rebelego

I am cleaning up in old video files and found that some could be published: Video recorded at Oslo Mini Maker Faire 2013. The trains are equipped with LokSound decoders, warm white LEDs and Seuthe smoke generators. The trains are controlled by an RCX 1.0 with LDCC firmware and powered by a home made DCC booster. For more info take a look at these threads: http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=70937 http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=71511

May I ask which decoder and where you bought it or got the sounds? I have considered to get one myself from Olivia's Trains or Howes Models in UK.

Here is my current layout for inspiration. About 2x3 m.

My experience is that you need a voltage in the upper voltage range of the Seuthe smoke generators to make them work properly. The #99 has a range 8-14 V, so the 9 V (or less) you get from the batteries is not enough. Though, the production yield seems to be high, so you might get smoke like a cigarette in an ashtray. I don't use PF myself, but if I understand it right, it use a PWM signal, so regarding AnyVoltMicro I don't think you can use it, or maybe it will work if you set the power to max. If there is a constant analog 9 V signal from the battery box, you can try to connect the AnyVoltMicro directly to the battery box. BTW: I don't use the AnyVoltMicro any more, as I now use 12 V on the track.

As far as I know the source code has never been available for download. The LDCC firmware is found here: http://home.surewest.../dcc/index.html

Krøderbanen - Norway's longest museum. Norwegian Railway Museum - Nice collection of steam engines.

Why not go up in scale and use LGB track or other track made for garden railways? I have done that, but I have to admit that the main reason was that I wanted a live steam engine. The rolling stock is scratch built using LEGO and wheels from BBB. If you have to move the track in and out, you will end up not using your railway much.

A true maker shouldn't need more than the video to have enough inspiration to create his own version. I might bring this to the Oslo Mini Maker Faire next year. This year I had my lego train layout on display. Unless you have an old Mamod, Wilesco or similar steam engine or can get one for free, I wouldn't bother buying one. The engine runs only OK for about a minute or so. It is not something you can run continuously all day. Though, a lot of improvements can be done like - Replacing the solid fuel burner with a gas burner. - Add a steam valve. - Remove the useless whistle which leaks steam. - Add a water top-up valve. BTW: I am a bit surprised that the lego pneumatic hose doesn't melt. What would be really cool would be to make an engine using the pneumatic cylinders running on steam.

Thanks! Not sure what you ask about. How a steam engine works is probably better described at Wikipedia. I have tried, but the engine is way too weak. Here are the videos that gave me the inspiration to make this: http://www.youtube.c...mlord111/videos

A live steam contraption I made from an old Mamod SE.2a steam engine and LEGO. I have bin bit by the live steam garden railway bug.

Check out the videos found here http://www.youtube.c...ailwaytv/videos

Thanks for the info! This looks promising.

Has anyone tried LEGO and BBB train wheels on LGB tracks? Does it work or is the flange too high?

Nice! Off-topic: What smoke generator do you use? Looks like it doesn't get enough power and cough and spit oil. (?)

I had the 970 set for my 4,5V trains.

Thanks for sharing. It sounds just like the vinyl dyes I have tried. Though, the VHT quality sounds good. The ones I have tried is the gray and black from Biltema and a rather expensive one with much better quality from SEM mixed by a local dealer. Though, trying to get good color matching for other than black is difficult or expensive. The local SEM dealer could mix colors until I got a perfect match, but I would have to pay full price for each can of test blend, and they expected at least four attempts to get a good match.

Thanks for the info. No, LDCC doesn't support such kind of feedback. It only support a basic set of DCC commands controlled by the old LEGO IR remote, or same signals sent from other devices like the IR tower, the RCX, etc. So, for automated train detection and control I use an RCX with reed-switches attached. The LDCC is very limited, so I'm looking into more advanced stuff. Though, I find the ECoS command station a bit expensive.

Cool! Thanks for sharing. Is the level crossing motor driven directly from the ECoS detector or do you use some other decoder unit? Is it possible to configure and use the ECoS detector as a stand-alone unit, or is a ECoS command station required?

What?! Already sold out? I'm away for two days and missed it. When do you expect to get the next batch?

There is some overcurrent detection that cuts off the output. No danger to shortcircuit. This is made for children to play with. The "radio interference device" is called a ferrite.

Oups! You are right. Bricktrix has already given the answer at flickr: "The smoke stack is a combination of a thick rubber tyre, a medium size 3 spoked steering wheel and a thin (square profile)LEGO rubber band angled at 45 degrees for the angled lip, plus a gold sticker pin stripe ;)".

Excellent model! I'm bumping this old thread because I try to figure out which parts are used for the chimney. Looks like a 2x2 dish on top and bottom and maybe a wheel hub between. Any help?

I would also recommend DCC. I use LokSound decoders which adds sound to the engines, but 50 LokSound decoders will be quite expensive. With DCC you may also automate the whole layout with software like Rocrail, etc. For lubrication I use white lithium grease. Also used on axles, pins and rods to make my steam engines run smooth.

Thanks everybody! Yes, it is BBB XL wheels, which I think look a lot better on this engine. Regarding the front bogie... The only image I have is this: Quite straight forward with a 4x6 plate and two 1x6 technic bricks. Here you also see that I use six mini magnets and a reed switch to sync the sound with the wheels.

Sorry for crossposting, but I thought this image belonged here as well... The rods are really nice. I hope it will be possible to order black again. I don't mind doing some drilling and deburring myself.