SavaTheAggie

Here's a video I put together of Texas Brick Railroad's display at the World's Greatest Hobby On Tour Houston 2018. This was our first layout with a full BrickTracks double loop - r120 and r104. Note that in several clips I'm running my Dreyfuss steam engine at full throttle with no issues of derailing (nor threatening to derail). --Tony

At this point I fail to see the point of further commentary on this thread. Until we hear something directly from ME (regarding them fulfilling orders, or they are in fact belly up), all we're going to get is a bunch of "me toos". I would recommend that instead we focus on the future, and see how we can move on from this place to some place better (and in a different thread). --Tony

Having used BrickTrack tracks at three different weekend long public displays, running big, heavy 8-wide Power Functions trains at full speed, I can wholeheartedly endorse the BrickTracks products. Due to the single piece nature and superb clutch power, setup/teardown is a breeze, so much that for the first time in using custom curve modules we were able to let a layperson set up and tear down the modules without guidance or supervision. Plus watching my Dreyfuss go through the R120 curves at top speed carrying a full rake of coaches behind it is really really neat. I'm sorry I forgot to get video of it. --Tony

You're not asking for help, you're asking for hand-holding. I would recommend researching 0-4-0 LEGO models other people have built, research real world examples that interest you, and then make an attempt to build one from what you learn. Then come back here, post a picture, and ask for critique. There's no better teacher than experience. My 2 cents. --Tony

I, personally, would rather see a non-fictional train make it. Something like the New York Central J3A with Henry Dreyfuss streamlining. The box art would be fantastic. It has the sort of shape that everyone has seen, even if they can't pick out the specific train it came from. If I thought I could get 10,000 votes I'd submit mine. --Tony

I am of the firm belief that no train set will ever pass LEGO Ideas unless it's: Attached to a popular IP (i.e. Back to the Future, Thomas, etc - which presents their own issues) OR Universally Recognized regardless of nationality (something a layman would recognized - the art deco streamliners, Santa Fe Super Chief, Flying Scotsman, etc) All the trams, trolleys, bullet trains, and highly detailed model quality MOCs aren't worth a hill of beans to LEGO ideas. --Tony

What is "a fair price"? If I were to make a steam locomotive like those I have built, I would have to charge upwards of $400-$1000, depending on the model. --Tony

I believe the videos you watched were from Bricks Cascade - since then I've slowed the locomotive down, changing the gear ratio to increase torque. She's now less than half the speed she was. But on those videos - I can probably get about 4 hours, maybe 5. She's running L motors, which eat batteries worse that most motors, but I'm running the AA battery pack instead of the AAA just for that reason. --Tony

I would not welcome a new monorail set. I'm glad their gone forever. --Tony

Thanks all! No, I'm afraid I've never been up that way. I tend to gravitate towards models that are unique in some way ("Best of" their class, unique streamlining, etc) and models that have not been built in LEGO before, or are under-represented in some way. I will be working on getting instructions made for the Yellowstone in the next few weeks to help pay for my trip to Brickworld. It's the second slowest (at top speed) of all my locomotives (faster than XL motor driven tender wheels of the Allegheny), and second strongest (the XL motors in the Allegheny can still pull more). So it's "Better" in that it can pull more than standard LEGO PF train motors, but its the design that suffers the most from uneven track. If I ever build another giant articulated, it'll be tender driven. --Tony

In my opinion, and my opinion only - The Horizon Express is a brilliantly designed model of a terribly ugly train. I won a copy of the HE, but never purchased one myself. The techniques to build it are awesome, but it lives in a box in my room. --Tony

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "fire the drivers". By "Driver Driven" I mean the locomotive is powered directly through the drivers, rather than the motors in the tender pushing a dead-head locomotive. --Tony

Duluth, Missabe, & Iron Range M4 Yellowstone #237 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Duluth, Missabe, & Iron Range M4 "Yellowstone" class steam locomotive #237 Full Album Of "Yellowstone" class locomotives, the DM&IR Yellowstones were the strongest built. #237 was the only locomotive retired prior to dieselization, sold for scrap after a wreck. DM&IR-237_008 by Tony Sava, on Flickr This locomotive has been built in 9-wide, and is my first successful driver-driven steam locomotive. The locomotive is powered by two Power Functions L-Motors in the boiler, and a AA battery box in the tender. DM&IR-237_015 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The cab overhangs more than I'd like, but hopefully I can keep it on ME Model curves and Grand Curves. DM&IR-237_023 by Tony Sava, on Flickr A huge, enormous thank-you to Terry Akuna for the excellent work on designing and printing the decals on the tender, cab, and road numbers on the headlights. DM&IR-237_012 by Tony Sava, on Flickr --Tony

We're getting off topic, but to answer the questions - the Yellowstone may or may not find it's way into my instructions list. The Dreyfuss contains far too many ultra rare parts to ever be considered. --Tony

I have finally begun building this project. So far the top of the boiler is complete and the two L motors are installed. Next I plan to finalize the wheel sets so I can better understand how the bottom of the boiler will interact with the wheels. I won't post any more updates hereuntil it's finished, but you can follow my progress on Flickr. --Tony

It's in my signature, but assuming this isn't against the forum rules, here is the link: http://www.bricklink.com/store/home.page?p=AggieSava --Tony

Most of my customers are in the US, though from time to time I get orders from Europe, a few from Asia. The most all-in-one set of instructions for teaching the widest array of techniques in one book is a set I can no longer sell, at least for now. My failed LEGO ideas project "The Ten Wheeler" was my "Expert level Ten Wheeler" instructions, and touches nearly all of my knowledge and experience as a train builder. I won't be able to start selling those again until the ideas project officially dies. My Northern "Daylight" instructions have a lot of good techniques, too, as does the Alco RS-2. --Tony

I sell instructions to fund my hobby. It's the way I prevent the family budget from being affected by all these things I build. I choose the MOCs I have built that are either popular models, have an easy construction, or are very difficult to build but teach important techniques. I do not make instructions for anything that is too big, uses too many rare parts, or has too much hard-to-replicate detail (bent and custom cut flex tubing). I have never designed a model specifically for instructions. Always for my own enjoyment first. --Tony

Thanks all. This is the work of 5 AFOLs. It took us about 6-7 hours to set up, all of us working. A typical, smaller setup will take 2-3 people about 4 hours. Teardown is much faster - we were packed up, put away, and loaded in vehicles in less than three hours - and that's pretty good for a layout this size. --Tony

Texas Brick Railroad this last weekend set up its largest, most complex solo layout to date. Here are some photo highlights. Full Gallery https://www.flickr.com/photos/savatheaggie/albums/72157674601755231 Our biggest town to date New_Braunfels_Fall_16_046 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Overview of the entire layout New_Braunfels_Fall_16_001 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Princess Train running through the town New_Braunfels_Fall_16_013 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The forest. We had a very complex track setup, with 4 independent loops New_Braunfels_Fall_16_007 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Joe's Halloween train and Gareth's switch tower. The layout used standard LEGO curves, ME R72s, ME R88s, ME 104s, and custom curves using traditional model rails glued to plates New_Braunfels_Fall_16_010 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Return of the People's Bridge New_Braunfels_Fall_16_024 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Steve's Burn Patch New_Braunfels_Fall_16_026 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Mini MocFiller's Farm New_Braunfels_Fall_16_028 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Ed's showpiece Berkshire in front of his storage tanks and pumpjacks New_Braunfels_Fall_16_030 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Gareth's Bridge module New_Braunfels_Fall_16_031 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Michael Jackson and Thriller New_Braunfels_Fall_16_037 by Tony Sava, on Flickr New member Noah's steam engine makes its debut New_Braunfels_Fall_16_053 by Tony Sava, on Flickr A view only we could see - our layout was large enough to keep certain views hidden New_Braunfels_Fall_16_056 by Tony Sava, on Flickr And finally a video of my Daylight going through Gareth's custom switches Lego & Code 250 Mega Switches being traversed by Tony's Daylight. With Mallard in the background @ TBRR Show, New Brunfells by Gareth Ellis, on Flickr --Tony

For the record I have no need of 9v. If it were me, which it isn't, I think I would have started with only plastic R104s and R88s. To be different from ME, offer a stretch goal of the plastic only Grand Curve equivalent track (R248 or whatever). Leave the R72, R54, and switches for another kick-starter, once the first got off the ground. But again, it's not me. --Tony

I can say ME track not staying together under heavy, fast trains without glue is false, when give a proper foundation. My YouTube videos prove this. Yes, they tend to fall apart in transit, but in my experience hold together fine when on a flat, level surface over the course of a very busy weekend show. Flex track is worthless. Period. I would have preferred all-in-one track like your project, but at the same time ME track is easier to ballast, since I don't have to work around permanent ties. --Tony

If I could have backed a loop of a single radius of track, I might have backed it. Far too expensive for 99% of LEGO hobbyists. 9v is dead. Abandon the 9v part. Without replacement motors, track power supply, and regulators, the 9v market is getting smaller and smaller. Focus on plastic track only. Save the cost. Lower the barrier to entry. Add in the 104 switches if you're worried about needing backers. --Tony

With the exception of the one siding on the bottom right of the layout diagram, all of the curved track were ME models R88 and R104. The three huge curves we call "Grand Curves" and are each built with 23 pieces of standard straight track. --Tony

BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_002 by Tony Sava, on Flickr FULL GALLERY https://www.flickr.c...157668176504883 A few weeks ago, Texas Brick Railroad put on one of the largest and certainly one of the best solo layouts we've yet done. We were given free reign and all the space we wanted, so truthfully we were only limited by the number of club tables we own and those who could show up. The following is an excerpt of the photos I took at the event. The layout plan TBRR @ Brick Fiesta 2016 by Tony Sava, on Flickr An overview, featuring our custom TBRR stanchions (the corners are closed off with plastic chain so we can get in and out) BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_001 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Tim's little red schoolhouse and sandlot BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_007 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Part of the city, including the "Posh" emporium and monorail station BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_010 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Ed's Coffee Shop, Townhouses, and awesome dump truck BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_064 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Bluebonnet Station BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_065 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Sava Railways building BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_017 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Ed's warehouse and my watertower BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_022 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Forest Corner BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_025 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The Big Cut and Rick's (visiting from Oregon) "Toy" train BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_027 by Tony Sava, on Flickr MocFiller's Farm BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_028 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Bilbo gets eminent domained BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_029 by Tony Sava, on Flickr People's Bridge BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_036 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Trainz BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_037 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The Award Winning Princess Train BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_046 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Lasso's Friends Hotel BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_047 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Lasso's Monorail Station BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_049 by Tony Sava, on Flickr David's Steamwood Falls Engine Shed BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_050 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Tim's Roundhouse and Turntable (mostly finished) BrickFiesta16_TBRR_Layout_052 by Tony Sava, on Flickr --Tony