AussieJimbo

I'm not an expert in this but from what I can glean, hot water would not distort the bricks on it's own. As per the following link, the Deflection Temperature Under Load of of ABS at 66psi is 98 degrees C. http://www.matweb.com/reference/deflection-temperature.aspx This link gives an idea what 66psi means in the real world: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=66psi So it appears to me that it's safe to wash bricks in hot or even boiling water but I'd be glad of a better explanation by an expert in plastic technology. I'd also like to know the ideal temperature for bending a bent but not broken lego piece back into shape (yellow switch track lever). :classic:

Hi Murrdoch17, glad you like it and thanks for the doing those pics for me. Cheers mate. :classic: Good idea, fred. I'd even go for a "livery pack" add on and live with holding on to the extra parts from the original if it meant Lego could justify production of those curved slopes in LMS dark red, dark blue, LNER apple green, etc. In my dreams it would be any colour on demand but I know that isn't practical. :classic:

Far out. This is fantastic. The curved section, the accurate cars and cable station, the mountain itself. Really great job, Legolas. :classic:

Ah, I missed that detail. Somehow I didn't even see the rails over the chutes, I thought it was using tipper cars from the line alongside. :classic:

Nice one, mate. I'll bet it was tough pulling all those sets apart but it was worth it. :classic:

That's a very cool model. There's probably a train with tipper cars somewhere on that layout. :classic:

I just paste links straight into the post and they work for me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weymouth_Harbour_Tramway Interesting line. Big overhead though crawling along with two blokes walking in front. I favour a Darwinian approach to these situations. Take adequate precautions and let the idiots fend for themselves. It would be great to see this preserved and/or turned into a modern tramway but the wiki article suggests the local council wants to remove it. :classic:

Very nice locomotive, jaster. I like the colour scheme and the way you've captured the varied height of the handrail. :classic:

Thanks mrblue, much appreciated. That's interesting about the piece variation L@go. I just double checked my original EN and the pieces I didn't use for this loco. The sets were purchased about six months apart and were from different batches (newer ones had the instructions in the bag, old one did not) but both have pieces with tubes. Perhaps it's a regional variation. I'm hoping Lego release this part in dark red at some stage. An LMS version would look really nice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Princess_Royal_Class :classic:

I was thinking theatre until you said shop fittings. We haven't seen your pub yet have we? (Though that wouldn't really have shop fittings either) :classic:

Great diner, Ralph. I'm sure you could put a great little town together. :classic:

I had early reservations about simplified pieces but I've overcome them and have to say I'm really loving this theme. Somehow the cars look better in your hands than they do in the photos. I picked up Mack and Flo's V8 Cafe the other day and they are both great sets. Sarge and Finmore are particularly nice models. Doing all those stickers on Mack was a bit of a stress but I managed to get them all lined up without any major dramas. Looking forward to seeing Cars 2, the movie. :classic:

Thanks LGG, I'm glad you like it. :classic:

Excellent work, Rustie86. Great loco and the baggage car and coaches look very nice. Well done. :classic:

Great new fire engine, Ralph_S. A fine addition to your emergency vehicle fleet. :classic:

Cheers, LT12V. The original EN is very happy to have a shiny new friend. Thanks mate. My railway isn't based on a particular region per se. The station is based on Cooma station (with some liberties) but NSWGR inherited a broadly British tradition so it could just as easily be a mainline station in the UK. Overall the Lego engines represent a mix of locations anyway, with the electric trains from the RC and PF sets looking European, the EN having a clearly British feel (though Pacifics were used world-wide) and the Maersk looking distinctly American. It's not hard to think of an excuse for a visiting loco anyway. :-) Thanks, FLB. L@go's sorted you out with that link. The original EN pieces have tubes, the brown ones do not but it doesn't seem to make much difference in this application. I really look forward to seeing your yellow version. :classic:

Thanks roamingstudio, L@go and OzVP. Cheers, I had wondered if there would be too much brown but once it was built I was really pleased with how it fits in with the coaches. The first one is a bit off. The wall is painted cream but the whites in the other shots look OK to me. Perhaps I need to check the calibration of my monitor. :classic: Just checked in photoshop and the whites are a bit warm when compared to pure white. Might be due to the yellow shaded lamp I forgot to turn off nearby (you can see it shining off the station roof in the fourth shot). Thanks for pointing it out, I'll do an AWB with a white card next time though it can also be tricky to get the lighting consistent across a wide scene. All part of the learning process. :classic:

Inspired by L@go's colourful creation, I thought it was about time for one of my spare Emerald Night locos to get a new paint job too. I had been thinking of a light grey version to match the ex-works livery of the new Tornado A1 but didn't have enough curved slopes without pulling apart my passenger coaches. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Peppercorn_Class_A1_60163_Tornado Checking on bricklink, other options for the curved slopes were red or black, which I've seen done before, yellow which might be interesting or brown, which it appears is available in only one set, the Pirate Code game 3840 with 8 per set. Given the set was in stock and on special I had no choice but to proceed. It took me a while to find a real-life loco with a brown livery but I found one living on the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, a fantastic 15 inch railway in Kent, England. Large Winston Churchill rests while on duty at the Bure Valley Railway in Norfolk. http://www.rhdr.org.uk/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romney,_Hythe_and_Dymchurch_Railway I'd really love to visit this historic little railway one day and once I'd seen it, I knew I had to name my new loco after their excellent engine number 9. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, here are a few photos. Large Large Large Large :classic:

Finally picked up a Sort and Store head at Belconnen K-Mart. Yay! One more there. Saw QAR at TRU with a standard ticket price of $159, pretty sure I would have got it for 20% off that if I wanted it. Instead used the 20% off to pick up a few Pirates Code games, primarily for some particular parts I want for a MOD. :classic:

I'm toying with the real water idea (though I can't see myself doing it). You'd start off with blue base plates underwater so you could build submerged rocks, bridge footings, islands, etc. The base plates also let you put your non-floatable boats like the Maersk container ship, pirates, etc on concealed stands. For the floatable boats, you'd use the base plates to mount some technic gears and a great long chain underwater to which you attach the boats so you can sail them around automatically. Should be able to find some sort of square or rectangular pond liner to mount it all in. Too easy. -biggrin- :classic:

Well done finding a way to make it work. Looks great. :classic:

Great modular building, toorayay. Plenty of space and entertainment for the party goers and that barber shop with the tiled, recessed entrance and that beautiful curved window is just superb. Very well done. :classic:

Nice old promo material and great discussion point. I'd like to do a nice wharf with train tracks and maybe a tracked gantry crane like the one from cimddwc's awesome cargo terminal. How about real water integrated into the layout for those floating boats. Now that's a challenge. Once you've got that sussed, you'd want a working Falkirk Wheel with floating canal boats. You could have a nearby train station for the tourists and maybe a transhipment point for cargo to and from the canal. :classic:

Unusual but I like it. Nice job. :classic:

-Laugh- Yeah, they may well have done. That's Hollywood. Awesome, good luck with it. Look forward to seeing that. :classic: