Redimus

Cheers guys! ---------------------------------------------------- Whilst waiting for bits, I felt it was time to look into the brake coach. I really wasn't sure how I was going to tackle this, as a lot of details would have to be implied, and the end door (which would need to fit in the same space as the normal end doors) would have to be of a radically different design to fit the prototypes. Speaking of prototypes, no two Pullman coaches were the same, and brakes coaches were, if anything worse than most in their variations. Even finding something to base it on was difficult, with no decent photos from multiple angles of any one coach, so eventually I resigned myself to basing it on the old (and rather flawed) Hornby design, as this seemed to be all over Google. The Prototype: The LDD: I think the layout and details of the brake section are about there, but I'm really not happy with the end doors, and the guard's lookout may be scrapped before it gets built. Any suggestions and opinions on these would be greatly welcomed.

Well, it doesn't look much yet, but the first coach is finally on it's way! The most important thing is this... It makes it around the layout fine, despite it's length! It's also pretty strong, although it does dip very slightly in the middle right now, by the time the body is added it should be very sturdy. The remaining few bits for the frames are winging their way to me from somewhere in Europe, and I have just ordered the bits for the body on bricklink (and boy are those reddish brown 1x1 horizontal clips and light blueish grey 2x2 curved slopes expensive when you need a few of them...). EDIT: Video of it not hitting things! (Out of interest, how do you embed videos in this forum?)

I'm really not a fan of 8 wide, mostly because the overhang on the wheels is too large, particularly on British prototypes. However, you make it very hard not to concede that there are some major advantages too... lol

Haha, guests, you're doing it right!

That's a really cool looking city! Really wish I had the space for more than one loop *and* actual buildings... :(

If you meant a Creator F40, I'd say so!

Could you not just modify the Maersk design? I would mean a radical rebuild (and a lot of new parts), but you'd need a pretty radical rebuild to fit the PF in anyway, and the Maersk design is already intended for PF features.

What are the blue pieces on the side, are they chairs?

Rather cool. Are those ships (and this one) based on any specific fiction?

I was going to suggest flangless wheels but you've already ruled those out. How about doing what I've seen done on a lot of German loco Lego builds, using the same rods you've used for the connecting rod for the coupling rods. Those bars may be flexible enough for you to still have the pivot. Alternatively, perhaps using those bars in tubs, with the joint set being 2 smaller bars with one tub over them to give a more flexible joint. Otherwise it's looking good,but I just can't bare the sight of a loco that isn't properly rodded up! lol

Oh, I have no doubt asymetric 'modern' locos exist, hell, the UK had a loco known as the Co-Bo (one 6 wheeled bogie and one 4 wheeled bogie). I just didn't like the fact there was only one end with doors at all. The bricks hold together really well actually, the only real problem is when you have several smaller bricks together or bricks with large surface areas getting attached to each other, things get perhaps a little too tight (or plain don't fit at all, I had to remove a 2x4 tile from the bogies of one of the wagons because I simply couldn't get the connector pin plate to fully attach to it and the surrounding wheelsets).

Hmm, I may well try that in my next mod or moc!

Not gonna lie, it was part of what attracted me to the set. Could do with being slightly lighter but beggars can't be chosers.

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing eBay and noticed several knock off Lego trains by a company called Ausini, some with wagons or coachs very clearly based on old Lego designs, some with random new design coachs, all with locomotives that are different to existing Lego designs. One in particular actually looked rather good, and being very cheap (£25 inc postage), I thought why not? I received the set, and was happy to see that, while the bricks were far from Lego quality, they were more than good enough to blend in with proper Lego, and that the set was a fun build. It wasn't, however, perfect. The main problems were the asymmetrical cabs, naff under loco detail, stunted pantagraphs, doors that were too far inset and lack of motive power. I briefly mulled over just using what I had, but I knew I'd need a lot more of certain green and blue bits, and that proper Lego versions would stand out for not being the same shade. So, I decided to buy a second set (irritatingly, it had gone up £5... but still a bargain, considering I was getting another couple of wagons too, oddly enough, I looked after I ordered, and sure enough, it had gone up again by £5... strange strategy by the seller). I already had most of the general Lego pieces I needed to add, and the PF battery box and receiver, but needed a couple of motor bogies (which I duly ordered). Before. Cheating! I like my locos to have 2 motors because I like big heavy trains. Unfortunately, I have yet to pluck up the courage to open up the motors and reverse the polarity, so have generally had to resort to having one end riding on it's wire, causing the loco to wobble at speed. I decided to try something different... I cheated! I left a gap in the floor of the slight overhang the cab is built on at one end, and cut a bit of plastic off of the middle of the end of the (not-Lego) trainplate, to allow the wire to pass into the loco without anything resting on it. Other than that, the construction was a fun and easy process that happily took up an otherwise rather useless morning. The Finished Loco. Notice the use of dark transparent studs to indicate lights that aren't lit, both on the cab ends, and next to the currently not in use pantagraph. I also needed to come up with a way to fit in the sensor and the on button into the roof, which took some modifying of the original design (a shame because I liked it). I fashioned a free floating block of Lego with the round and rounded upside down plate at the bottom to act as the switch.

A train of that sort wouldn't need a generator wagon, normally the coaches would have a dynamo and batteries slung underneath the floor which would generate and store all the electricity needed for lights and whatnot. Some later steam engines also had a generator built into their own design too. Also, have you considered using the 4x3 square windows instead of lots of little 2x2 windows? I think it'd look nicer (although not as nice as the rounded ones granted) and cream frames for that type are a lot cheaper than the ones the orginal coach came with. Otherwise, looking good!

Can you provide some detailed photos of the teaks, I'm really interested to see how you've pulled them off.

You could try mixing them, giving the build a bit more texture (bricks in real buildings are rarely all the same shade).

Yeah, that's another set I was interested in until I saw the price...

It's appeared (along with the new town center set) in the UK version of the Lego Shop website (again £139.99).

I must have been tired this morning, I had it in my head you were using a separate motor and assembly rather than the PF motor bogie... lol.

I built two extra wagons for the Maersk train in different colours to the original (and modified the design of the containers and built a couple more of those too). It works out cheaper than bricklinking the correct colour bits or buying two complete extra wagons, and adds a bit more colour. In fact, if you want to really make the maersk train cheaper, find the instructions online (Lego let you access them for free), use them to build the train in LDD (or similar), recolour to your own tastes, then bricklink the parts. A more unique train, and almost certainly a cheaper one.

I know it's probably a bit late, but wouldn't it have been easier to power one of the tenders, allowing more leeway for working valve gear (and also just generally easier than fitting the motor in the engine)?

Hmmm, I was all for this set, but £139.99 is the same price as the blue train, and argue all you will about the merits of the actual trains, the blue freight train set comes with a lot more for the same price. Very disappointing.

Erm, have you looked at that picture? That's narrow gauge low loader wagons carrying standard gauge wagons. Although not *that* difficult to achieve, the fact you'd have to rely on narrower wheel sets and narrow gauge track means this is far from a simple modification of any current set.

I tend to leave the official builds as is until I either come up with some way of improving them or (more likely) need them for parts in other builds. Should I pick up the blue freight train, that rule will be played out immediately with the cattle wagon, as I'll use the wagon base for some form of open wagon or van (depending on what bits I have to spare).