Toastie

Still available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-Science-Fiction-June-1956/dp/B000KP0FGE Well, I live close by and take it from time to time. When wanting to travel along/above the river Wupper (connecting the city "centers" of Vohwinkel - Elberfeld - Barmen, since the 1930 meshed into Wuppertal) nothing beats this means of public transportation! The Bergschwebebahn is very nice as well - the river is missing though Best, Thorsten

What are you referring to: Old = metal axles and wheels with through hole + New = metal axles with wheels and no through hole? Or is New referring to the split plastic axles? Best, Thorsten

@BillytheKid: Power wise, the 88008's will most probably do. They are geared down, but that only adds to the aesthetics of the Big Boy, doesn't it? Or do you want to go really fast? With regard to the power stepping: You are using the City hub (#88009) with the PUp remote (#88010) and no smart device, is that correct? If so, and as far as I know, in this configuration, there is no way to step the power up and down (from 0 to 7) using any of the PUp motors other than the PUp train motor (#88011). At least this holds true for the PUp motors with tacho, and 88008 is one of them. Same with 88013, the PUp L motor. With all PUp motors (except 88011) the PUp remote acts as "bang-bang" controller: It is either off, full forward (+ button) or full reverse (- button). As you most certainly do not want to use the train motor for the Big Boy, one way out is to make a little program in the PowereUp app - which means you need to use a smart device. You can then either use the smart device to control the motor power setting, or you not only pair the City hub, but also the remote in the PUp app program. Then you capture the +/- button activations of the remote in your program and translate that to power increase/decrease steps for the motor. I believe there are many examples out there, how to do that. If you don't want to use a smart device "in between", but only remote and hub, then you have to use third party software, e.g. PyBricks or the like, to enable power stepping. This is just copied from my post above, in case you missed that: Best, Thorsten

Amen. Exactly that. A few hours max ... Best, Thorsten

Well, I believe it is, as judged from the two hydraulic cylinders attached to the frame and the jet engine, isn't it? If so, this thing could also be used for weed torching - hmm maybe not, wooden sleepers may then suffer as well Best, Thorsten

Same here - however, eternity is reduced to about 20 years. Which in modern times is actually eternal, I guess. I may add that the shorter metal axles (40 mm) along with the close hole wheels (# 57878) do perform favorably as well (at least regarding my demands). Should you guys be interested, there is a related thread in the community forum. I simply do not believe that the split axles, without any support in the center, will take the load from above in the long run. It just does not make sense. Shear forces in an all plastic design will eventually win. I believe. Not the point for TLG: They reverted to the short-run-maximum-profit approach. Which is not bad at all: In 20+ years, these "axles" will be dead cheap on BL, should BL still exist. Or not even show up. Metal axles though will. Best, Thorsten

True. But certainly not from TLG Best and good luck, Thorsten

Oh man, this is on my list as well, but I simply ran out of space. But they're really nice. Good to know also "in real" - thank you for that assessment! Best, Thorsten

Don't have any BB 8-wides - but this set of three 6-wide dark green passenger cars and one dark green baggage car for a grand total of €100 are a very good fit to my 7-wide BR23 (motorized version of Ben Beneke's version): However, these had 4x4 bad wheel sets, I replaced wheels and axles and all is good. The interior is essentially "empty" - but I can't care less. Also, I will change the sliding doors on the baggage car, as they stick too far out - and I don't play with the doors at all. Best, Thorsten

Dear All, as many have said (e.g., @Polarlicht and @legotownlinz) the BB “train wheel sets” are simply terrible, – but other than that the stets are mostly "OK". The “OK” bit seems to include set variety (of the currently 266 BB catalog entries in the Train sub-theme, more than 90(!) 6-wide rolling stock/coach sets are listed as available; there are many 8-wide sets, and numerous engines as well as track side stuff and buildings), decent but sometimes varying clutch power, decent but varying overall brick quality as well as available colors. The biggest difference in comparison to the market leader though is the price for any of the sets, which is only a fraction of what TLG would be asking for if they were making them – but they simply don’t. I bought a couple of BB coaches as well as straight track, parts packs, and other sets and I can only confirm what others have reported: I am >very< happy with what I got for my money. Did some changes here and there using pieces from TLG, but other than that, all is fine. With one exception: BB “train wheel sets” are simply terrible. I have no clue why they don’t change this. It leaves me a bit speechless: The wheels almost slip through the rails sometimes and in addition, they also have too much “vertical” freedom and immediately come in contact with the bogie frame resulting in severe friction: (Top: TLG bogie with TLG axle and wheels; bottom: BB axle and wheels; right: too much axle freedom ;)) But now that I have regained my speech, I’d like to report on the actually terrible part(s) regarding the wheel sets. In 100% analogy to TLG’s design these consist of the a) train wheel bogie (TLG: #2878), b) two wheels (TLG: #57878 without through hole), and c) a 2 mm diameter metal axle (TLG #X1687). So what goes wrong here? To me, it appears to be a two-fold design flaw. What comes readily to mind: Either the axles are too short, or they can be pushed too far into the (closed) hole of wheels. So let’s check on that first: According to the L-Gauge Wiki, the back-to-back gauge of a TLG wheel set is 34.0 mm. I took some of my old and not so old 9V bogies and found that most are in the range 33.6 – 33.9 mm, which appears to be OK, as all these cars run fine on my layout. However, on any of the BB sets I have, the back-to-back gauge is less than 33.2 mm. which is >not< tolerable. The BB metal axles come in “varying” lengths (sometimes both are provided in one set!): 38.5 mm and 39.2 mm (and maybe other as well, who knows …) whereas TLG’s metal axles for the closed hole wheels are 40.0 mm long. This may then already be it: Just replace the BB axles with 40 mm long, 2 mm diameter metal axles of any other supplier. Quick check: Fitting a 40 mm TLG axle with 2 BB wheels results in a back-to-back gauge of 33.8 – 33.9 mm. Which is entirely within specs, see above. All seems to be good. BUT: Still rather bad performance when using a BB bogie with a TLG axle and BB wheels. Which leaves us with: BB bogies are bad and/or BB wheels are bad as well. With regard to the latter: The depth of the hole in the BB wheel is correct, see above, the wheels seem to have the correct overall geometry as well – except for the “pointy center bit” on the outside. BB wheels don’t have that – they are rather flat: (Left: TLG #57878 wheels; right: BB wheels - forgive me my crappy photography) In the good old days, when TLG used wheels with through holes (#2879) and a 44.5 mm long metal axle of very nice double-spearhead design, you could easily push the axle tip through your thumb when putting on the wheels for the first time using some extra force (Most beautiful axle design of TLG and #2879 wheels with through hole) The axle tips are sitting in the two recessed regions of the bogie and restrict the lateral freedom of the axle/wheels to a minimum and in addition restrict the vertical freedom of the axle. Axle tip and bogie recess thus resemble some type of bearing. The axle is only loosely held in place by the center clip of the bogie. When these axles were phased out (too bad …) and replaced with the 40 mm long version not going entirely through the wheels, the wheels themselves had this center tip on the outside. Tip-to-tip distance of this assembly is indeed about 44.3 mm – nicely matching the 44.5 mm original metal axle length. Without these pointy tips on the BB wheels, they simply cannot perform at all: (Top: BB wheels w/o "bearing" tips; bottom left: TLG's #X1687 axle + #57878 wheel; bottom right: TLG's original 44.5 mm axle + #2879 wheel) Result: 40 mm long axle + TLG wheels work fine in TLG as well as in BB bogies. Summary: BB wheel sets are terrible because a) their metal axles are too short and b) their wheels don’t have a center tip, which thus cannot guide the wheels correctly. The BB bogies are as good as the TLG version. Solution: a) Get 40 mm, 2 mm diameter metal axles from TLG (I could not find them on PaB though), or BL. OR just buy a pack of 2 mm stainless steel (VA 308L) TIG welding rods and cut them to length – you get about 60(!) 1 meter long rods for less than €20, which results in roughly 1500 axles at a price of 1.3 cent each. b) Get the #57878 wheels from TLG (could not find them on PaB though), or BL OR you may even try this BB parts pack: https://www.bluebrixx.com/de/wheels-and-tyres/604492/BPP57878-black-TRAIN-WHEEL-RC-TRAIN-X-50-BB-Part-Packs. I have no clue what kind of wheels these actually are; on their website they look exactly like original TLG #57878 wheels … Best regards, Thorsten

And long, very long ago. Thorsten

That is an easy one to answer (hear my fingers flip? And all in the room just think: Man, we all know that, but you nerd ...): The difference is the mount of money TLG can make. I believe it is that simple. Yes, there is a die hard community of train heads. Let's assume it is big, as in "that's a big twinky". Who knows. However - the HP fan base, grown up over the decades, making money - may even be bigger. Also, a train head not liking a train that much will take an alternative route. An HP fan, wanting this set in the living room, blending in into the wooden whatever, will just grab it. As I do for things I am a fan of. So, I believe, TLG made a survey, tested the waters and - no surprise: The $500 10-wide static set makes >>$ than the $250 set not looking that ... cool (or whatever it is) - actually "functioning". It's money. Best, Thorsten

Heehee - human and/or animal hairs? Here it is both ... cats and dogs living together ... Trying to do that as well, but ... Best, Thorsten. P.S.: Wait, what did I find ... several clonebricks. They were glowing in the dark. That's how I found out. Only faintly - but it was haunting me. And then I found out they stick to LEGO bricks. Since then, I have terrible dreams. No, I have not. Just kidding .

Exactly that! I have heard this reasoning so many times in the more recent past - the larger the company, the more they seem to use it, at increasing rates. I just don't pay any attention anymore - just think: "Yeah, dudes, sure" and then do something else. They usually try to spin this into a positive thing for the company: Internal competition to bolster creativity and motivation (crap - it's just the opposite, when you do this for years and see a similar pattern in the outcome) and to spend the money where it is best for the company (crap - leadership is what is required). The first thing that dies in an Excel spreadsheet regarding finances is creativity (or basic research, or fun, or feeling like a family, or ...) Best Thorsten

Well I guess this is not the place to discuss "third party" pieces, but much has been said already here as well as in the Community forum, there is a dedicated BB thread. I'd put it that way: As long as you are willing to swap a couple of pieces with TLG stuff (this is what I do, when things happen) then you should really give it a try. Begin with something that has clear lines - and do not go right away for a Big Boy type steamer. Then make up your mind. I did that, and yes they have a program that large, that I'm always thinking to myself: How on Earth do these people make any money? Because apparently it is soooo difficult to have that many sets available at one time - and even more mysterious: In the absolute negligible niche called "Trains". Hmm. Is it maybe that TLG has too many lawyers to pay? Or marketing folks? Oh well, who knows. All the best, Thorsten

They could though. But they don't. With all their creativity talk and you know what - they could. It would give it a twist. But they don't. They just cash in. They do it as any profit oriented, make-the-most-out-of-it company or business would do. IMO, they should just shut up on their oh-so-care and we do it because we believe in creativity talk. That is all what bothers me with TLG. Their trash talk, when the release of a new $500+ set is announced as the creativity bomb. I'd love to see them - on 18+ sets - talking straight. Why not? Why camouflaging it? I strongly believe, the $500+ folks will love it. And there would be no reason at all to do something creative to a store. Best, Thorsten

Nice!!! Another BB BR89 - I really do love my copy. Did some more elaborate tinkering of the chassis (e.g., split center axis, all 6 wheels flanged) - it does negotiate R40's and switch point well. However is doesn't have the XXXL wheels of course and: It does not like flex-track that much (the inner guard rail). So I really can imagine, how nice it must run on LGB rails! Very cool! Best wishes, Thorsten

Hi Ivan, I am not sure - I believe it has. It's a long, long story - and I am - well was - a public train transportation maniac. For any short trips < 20 km I do my eBike now. Any long trips with +3 hours of buffer are by train; mostly I do the trip the day before and then spend a nice night at some cheap bar before going in the next day. If I need to be there "on time", i.e., +1 hour max, I take the car. Along with Google, I almost always make it. Why is that? In Germany, it was certainly different, decades ago. But then came the idea of making public transportation, including of course hauling goods, "profitable". Capitalize on it. In the sense of stocks and exchange. And the best way of getting there is: No investments into the infrastructure, and cutting labor costs - which is easily done on an Excel spreadsheet, no question! And then oxidation hits hard, a strong winter, naa forget it, a very hot summer hits hard, and then Covid hits hard, and all of a sudden, they realize that the salary of folks doing all the work is not attractive anymore, they realize it is actually hard work, and so on and so forth. The super smart folks then find out, that Excel does not have a plugin for oxidation, summer, Covid, relative salary numbers, hard work ... it only adds up numbers. Always a little late, these people. And then everybody gets nervous. As they are now. Here in Europe - or more precisely in Germany. They actually begin to maintain and extend the infrastructure! Guess what that means for the regular totally fired up traffic schedule - as we all want to go on the trains, to save the world, but we want to be there fast and furious. Oh, well. We did not see that one coming. Of course not, how on Earth should we? We're humans. Prone to epic failure Best wishes, Thorsten

Huh? All our types? What does he mean, the R40's, i.e. 4.5V same as 12V, which have the same radius as 9V same as RC same as PF? Maybe he includes the roller coaster rails? PF runs on 9V, 12V on 4.5V, RC on 12V, 4.5V on PF, 9V on 12V, RC on 12V, and now we do it with the Crocodile: All together: The - Crocodile - runs - on - 12V ... BUT this one. And done in a quite early decision: No, not for trains folks, this is for others. You go and play with the cool high-speed and cargo trains we made for you. Oh well, yes, we said it before but ... Best, Thorsten

This is breathtakingly cool. I shall read your post/watch your video with much more time than I have right now. Just that for now: Phantastic work! I love it. Best wishes, Thorsten

If I get this correctly, you want to power the PF receiver off from a BuWizz output. When that is correct, you can surely do what you want. The PF receiver easily handles 12V - as I have these operating 12V trains. I also do not have any issue with 15V, but others may know better. Whatever you hook up to the receiver is save. When the receiver can handle it (amperage-wise) it will do. If not overload protection kicks in. Again: As I know from my PF operated trains, fed by 15V DC. Best, Thorsten

Well, this may be leading to a new discipline: Linear shunting. Thorsten

Or ... well, or explore a bit. OK, TLG is not making them. Due to reasons. Others actually do; not the 2xZ with Z>2 but 1x Z with Z>2. Which may eventually lead to failure - or not. Not in the sense of "in eternity". I have no clue how long these pieces will live - even some of TLG's parts crack up in no time (as compared to "eternity"). Hmmm. OK. Fair enough. However, as these pieces are not made by TLG - how could they be so offensive? I sure hope the link provided by @JaBaCaDaBra was showing off parts still made by TLG (but which are certainly no more under any IP)? Otherwise, I am puzzled. 1x6 flat tile, trans clear, 50, for €4,95. Same for 2x2's, 100, same price. TLG does not make them. What is wrong with that? I'd be happy to share such things in the community forum. It may bolster post counts there - or not, because this is evil territory. At least, so it seems. All the best, Thorsten May I add: In TLG's universe. And sure, the wanted 2xZ, Z > 2 are currently not available (2x2's are) but other of the non-existing tiles do exist - outside TLG's universe. And as we are in TLG's universe here on EB - well, they simply don't exist. I really like how Douglas Adams phrased it: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing." "But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that You exist, and so therefore, by Your own arguments, You don't. QED." "Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. "Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing. Replace God with TLG, the Babel fish with a 2x6 trans clear tile, and Man with us. All the best, Thorsten

Ahhh - of course! As with the non-pivoting bogies. I totally forgot - magic. Yes. That's it! Best, Thorsten

Thanks for the link! Did not know that part. Much appreciated! Yes, apparently both connectors are then attached to the wheel with that 3L pin. But how do you crank the shaft then to see the mesmerizing motion of a steam engine? Doesn't this setup bolt everything into place? Regards, Thorsten