Redimus

Lego will never do a Big Boy. Too big, too complex. I suppose they could do a much simplified (ie, less wheels) version of the N&W one, but it'd probably have a reasonably compromised boiler as well. I think someone said January 2011.

And it tends to be better designed!

Eh, less official Lego trains = more money for MOCs. And I know which I prefer...

Doesn't look grimy enough! :P Nice little build.

Eh why not, I'll give the e-book version a go too!

Yeah, sorry, not very well worded... What a I meant was, did it allow you to decide on the cuff what the trains did, or did they have to be all fully pre-programmed, and you answered that perfectly well! Is it compatible with 9v track powered trains (or alternatively, how much of a ball ache would it be to convert the 9v track powered motors to be compatible)?

Could be the graphics card, or possibly the mother board. I'd get the graphics card checked first though, because that's cheaper and easier to take out and replace (just hook up the graphics card to another PC temporarily). As for the lost LDD files, you've got a lot of them online haven't you? And you've sent several to other people (I know I have a few I've toyed with to a greater or lesser extent), so I'm sure you'll be able to recover a lot of them no matter what.

It's great for automation, but can you use it to shunt in real time as well? I like the idea of having something run on the main line, with signal functions stopping in when the human controlled (assumedly via the tablet of PC) require use of the main line (or alternatively, have it pause the human commands until the mainline train passes). EDIT: tl;dr... Does it let you actually play with your trains too?

Why on earth would you need a brakevan that big for?!?

It's OK as long as the trains are running in opposite directions (which they often will be with such a set up), but yeah, not one of Lego's better designs.

Because it's not currently available, but there's a consistent demand for it I'd imagine.

All you need to do is replace the train bases with normal plates, making sure you've remembered to include a hole for the bogie's pin (normally a technic plate), and enough space above where the bogie's pin is for the loco to rest naturally on the top of the bogie. It's not a bad idea to get used to not relying on the standard train bases, because although useful, they prove very restrictive on a lot of the rest of your design.

I know the feeling, only really got back into Lego myself at the beginning of the year, and even though I've come leaps and bounds in terms of train design, I still have no idea where to start when it comes to buildings, their contents and scenery. May have to find this book myself.

Much happier now. It's a little more fragile (I've used some blutack to shore up a couple of joints that hold fine, but tend to not stay aligned as well as I'd like), but the profile is damn well near spot on, the paneling is the correct orientation, and the openings at either end are pretty much exactly the size they should be. It's a shame I still have to have a full plate's width between the doorways and the roof, but there's little I can do about that without seriously compromising several other bits. It's also a shame I couldn't come up with this build the first time, as it's considerably cheaper, due to using less uncommon bits, more bits I already owned and less bits overall. A small Bricklink order has been put in for bits I don't have/that are a little too chewed for comfort), and then I'll take some photos with the rest of the train.

I think I may have had a breakthrough on the brakevan. The chassis is identical apart from the red bufferbeam (as per prototype). The cabin is a completely new set of build techniques. I've also fixed the problem of the paneling being the wrong orientation for a Southern brakevan. Will probably canibalise the existing brakevan tomorrow to try out this build (I'm a little worried about the side of the ends), and all going well, will order any missing bits shortly afterwards.

But why bother? It's not like anything from that set is any good at all.

I've got a selection of appropriate designs to form a mixed freight. I'm going to slowly build the basic version of each, see what I need to change, update the design and do a few Private Owner versions. By that point, I'll probably not need to build any more for a while.

In the plastic it just looks a little cartoonish, a little too wide but a little bit short (mainly the cabin section). It's not so bad when the open wagon is in the train, but when it's just the loco and the brakevan, it's really noticeable (it doesn't help that the loco is only 7 wide at the footplate). Ideally, I'd like to remove a the second plate on each side holding it all together, but I can't seem to fine a combination of brackets that will allow me to do that without it being a fragile mess.

Why is that a problem? Even Lego do displays with none Lego scenery, and it not only makes the layout a *lot* cheaper, but done properly, it can really improve the overall look of the layout. Also, if it was law that Lego layouts could only include Lego, I'd have to remove my Bayko signal box!

Sure! Click me!

Yeah, they're standard metallic silver 1x1 round tiles. I was gonna go light grey, and happened upon them on Bricklink. Also, the lever is a handbrake, these wagons were loose coupled (ie, no central braking system for the train, which is why they need a brakevan at the end of the train, so would have no automatic system to apply the brakes when not attached to the loco).

Hot on the heels of my Q Class, I've started building up it's default train. First up, an open wagon and a brakevan. I'm really happy with the open, the brakevan, no so much, it just seems a little too fat. I've tried redesigning it on LDD, and so far, got absolutly nowhere, I fear I'll have to start from scratch to get it absolutely right, but for now, it'll do.

Can you post some photos and/or the LDD of the bogie area? As long as the interface between the bogie and the loco is done right, the width shouldn't make any difference to the loco's ability to stay on sharp curves. As for 7 wide, there are as many ways are there grains of sand on he beach, but a good place to start is a couple of Technic plates and an awful lot of jumpers plates. You won't be able to use the standard train base in any useful way. This is, in all honesty, a good thing anyway as it's a lot easier to to get good cornering on long wheelbases when you haven't got the sides of the train base to clash on (this may be the problem on your loco).

Odd. On my last MOC I gave the motor part a stud's space and that was plenty, it looks like yours has at least that. Or is it the top of the bogie clipping the sides?

What's causing the problems on the curves? Is it simply falling off or is it causing whatever it's pulling to fall off?