LoneBrickerSG

I was thinking about this too. I know there's instructions for #4449 somewhere. I would honestly consider buying those just to learn from the chassis. Actually that would just be poetic justice, since #4449 was the one that made me love 4-8-4 steam engines in the first place!

I suppose not. If I don't use red wheels on a loco, I can always put them in a 'scrap pile'.

Holy buckets. I was hoping to not exceed the 'L'-size drivers on this. Unlike American Northerns like #4449, UP #844 or Milwaukee Road #261, the P36 design has quite a bit of empty space between the boiler and drive wheels, something that the Russians did with many of their locos for ease of maintenance wherever they didn't have cranes large enough to lift engines. I was thinking that sticking with slightly smaller drivers would help keep this appearance, and hopefully make the wheels look proportionally correct compared to other locos of similar size. Do you do this in a virtual program first, or do you make a test piece with physical parts? I figured this part would be the most difficult. I know that the realistic steam engines that I see are indeed labors of love and take a lot of nitpicking to get right. If it were any other way, I wouldn't consider it model railroading. Thank you jtlan, your answer has the technical aspects that I was hoping to get advice on. The advance planning tip using graphs and figuring a scale is extremely helpful.

Why would they? IIRC I read in an interview with two set designers that they would actually like to buff the train selection up like it used to be in 9V era. They used to be so proud of the 9v system they advertised it as the fastest toy train available.

Playing Devil's advocate here, but with the way Power Functions is set up inside the train, their design options are sort of limited. Either they plate over it like with "60098" and 60052, they build a shell over it as with 7939, or they disguise part of the guts with new colors a-la 3677

Those look quick and simple, but I think I would have concerns about the middle wheel getting its rims caught on things. I guess I would suggest challenging yourself and see if you can make room for working headlights. The loco looks pretty cool as-is, though.

Hello This is directed mostly at a lot of the guys who have MOC'ed steam locomotives. Steam engines are a new tangent of lego trains for me. I am a fan of large steam. I like 'Northerns' (4-8-4 wheel arrangement) most, but many others also. There is one type of Northern that I know of, but I don't see modeled in Lego. I would like to build one for myself, and have already started gathering wheels and specific detail parts for it. I'm not too used to the mechanics yet, though. I think the chassis and running gear will be the hardest part for me. Does anyone have any helpful resources they can point out to me? Are there MOC guides available for steam locos? This is the type in question, a Russian P36 type. Like most Soviet-engineered steam engines, it has a smaller drive wheel diameter than its American counterparts, and that's something I want to take into consideration when building one. If I go with smaller driver wheels available from BBB, does that complicate the design or are they as easy to integrate as the official Lego ones?

I hope this is true. I already have a loco from 60052, but I don't have the entire set. I was still wanting to get one, since I need more track too.

You know, the automation that you think up is really just too cool. This coal facility will claim the top of my favorites list for sure.

Dan, do you have any of those trucks in use? do they also have a low rolling resistance like normal lego wheelsets, or does the brass axle housing create some? So in theory it would be beneficial to use BBB wheels in all the dummy trucks that need technic axles? Did you guys happen to test any wheels on technic axle pins? The ones that snap into technic holes?

Whaaat? 60052 hasn't even had a year on the shelves yet. Could they be doing three different sets this time instead of two?

Why would they drop these two? They just launched last year. Don't the large train sets usually last for about four years at a time?

Mike, is it possible to use the new rails without the ties? Could they be fastened to other types of plates or bricks or does their stud pattern only fit your ties?

Hate to say I have never actually seen #261 in person. They do an annual "Fall Colors" trip around October, and the one time I went to see it, they had #4449 pulling the consist for two days before she went on to Michigan. So, I got to see my childhood favorite atleast. I normally don't bother asking for instructions from anyone, but since it was #261 I couldn't help but ask. I'm not so great with figuring out steam engines yet, although I have one Northern mind to build that I haven't seen anywhere else. I was actually looking at your photos and working a solution on how I would use PF train motors instead of 9V. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

You're killing me with this Minnesota hardware. I live very close to Progressive Rail's (MN&S successor) central operations, so I see the same real switchers very frequently. I also really would like to know if you have plans for #261 available. She's the queen of the rails in my neighborhood and I really would like to build a model of it. The GN steamer also looks fantastic, and overall, the decals really help take these the extra length into realistic appearance. How did you make the headlight mounting on this loco? What piece is that?

Those trucks look awesome Ummester, and so does the overall locomotive. You and I have similar views on aesthetics vs functionality.

Holy crap. I can't believe I didn't think of something like this before. I've given myself a lot of headache trying to figure out how to model my favorite six-axle SD40-2 diesels, and here's this guy with some very simple trials. Thanks Ummester!

Mike, I have a question about your new curve pieces. Is each individual curve piece about the same size as the standard Lego straight track pieces? I'm asking for storage planning You can count on an order from me within the next month. Some of my trains are starting to not like the standard Lego curve pieces, and I really want to see my Horizon Express strutting its stuff on a broad curve.

It wasn't really all that detailed though...

Loving all of it, Zephyr. The stock cars look great.

Well, in reality the HE should be faster anyway, and to me the EN still has a nice pace to it. Your video really makes me wish I had some operable steam engines of my own, though. Only diesel and HE for me right now.

Oh man, I want to make one of those. Not in purple, though.

British rail isn't really my thing, but it looks pretty good to me.

Hello. I normally only post in the trains section, but my question here is specific to the City trucks. I want to build some autorack train cars, and I am interested in 60060 to go along with them. First of all, do we know how long 60060 will still be available? It's been out for a while longer than 60051 and 60052 so I don't feel that I can rely on number sequence to know when it will be retired. Also, I want to start scaling up all my small vehicles to six-stud wide designs. Can this truck be modified with relative ease to fit the wider cars in it, or would I have to completely re-design the entire truck from the ground up?

Really? I run a set up with one power truck on the front pulling two cars and another loco on the end. It loses speed around corners but otherwise seems to operate just fine. The HE is really, really heavy compared to other lego trains. I am surprised it needed more weight for traction.