Brickadier General

Definitely a must buy. The best part for me is the tanker truck, since it's based off of the old Lego HO truck. I'll modify it with decals to look even more like the original.

I had originally made a church for the NMRA 2006 show as a field hospital for my civil war scene. Then I used it again, as a field hospital, for PennLUG's Pennsy Days layout. However, I was never completely satisfied with it, so I decided to modify it and add things to give it a little more character...something to make it stand out a little bit more. This would become my first bit of Lego oriented work I have done since summer, as I'm currently on winter break from college. First, I changed the church itself by a little bit. I decreased the length and width of the tower to make it look better proportionally with the rest of the building. I used the arched lattice windows on the tower instead of the 1960s red "doors," changed the doorway by making it recessed and using a different door, and I added a yellow cross above the entrance. The stained glass window on the back of the church has been completely changed. The one thing that is completely new is the graveyard, which includes my take on the infamous scene from Charles Dickens Christmas Carol where the ghost of Christmas future shows Ebeneezer Scrooge the tombstone possessing his name. See if you can find it. ;-) I do intend to eventually modify a little bit more, especially with the stained glass. I think I would like to place a light in it as well. But I hope you can enjoy it in its current state. Edit by Hinckley: My Brickshelf My MOCpages The MOCpages site looks screwed up on firefox but not internet explorer, and I have no idea why. On a side note, I don't think I'll be using MOCpages any more to show my stuff. This is the first time I've used it since summer and I don't like the new format at all, nor do I like the "popular new" feature on the homepage. And there are too many cruel people out there, which has never changed. lol

I own that set, and I actually like your take on it a lot more than the original. The background art is pretty spiffy too.

Well, I'm 22 and my family still gets me Lego sets as gifts. They never gave me any trouble about it saying that I needed to "grow up" or anything. Instead, my dad often raises the question, "don't you have enough already?" haha...Never! Other than that, my friends don't really get me gifts, but they know I still tinker with Lego bricks. Some used to make fun of me for that, but once they've seen what I made I generally get more respect about it. And when I meet new people, I eventually show them my hobby and the reception is usually pretty good. Some people though, will never get it, and it's just best to ignore them. When I was at the NMRA show in 2006, an older gentleman walked by and asked me why I wanted to be " wasting my time playing with this stuff" at my age. I thought to myself, well why are you over here gawking at the Lego layout if you weren't remotely interested in it? What does age have to do with it? Regular model trains like Lionel were originally intended mainly for children, yet he didn't seem to have a problem with middle aged men tinkering around with those.

Thanks for posting this. For all the figures and special parts it comes with, it certainly looks worth the money. And I'm sure the future sets will be the same as well.

It's not listed on the sale page, but if you enter "hobby train" in the search menu bar you can see it's still 50% off. The only thing is it's backordered until Dec. 14th, but still worth the wait. Maybe they don't want to list it in the sales and deals section because of that. I made sure to get me one and the Holiday Train for my little brother.

I just got some of these in the mail: 4 white sheep, 4 pink pigs, 2 white cows, and one black cow. Gotta love how authentic they look. Also, if you turn the horns upside-down on the black cow, it makes it look like an ox or a yak. That'd make them perfect for wild west wagon trains. Hope they'll make some in brown.

I like this discussion because I can definitely identify with your "plight." For years and years, i relied mainly on Christmas and my birthday to get new Lego sets (and a small allowance helped a little too). This was my first little city layout back in '99 when I was about 14: As you can see, it was mostly "stock" sets, not too much original work there. I didn't really start doing that too much until the past five years or so. But just to let you know, getting a job doesn't necessarily equate to getting more Lego. Sure, you can get more but you eventually have to worry about getting a car, paying bills, college etc. And if you get a girlfriend, well there goes a whole crapload of what was once potential Lego money. ;-) I've been able to buy more Lego on my own but not really that much. My wants exceed my budget. X-D Anywho, my advice to you would be to look into L-Draw and teaching yourself how to use it. Because it's virtual you've got an endless supply of parts, so you're not just limited to what you own. And when you're satisfied with what you have, check bricklink out for the parts you need. Take it slow. "Rome wasn't built in a day" after all.

I love BrickArms and have nothing to say about them except praises. Well made and designed stuff. Everything's a little pricey but not ridiculous. I've only ever ordered from him once, but he made a really good impression on me. He was even nice enough to throw in a few extra "bonus" weapons.

Sorry I haven't been very active, but I haven't had too much time for keeping up with forums or building with Lego for that matter. Thanks again to everyone for the kind words! Most of us are from Central PA. I live in Palmyra, myself, and the group leader Mike Gibney lives in Elizabethtown. They usually meet once a month (usually on the 3rd Saturday). Meeting locations can very, but Mike's often hosted them at his home. Here's a link to our yahoo group if you're interested: PennLUG heh, I tried. Guess I'll have to tweak it eventually to be more accurate. ;-) I looked for pictures on the net, but I couldn't really find anything of much help. Thanks. The Hershey line might not exist now, but I do know when they finish restoring the one trolley it seems as though they are planning to have it running again, but probably only for tourism. It stinks because public rail transportation would be very beneficial around here, such as a light rail.

Thanks. :-) Although I should mention John Neal's club trolley, which is where I borrowed elements for the construction of the roof, doors, and front windows. But the doors don't actually open. The green hinge bricks are actually there to help "round out" the front windows a little bit more. Maybe I can work functional doors into a future trolley. And I was originally going to use yellow train windows, but when saw how much it would cost me I fled and went with brick built ones. I'm glad you like the old doors I used for windows. It's a shame that Lego stopped making them so long ago and that they're only available in 3 colors. They work great in a lot of creations. I think the "fan dealy" on the front is called a cow catcher, at least I know it is on trains. But Cale thought they had a different name for trolleys, so I don't know. But it's not like I don't know what you're talking about. ;-) And no, I wasn't at Brickworld, but I think Cale might've been. Maybe I can make it next year. I'd really like to go, as I have never been to a big Lego convention before (although I guess the NMRA counts a little). I think it'd be pretty fun.

heh, I haven't forgotten those, and I've seen a few other nice ones out there too. I was just immediately impressed by these because they fit in really well with Lego's WW cavalry torsos. I hope that this guy plans on making torsos with suspenders for the regular soldiers.

I dug out my old Lego mags and found this picture in the September - October '96 issue. There are pirate ideas, although I'd have to start looking through my magazines for them. I can scan some and upload what I find to brickshelf if you'd like.

Forgive me if these were posted already but I just stumbled upon them and thought they were fantastic. Brickshelf He has a lot of other nifty decals on his brickshelf too, such as WWII and Pirates.

Although I know I mentioned it on my introduction topic, I have to agree with you on this one. I was fortunate enough to get this set for Christmas '93 as a kid, and even more fortunate to get extra track the following Christmas. It's probably the whole reason I ended up getting into town/city more than any other theme. I got a lot a play value out of it, and it shows. The ball and socket joints have loosened over the years and have a habit of coming uncoupled going up and down inclines. :-(

About a month ago, PennLUG (Pennsylvania Lego Users Group) put together a layout for the National Railroad Museum's Pennsylvania Railroad Days event. There were only three of us (Cale Leiphart, Mike Gibney, and myself), so the layout wasn't incredibly huge, but it still had a lot of character. Cale brought a large engine shed and a slew of 8-wide train engines and cars to go along with them, as well as a town building. In particular, I really love his club boxcar. Mike brought in his cool Pennsylvania farm. I brought a couple things in too, and the only "new" thing I had there was my Union campsite, complete with a church being used as a lookout point and field hospital, a large tent for a general, a few small tents for soldiers, and even a baseball game. We had two running lines, one train running along the outer part of the layout, and an L-shaped track on the inside for trolleys. The trolley line was a "ping-pong" deal, as the trolleys ran back an forth as opposed to a continuous loop. Cale was able to do this using the Mindstorms NXT kit. My Brickshelf Gallery Cale's Brickshelf Gallery I'd also like to announce my Hershey Trolley, which I finished making about 2 months ago or so. You can read all about it here on my mocpages. I was really happy with the way it turned out and would like to make some more of the Hershey trolleys in the future to supplement this one. Here's a pic of it: Any comments and questions are welcome about the layout or my trolley. :-)

I'm really looking forward to these, and I have a feeling that these sets are going to turn out rather well. And I look forward to getting some of those new minifig parts. The new hat and satchel pieces are perfect for Civil War minifigs.

I'm not too sure if a big Western movie would lead Lego into releasing more WW sets. They didn't revive the pirate theme in the last few years, despite the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Of course, I know that Mega-bloks got the license to make sets based on the movie, so perhaps that's why Lego didn't bother. And an old time steam engine would be great. If Lego were to make one, they should throw in a working hand cart with the train, along with a couple bandits to recreate a train robbery.

Looks fantastic and very fragile too, I might add. I'd be afraid to hold it. ;-)

That is a pretty cool monorail there. Looks like a 6-wide I think? The only real connection that I have to Germany is my ancestors, who came to America over 200 years ago. That, and I took German classes in highschool. I just figured I'd start things off with a European greeting since the site is called Eurobricks. I will definitely get around to it. hah, No worries here. X-D

I always liked the Wild West theme and was disappointed when it was phased out. I really think it had a lot more potential. I would really like to see sets based on historical events. How about a UCS Alamo playset? Things like Little Big Horn though would be a bit too touchy I guess. However, I think that Lego could make historical minifigure packs, much like they did with Star Wars, Rock Raiders, and Town. Have them with 3 or 4 famous figures from the West, each with a trading card explaining who they were. There are plenty of names out there that could be used, Wyatt Erp, Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull, Davy Crockett, and the list goes on. More civilian stuff would be nice. They could really use a couple log cabins. Some new animal figs would be great, especially Buffalo and Vultures. More sets with the cavalry. For example, a campsite would be cool. Little tents for the soldiers, making food over a fire and whatnot. And I'd also like to see maybe something dealing with the Alaskan Gold Rush, although I guess that would be deviating from the Wild West theme a little bit. But imagine gold miners, sled dogs, and eskimos. Hopefully, Lego will continue the Wild West theme again in some form or another.

Splendid MOC. It really does look like it could be an actual set, and the stickers are the icing on the cake. They really make it look authentic. Will you be making additional cars to supplement your train?

Thanks for the welcome everybody! And sinner, if you make the BTTF 3 Delorean on train wheels I definitely want to see it. Good luck with making it.

Hello, my name is Matthew Hocker, and I live in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. I'm 21 (going on 22 in July) and have been into Lego ever since my dad gave me Duplo and his old bricks when I was 4 or so. My favorite themes are train, town, and castle, and my favorite set of all time is the Airport Shuttle. I enjoy building many different things such as subjects from movies and video games, and historical creations. In particular, I like modeling things from the Civil War from time to time. I want to thank Zouave for inviting me to join here. I've been trying to join lunet for what seems like 2 years, and I never hear anything back from them. So I'm glad Zouave invited me since this looks like a pretty happening place. *sweet* I look forward to future discussions here. And before I forget it... My Brickshelf Site My MOCpages Site