to be less used ... initially, I thought, I need to keep these marvels well separated from my "newer", i.e., less than 15 years old Technic stuff. Well, initially. I tried to build two robot arms - one with parts of #1092 (Technic Control II) and one from #8094 (Control Center I), however I have only Control Center II (#8485) - and it did not work out. I also have a good number of other disassembled Technic sets - and simply gave up: Simply mixed everything. What - a - relief! Mint or bite marks, old (harder) or new (softer) pieces - just as I needed them in the "right" ^^ color. So: Done (since some years now) with believing in: keeping-something-forever-as-it-originally-was; in contrast - it feels absolutely cool to mix old and new and realize: It looks the same as before! Who cares about wear? Who cares about the age of the pieces? As I age, I even find yellowed pieces - seasoned. Somehow mature. As said: There are the Gods, there are the believers - so guess who my Gods are ;) All the best, thank you for all the fish, and don't sort by age Thorsten

Whoa - you know, light travels about 0.3 m in a nanosecond ... I believe this can be safely done at least 6 orders of magnitude longer than a nanosecond without breaking anything - in a very worst case scenario (VWCS ), which is highly simplified, as we only consider linear motion in the worst rod position: Let us assume the i) side rod is in full up position and ii) the pinhole for attaching this rod to the wheel is centered at half the radius of the LEGO train 85489a/b wheels, as per L-Gauge website; we then get the following: (All numbers rounded heavily, not of concern here, it is just for illustration of a "nanosecond") Wheel diameter = 0.03 m; radius described by rod connection point = 0.015/2 m = 0.008 m. Circumference = 2*PI*0.008 m = 0.05 m. PF-L runs at max. 390 rpm (no load), according to Philo's motor page; 390 rpm = 6.5 rps; this corresponds to a (linear) travel distance of 6.5 s-1 * 0.05 m = 0.35 m/s In a nanosecond, this becomes 0.35 * EXP(-9) m = 0.35 nm (nanometer). A human hair has an average diameter of 0.8 mm (millimeter), which is roughly 6 orders of magnitude thicker than the above calculated distance. I thus believe we are well in the tolerance range of several or even hundreds of ms, before considerable stress would build up on the pins/rods/gears. The PF electronics is way faster than this; even with the train remote, you should be fine. When both motors spin, things become much more relaxed. I have never had any issues with two motors hard coupled to one 9V/PF/PUp "driver" - when you take care of about similar settings and reasonable "starts and stops" - as said, the timescale is "much" different from nanoseconds, but well in the control range of humans. Best regards, Thorsten

I - am - speechless ... Yes. This is a locomotive, the OE coaches deserve ... wow. And runs on R40 ... beautiful. Simply beautiful. Congratulations! With best regards, Thorsten

Is this the OE blue on the left??? I am sorry for asking, as I am a little ^^ color-blind. This locomotive so deserves it to pull the OR carriages - as a beautiful locomotive. I have just learned that OE is now "owned" by Accor, just living on people with a lot of - in my world way too much - money, so "OE" - for me - has become even more so totally uninteresting. Let TLG and Accor do what they want. 2025 is apparently the new launch of the Accor OE Express. What a coincidence and: What-ever. It must be a blast to see your 8-wide beautiful locomotive pulling the beautiful LEGO OE carriages. Tipping hat, a bow - and a slide nod - to your locomotive. All the best, Thorsten

Well, Google has lots of photographs ... duh, I know. We had another interesting discussion here on EB some 4 years ago: Now, when you look at the very first photograph in that thread (which is a bit blurry, but it's all well discernible): On the diverging track, the left (curved) rail is covered with one piece of solid metal all the way through - as is the right (straight) rail on the straight track. The lever inside the body of the track does the switching, as it is partly plated with a metal piece. I believe this is discussed in the thread as well. If not, let me know, I have modified almost all of my LEGO switches, so there is less friction when throwing them with a motor. If you still need photographs, I'll take one apart again. Best, Thorsten

Holy smokes. Man, even after my 30th MOC I would not be where you are - ingenious!!! The OE carriages may look very OE'ish (I learned that this is a more of a philosophy than a train). And to top it off: I believe changing the blue you used to the OE blue - man. 8-wide, unique loco ... Thank you very much for sharing! All the best, Thorsten

There are more features provided by this web editor (in addition to all caps, bold faced and underlined text) to emphasize what you want to convey: Italics. and you can change the color and font size.

Yeah, sure: For you. So in essence, the Gods of the OE have approved this set - and they don't know anything about trains?

Which is a clear hint that ABS is far less tasty than polyethylene - despite the much better crunch factor ABS has Best, Thorsten

When you go here you'll find a (crude) schematic of the 9V LEGO switch and what it does in the very first picture. The remaining part of that reply is addressing an issue that came up in a very complex layout, discussed above that reply. Best regards, Thorsten

Chemistry@work! This is my favorite approach Well, he found the vacuum wrapping technology, so we have come to a solution, Best, Thorsten

Ever looked up this Bricklink store? Yes, 3-D printed - and even that makes the difference. But again: Fine with me!!! Best, Thorsten Yes, of course! And that is entirely OK! I have absolutely no problems with that. It is a smart move! But the loco sucks. Best, Thorsten BTW: I love this place, I love these discussions! Have all a good night! (I am on GMT +1) Thorsten

Ha! Hahaha! You have to change the country form "-" to "Austria". Here is to feeling good Austria - we never get any points from you guys in the ESC - and lost recently in a soccer game, didn't we? (OK: I could not care less about soccer - and the ESC) Best wishes, Thorsten

Don't think so, philosophy-wise: I have about €25k of LEGO bricks and plates here in my attic - mostly MOCs, and many sorted away in storage bins, I can easily access to "play" with. Many are of the Mindstorms variety and - trains ;) I have about 10 larger display models; the MK FD, TLG's Silent Mary, Saturn 5, Apollo 11 Eagle, the bust of Darth Vader, 42042 Technic crawler crane, 3 modulars and that's about it. I like to play as well despite being old. Best, Thorsten

Didn't the ones with three holes exist for long? Best, Thorsten Maybe ask: How long do you live? Stuff like a >luxury< OE whatever resort and experience may not be on the hot boilerplate for younger people? Well maybe for some, but certainly not the average. When I was 24 years old, believe me, "luxury" + "holidays on a train" was not once, not only once under my horizon. Regards, Thorsten

OK. Let's clear that up. And here as well. You have heard of the concept of exaggeration, I am sure of. Yes, it is not a DUPLO train, not even like, as the bricks are smaller and more diverse, and I do apologize for the "bizarrness" this phrasing created. Although ... Duplo bricks and pieces do also get more diverse ... OK, forget it. My first LEGO train was LEGO's #323; a push along train not even running on track, as there was no track, back in 1965. Since then, I am in love with trains. Both in real world and in brick world. From 1965 to 2023 there is naturally some time for evolution. On my layout there are 4.5V trains; 12V trains; 9V trains - the "BNSF", "Maersk"; I built Ben Beneke's BR23 from LEGO bricks only, motorized it, do run the Crocodile, pimped and PUp equipped, and operate all LEGO diesel "shunters" of the 9V and PF variety - and do enjoy all of them very, very much. The HR was the last train in that line, as it was just "reinvented" afterward - same for the cargo trains. There are also some MOCs cruising around, well, all TLG trains got some (serious) treatment. I also do look at stuff people create - here on EB and elsewhere. And then I do look at the OE steam locomotive. 58 years of evolution in the brick world. $300 as price tag: The shape and color of the side and main rods. Every Technic model has a new fancy mold - not the trains. Oh, sure - there is a hole missing in the connecting rod, and apparently that got patented. Then I look at the trains on my layout. All not the point: I >do< get that this set is not aimed at train fans, but at OE universe, for obvious reasons. I do get that some people may find the loco design slick and nice, because there is space for motorization, which in turn was turned down by TLG's QC. I am also aware of the fact that the "train" theme is a niche in LEGO world. I just don't like the praise for essentially (I am sorry, this is my personal view, others do voice here as well) - nothing - loco development wise. So: I stand correct: This locomotive is not DUPLO like. Regards, Thorsten

This. This is the core of the matter. Very nicely phrased! TLG is a for-profit, globally operating enterprise and not a small business toy manufacturer located in Denmark. It may have been that more than half a century ago. Why licenses? Read @Aanchir nice summary. Why this locomotive? It was about the carriage induced look and feel, and the loco is just a "thing" pretending to pull the carriages. The audience this set is primarily targeted at is certainly not the train heads. It is aimed at folks willing to shell out $300 for the OE feeling. And thus a Duplo-like loco is good enough. Absolutely fine with me! Saves me $300 - well, $160, as Santa spent $140 on the Steampunk Station with elevated train and carriage. Conclusion: All is where it belongs Best, Thorsten

Ooops, missed this one: No they are not. The MK Flying Dutchman is a pure display model. I rigged her up quite a bit. Also, the bow and stern sections really benefit from that stronger clutch power - there is absolutely nothing wrong with the molds, in contrast. I'll never take that beauty apart. Yes, this is not in the sense of true LEGO, but the folks over in Billund themselves have abandoned ship on that one with all their black boxes sets. Yes, could be - too old, who knows. I was building for 4 1/2 decades with LEGO only. Over the last decade, I ran into some other companies as well. And eventually reverted to vintage LEGO (mostly parts, not sets; the latter usually have insane price tags, for obvious reasons). As said elsewhere, 58 years of building with ABS bricks results in some sort of experience or better "familiarity" with the product. There is hardly any space left up here in my "office" - but I could not resist asking Santa for the Pantasy Steampunk Train Station (85007), which includes a suspended train + one carriage. I sure hope for >very< strong clutch power, as I am entertaining the idea of doing a little automation project with that one Best, Thorsten

What I am saying is: This "nice fan service" may translate to: the fans blow the motors out, as per TLGs QC. My view of "nice fan service" is: "Don't. Internal QC says: Don't; it may blow the motors. Our motors are expensive, and you don't want to do that." Well, in the rich men's world it may be visioned as: Who on Earth cares? If one of these motors blows out, we put in another one in. Done. It is simply on us. And of course forgetting that we were tempted to do so ... as well as folks who may >not< live in that world. Again: I simply don't care about this train. All I look at is the way TLG (the "company" (heads), the marketing department, the legal department) is operating in recent or not so recent times; I am old. 58 years "playing" with LEGO. And counting. Best, Thorsten

True. But then just tell us: Shelf model. And not: Could not be done - at the same time providing the exact space you need for a City hub in the tender. And lots of space in the boiler. What is this? Tell us: Don't motorize it, because our very expensive motors will wear out quicker. But no: They seem to blame it on us, when that happens. Well: If that happens at all. We'll see. And >we< should address this in the future: The moment folks blow out PUp L motors, they should tell us. Because otherwise, all these successful motorizations are doomed for utter failure. And if they don't, then what? Did they lie to us? We'll find out, I sure hope. Best, Thorsten

Sure! In LEGO world. We get used to that argument, don't we? This thing costs >$300< - I have abandoned TLG on these "expensive" sets entirely. Could I afford them? Think so. Do I want to do that? No. Not for that: Sticker colors wrong. Spelling of city names wrong (oh my). Prints misaligned. Driving rods in Duplo world. "Can't be motorized"? Man. Why don't they just shut up? I was literally hours after embargo lift and that thing toured the R40 curves! Man. Why do they boldly lie? Why don't they tell us: Motorization would have been too expensive to rationalize ... the set proce in light of competition? That would much more appeal to me. But certainly not that "can't be done" crap. $300. Just think of it. And yes, the carriages are nice. But honestly, not for $300. Then fire it up with Pup, as this is where we are in LEGO world. $400? And tracks we need - if we don't have them. New for ??? This is getting a bit off the rails, in my humble opinion. But: Money money money, it's a rich men's world, as ABBA was singing along, back in the days So no, not for me, but this is just me! Best, Thorsten