SerperiorBricks

In planning for Dryaw, I needed an appropriate locomotive to populate the scene with. I prefer more realistic locomotives, so I used one of Awdry's custom Thomas models as the basis for my Thomas. Awdry's third Thomas was made from a Hornby LB&SCR E2, so that shape was where I started with my model. With some of the new shapes in the catalog, I chose Medium Azure for my model, reflecting the color choices of Awdry's model. In this scale, I decided against the handrails on the cab, making a closed door cab. As I planned to line it, I didn't extend the side tanks, focusing instead on making the rounded front edge of the water tanks. I also was able to make use of the inverted curved slopes to get nice shaping for the running board. I've built Thomas on a Powered UP Train motor, with the wire running into the coaches for battery power. I don't expect Thomas to be a strong model, so I don't have any issue driving from a train motor directly. The design would probably fit even an L Motor relatively easily. At Dryaw's first show, I used the blue L BBB wheels I bought last year, but I'm working on 3D Printing custom #8 / ML Drivers in a color that's very close to Medium Azure. I finally figured out Vinyl lettering! Cutting a red and yellow layer using a Cricut machine, then placing the layers with a slight offset. I really enjoy the lettering more than the #1 on the middle of the tanks, so that was the style I went with for this model. I had to import a render of the model from stud.io into a photo editing software to design the shape of the lining, electing to have the lining hug tightly to the shaping of the tiles, making the lining on the bunker mismatched, but cleanly follow the outline of the tiles. I have some elements on this Thomas from all different sources, keeping the twin whistles from the TV series. For coaches, I wanted bogie coaches, as the shortened two axle coaches from the TV series wouldn't fit the scale of this Thomas - about 28 studs long himself - and saw photos of Rapido's 'Evolution' Non-Corridor Coaches that looked close to what is on display at the Talyllyn layout. I still have to design brake rigging, but that's usually easier for me to do once the coaches are built. And here's it all together - Side Rods and Wheels still to come, but the model is effectively complete. Only bit of vinyl missing is the names for Annie and Clarabel, my initial draft did not separate properly. I'll make a separate post covering Dryaw, but for today this is the full report. In the Background, Harold is my design and @Murdoch17 contributed his Bertie model to complete the display. I did J70 Lettering too

Track Transitions Curves Applied My home layout will have a dog-bone loop to make two full running loops that cover the entire layout. Since everything needs to be mostly custom-set, I'm using transitions to help smooth out the U-turn the track needs to make at this point of the layout. In the pictured curve, the entry is smoothed, and the exit will be in a future segment. Getting back on-grid seems to require a S1 track piece, and even still the 90 is in tension. For the purposes of running trains, this will be sufficient, but if I weren't tacking the curve in place on the ends it could be a problem. The S8 segment isn't crucial, and could relieve this stress if I used flex-track, but I seem to be able to manage with a half piece. The curve in the back (which I don't have a top-down picture of) is R56>R40>R40>R56 and R88>R72>R56>R56>R72>R88. All together, it completes my entire run along the side wall of my layout.

I've been seeing some struggles online with the Old Engine Shed and integrating with LEGO track (though I'm sure most on this forum would be aware of these solutions) RobinHood Bricks extends the ballast out a few studs, though this introduces a 1 stud offset- fine for a loose layout but not in a more structured one. I shifted the tracks back one piece. All I needed was a replacement for the 6x8 plate below the rail, I opted for a 1x8 and 4x8 plate. Inside the shed, it just required replacing a 1x6 tile with a 1x4. Though OSHA might have some complaints. This should allow for the most versatility, and allows for use of a Trix Brix adapter piece too (of course, that option needs a tad more modification of plates, but sliding that 3d printed part under the rail will make it fit properly, I just didn't want to bother at the moment) And all it took was pulling out a 1x8 plate on the siding. Over all, I don't think the fuss it's been getting about it being 'incompatible' is warranted. Separate rails have their trade-offs, and having the bay underneath makes the most sense for this model. And adding engines to the scene definitely improves the display! (Oops - made a mistake on the sticker placement when I was trying to make it square. Though I didn't realize I placed it in the wrong orientation.)

https://flic.kr/p/2pY9QVG Up Close with the BDP Logging Railway At Brickworld Chicago, I was able to get some close-up video (but forgot to take pictures!!) with the BDP Logging Railway. The staff working the booth said that they will be working with a LUG to create a model that extends the Trestle all the way down from table height to the floor. (They said which LUG but I didn't write it down) In conversation with the BL rep, I asked if there would be any possibility to provide sectional instructions (maybe 2x 'layers' each) to help out builders that might want to build something between the set and 3' of trestle. He said it should be possible, and he will get in contact with the Designer to see if they can make some layers of instructions. Some Set Info: - Intended Radius is around R220, and connects pretty seamlessly to LEGO Rail pieces if you position them right (though you would of course need to meet the height of the track - The tiles that make up the rail, surprisingly having passed LEGO's quality check for the use case, are very sturdy, even for heavier or fast-moving trains. - The Trestle can be flexed, and built to be a straight line or extended to an even larger radius. A single set of the cross-bar hoses on the Trestle provides adequate strength, but when the second set of hoses is attached on the opposite side, it is significantly sturdy. Though I do not have any stats on picking the thing up. For display purposes, they weren't exactly picking the thing up and swinging it around.

My understanding is that the timeline was a contact from LEGO, followed by a C&D when HA Bricks refused to budge. That C&D was ignored, then the more egregious, recall all your sold models and customer data C&D was sent, which lead to this going to court because it was obviously overblown. However, LEGO's lawyers aimed for absolute destruction of HA Bricks with the terms of that court case result. LEGO has the last laugh, and total control to tighten the vice should they elect to impose the per-model fines. Why LEGO decided to impose something so harsh as to destroy HA Bricks? More than likely to punish HA for their violations, behavior, and to make an example against those that wish to challenge LEGO.

Last I checked, LEGO sets don't come with an EULA or Terns of Use from LEGO, so I think that the argument of 'you can't use bricks this way' from LEGO's lawyers is a poor precedent to the community. It would be excessively hypocritical if LEGO decides to go after (exclusively) custom brick printers following this, given the history with even engraving LEGO bricks that LEGO has supported. Especially if many of those members are LAN members... LEGO needs to come forward with these rules to the consumer. They shouldn't just decide when to start enforcing these restrictions through C&D's.

This layout is very cool and looks really intricate, definitely my favorite. That being said, what is the benefit of the green, orange, and dark red routes? If you're filling the layout with parked trains then why have those curves at all? I can only see 2 possible ways to run at once, without signals and/or crossthroughs. Though I know not everyone is looking to be someone like Sevbrick and run 6+ trains at once, you're spending a lot of space putting those curves in. https://imgur.com/a/tPEOs4W Yellow / largest radius: can run outside loop or go in to the middle route, cannot run a second train if using middle route. Pink / second largest radius: can run second outside loop all the way around, but will need to crossover yellow track if using inside route or actively manage two switches. Would it make more sense to limit the number of rings, or make more rings usable at once, then build something more prototypical for storage? or even wall storage?

My favorite LEGO Train of 2024 Though they're on opposite sides, so does that make the TIE Interceptor a 0-2-0? We're eating good this year so far for Train Parts!

These are injection molded from overseas Those, and the fancy glass that fit in them are pretty flooded in the market by Webrick and AliExpress, though other colors could be interesting. The main goal is to make more colors available, not corner the market :D and yeah, for some reason the pictures aren't embedding right, at least the links work

I've custom ordered a batch of Dark Blue 1x2x3 Train Windows for us Train Folk. Trying something out with getting parts custom ordered in useful colors (that LEGO won't make for us). I've got 500 in this initial batch, for sale from my store, SerperiorBricks.space Some pictures of the physical parts. Unfortunately around the same amount of scuffs/scratches as we get out of LEGO these days, so they're not perfect. But they fit the standard glass and LEGO bricks just fine. Color is pretty much spot on as well. I've got them for sale as low as $.50/pc, but those prices may be able to reduce in future batches depending on demand. 1 2 3 4 I've got a batch of Tan windows on the way as well, hopefully they should arrive in by the end of the month.

Very cool designs! Can't say I have an idea of what to do with every one of those parts just looking at them, but a good number of these aren't too far outside the realms of what LEGO might dream up one day (who would have ever expected LEGO to come out with 1x5 plates, 1x1x2/3 bricks, or those inverted slopes to begin with!) LEGO will always be developing more ideas, and you've got some great ones here too. The quality of those finished parts is incredible.

Apologies for all curious, I needed to carve out the time to prep the visuals. As mentioned, the outer axles and buffers rotate to allow the rolling stock to travel around tight curves. Flexing on a Curve Belly Rubs Perspective Shot for Better View

Now on Rebrickable! https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-169823/SerperiorBricks/ciwl-orient-express-baggage-car/#details

No, haha- those are just to be pretty for renders. I will likely either tape over official parts or get custom ones.

I've completed my design for a Baggage Car to complete the Orient Express train into a full train set. I used a similar design that has been paired with coaches like these in a model train pack by REE models. Some quirks of the reference model are the angled doors at the ends of the coach with their own steps, represented by inverted and round plates in my model. The Door Portals are carried over from the standard coaches, using the grilled fence piece to represent a ladder that shows on the models. There's also a view box at the front of the coach. I haven't quite figured out what the interior of one of these looks like, so for now it's just a shell. In the consist, the Baggage Car is shorter than the rest of the coaches, and with a 6-wheel base there were some fun challenges to overcome. To keep the ladders static, the turntables salvaged from the standard coach now are used to let the buffers and connector pivot. The outer wheelsets are on a pivot, which are necessary for anything below R72, but are not required for R72 and larger. The middle wheelset is using the same sliding mechanism as the Tender, which is necessary for any Radii. On the left side, doors are embedded into the side of the coach 1/4 plate. The right side has two sliding doors, that I would like to get stickers made for, using a clear piece like the CE HE carriage doors. More pictures and some WIP Pictures can be found in this album on my Flickr.

Good News, from LEGO CS: "The Designers are aware of the spelling and sticker issue, but have not heard of this issue of the curved slopes. (sure lol) Please get in contact with us again when the replacement 1x8 tiles are ready and we will replace."

For those looking to use the EN with the OE, I can't recommend enough to convert the EN over to XL Drivers British Bricks Emerald Night XL (Showcase) (Instructions) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c0egzTWqV9Y&pp=ygUcQnJpdGlzaCBicmlja3MgZW1lcmFsZCBuaWdodA%3D%3D

LEGO usually enhances or over-lights Dark/Earth Blue, because the prints and details tend to not show well on the color otherwise.

That time when the Wabash railroad from Midwest US sent their finest locomotive to make the trans-continental journey with the luxurious Orient express. You also failed to draw a rather important line to our criticism of the locomotive

Two coaches is what was asked for, and the coaches are beautiful. If making new wheels is possible, then they should design a model that uses them well. BBB and other retailers in the community have great XL train wheels, and it is not the expectation of LEGO to make these wheels for us when modifying the locomotive is so easy. If making new wheels is not possible, then they should work with the scale and locomotive design to make something look proper. (The EN was based off of A1's but not matching any particular one, the engine doesn't have to exactly exist either) The issue is that the train does not match the scale of the wheels, and looks bloated - possibly an afterthought to adapt to the height of the coaches? LEGO made a locomotive that was out of scale with itself. Their For 'Adults' line shouldn't be required to make a train into a toy (it can still play and handle with the proper design standards, but it can look professional) - like the Crocodile, which took the limitations of 6w and 40r train track with stride, still creating an incredible model that managed to use the L drivers properly. R40 is only a limitation to long locomotives, many wheel bases can handle the standard radius perfectly fine.

I understand the argument about the L vs XL drivers. I'd argue that there's no difference between making a new wheel mold for larger models and making a mold for a single minifigure head (which LEGO has been doing at increasing rates it seems). But it's less that this model 100% needed bigger wheels, but that the model they made is out of proportion. (Oversized Hogwarts Express had its own wheel mold too) L Drivers can work in 8-Wide on a large Loco, they just need the right proportion

It looks maybe like they were aiming for a Royal Austrian Class 210 maybe? Wrong amount of domes but close shape. L Drivers make it look a bit wonky. According to Wikipedia, the locomotive was also placed in service to pull the famous "Orient Express" across Europe The coaches really are beautiful, but um.. see attached

Hello, I would like to request change from my current username to SerperiorBricks Reason is removal of my real name and consistency across platforms

I got my Studgate in the later wave of sets being sent out. I didn't have any missing pieces, or any stability issues. I completed the build, and just looked over the thing. Something was just 'off' to me. I realized that I wasn't a fan of the top platform on the set. In real life, a lounge held up by the glass window makes very little structural sense. The decorations and even the chandelier just feel so off, like it should be hanging over the high-ceiling lobby or grand staircase leading down to the trains. I still like the original design, but I think in practice the ceiling is just a little silly. I want it to have that glass roof in multiple segments over the trains, and maybe the glass at the front to close it in a bit more. Here are my plans: https://flic.kr/p/2oAVvjX https://flic.kr/p/2oAUmgx The additional garage door pieces are best purchased from LEGO bricks & pieces for cost reasons. Removing the top lounge really fixed the over-the-top nature of the station.

I had to buy straight track from china to get it cheap. Plastic has a lighter density and less clutch power, but the train runs fine over it