Hrw-Amen

I think it is because in the UK and I presume Europe as well(?) there is so much red tape and form filling it is never as easy as just telling member of staff, who want to know everything about you down to what your grandmother's favorite food was. At the end of the day most people are not dishonest enough to steal, but are too busy to get roped into hours of paperwork and questions being made to feel guilty themselves with no thought of a thank you from store staff when they are only trying to help. I just is too much hassle to help. Very, very sad, but very true. I cannot say it is right, but most of officialdom (In the form of large companies.) does little to encourage helpfulness from Joe Public.

That is the first thing that I noticed looking at it as well. It is a very good MOC though and I like the overall appearance of it. I am guessing the other wheel in the reference is some kind of fly-wheel that would be hard to replicate as a working thing on the MOC(?) It would be nice to see it represented on your MOC (As it looks like you have room?) but nevertheless that does not detract from the excellent build that you have there. I think you were right to go 8 wide to get all the details you wanted, I find it much easier to go 7-8 wide for things. So is it the case that often these types of rail-cars are hitched up to goods trucks of various descriptions like you have those fuel tanker wagons on yours? I am assuming these are therefore used on smaller rural lines and as such pretty much whatever goes up those lines is connected onto them, am I right? Anyway, thanks for showing us another lovely model.

Here is the thread with the photographs. I put it in a new one simply as it seemed more appropriate what with it being about the MOC itself rather than an electrical problem. But I guess they are related at least. Thread about 4-4-0 steam train.

I am not sure how it gets off the flatbed, however over here (In the UK) I have seen many maintenance trucks in depots whilst passing by on trains. I cannot say that I have studied them in any great details, but I have noted that several seem to consist of various types of flatbed with a little cabin at one or both ends and numerous bits of gubbins in the middle, usually a small crane or hydraulic platform, that kind of thing. I have also seen some of those road vehicles with the wheels that fold down to go onto the tracks. Whether they actually go onto the flatbeds or just drive along behind, get hitched up and towed or what I don't know. It would be interesting to find out in all honesty how these things work and what they are actually used for as there seems to be a prolific amount of them dotted around the south coast of the UK. Perhaps someone on here knows a thing or two about them and could enlighten us?

Thanks. One advantage of having the battery box and IR unit in the tender is that it frees up space in the cabin for both the engineer driver and a fireman to keep the steam coming.

I notice that the Brickshelf gallery has just gone live and I have also uploaded these to my flickr gallery as well. So this is the train that I have been asking for help with the wiring for the last few weeks. I have to say that inspite of nearly giving up on incorporating the PF element I am glad it is now working. I do actually quite like the engine now it is finsihed and last night I ran it around a small loop set up for the purpose just to see that it worked. It seems to negotiate switches and curves OK without any derailments. The only thing I would say is that the main drive wheels need some rubber grip bands as they were spinning quite a lot. Obviously it does not have the same pulling power as the newer motors but I never expected it to. It should pull a couple of wagons OK. The date on the motor (Inside the housing.) is 1976 so I would have been 8 years old when i got that. Not doing too badly for something that old really. I think it is a type III 4.5V motor as it has the technic axle holder whereas my others do not. The engine is based on those from the turn of the century around 1900 era and although not a exact model of I was using drawings and photographs of two engines for inspiration, those being the London Brighton & South Coast Railway, Billinton 'B4' class 4-4-0 Express locomotive and the 'R' class 4-4-0 express locomotive from the North Eastern Railway. It also has a passing resemblance to 'James' the red engine i fancy, but that aside here are the links and a photo. Link to flickr:-My link Link to Brickshelf:- http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=507918

Sorry, I made those wagons myself, except for the two Octan cars. I plan to make some more box cars and flatbeds as I like them. I am thinking the green flatbeds look a bit army style for transporting various military equipment. Should go well with he green type 02 diesel. These seem to be the type of engines you get on smaller military lines anyway.

I opened some that had been stored for around 25 years. It did not give off fumes but it had gathered a very grimy patina that was certainly not there when it was put away. It was hard to get rid of as well and required lots of scrubbing.

I have run both my Type 01 and Type 02 shunters around a small loop in my living room. It is only a little circuit I put up to check they were working OK so nothing special, but here they are if you are interested.

I think that this is the best of the normal PF trains to date. Admittedly not up with Maersk or EN, but better than the red passenger and yellow freight simply for no other reason than it is a diesel. I've said it before and I'll say it again having trains with overhead electric pick ups and yet no models of the towers on your layout just looks odd. Where do they get the power from, it is as if they pluck it from the air? Anyway, I do like that sort of heavy industrial diesel unit and it is a bit more European than the Maersk. (Nothing wrong with the Maersk mind you.) Also I quite like the green box car, but then I like box cars. It was easy to MOD to 7 studs wide as well to fit with the rest of my rolling stock. Not so keen on the tipper wagon or the conveyor thing, it could have been so much better but I guess they were confined by the bit count / cost of the set. As for the maintenance wagon, well that was nice. I cannot see it getting that many outings but it is the kind of thing that looks good parked on sidings, just like on real railways.

Do you find that the pick up are consistently good, or do they tend to jump at all causing loss of power in places?

Nice little country station here,I have seen so many like it in real life so should look good on a layout.

Ok thanks everyone for your help with this project, there were times when I felt like giving up. But tonight I have taken the PF IR unit by the horns and connected it up as per the diagram on Bricklink provided by yourselves. The IR unit is neatly tucked away in the tender based around a black 4.5V battery box and I just have the power cable running to the motor from there. I am using an old black 4.5 V battery box and most of the cabling is hidden under the coal and water tank, I have set it running it but not yet on track and it seams go pretty well, although I expect it may need rubber 'o' rings on two of the main drivers for grip when pulling stuff. I am using a 1976 black type III 4.5V motor with tecnic axle holders to run two of large western train wheels as divers on the 4-4-0 engine. Over all I am rather pleased with the result and look of the train. I have a few tinkering greebles to add to the tender then i will get some photographs up. So thanks again for your help.

I particularly like the roof of the main building. Normally I tile everything and do not like studs, but on your building for the roof they do suit it and describing them as you have it makes perfect sence. I also like the little goods shed that you have built. I am looking for inspiration for a small goods yard myself so buildings like this are very nice. I am not sure I have enough of those blue bricks though, but the colour is very good for that. (I may have to order some.) Can i ask, does it link into a larger layout or is it just a stand alone diorama?

How do we know that the alien is female? Granted it has the slope brick base that some female mini-figs have, but it does not look particularly female, then again it is alien so who is to say what a male/female alien will look like? But does it actually say anywhere in any of the literature or publicity that this is supposed to be a female alien or are we just jumping to a conclusion given the sloped brick/legs? When I first saw it I assumed it was an Alien Conquest type/style alien commander/leader but in a robe type of outfit, it did not occur to me that it was female until I read some of the comments on here.

One more question then. On the old 4.5V battery box/motor, I am guessing that it does not matter which plugs you use for + or - V as all that happens if you change them is that the motor runs in the opposite direction. I think that link on Bricklink pretty much says what I want to know otherwise, it is just that he has used an old 9V rather than 4.5V. I don't want to damage the cable on the IR unit so I will use an extension cable and cut that (As they are a lot cheaper.) and I have plenty of room in the tender on my engine to hide the wires. Anyway, I did finish the engine last night so now am building the tender so I need to sort this out over the weekend if I am going to do it. It is a bit like James the Red Engine if anyone is wondering. Whilst not actually copied exactly I have my book open at turn of the century (1800-1900C) 4-4-0 passenger engines for inspiration. Will post pictures when done. Thanks.

OK, still none the wiser. I have tried to use a PF IR unti with an old 9v Battery Box as this only has two wires. Even though it works the PF motors fine without the IR unit in the middle, as soon as I add the IR unit nothing works even though I connected it with the official PF extension cable? Anyway, after looking over the wiring diagrams again and getting a little confused i thought I would draw a picture of what I mean as I am not sure I got my message across. I have uploaded this to my flickr gallery in the hope that someone will be able to tell me which if either of my solutions will work? Or if not then how to go about this, but please in non electrical jargon terms. Thanks. Link to flickr; My link

That is interesting especially for those who do not have the space to put a layout up all of the time. Do you have a lot of modules or are you just starting to build them? I was also wondering how you have managed to get the track fixed down as it appears that you have not used LEGO ballast between the tracks? Is the track fixed by plates we cannot see to the baseplates or have you used some other method? I do quite like the little rope bridge across the stream. I bet the man on it would get quite shaken up with the train rumbling past next to him!!

Thank you, it is a difficult thing to squeeze them in especially the battery box. How much easier it would be if they came in a multitude of colours and could be used as part of the structure like on the red cargo train. I am hoping to make a few more smaller engines over the next few months and to also build some line-side structures for a shunting yard. Something like an engine shed or signal box. Unfortunately I don't have room for a permanent set up, but the beauty of LEGO track is that it is easy to assemble quickly. I think my next shunter will be either a Type 03 or type 08, but am waiting for some medium wheels to arrive for that. At the moment I am fiddling about with an old 4.5V model, not based on anything exactly but broadly looking at a small'ish steam engine.

Yes it is a little bit like those old Pullman coaches. Don't they have one down on the preserved railway in Devon, is that the one that you all mean? Perhaps if you get a few more bits over time you will not have to share parts and can run it in your layout. I speak from past experience that not having enough train wheels and stuff can be very frustrating so I sympathise with you on that.

A nice little engine. We seem to be having a few diesel shunters recently, I wonder why, perhaps we have felt them left out for while? Am thinking of doing a type 08 myself next, not quite sure though?

Following on from my Type 01 which I posted a while ago, I have been working on this Type 02 but in the old green livery. There are quite a lot of similarities between the two,the main difference being the entrance doors to the driver's cab being on the back rather than the side,but also one or two on the main body which I have tried to capture. I have again tried to brick build the yellow black stripes on the front and rear of the engine. Anyway here are a couple of pictures and a link to the Brickshelf gallery in which you can see the comparison with both engines together. My link I have also updated my flickr gallery with the images if people prefer to go there.

This is a nice little engine. I am also battling to fit PF components into tiny diesels right now.

Could they not simply package something similar to sets 6117-6118 except with train wheels & couplings? If it works for normal vehicles I don't see why it should not for trains. It would be a cheap way to get those crucial train parts out there, what you then built them into using standard parts would be up to the individual.

Not a Star Wars fan myself, but this is a good idea that could be used for almost any theme, be it a licence one or one of LEGO's own. Of course it does not have to be a battle pack, could be a picnic in the park pack (For CITY.) or similar. So on the idea of combining little sets like this alone it gets my vote.