ColletArrow

Wonderful! The cab windows are shaped incredibly well, with masterful smoothness despite the compund angle. Any plans to build her in real bricks?

That video looks great, I do enjoy the slower speed you get from a motor and gearbox compared to the standard train motor. May I bring your attention to the part Technic Engine Crankshaft? It has a 0.5stud offset, perfect for adding coupling rods to standard-size train wheels. I used them on my own 0-4-0 shunter, although I'm not claiming it's my idea by any means! Mine was on standard train motor, together with 2x 7m half liftarms and 4x half bushings: Word of warning: the train wheels are a little wider than a standard half lift-arm. This means that the remaining bit of 6m axle isn't quite enough to hold onto the crankshaft securely; I often use blu-tack to help keep the crankshafts in place! You'll also want to keep the bushings a little loose to not cause too much friction.

What an incredibly tidy loco! I always enjoy this off-centre-cab shunter style, and you've snuck the PU elements in incredibly neatly - I especially like the side doors and the cab window piece. As for obtaining 4-wheel drive - why not try what the real thing often did, and add connecting rods? I think they look good on shunting engines, and since you've still got a continuous axle on the rear axle they should stay properly quartered.

What a collection! These are all simply fantastic, I do prefer seeing trains built in 6-wide but with a good level of detail as you've consistenly achieved. I think my favourite models of the lot has to be the coaches, especially the blue-and-white one; have you got a loco to haul them yet?

3: 10 5: 6 7: 4 6: 3 1: 2 8: 1 Overall there was some impressive work on a challenging competition here, and I've been enjoying watching everyone's progress (albeit silently)!

That does look fantastic! I don't think we see much railway infrastructure on here, but using the rounded plates within the arch is simply genious, and creates a really neat appearance with the arch stonework. I think the keystone is pretty good as it is too, I can't think what else you could put there. Good work!

I've seen a few builds of these over the years but yours is very nicely propotioned, with that perfect balance of simple appearance but with little details. And of course the spinning blade is fantastic! Unfortunately I too can't see the video (I just get an "invalid signature" page). I don't think you can actually embed flickr videos, just put a link to the page or to your account instead?

@XG BC those last two sets of locos are just full of charm - simple but fantastic! I wonder if you could build a small enough van wagon they could "pull", but big enough to conceal some circuit cubes bits...

Very nice, good to see some scientific testing here! My instinct tells me that as you add the weight of a loco on top, the longer wheelbases become less and less happy to make the "jump" over the checkrail on the points - maybe something for your next video? Just placing the battery box on top of the wheels rahter than it's own cart will give you a good head-start, and you could see how many extra weight bricks (or just anything heavy tbh) you can add with the motor still propelling it through the points. Then, for comparison, we need to know how heavy some train MOCs are... unfortunately I'm at uni so don't have any to hand, anyone willing to weight their trains for Science?

Nice presentation in the video, as always! However, I would echo @Barduck's concerns - in my models I've found a wheelbase of 13 studs between flanged drivers is already pushing it when going through standard LEGO R40 points, so I don't have high hopes for the 17 studs of your chassis here. Putting the flanged drivers one axle inwards as @Barduck suggested would reduce the wheelbase to 9 studs, which would go through curves far more comfortably (although with more overhang at each end, of course). Do you plan to build a loco with this chassis, and if so do you have a specific one in mind?

I opened this thread without really reading the title, and thought that's a very neat-looking truck, a reasonable size with nice details and good functions, and including a well-built HIAB crane. Then I saw it was a C-model and I had to retrieve my jaw from the floor Fantastic work!

Interesting thoughts - it must be said I didn't actually check any real-life trucks when I built this one! I did have a play with how best to conceal the wheels - one attempt was to use modern 92402 tyres, which almost fit. An alternative option was the older tyres 2346 which have practically the same diameter; these were better than the small tyres, since completely concealing the red hubs was easy. However I found pretty quickly that the increased diameter caused traction issues - whether this was due to the larger diameter requiring more torque, or the rail wheels not mounted properly I'm not sure, but I quickly reverted back to the standard ones as seen above. Unfortunately with the smaller tyres if you attach a 2x2 round tile to them you can still see a sliver of red around the edge, but I'll see what I can do!

This is a stupendous creation - an incredibly good-looking model (I do love dark green!), with a perfect compliement of functions to boot. And those comparison photos blew me away - your skill in matching the model photos to real-life is very impressive, and show off just how good your model is! Fantastic work.

Thank you all, I'm glad you've enjoyed it! @Hod Carrier I'm far too late for ocTrainber! Even if I had had this idea at the time, it would have had to stay a digital model - I only had the ability to test and build my idea when I came home for Christmas! It did occur to me whilst building that I should take a leaf out of @Paperinik77pk's book and try to build something a little more in the 12v style - with the simpler bricks it might even be a bit lighter too, although on second thoughts the small train wheels weren't around until the 9V era so I'm not sure how I'd go about it.

Definitely nothing wrong with standard-gauge 6-wide - it's what I nominally stick to, although often with overhangs I end up at 7w, but that size works well for the slightly smaller British loading gauge. Regarding narrow-gauge being "harder to power for a beginner" - have you seen the Circuit Cubes motors and battery pack? Many members of this forum have proven how incredibly versatile they are - with their much smaller footprint they make narrow-gauge builds significantly easier. I'm sure you'll be able to find plenty of inspiration if you choose to go down that route instead!

Good work! I've never really paid much attention to the Hobby Train set, it was a bit before my time in LEGO Trains, but this looks like a neat little engine and you've done well to fit the PU gubbins inside neatly. Do you have any rolling stock she can haul?

Afternoon all! I'd like to present my latest road-rail maintenance vehicle, that has a trick up it's sleeve... Overall it's a farily normal truck - 6W, a sufficient cab and a flatbed with a utility crane. It also has additional head and tail lights at both the front and rear for bi-directional running, and handrails and a ladder for easy minifig access. But on the other side, strange things are going on... That doesn't look normal. If you've read the title, I'm sure you've figured out what's coming next! This model started out in stud.io, as an experiment to see what I could potentially use the circuit cubes motors for if I bought them. Then I realised I'm probably not going to buy them before Christmas, but I was taken with the idea of a powered road-rail truck... so my thoughts turned to the LEGO clockwork motors. I received one of these Yellow Wind-Up Motors as a "silly" christmas gift last year, so I thought I'd finally put it to some use. I first tested whether my madcap idea would even work - I found that by placing the rail wheels just above the railtops then the weight of the truck rests on the road tyres, and the rail wheels only need to use their flanges to keep it on the track. I was pleasantly surprised to discover it worked quite well! So I set about building a truck around it. The placement of the rail-wheel hinges turned out to be vital - the wheels themselves need to be as close to the road wheels as possible so the wheelbase is short and the tyres stay in contact with the rails. As it happens the wheels can't be lifted as high off the road as I'd like, but it works. This shows how the rail wheels don't actually support the weight of the truck, just guide it around corners. You can also see the top of the yellow motor actually protrudes one plate above the rest of the flat deck, cleverly disguised by the pallet. As mentioned earlier, the truck also has a small crane. I could replace this with a better-looking one, but it turns out keeping the weight down is essential so this simple, light arm will do. It's also possible to hook up a trolley for extra capacity, but again for best performance from the motor it needs as little weight as possible, so this is rarely used. Now, the bit I'm sure you were all scrolling for: the video! I've got my loop of track set up around the christmas tree, so that's where I filmed it - enjoy! As you can see, from one full wind-up it can manage about 1.5 laps of my christmas tree layout, or about 45 standard lengths of track (so a total of 720 studs). Not that impressive really, but still quite fun. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, I must dash!

Good work! You made an interesting model out of what could be considered a very plain subject - there's a lot of subtlety here, with the partially-sideways door and claws recessed into the back of the headlight bricks. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but the worn quality of the bricks gives the wagon a "well-used" feeling too. Nice job!

I think I'm pleasantly surprised by this one, it could easily have come out worse. It looks like a good sized, functional set for the price point; similar in functions (even if not quite scale) to the compact skid-steer loader we got last year, but with steering thrown in too this time. It'll go well with the collection of mini technic models already on my shelf! As usual, this is the only set I'll be buying this year... partially because it's the only one that interests me, and partially because I'm still a student with little spare income for LEGO

Fully agreed - the Xerion has enough parts count that it looks neat, tidy and recognisable, *and* has two or three functions. This looks...well, I don't like being harsh, especially on mini-models where you're heavily limited by parts. But this loader is a right mess - I didn't realise was Volvo until I saw the logo on the packet, and I'm somewhat surprised Volvo let their name be put on it. The cab is full of worm gear! On the other hand I know that as a 7+ year-old I would definitely have asked to buy it, so here's hoping it'll sell well and get more people into Technic.

I don't know if anyone's noticed, but the link above now has a high-res image on it... Yeh it's not that great for us train-heads, is it? Fairly simple, the three-part pantograph and the ingots for the doors aren't bad, but the sides and the slopes along the sides of the roof are kind of boxy and plain. Also it doesn't look like the wheels are even on bogies, so corners will be fun! The box art in @zephyr1934's link reminds me heavily of BRIO or wooden-railway trains; maybe that's the market they're aiming this set at?

Fantastic! I've just realised I never clarified, I was actually talking about the loco itself when I first mentioned it - since it's much smaller than the coaches it's also much lighter, and thus a little less stable. But comparing the latest wobbly-ised train with the original, I think I can say it's now more realistic! How well does it run the other way, with the "loco" "propelling"? I would expect it to be very similar, since the train structure is practically symmetrical with the powered coach in the middle and an unpowered coach and small, light truck (effectively) at each end. (Did I mention one of our party refused to get the train on the way back on our trip, preferring instead to walk? This might have been why... )

It is most definitely still operating - I was on it this afternoon! I was going to the New Forest for a walk, and hopped on the ferry and then the pier train, since the main railway line was closed for works. In fact, whilst I was riding this very train, I glanced at my phone and there was this page, with a LEGO version of the very same train staring straight back at me - couldn't beat that for timing! Hey, I think you can call that prototypical, it's not exactly a quiet train. Overall you've assembled a fantastic little train of models, which looks very good as a complete set of somewhat mis-matched carriages and loco. The doors technique works very well (even if it means you can't pose them open - we left them wide open throughout our journey today ), and the circuit-cubes power adds yet another level of interest. The only thing from the video is the engine looks a tad light and wobbly - would there be any way to add weight to it? Finally, it has to be asked - are you going to build a model of the pier next? Make sure to leave the prototepyical gaps between the planks, so you can look out of the train carriage straight down to the sea below!

Stupdenous work! At first glance, it looks very good. Then you start looking closer at all the excellent brick techniques that capture the shapes perfectly (especially around those cab and side windows), and finally you see the lights and hear the sounds... you've built another all-around fantastic model, well done!

Fantastic! I'm probably echoing what everybody else has been saying, but that you've got such a functional little critter with not only power but a working uncoupler, in such a small and yet accurately-detailed body, is no mean feat. And the whole unloading scene is perfect, there's just so much to like there. As usual, excellent work all around - it looks like those judging OcTRAINber are going to have a challenge this year, as always!