WesternOutlaw

Thanks guys! I think this new train looks 100% better thanks to all constructive feedback. Here's another shot in Train Town with the hopper MD. I'd like to build a nice boxcar now. I started the tender with a 9V motor, but wanted a longer base. I ended up scrapping the motor just adding standard wheels. I suppose it does need power though. I also discovered some sort of design flaw with the wheels. It doesn't take curves very well, and I'm not sure why - something to do with the use of the little wheels in the front perhaps. I'm not sure, but need to fix it before powering. Perhaps some of you who have experience with steam locomotives might know what I'm doing wrong.

Absolutely stunning Cap'n Z. I'm always amazed at how you and other Pirate fans can create these magnificent ships. I'd like to see this and Bonaparte's ship in an epic sea battle. Awesome!

Fantastic MOC Henri - packed with details. As a reminder; however, images should not be larger than 800x600 in accordance with our site guidelines.

First, I'd like to thank Train Tech members BMW, SavaTheAggie, and others who posted your recommendations for improving my recent Santa Fe 4-4-0. Last night, I decided to get busy and modify the locomotive as I read some of your tips. As I found myself removing a few plates here, and a few bricks there, I soon had the entire locomotive gutted to a point of starting from scratch, something that I now appreciate. I was particularly inspired by an image that BMW had shared of one of his favorite locomotives, the Reno Circa 1910. With it's light grey boiler and black and gold color scheme, I thought it would serve as the perfect inspiration model with my existing pieces. Spending a lot of time trying to improve on areas that you guys mentioned, I am now quite pleased with my latest 4-4-0 locomotive, the Santa Fe Western #4 (name and number purely fictitious, but based on the Reno 1910):

Etzel drives home the cattle in his latest Wild West MOC. Check out all the fantastic details!

Very nice Selander. I love the color scheme. The orange and blue go very well together. How did you create that top windshield piece? Is that a custom decal? I like the long snout of this locomotive, and it's nice to still see 9V train MOCs. Front-paged!

Let's drag all the demon statues out of the temple, smash 'em, and when Hinck get's back, no one admit that they did it. Perhaps one of you can create some wity anagram as a clue that will keep him guessing for a few chapters.

Train and Town fan Selander creates another beautiful train, in a style that is sleek and streamlined. His T44 Locomotive is based on a Swedish freight engine often used for shunting.

Get ready for some high-flying fun! City fan D00dz brings EB an early image review of LEGO's new City set 3182 Airport.

Over the past several weeks, I've been checking out the sales on LSAH and I keep seeing this BIG RED Baseplate. Yes, it is a baseplate for the DUPLO theme, but I cant help to wonder, could it have any practical application in the Town/City theme? So as an interesting and creative Town Topic, I ask you, what could you do with a Big Red Baseplate in your town?

Welcome to Train Tech David. Looks like you've got a few "oldies buy goodies" in your collection. Hope you enjoy our train forum.

Brawl in Nepal - is this a new Indy set from the Raiders of the Lost Ark collection? Take a look:

Thanks guys. Appreciate the comments. Yes, I would have liked black, but grey is an actual color for boilers (at least I think it was). Thanks for the constructive feedback Zuloo, and I would have to agree with some of your views. I initially made this with a more colorful scheme, using red for the cab and red and yellow accessories. I ended up thinking it was way too colorful and went back to black and grey with a stripe of yellow just to add a little unique color. I see what you mean though. In regard to the picture editing, I must have taken well over a dozen shots of this engine from different angles, and I still don't like the picture used. In fact, I hate it, but it was the best of those that I took. The MOC truly looks 100% better close-up - it's just the pictures don't do it justice. I tried a few different backgrounds as well. The red sky is a bit dark. Here's an alternate with blue sky: I have some shots with track in front of Train Town, but I think I was so tired of trying to take a good picture and photo-cutting that I just shared what I had in the end. I'll take a better picture and may modify again once I have a tender.

Vicious that is.

Ghost Town? Now is that such a bad thing? (just teasing) Seriously though, I think the whole issue of kids in the forums goes back to adult members posting more often. I think the best way to create a "mature" community is to have interesting discussions and topics that create mature and intellectual conversations. Sure, we'll never be able to weed out kids due to the fact that LEGO is a toy first, but I think that some are more worried over policy than the purpose of the forums. Just as kids spam topics, we as adults can counter the silly and frivolous nonsense by taking an active part in various topics. This sends a message that the forum(s) is/are an adult place. If more mature members are not posting because of kids, this will simply result in more kids running wild, thus creating a "viscous circle".

Town fan d00dz brings EB an early image review of LEGO's new 3181 Passenger Plane:

Thanks Dave. I must admit that I hate the cow catcher design. It's definately another difficult component to build in LEGO. I tried a few different designs, but none of them worked. I am looking forward to the Toy Story set, if only for the cow catcher piece. This stuff is very challenging to create in LEGO (esp. for a more basic builder like me).

Thanks for the feedback fellas. The tiles are actually old dark grey, not dark tan. Here's an unedited photo from a different angle:

I haven't got around to building it. The locomotive has taken so much time. I will be working on it next. While it really does look like a pretty simple build, the boiler and the wheels were anything but simple. I didn't want the traditional octagon shaped boiler, a common design for many LEGO locomotives. Figuring out how to attach the components by Technic pins added to the complexity, but ended up working. -and Train wheels are a pain. In looking at old train pictures, the wheels on a 4-4-0 seem quite a bit smaller. I had considered using standard wheels, but then liked the look of existing LEGO locomotives that had used smaller wheels. I need one additional black cylinder piece with holes toward the front - only a few sets with the part, none of which I own, unfortunately. Thanks for the comments guys. More to come.