ColletArrow

Well this is a lot more... everything, than I though it was going to be! 8w, some excellent parts usage around, and the new non-metal-axled wheels IN RED (dang, @ScotNick got there slightly quicker!)... I can't tell for sure, not even from the New Elementary review, but it looks to me as if the main driving wheels may be on a separate bogie (notice the air gap under the cab) and the leading wheels on another. This seems odd, especially as the connecting rods will look even weirder than they do already. That could be my imagination though. I agree; with the PU system not requiring a separate receiver unit, why not place all the electronic components (all two of them!) in the same place, allowing the loco to be whatever shape it fancies. Also allows a completely custom loco to be built and motorized simply by coupling it with this ready-made tender. All in all, certainly an interesting set from LEGO.

An excellent representation of the "bumper-trains", the first trains I saw in Denmark ! Everything about your model is neat and clean from top to bottom, and faithful to the prototype. Regarding the annoying but necessary gaps; how does the set look with the cars closer together, even if they can't run that way? Finally, I'm comparing notes on the prototype; Denmark went for moving the entire control panel and window to convert a large cab to a large gangway, wheras British Rail decided with it's class 150/153/156 etc to squeeze in fixed and narrow cabs, gangways and guard's compartments on each end instead!

Excellent fun! A layout that works is so much more interesting than a plain circle, and even better when it's all "remotely" controlled. Are you shunting randomly, or trying to make a set train dictated by shuffled cards, dice etc? If only someone could build a precise, powerful shunter... Seriously, I would recommend trying a loco (or at least a simple chassis to experiment) with a geartrain rather than the standard train motor; a much more realistic yard speed can be achieved, and with precise stopping control too. Either way, I look forward to seeing more of this layout.

I've been following the activities in this thread for a while, and these locomotives - in fact, everything in this thread - looks stunning. It's good that you found the real loco to use for the first one, it's always better to avoid building a model of a model! I hope you get to build them in bricks soon, they should look fantastic running.

This system is becoming quite impressive; running it should be quite enjoyable, and that switch tower hides everything in a very tidy way. Do you think you could add a few signals (moving-arm or colour-light) to control entrance and exit to the yard?

As far as I know: since forum upgrades, the season-theme-changing for the rest of the site (and some fixed themes, such as Trains and Technic) started causing problems. These were solved by leaving the default setting to "Spring_2018"; lavender-and-green, bunnies and all. Some forums, such as Technic, have created and installed new themes, similar to the old; some haven't. However, all is not lost; the "theme" of the site can be selected manually! Scroll to the very bottom of the site, underneath the advert banner, and click on the drop-down menu "theme". I've got mine set to "City", the fixed theme used in the Town forum; I suspect @Toastie's is "TEST" or "Unedited New Theme (DON'T EDIT)". I would love it if the EB team could create and install a new train theme (perhaps Maersk, TGV and EN might look good); however, I appreciate it's probably not at the top of the priority list!

Very nicely done! I've been sketching a few similar models in LDD recently, so seeing such a good rendition of the class was a nice surprise. I like your bonnet design and handrails; I've been always stuck trying to get a (nearly) 4-wide bonnet around a battery box, which pretty much limits the livery choice to the uninspiring BR Railfreight Grey. I think the class is quite pleasing, the only Type 1 single-cab locos surviving on UK main-line metals. I can't wait to see this model with enhanced lighting and decoration, it should look fantastic.

Looking good! How many wagons can each siding fit, and how many will the yard limits allow to be drawn out? Also, are you planning on adding any scenery such as buildings, a loading platform or a crane? I think the layout would benefit from somewhere to pose a few minifig workers to give more life to the yard.

I think I was still lurking when I first saw this challenging project, but I'm glad to see it's revived - I love the idea and the execution so far. I'll certainly be paying attention to your work!

I think this is the first 4-wide-bonnet shunter I've seen using the PU battery hub - and it looks perfect! The fact that such a small, motorised loco using unmodified LEGO parts is possible now is brilliant to me. And I think there's enough space to incorporate working headlamps, at least at the cab end. I'd love to see this diminutive engine running!

My first instinct was it's just a custom 3D printed part. But looking closer, working on @deraven's comments, and considering the unusual length of the track "arms" each side of the crossing, is it possible that someone just took 4 standard straight pieces and spliced them together? I think it was done by cutting a 45-degree arrowhead onto each part (or at least the rails themselves), gluing them together, and then adding some tiles to cover up the mess. By my reckoning the crossing has an out-of-grid length of 30 studs - assuming it's symmetrical. Each "arm" appears to be 12 studs long, either side of the 6 stud "square" in the middle. This supports my hypothesis of cutting and joining 16-stud lengths of track, and also makes the crossing pretty much useless for real track circuits as far as I can tell. Only a 16x16 will work if you're building a simple figure-of-8 with standard 16-stud straights and curves.

@zephyr1934 Thank you! I had a built a small repair workshop at the time, so it seemed fitting to have a few run-down wagons around. Hmm. In the original configuration, no. However, I think it should be possible to either position the motor higher in the cab with space for gearing up before the worm, or to apply the drive series to the central axle rather than the rear. The reason I did neither here is because I was trying to keep the simplest mechanism possible, to reduce the room for error and friction build-up. I'll have another look at the options when I get back home in a few weeks, but in the mean time anyone else is free to have a play with the LDD file: https://bricksafe.com/pages/Collet22/gwr-pannier-tank-v2.

It had an excellent slow-speed start up on the 1st notch of the speed controller. Shame it couldn't get much above that! Thanks, and I've been thinking about PU quite a bit. It certainly takes out the receiver, but the battery box is a much lighter colour and need an extra stud or two for the connectors at one end. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the LEDs. As for the driver, I always like to position them to one side - it's a lot more prototypical, especially for low-speed shunting where looking along the side aids precision stopping. Also, because he's on the right, he's technically the fireman - the driver should be on the left, but I decided to model that side "door" as closed. Perhaps the driver is busy with the regulator. Thank you! Squeezing PF into compact models is always satisfying to me. It would also be interesting to put the PF back in with fresh batteries, and properly measure the pulling power. The "20 ton brake van" doesn't actually weigh very much at all; it's the braking force, and hence the name, allocated by BR to the prototype that I based the model on.

Very tidy! There's some excellent parts usage around the whole model, and it certainly stands out with its size, colours, and details. Fantastic work.

That's certainly a very smart collection, with a good balance of detail and scale. A perfect compliment to your locomotives, and well executed. Good work!

Thanks - and I've fixed that slightly for you! @CaL - I would love to try a buwizz for all the reasons you listed above, but mainly the space-saving aspect. Unfortunately, as a University student, they are way out of my budget (of £0). @Paperinik77pk - Thank you! I always enjoy building smaller models; it's a fun challenge to make them work, and these projects can be frequent, quick and cheap.

It's about time I posted this, I only built it a year ago... The Pannier Tanks were the Great Western Railway's most prominent 0-6-0 tank engines. With the water tanks mounted to the boiler sides rather than the frames, easy access to the inside motion was possible, whilst keeping the centre of gravity lower than on a saddle tank. The design proved successful; these ubiquitous locos could be found anywhere from GWR shunting yards to branchlines and subsidary routes, and in their later years many were used to bank heavy trains up the notorious Lickey Incline. They are also possibly my favourite British 0-6-0, primarily because my first OO gauge model was of one. This model is my second attempt at this loco in real bricks, but the 3rd or 4th digital revision. The first can be seen in this old topic, about 1/4 down. Whilst that model was not terrible, the unusual motor placement produced... interesting running. I've had constant trouble with designing robust, powerful gear trains, not helped by the fact I only have access to m-motors. For this new version I considered using the train motor; whilst this is economical on space and eliminates the need for a gear train, it also runs like a rocket, more so when given larger diameter steam driver wheels. The opposite way was to keep the m-motor but introduce a worm gear, which increases the model's power but at the cost of speed. I decided I'd have a go. This model therefore uses a battery box in the boiler/tank, as low and far forwards as possible; a receiver just behind it in the firebox; and an m-motor, vertical but low in the middle of the cab. It's output is directly onto a worm gear, which meshes with a pinion on the rear axle. In the WIP picture below, the running boards and wheel splashers have been added to the basic chassis, ready for the tanks and cab built over it all. For more pictures, here's the bricksafe folder: https://bricksafe.com/pages/Collet22/gwr-pannier-tank-v2. It also contains the .lxf file, which features a possible alternative gear arrangement I haven't tried, using the newer worm gear. And here she is complete, basking in last August's sunshine: So, what's the result of all this? The model has turned out to be a reliable, powerful... snail. Here she is running crawling along, with a quick BR 20-ton Brake Van "in need of restoration" (i.e. built from what I had to hand!): Overall then; a successful loco, and well suited to me given the diminutive size of my "layout". I'm sure the slow speed doesn't suit everyone, but if you need a powerful shunter that can cope with poor track, heavy loads and more, this mechanism has you covered. And as for this loco in particular? She didn't last long in this form. By December I had decided she was too slow, and so switched the PF components into a model of an "Autocoach" (A single carriage with an extra drivers cab at the non-loco end). Nearly a year on the pannier still survives, but only as a "dead" loco for now. Thanks for reading!

I've been thinking about your excellent decoupler system for a while, even integrated it into a couple of digital models, but have yet to build it with bricks. This loco looks fantastic, with a clean (if fictional) livery and decals. My only niggle is with the end grilles; they look a bit flat, especially when compared to the side ones. Also, when I first looked at it I thought it was 6w with a 4w bonnet, and that you'd perfectly integrated the PU hub at the back! Maybe an idea for someone else...

An excellent, striking livery for this locomotive. The brick-built lining really makes the model stand out from its sisters. Very well done. And although the bridge is beautiful, I'd like to see the loco posed on plain track to see the whole model at once!

I can only echo what Hod Carrier's said - you've created a fantastic looking model of a truly bizarre prototype, even if it doesn't work all that well. I also think that the bogie design is a spectacular piece of engineering, as is getting the external shaping looking accurate. It's almost the complete reverse of the original, in that it looks better than the power it puts out!

This looks like an interesting and unusual project - I've always liked steam powered things! Would it be possible to add a gearbox such that the wheels can be disengaged from the motor and fake engine, to allow it to be used as a stationary engine? Then you could build a series of driven implements to go with it.

What a nice build! It's a prototype I've not seen often in LEGO, and it works perfectly. I love that the aesthetics are a bit "rough", with all the mechanics on show. To me, it's a good, functionally-accurate Technic model.

My "prize B" has reached England, and it looks good. I'm at Uni so I wasn't able to open the package manatee myself, but it arrived in perfect health after the swim. For those who want to know, it brought... As ever, thanks must go to CopMike for his effort and generosity, of course!

A simply amazing combination of excellent software and hardware; I especially love the guard waving his sign! I would love to see these features implemented in a full exhibition layout, I don't think I'd be able to watch anything else. As for the video itself: simply copy-and-paste the URL, like so:

She looks like a mighty fine kettle, especially in that last image! There's some nice parts usage throughout, and she's undeniably better than the EN. My only quarrel is that the buffer beam should probably be red, but given the dark colour scheme of the rest of the loco it might stand out too much. I'd love to see her in real bricks, and that nice BR MK1 model too, although the latter is going to be through the roof with those windows!