SavaTheAggie

BW_16_Penn-Tex_001 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Full Gallery https://www.flickr.com/photos/savatheaggie/albums/72157670181388476 Once again, PennLUG and Texas Brick Railroad teamed up to put on a massive layout of trainy goodness for Brickworld Chicago 2016. It was definitely our best collaboration yet. Here are just a few excerpts: Mini Trains BW_16_Penn-Tex_006 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Ed's new Tank Loading Racks and pipeline bridge BW_16_Penn-Tex_013 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Ed's new town houses and coffee shop BW_16_Penn-Tex_009 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Mine and Ed's Bluebonnet Station BW_16_Penn-Tex_010 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Ed's new German Articulated BW_16_Penn-Tex_005 by Tony Sava, on Flickr TBRR's Big Cut BW_16_Penn-Tex_019 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The Big Cut again BW_16_Penn-Tex_024 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The PennLUG Roundhouse BW_16_Penn-Tex_025 by Tony Sava, on Flickr The PennLUG yard was sufficiently huge yet again BW_16_Penn-Tex_031 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Cale's Red Lion Station as a dedicated spur BW_16_Penn-Tex_036 by Tony Sava, on Flickr PennLUG's vineyard BW_16_Penn-Tex_044 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Cale's Wright Flyer, nominated for Best Airship BW_16_Penn-Tex_046 by Tony Sava, on Flickr Three of the Best Train nominees BW_16_Penn-Tex_053 by Tony Sava, on Flickr This layout marked the first time PennLUG or TBRR had ever fielded three full Grand Curve loops. BW_16_Penn-Tex_055 by Tony Sava, on Flickr PennLUG's custom ladder yard switches BW_16_Penn-Tex_069 by Tony Sava, on Flickr --Tony

Looks like a great show, congrats to the winners - high praise indeed. Texas Brick Railroad is currently in discussions about going to Orlando 2017. --Tony

I do plan on building an 8-wide observation car, but I have other projects I need to finish first. I'm also debating on whether or not I'll lengthen my passenger coaches. The instructions I offer will remain unchanged, because I believe those are as long as coaches you'd want on standard curves. But my club runs ME model track, and true to-scale coaches should be anywhere from 50 studs to 80 or 90. I won't go quite that long, but an extra 4 or 8 studs may be in my future. --Tony

I think we are getting quite a bit away from the MOC and hijacking this thread into a realm the Moderators are probably not very happy with. Further questions about the Daylight instructions would be better handled via email. Bricklink has a fantastic catalog spanning every part ever made. These two types of items have their own individual category. http://www.bricklink.com/catalog.asp He's actually got a kit he's selling of rods and stickers for this specific model. --Tony

I believe you are confusing axles and pins. Axles are "+" the whole length. Pins are circles. --Tony

Black Technic pins are called "Friction Pins". Their name is self explanatory. I believe there's a blue version, too. Replace all black friction pins with light grey pins on any part designed to rotate. The light grey pins are frictionless. As for quartering: http://bigbenbricks.com/applications.html#quartering --Tony

I think that frequently, but I have faith in my design. The basic wheel arrangement has been proven over many shows on the Daylight, and this locomotive is wearing the exact same setup minus a pair of blind drivers. --Tony

It's not "only possible" with two channels. Power Functions Train Equipment by Tony Sava, on Flickr Are your drivers quartered? Are any of your Technic pins black in color? Have you attempted removing one part at a time until you have isolated the friction causing element? --Tony

Here's a YouTube video of the locomotive's maiden voyage. I don't have a layout of my own, so while I was able to test her by pushing her through different track configurations, I had no guarantee she'd run under her own power. Thankfully she did, no additional tweaking necessary. --Tony

Best Train Brickworld 2016 by Tony Sava, on Flickr This MOC was awarded "Best Train" at Brickworld Chicago 2016. --Tony

I will be posting pictures in the coming days. To answer your other question - the winning bid was $2050.00. A surprising thing to witness. --Tony

If this model goes for $1,000.00 or more at auction, I, Tony Sava, will build a custom 8-wide Caboose based on a Texas prototype and gift it to Cale Leiphart. Furthermore, if the model goes for $1,000.00 or more I will, publically, in front of all gathered at the PennLUG/TBRR layout at Brickworld, bow to Cale Leiphart and declare him the better train builder. Further, furthermore, should this model go for $1,000.00 or more, I will build a railcar with a billboard stating Cale Leiphart is a better train builder, and will run it at every Texas Brick Railroad display until Brickworld 2017, including the upcoming Brick Fiesta 2016. --Tony

I've been on a building kick lately, building background buildings for Texas Brick Railroad displays. Here is the latest:The Studweiser Brewery It has no interior, though with only one floor it wouldn't be terribly difficult to fix that in the future. Its based loosely off of a model train kit, and not off any particular real building. It uses roughly 2600 1x2 plates. --Tony

Thank you. You did not see the WiP photos because they were hidden until I uploaded the finished pictures. :) I usually post WiP photos throughout my design process, but I decided this time around to keep it relatively quiet. Of course I did share it with a select few for feedback, and I cannot tell you how hard it was for me to not share the photos with more people than I did. One of the issues I have with the wheels of this design is that they really need to be a stud bigger in diameter, so I had to make a few changes. The firebox, for example, is about two studs too long, and should begin further down the boiler. --Tony

Thank you all. It was a fun build, and I feel redeemed in a way. I had stopped showing my original 6-wide version of the Dreyfuss Hudson entirely, one of those "you are your own worst critic" type of thing, I guess. Thanks so much, Holger. To be honest she's never been tested under power, so Brickworld will be her maiden voyage (I've pushed her through curves and switches manually, of course, but I don't have my own layout). I will try to get a photo or two of the wheelbase for you. I don't think it's anything earth-shattering, though. Yes, the gaps on the tender was achieved with 1x2 panels. I had originally attempted cheese slopes, thinking I could remove the gap entirely, but that didn't work out. Still, a half-plate gap isn't bad. Thank you. The wheels aren't painted, they came that way from Big Ben Bricks (LEGO compatible third party train wheels). --Tony

Very cool, well done. I've never seen a car with that sort of cutout, but it certainly makes sense for those kids of loads. The only car I've seen that I can compare it to would be a Schnabel car, but this one is quite a bit less garish. --Tony

You'll want to step away now, take a few weeks off from the Internet. It seems the only ego hurt is your own. You are entitled to your own opinion about your work. Frankly I don't... and can't... share it. And as I am entitled to my own opinion, your F7 design creates far more design issues than it solves. It's a novel use of parts, but that's as far as it goes - novel. --Tony

You have done well in challenging convention and forcing us to see the solution to the problem of this unique nose from a different perspective. I applaud your inventive parts use. Having said that, I still prefer Nate's solution. EMD E7A NYC 4027 by Shuppiluliumas, on Flickr --Tony

FULL GALLERY The New York Central J3A "Hudson" class 4-6-4 steam locomotive #5447 with Henry Dreyfuss streamlining. This locomotive is over 9 years in the making. Back in 2007 I began building my original Dreyfuss Hudson in 6-wide, but I was never fully satisfied with it. I revisited and modified the design several times, but I didn't think I did full justice to the handsome, iconic Twentieth Century Limited Henrey Dreyfuss streamlining. Even back then, in my infancy as a LEGO train builder, I knew 8-wide was the only way to really capture it, but I could never figure out how to generate that central sail on the nose. 9 years later, I think I've succeeded. The model is fully track compatible, with 2 Power Functions motors in the tender. In order to clear the tight LEGO curves, I've had to articulate the locomotive like I did the Daylight - the drivers are not fixed to the boiler as they should be, and swivel out from beneath it in curves. I want to give a huge thank you to Cale Leiphart and Edward Chang. They gave me feedback throughout the design and construction phase of this locomotive, and without whom I do not think I would be nearly as happy with this model. Another huge thank you to Terry Akuna, who printed the tender lettering and cab numbers directly on the bricks, and designed and redesigned the NYCS "meatball" on the cow catcher, going well above and beyond the call of duty. I am beyond impressed with his work, and I highly recommend you check out his work. --Tony

Thanks all, I appreciate it. I decided to have some fun with photo editing software: The Sava Railways Building, c.1917 by Tony Sava, on Flickr --Tony

My steam engine project has been languishing for months. It's not going to reach 10,000, nor will any LEGO train ideas project that isn't attached to an existing IP. --Tony

Thanks all. The excess medium blue plates came from both the LEGO Pick a Brick wall, as well as donations from my fellow LUG-mates, from when I was building my Bluebonnet Station MOC. That, too, was a building designed to use up excess medium blue plates, but I became too ambitious and needed more than I had. Through the different sources, after finishing Bluebonnet, I actually ended up with more medium blue plates than I started with! So, I decided to continue using them up in the grandest fashion I could. I already have ideas on how to improve this one, though sadly it'll require some nimble tearing apart of the different floors. The biggest change I have planned is for the first floor. Time will tell how that turns out. --Tony

Headquarters of Sava Railways This started life as a much smaller, throw-away façade, three walled half building, designed to be on the inside edge of train layouts. But once we decided it was a Railroad headquarters, I decided I wanted to expand it. It's modular building friendly, designed to be a left handed corner building. The long side is meant to lean against its neighbor, the short side creates a small alley. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, even if it was really just an excuse to get rid of all the medium blue 1x2 plates I have on hand. --Tony

After my own experiences, and the experiences of others similar to Benn's regarding NMRA, I am of the educated opinion that NMRA needs us a lot more than we need them. LEGO Trains are a gateway to the greater model train world, but NMRA members continue to dismiss it. Their aging membership is dwindling and desperately try to bring in the younger generation. They should be embracing LEGO trains as a viable medium for model trains, a medium much more versatile, and uniquely reconfigurable, than "real" model trains. Get the kids hooked on LEGO Model training and maybe, just maybe, they'll branch out. But they bring in LEGO trains as a way to bring children into the show, as if in the hope that when the kids see the "real" trains, they'll somehow be drawn away from the colorful plastic blocks. Yeah, right. On the other side, what can NMRA offer us? We already have a solid communication channel, several in fact, with LEGO. There's no need for another liason. And our Bricks don't just come from train sets, so we really don't need LEGO to expand their train offerings to thirty different types of boxcars. TBRR is blessed to have local NMRA members who recognize the value of LEGO trains in their future, the regional Texas folks actively lobby for us. But I just don't see any benefit. Sure it's nice to be recognized, but LEGO train builders have more in common with the 1/8th scale live steam modelers than any Z, N, HO, G, or other guage club. --Tony

1) the cost of a new injection mold is in the multiple thousands of dollars. I can just about guarantee you BBB isn't interested right now. 2) Benn's siderods bend and snap easily, and wear down too easily for wheels. The material is just not made for that. 3) I have no experience with this. --Tony