AussieJimbo

Really fantastic work from all three of you. The end result is magnificent. Tres bon. :classic:

Thanks guys, glad you like it. I'll see what I can do about giving the minifigs a place to sit. :classic:

Keeps getting better and better, LT. The curvy access to the town and the angled gates of the yard work well. I look forward to your choice of centre piece for the park. You could also have one of those signs proudly proclaiming the population, tidy town status, lions, rotary clubs, etc. :classic:

Thanks LT. Do you mean some lights up above the windscreen? I tried a couple of trans orange rounds but it didn't look quite right. Not modelled on anything in particular beyond a generic long nose. The design emerged from the bricks my now MOC'ed-without-being-built Off Road Power set gave me plus a few other bits and pieces (mainly the wheel sets). :classic:

Having branched into 8-wide with my earlier bus, I wanted to try building a prime mover. This one doesn't have steering (maybe later with some mods) but I was able to include opening doors. Next step is the build a nice trailer for it to haul. Here are some photos: Large Large Large Large Large Large Large Large Comments and suggestions always appreciated. :classic:

Great little ice cream parlor, Mariko. All the interior details are very nice and that exterior with the great ice cream cone looks just right. Well done. :classic:

Thanks for that post from your bloke at Ford, DLuders. Very informative. Your design looks interesting. fmmjqtft, that refinement at the top of the page looks very good. Here is the latest version I've been working on. It meets the rotation requirement with narrow wheels, with the wide ones it's a bit out but the movement is still well contained. I simplified the steering linkage and tidied up the support structure. This iteration has proven smooth and reliable, standing up well to multipoint turns and enthusiastic driving around the coffee table. With the narrow wheels it could be hidden in a 6-wide with a bit of tile work around the front but I think I'm going to leave the wide wheels on it and build a chunky 8-wide truck of some kind first. Large Large Large Large :classic:

Very nice station LT12V, great architectural design. I also like the way you did the ticket window and the surprise resident in the roof is a nice touch. Top job. :classic:

Thanks for convincing me I don't really have a Lego storage problem. :-) I'm in a tidy up phase at the moment, also wanting a more presentable room back. I've flattened lots of boxes and prepared the ones I'm not flattening to go up into the "attic" (ie. roof space). I won't be deLegofying the room entirely but at least making it look a bit less like a Lego warehouse. :classic:

That looks like a good solution. To avoid the blue pin slipping, you could replace it with a 3 axle and lock it underneath with a 2 x-hole half thickness beam with the blue pin in the next hole along. :classic:

The finished result is absolutely fantastic, LT. Too many small details to mention them individually, so many great bits of machinery all adding up to a really convincing workshop and supply store. (I will mention one detail, I really like the use of minifig stands and black tiles for the mats, very effective) Top job mate. :classic:

Alright, here is the 6-wide proof of concept. Please ignore the superfluous sticky out bits (2x8 black plate, 7 wide black beam, big overhang at the front), I was scratching about for parts. At the moment the steering is reversed (turn left, goes right) but that's trivial to fix with some gearing. The grey bricks stop the long push rods (dark grey beams) from moving outwards too far and indicate where the sides will be in a future model. I needed some jumper plates (in white, hard to see) to shift to vertical steering axis half a stud for correct alignment. Large Large Large A side effect of the design is that at full lock, the wheel being pulled (the higher wheel in the shot below) gets overdriven (turned too far). The effect of this is to decrease the turning circle so I see it as a good problem to have (at the cost of slight scuffing) but of course you could prevent it by simply limiting the available lock. Large Look out for a steerable 6-wide in the Town forum some time soon. :classic:

Couldn't help myself, kept playing and managed to get a rough proof of concept working based on the above. Now very, very AM here so photos will have to wait until tomorrow. :classic:

OK, here's the latest version. I'll probably attach push rods to those lugs (T-pieces which I forgot to replace with red technic 2 axles). That will definitely be a job for tomorrow, it's 3:30am here. Can't help myself when I'm working on an idea. :doh: Large Large Large :classic:

No such thing as an "illegal" connection in my book. (well maybe some, but I don't think that one breaks any rules) ;-) However it really was too flimsy so it was back to the drawing board. Sometimes you have to get it wrong a few times to work out what you need to do. I've now got a much more stable technic built wheel assembly which I'm confident I can build into a steering mechanism tomorrow. :classic:

Edit: Didn't work, see below. --------------------------------------------------------- Looks like it might work but the I think key question will be the torsional strength in the connections with the black cylinder. Won't know until tomorrow, too late to embark upon the steering linkage tonight (and I want to pay attention to Q3) :-) Large Large :classic:

Edit: This one looked nice but was too flimsy, see below. --------------------------------------------------------- I've built a new wheel subassembly that gives a point of rotation above rim centre and should allow me to shave at least 2 studs off the width of the overall steering mechanism. The wheel will rotate about the top blue half-pin. You can slide the beige brick a little to shift the point of rotation with respect to the rim. You can also replace place the grey 3/4 pin with a blue half-pin for use with a smaller wheel. Large Large With any luck, a 6-wide vehicle with tight steering is not far off. :classic:

Picked up the Hillside House for $70.20 at Myer Tuggeranong with the 20% plus MyerOne 10% and a great big pink Hello Kitty bag thrown in for my niece (for spending more than $50 on toys, option was a Transformers bag). Plenty of people there snapping up Lego bargains. A lady bought the last QAR while I was there, apparently they had the Tower Bridge but it sold out. Several Imperial Flagships available if you are looking for one. BTW, if you are a numpty who lost their MyerOne card within days of receiving it, you can quote the number off the letter they sent you and still get the discount. -oops- :classic:

I've used that config on long trains too. It also helps overcome the difficulties of grades and tight bits of trackwork like horseshoe curves. The Maersk has been strong enough not to warrant it on the trains I've run with it so far. However there reaches a point where the train will pull itself off the track if there is too much weight or drag on the far end so you have no choice but to add a helper engine, as you would in real life for all the same reasons. :classic:

I prefer the previous version boxes with the flip up lid. I've got a few smaller models stored away in the few of those that I've got. The flip lid also gave you much more interesting box art and examples to look at. :classic:

Very nice scene, darkdragon. So much going on. Plenty of details to look at. :classic:

Excellent work, LG12V. Very imposing and powerful looking DB loco. I think it's great how you've paid tribute to the Teddy's model/Toastie's assistance whilst adding your own refinements. The result looks really nice next to your train station and the BR-23. :classic:

Spectacular layout, MXLPT. The bridge is magnificent and the terrain and scenery is just fantastic. Awesomazing. :classic:

I understand that the XL motor in the Emerald Night draws much more current and delivers more power that the PF train motor. There were some specs posted in an earlier thread I believe. There will also be a certain amount of loss in the EN drive train that will make it less efficient than directly driving the four wheels of a dual motored PF loco. All my recent tracks have had curved grades on them (one plate per track segment up thick rugs, 2 plates per segment down) which have limited my testing of the ultimate pulling power of the 2PF Maersk loco. (I set up big rambling layouts like your's ZueriHB but I envy your hoard of straights) I've been meaning to set up a nice big easy loop to see just how many cars it can pull comfortably on flat ground. There's no doubt it's a very capable machine. :classic:

Cheers Legoless and LGG for your great feedback. I'm glad you like it. Thanks for the video. Those cars look very nice but capturing that curvy look would be tricky to emulate in Lego. Sure it could be done somehow though. The details of the mechanism are also really useful. One of my planned modifications is to add those little pulleys at the top of the track. I'll have to keep the main drive wheel offset to the side however as I don't think I can fit everything in a low enough profile to keep it under the loading area. It's a bit precarious to work on at the moment. I'll get up that shot of the setup a bit later today. There's a whole load of green plates (thick mini base plates from the log cabin sets) that will ultimately be used for landscaping but I'm currently using all of them to support my country train station and platforms on a not quite wide enough shelf so they are unavailable for the moment. :doh: I've got a few more ideas to work on for the slope but any additional suggestions for slanted scenery would be gladly accepted. My Lego budget is a bit limited right now but I might grab one of the new Hillside House sets and put it on a real hillside. Call a 5 plate rise a hill? -scoffs- -laugh- :classic: