Paperinik77pk

Stunning locomotive, it has so much details!!! Lovely creation!!!

Fantastic design

Going back to 7777 building - here's the tipper wagon and the iconic hand-powered railcar And here's the SW10-12V in building progress (also the half-shed is slowly coming alive)

Hi again, @Jetflap gave me an inspiration with his very nice yellow SW10 . The SW10 began its career around 1980, so it was brand new during the first phase of Lego Gray Era. Since I have some unused 7760 parts, I tried to imagine an SW10 built in 7777 style, and prepared a very fast design: Here the list of differences: Side shutters instead of grille-bricks (as suggested in the SW10 specific thread) - they give a good-old fashioned feel to the locomotive. Rear ladders are moved inside by one stud, as in 7777 red/white locomotive - SW10 prototype ladders have the same body color and are integrated - in this case I have gray ladders and I've to mask them. Handrails are 4x2 instead of 6x1 - the part was not available back then Front lights are round instead of square and are yellow instead of white (Lego used yellow ones as headlights, even if trans-clear were available) Front and rear yellow headlights will be working (for this reason rear headlights are mounted on a technic brick) according to direction Front handrails are reworked , since the two parts used in the prototype were not yet available Interior is completely invented, I used a technic-based lever (as in 7750) - seat is elevated by 1 stud, since light-bricks cables must run below it. I think to use a small turntable to make it reversable. The two exhaust pipes are made by round bricks only - cones were not available yet. the bottom central part of locomotive is standard like in 7777 locomotive Rear windows are the rare 3x2 blue parts used in 7760. I still chose to use the same loudspeaker part as SW10 prototype - as I could see the part appeared in 1982 catalogs - so it is period-correct. It is reversed respect to the original model since it seems the front part of the locomotive is the long nose. I added a yellow light on the roof - many SW10, including the Union Pacific, had it. Locomotive roof is made by black 3x3 slope parts like in 7710 I will build this one for sure, luckily I have all parts except 6x28 platforms (I had to order them). There's only one thing I do not like on this locomotive (as in all American-inspired Lego trains) - buffers. They must not be there. They do not fit at all Another color rendition of the locomotive can be the Canadian Pacific version (all red - using 7720 parts).

Wow! This is the post which helped me years ago to recreate reversing lights on some of my MOCs! Thank you @LEGO Train 12 Volts- (after 6 years) . My 7720 is equipped with an old 12V motor, and I had only two light bricks to use at the time, so I only turn on yellow lights according to direction. I think it's time to rework it!

Never tried it, because it seems only a display track without any possibility to play - It basically is a labirinth of rails. It was not available in Italy as far as I know, so I only saw it when I began to surf on Internet - and I immediately wanted all those trees!!! I always wanted (and I will do it one day) to recreate the track visible on the back of 7740 instructions. It seems quite nice and not too big so it could be ok for me (I do not have too much space)

Hi Holger! I used a technic brick with hole, a technic half pin and the transparent round plate. Everything could be found in 1980 so it was a possible solution even back then. I added the same electric scheme I used on my BR78, using diodes to turn on lights according to the locomotive direction. But sincerely I was not convinced...and I came back to the original design

I also built all the four big locomotives of the 7777, I loved them since my childhood! I made only some very small modifications: the red and blue locomotive does not have 4,5v lights, but regular 12v light bricks (no lights on dashboard) the red/white "american" locomotive is without bogies/motor and borrows them when needed - I never use it. the red crocodile once had ALL lights working, then went back to its original status the big steamer has DB stickers on it (but I think also other locomotives will get the stickers soon) I also followed the 7777 idea to "mark" the switches and signals with a colored brick (well, in this case it is very difficult to get confused ) Then, a MOC tender for the big 7777 steamer, which was converted to 4,5V to run under the Christmas Tree. In the picture below, you can see it with the fantastic tipper wagons. I only have one of them but I'd like to create other copies - one tipper wagon alone is a sad tipper wagon ! The dead end track stop you see in the first photo has now been replaced with the 7777 one, which I built back in the 80s. Now that I've seen the yellow shed, I'm building a reduced version (basically only half of the original one) to be used as a small tunnel in my small 12V test track. I thought I had more "vintage bricks", I had only completed half of the half shed and I already finished the yellow parts!!!

Hi! This is a very good suggestion !!! For the moment I use coupling rods to move all wheels, no more front or rear wheel drive. It is a better solution so I can avoid rubber bands and wheel slipping. The solution of using one rubber band works fine on the 115 fake set, based on the old Lego basic motor and 2wd only, especially on standard Lego turn radius. On very large curves, the difference between one or two bands is reduced to a few centimeters.

Hi all, time for some photos This time inspiration came from Hornby set No.2 - Goods train - dated back in 1925. This time I worked more on CAD than on real bricks, in order to have the needed parts file. I used my usual method - print, measure, adapt - to prepare the CAD design. Here's the result: The side part is acceptable, I have to work a lot on handrails - I'll probably use a yellow flex tube - but I do not have one at the moment. My new clockwork motor is bigger than the Hornby one, therefore the side wall of the locomotive is a bit taller, and the slope part is less "aerodynamic" . I used a lot of panels in order to reduce weight, the whole boiler is made basically by four big parts (6259) which are empty cylinders. There are many Technic parts - the front chassis is made using a 6x8 brick (32532). I tried for the first time to use SNOT tecnique as much as possible, since the boiler is very smooth and I liked the shiny effect of tiles. I prepared also the tender's design - not complete at all - and also this time it is plenty of panels. Now I'm waiting for parts to arrive, I just made the order. In the meantime, comments and suggestions are always welcome!!!

Veeeeery niiiice! I wanted to build the yellow shed...but now I want the red one

Hi all, I would like to show you a MOC based on an already existing creation of @afolman which can be found on internet. It is a miniature Atari 2600 - woody version with four levers - it is very simple and quite solid. I reworked a bit the Joystick and the four levers, which are made by four silver minifig screwdrivers inside a Pneumatic pipe, squeezed by the two slope bricks. I saw many similar creations on Internet but I wanted to go one step beyond, making it functional and usable. I therefore designed it to be empty inside. In this way I could accomodate a very small Raspberry PI zero (without WI-FI) in it. I only had to remove a small plastic lid from the little motherboard (the lid can be put on again without problems). The Mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter was modified to reduce its size, but now I have a dedicated Mini-HDMI to HDMI cable which is surely nicer. Once installed the RetroPie distribution, and inserted all the roms...pardon...original cartridge images - I can bring my small 2600 everywhere! Thanks to @afolman for the inspiration. I hope you like it

Great creation, it really feels as a "broken nose" French locomotive! Really nice and clean looking

Oh, what a magnificent thread is this. I've always wondered about the minds who created the 12v sets! No idea on the "secrets" but during all these years I somehow made my personal opinion on these designers. First of all, they could have based their choice on two factors: The offer of top selling model train brands of the time (Fleischmann/Marklin and concurrent Playmobil) who mainly focused on German trains. As an example Lima/Rivarossi producers had a lot of Italian and French rolling stock, which were probably not interesting. The French TGV became famous after a pair of years, so the "phase 1" (1980 to 1983) gray era did not have the time to include it in the offered sets. The Deutsche Bundesbahn had a good range of diesels, steamers and electric trains, both passenger and freight, and many of them were quite "familiar" if not iconic (DB103/E69/BR80/BR89...). Adults bought them for kids, and then became attracted by the the 4,5v/12v systems solutions. I've always thought the Train designers were a bit limited by Lego selling policies back in the days (Lego must sell - creativity is good but obviously money is better). Luckily, the had some opportunities to develop the Train world or show its potential. The back pages of the catalogs were great, but limited to show the offered sets. The 7777 Idea book is the place were they could work at their best. And were they tried to go further and to move towards the "Unlimited Possibilities" idea. The 7777 most relevant "creative spark", in my opinion, is the real integration between Trains and Technic worlds (first signs can be found on 7750 and 7814). First Hornby trains were based on Meccano parts and bolts, then became a world on their own. Lego somehow made it in reverse mode. In the 7777 we had bridges, loaders, wagons, cable holders, ramps...all made with a combination of normal Lego and Technic. Beautiful. The next natural step should have been to have Technic-based trains, but there were no train wheels with axle holes. Wheels were the only thing lacking, the only one preventing a complete Technic chassis to run on train track. We had to wait RC trains to have those wheels officially from Lego, and still today the offer of diameters and types is limited . I am pretty sure one of these designers proposed the train/Technic wheels back in the early 80s...and it surely was a managerial idea not to create them. And not to create a second 7777 book. Personally, I still feel the need to create transmissions, mechanisms and other Technic-based solutions inside MOC trains, and this is all thanks to the 7777 Idea Book and those great designers.

Thanks to all of you! I am not posting a lot since I have some concurrent projects (a 12V small test track bolted on a thick cardboard base - after 30 years I have a small train diorama - very small actually). I'm building the new locomotive with the new big motor and I'm waiting for the new parts to arrive (BBB Wheels and some other things). The 4-4-1 red locomotive is now dismantled, and used to build the mock-up of the new one, which is a 4-4-0 based on a Hornby model of the 30s. I'm planning to use medium and large wheels, instead of medium and small wheels (like the 4-4-1). Medium wheels turn more easily than small ones and will help to keep the locomotive on the track. Large wheels overdrive a bit the gear ratio of the new big motor (which can be chosen between 5:1 - 9.9:1 - 5.5:1). Currently I am using the 9.9:1, but I think it is not fully appropriate. The real problem I'm trying to face is the weight of the locomotive body. Plus, the 4-4-0 needs a tender, and this one must be as light as possible (I would assume it must be completely empty - and I've no idea of what wheels to use ) I am thinking to use the custom coupling rods, which seem to be lighter (and surely nicer! ) than the ones I used on the green locomotive. This should lower a bit the loss of power caused by the rods rattling. I hope to have some time this weekend to make some photos of the new locomotive

Thanks @rsb0204, I'm glad you found this thread! Modifying the old lego windup motor was really nice! I've never considered that specific motor but it sounds promising. I'll search one on Ebay. I just got a little old clockwork motor (42073cx1) which is nice,since it travels for long time and it seems to have a rev-limiter. But will be useful only for small applications. @Hod Carrier Hi! I have an idea about a complete new Lego clockwork motor based on a standard spring (I can easily find them on Chinese auction sites for a few Euros). As far as I understood the spring's lenght means travelling distance and the width means torque. But it must not be too hard, or the Lego gears will easily break. I had a small (very small) spring from a windup toy and with some work it was adapted to a technic gear. It worked, so I'd like to try a bigger one. I never opened one of these new pullback motors, I have one which is a bit tired, so I could try

Nice Idea, it can be the best fake set of the 80's

In Lego Bricks - Yes exactly this video. Re-reading better the thread I understood you are working on the same project. Awesome work. I've always liked monorails, and other systems based on a proprietary rail system

Thanks, actually I like a lot the 12v/4,5v look and feel of the 80s, as well as the 70s and late 60s styles. A little explanation about the stickers: as you can see from the image below, the parts donor was a 7730, then I bought some replica stickers on Ebay. Since my 7750 was already restored and complete, I had some extra stickers. For this reason I marked the locomotive as 7750. I am missing two 2x1 black windows on the back of the cabin (I had them but they were used to complete the 7777, which was built in the same period). Since they are very expensive, until I won't find them inside a lucky Ebay auction...the locomotive will remain as it is

Hi all, I'd like to present you my first 12V MOC. It is a Deutsche Bahn BR78 - inspired locomotive, built using extra pieces from a 7730 and 7750. This is the third big steamer I use, along with the original 7750 and the 7777 steam locomotives. I built this one following using special pieces (e.g. lights lenses are yellow/clear like in 7750 - rubber pipes on the sides) and following the style of the early 80's Lego trains. It was simplified in many details, like the cabin (using standard doors and windows) and sides (which are missing a lot of leverages, handrails and so on). Here it is on my test station - front and rear lights are on when moving forward, small white light on the back is on when moving backwards. Hope you like it!

Looks really good!!! Better than the original without any doubt!

I've seen on Youtube the Japanese version, the track is amazing. I think I will retry to develop the Aerotrain idea!

My congratulations for this fantastic monorail

Simply awesome, the E424 is spectacular too ?