ummester

Another really nicely modeled loco. The work on those trucks is excellent - is it the same way the trucks were made for the loco in this thread? http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=106163#entry2148590 The sideways give on the middle axle must really help around corners. For a 7-8 wide build, the extra stud between each wheel looks right. It would make the trucks visually too long for a 6-7 wide build, however. Seems there is no perfect way to make 3 axle trucks that work with the PF motor. have you got any close ups of the trucks on the CSX loco? I can't see any threads on that.

Nice loco loco. How do the trucks work? I take it from the rails its a PF loco but the wheel spacing looks further apart than the PF motor?

One thing I've been considering with Bricklink, since the invention of the MOCshop, is setting up a store that sells only MOCs. I imagine simple cars - tanks, flats, gondalas, etc - would be reasonably sought after and would provide a 6x24 base, 4 wheel sets, 2 bogies, 2 buffers and so on. The price point is the difficult part. It's cost me approx. $350 US to order in enough parts to make a motorised diesel loco, a tank car, 2 flat cars and 2 gondolas with around $70 of that being postage - yes, I use Brickficiency and ordered from the minimum number of stores. For it to be in anyway worth my while, each car would have to cost around $50 US + postage. Looking at pick a brick, the only train part I can see is the wheels.

The dino in that build looks really nice and would be an interesting and complicated build. However, isn't TLG releasing a JP line to coincide with the JP4 movie? The ideas set reminds me of the situation that the big Sand crawler and Avengers Heli-carrier found themselves in - TLG already had designs in the pipes, just more toy like and simpler builds.

Similar - but not the middle driver being flanged - the one closest to the cab and the front 2 blind. The only pivot would be from the single flanged driver to the rear bogie - the front bogie would just pivot by itself - almost as if the bogies worked like a long diesel loco - with 2 blind drivers in the middle just for show I'd have to work out a pivot mechanism for the rear loco bogie, on a technic rod, similar to Srbandrews.

I could increase the length of the tender by 2 studs and put 2 bogies (one motorized) on a small train base - this would deal with any turning issues for the tender. I don't mind (or see any problems) putting the rear bogie of the loco on a different pivot. Changing the pivot on the front bogie means changing the size of the piston housing (I did originally design it smaller) but this is an issue I see with many LEGO steam locos - the piston housing is just not big enough. I had a look at Big Ben's drivers - petty there aren't any 2 color ones. Some black drivers with silver rims would be really nice. Also thinking about zephyr's custom steam rods. Just a thought - what if the drivers are static but only 1 (the rear one) is flanged. If the rear bogie was on long pivot (like Srbandrews here https://www.flickr.com/photos/93540898@N06/16584322556/) linked to a flanged driver which controls the steam rod motion over 2 more blind drivers, the front bogie should then work on a standard pivot and the boiler hold a tigher line around curves. The tender will probably need more wiggle room though.

Ok, I checked out the EN LDD file - I see what you mean Srbandrews - the pivot needs to be closer to the central wheels for all the bogies, so that the wheels can form a tighter curve as a group. It's what gives the EN that really daft look when I see it going around corners in videos. I really don't like that look and was hoping to avoid it - the bogies on actual trains don't slide out to the side, do they? Perhaps the rear bogie on steam locos a little bit - but the front bogie?

I looked at the 500 Class lightnigtiger - I wanted to try 508 Sir Lancelot Stirling, just for the name :D But I also wanted to limit myself to 3 large wheels. Oh, here is the car I designed for it - the build techniques are based on the EN car but the color scheme is distinctly South and West Australian - they still run the cars in these colors on some of the old steamers.

I wanted to make the motor in the front bogie Srbandrews but I couldn't make the front low enough for accuracy with it there. The rear loco Bogie only has a single axle - here is a link to the plans plans http://sarplans.stea...ingstock_03.gif By large plate I meant the large round ones with a 4x4 turntable. Here is a pic of the underside of the loco with the turning bogies removed and flipped over: I have seen videos of people running the EN with the tender motorized - they just take all the gears out of the 3 larger wheels to reduce friction and it seems to roll fine. I try to operate with a minimum amount of actual LEGO for neatness, space and budget and have generally become proficient enough at LDD that my designs have the required build integrity to function as planned - with trains I cant test turning circles in LDD. The length of the 600 Class desgn above is quite similar to the EN - it just has different turning mechanisms for the loco bogies. LXF file attached in this post - hope it works. SAR 600 Class Steam Locomotive.lxf

The detailing inside the cars and on the electrical contacts on the roof is awesome.

I've decided on a steam Loco to include with my Australian themed LEGO train builds and have been working on a model in LDD. I probably wont complete this one in bricks for a while yet, as the diesel loco has swallowed up my immediate funding. I saw this pic on a train forum and I really liked the look of it. I think the design was based on the USRA Light Pacific. It's currently designed with the motor in the middle of the tender and those wheels static on the tender, with the 3 large wheels static on the loco. All other wheels turn on large plates - will this accommodate LEGO track turns?

Neat little build - the smoke is really cool.

Ha ha - I guess if we really want DCC trains we could always just use model railways, rather than LEGO :) I like designing my own trains from scratch though, which seems easier in LEGO. Funny thing, last year I set about building a model like Galleon out of LEGO and I looked at what the cost would be to but a similar scaled model Galleon - it was around the same. I recon trains would be similar, the 'L' gauge ones would cost pretty much the same as the others.

Yes JayDee, just reading up on it - DCC is exactly what I was talking about. I just didn't know it existed Now, wouldn't it be sweet if someone made a DCC type MOD for LEGO trains - best of both worlds. Looks and power of 9V, with PF type control.

Very neat and inventive drive mechanism. The build is nice and accurate - though I do find that train its based on is kind of bland looking (that's not your fault, though :D ). I wonder with gears and chains and non standard does it consume more or less PF battery power over time?

I thought about buying up on some 9V stuff before I ordered a new PF motor. I do prefer the idea of using a power point over batteries, what swayed me back to PF was the idea that multiple trains can fun in different speeds and direction with PF and not with 9V. Did raise an interesting question with a work mate, however - why don't LEGO or model Railways make RC Electric tracks? Have a track with constant power and RC Locos that draw from it, kind of thing?

This is a really nice build. It would be great to see something with so many parts get through - I doubt it will happen, though.

Battery pack, motor and receiver, that would have cost me $78 on the Australian LEGO site, with ridiculous postage, cost me $50 from BrickLink and I got 300 parts and postage for the difference. Bricklink seems to cost more this year than it did last year but it's still less than the LEGO site (unless you want sets) for Australians. I should have gotten some LEDs - I didn't think of that and the ordering is complete now. Perhaps when I gather some more cash for more cars or trying my hand at a steamer, I'll give lights a shots also. Just checked - the LEDs are $13 AU from LEGO, definitely better to use Brickficiency and source them with some parts from Bricklink for me.

That's all really quite impressive, the level of planning and all the trial and error behind it all. This train tech can get quite out of control as a hobby, can't it?

I've got another motor, battery pack and IR receiver on the way - found a BL store that was charging what I thought were quite reasonable prices. So I will be able to tell if they both behave the same way. This stupid 60051 has grown on me also, so I wanted to keep it running along with any from scratch trains I MOC. I've designed some Mods. There are still some parts in bound to realize it all in actual bricks - but I really thought it needed more roof detail and some semblance of doors.

Great display - I really like how tight packed and lively the front looks. Glad your show went well.

I've ordered enough to upgrade the Passenger train and complete the Freight Locomotive, 2 Gondolas, 2 Flat Container cars & 1 Tanker car. I have designed the following short cars, and redesigned the sheep stock car for the complete train but won't be adding them until later in the year, as I also wanted to buy a second motor, battery pack & IR receiver. Guardsvan similar to reference picks An Ozzie looking hopper Sheepcar refined

Very nice, the more work you do, the sleeker the model looks.

Yea, the inverse cheese slopeyness is clever way to tighten the gap. I really like the way the electric contacts on the roof are modelled also. Well done. Apart from something you throw overboard, what is ballast?

You're probably right, Disney will probably make it's money back and then some - I did think Lucas got 4.2 billion for Lucasfilm, not 6? I like Star Wars (well, the classic stuff anyways) both the LEGO and how the created mythology has entrenched itself in the modern social fabric. Yet, I do wonder when people are going to get bored of it. It's like those super hero films. There has to be a saturation point where people just go, ok, we've seen enough of the same thing now, it just can't hold our interest any longer. Then again, perhaps people are bigger suckers for repetition than I suppose? And I'm not talking about a new character or spaceship design as being something that can break the repetition - I'm talking about the created universe itself becoming boring (whatever you do within it) because it is just too common and shoved down everyone's throats - I'm sure there will come a point in time where the greater majority gets sick of Star Wars as a concept.