SavaTheAggie

--Tony

Have you never considered that these "apologists" are really people who just honestly feel the Power Functions system is superior to the 9v system? Sure, I pitched a fit when I learned 9v was being discontinued same as everyone else. I went into quite a depression over it. But then I saw for myself. And then I bought product. And I learned just how much I like the Power Functions train system. And my 9v train stuff isn't obsolete - I can still use my track. In fact, I find Power Functions equipment runs better on metal rails than on plastic, something to do with more friction for the rubber o-rings to grab on to. I'll continue to use my 9v motors till they die, but they will die. I already have several dead motors and I've only been collecting 9v train stuff since 2006. It's the way of things. Eventually my PF train stuff will die, too. But even under heavy loads, my PF motors don't heat up NEAR as much as my 9v motors ever did, so I believe my PF train motors will be around A LOT longer than my 9v motors, and they don't rely on the dying metal rails I own, which again I only started buying in 2006. I've run my PF Allgheny for a full day on a TexLUG layout with a full load of rail cars, enough to risk the magnets giving way under all the stress, and the motors were only slightly warm when I powered it down. After an two or three hours of moderate work my 9v motors are almost too hot to touch. It's not as if LEGO is changing the bricks when it revamps a theme. Parts are parts, nothing more. With the exception of the Cafe Corner buildings I've never bought a set I didn't want to part out and build something else, anwyay. Oh, and the Yellow LEGO Brand Semi Truck. That's awesome. --Tony

I build 8-wide. No trouble at all to convert from 9v to PF. --Tony

I will adapt, just as my 12v and 4.5v ancestors. If all my PF motors die, I'll either perform surgery upon them or buy the new LEGO system. That's the beauty of LEGO - I can rebuild everything I make a thousand times over and nothing goes to waste. --Tony

Then you're in luck. 100% of my PF trains are backwards compatible with every single LEGO train system that ever existed. 100% of my PF trains will be forward compatible with every single LEGO train system that will exist. I will be able to play with 100% of my PF trains with my grandkids on their LEGO train system or my own. --Tony

They are more different than that. The PF train motor has more tractive effort than the RC train motor, and in fact has more tractive effort than the 9v train motor. Of the three, the RC motor is the weakest motor. To say they are interchangeable in any respect is incorrect. --Tony

Careful, that's not entirely true. You're talking about compatibility of a system as a whole, and all LEGO trains are compatible as a whole. The gauge of the track has not changed. A 12v train set will roll on PF track and every track in between. A 9v train will roll on 4.5v track. The scale has not changed, all trains are meant to be used with minifigs. The bricks have not changed, they all still click together. You can count on trains made by LEGO 20 years from now to use the same rail width, same bricks at the same scale. You are referring to the motive power, and in traditional scale railroading that does change. A non DCC locomotive cannot reliably run on a DCC layout, since it gives you no control separate from other locomotives. I can't say for sure, but I would imagine some European made locomotives run on a different voltage than American made. PF is a 9v system that does not use metal rails, and can be connected to the old 9v system using the PF/9v wires. So build away, you're not going to have any problems in the future. --Tony

In the long run 9v track is not going to get any cheaper. Sure it may drop a bit, but the older it gets the less there is that's going to be around to purchase. If you're going to wait till 9v gets cheaper you'll be waiting forever. As for 4559, unfortunately it's a horrible set to convert to PF - there just isn't a whole lot of train there. You'll have to turn one of the passenger "pods" into a receptacle for the battery and IR receiver, most likely. Personally I'd just scrap the set and build something else. But that also doesn't mean you couldn't keep 4559 as a 9v train, using the 9v track you already have, and just have other sections of track that's plastic. The PF trains don't care if they run on metal rails or not. --Tony

Very nicely done, the details are fantastic. And as others have said, well done on the presentation, too. --Tony

Nice job, captures the look of an early steamer well. Do you have any larger close up shots of the way you've articulated the rear truck? I can't quite tell from the picture. --Tony

What an ugly train. Get the Emerald night! --Tony, who never saw an official LEGO train he liked until the Santa Fe Super Chief

Thanks much! Actually it's a bit of both. Almost all of my Scenic Tour photos are taken on a long exposure - I do it to overcome narrow depth of field from zooming in so much. As for the "mist", I have been talking about doing a photo like this for quite some time, but I've always been concerned about dry ice or humidifiers around electronics - water and electricity don't mix. The "mist" is actually body powder, "smoked" out of the bottle it comes in. I simply turned the bottle on its side a bit and squeezed it over and over, causing a "smoke" of body powder to shoot out. Caused quite a mess (especially doing it over and over trying to get the shot "right", but it was worth it, I think. I used a can of air and a swiffer to clean up after each shot. Thanks much! I've tried recreating it to come up with an alternate view, but apparently this was one of those one-in-a-million, never to be duplicated shots. Thanks! I wouldn't be surprised if the photo that inspired me is the same one you saw in the magazine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PRR-T1.jpg --Tony

Thanks much! And thanks for being so consistent in replying to my photo series. It really helps me to keep posting them here to Eurobricks. --Tony

The next installment in my Sava Railways Scenic Tours photo series: "Burning the Midnight Oil" Image is a link. --Tony

The next installment in my Sava Railways Scenic Tours photo series: "The Little Engineer That Could" Image is a link. Bonus installment: "Tickets, Please" --Tony

Thanks to you both, I appreciate it. --Tony

Thanks much for the blog post! --Tony

The next installment in my Sava Railways Scenic Tours photo series: "Stirring the Giants" Image is a link. --Tony

Texas State Railroad Coaches #42 and #44 These are my MOCs of the Texas State Railroad air conditioned coaches #42 and #44. The design has changed quite a bit since I first started - I've shortened it 6 studs, raised it a plate, and completely redesigned the bogies several times. The two coaches are nearly identical, the only real difference is #42 has a few more details on its' undercarriage. These now, while still heavy, perform much better than they did at RAILFEST 2010, where I had hoped to have them make their debut. However, the design flaws proved too much and I was forced to put one away and put one out on display. --Tony

Thanks much! I have to admit it was fun trying something new, not being a diesel builder myself. I have two more TSRR MOCs which I'll be photographing tonight. --Tony

Full Gallery Texas State Railroad ALCO RS-2 Engine #7 From the TSRR website: -------------------------------------------- Engine number 7 is the second oldest diesel locomotive operated on the Texas State Railroad. This engine was built in 1947 by the American Locomotive Company at their Schenectedy, New York, locomotive plant for the Point Comfort & Northern Railroad of Lolita, Texas. The Point Comfort & Northern was owned and operated by Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America) and served their aluminum manufacturing plant at Point Comfort, Texas. This type of engine is representative of the first wave of diesel engines that started replacing steam locomotives immediately after the end of World War II. This engine saw many miles of road service for the Point Comfort & Northern, carrying train load after train load of material all over the eastern part of Texas. Finally, when the hardworking road switcher seemed to be heading toward the scrap heap, its career took an unexpected turn. In 1975 the fledgling Texas State Railroad was looking for a diesel engine to provide backup service to its steam locomotives. The officials at Alcoa decided to donate the hardworking engine number 7 to the Texas State Railroad. This diesel is still at the Texas State Railroad to this day; pulling work trains, carloads of ballast and pulling passenger trains. -------------------------------------------- This model is my first original diesel train MOC, and made her debut at the Texas State Railroad's RAILFEST 2010 where I was able to get a photo of her on the real thing. She performed extremely well. --Tony

Mini 300 01 by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr A mini version of my Texas State Railroad #300 MOC. I've made several design sacrifices, which means it doesn't look 100% like the original, but I did so to make construction more straight forward and, quite frankly, cheaper. The Texas State Railroad has known about my MOCs of their locomotives for some time now, and they have invited me to display them at their upcoming RAILFEST 2010. To commemorate this, I've designed this minikit of the #300, and I will be giving away five copies at the event. --Tony

My opinion is a minifig is between 5.5 and 6 feet tall. It makes things very very nice, and makes my 8 wide trains and most LEGO sets all happy together. Tony's Unifying Theory of LEGO by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr --Tony

Surrounded by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr Steam Through the Piney Woods by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr Cathedral of St. Francis WIP 42 by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr Railfanning by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr CathedralStFrancis26 by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr Painted Desert by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr --Tony

Just cause I'm a nice guy... Minifigs Series 2 Barcodes North America by SavaTheAggie, on Flickr --Tony