Elana-chan

Design update; I've defined a potential arrangement that would allow 42055 to be placed on the top level. The tracks ment to go to separate levels are now represented by having supports underneath. A pier ramp has also been added near the wind turbine to represent the loading ramp for swaping out the pods for 4559, the footprint is similar to eachother, the pier ramp is simply taller.

Here's a list of sets containing cargo that could be used with the chosen intermodal system with little to no modification, and is from a time period that matches the rest of the sets aesthetically: 1525: LEGO Container Lorry 6361: Mobile Crane 4030: Cargo Carrier 4563: Load 'N Haul Railroad 6352: Cargomaster Crane 6668: Recycle Truck 6539: Victory Cup Racers 4552: Cargo Crane 4557: Freight Loading Station 4995: Cargo Copter As a side note, the truck from 4564 appears to be of the same design as the 6668 recycling truck, just with different loads to use with it. This could provide a limited addition to what can be swapped between sets. I've also made the decision that due to the restricted size of the sidings at the main station, which is also the template for the rest of the layout my original idea of having two 4559 sets back to back in a formation similar to various high speed trains will be truncated so that there is still an engine at each end to facilitate not having to turn the whole set around, but the train will end up being shortened to only having two cars. The up side to this is that I can swap out the pods for daytime and night time use and have the entire train be sleepers or open seating.

Thanks, as part of the project I will be doing a mirror-build of the police pier, so that the boats dock on the side facing the bottom of the setup. Edit: I'm curious what you guys think of how the rail system is going to end up being two end-to-end lines that meet on the main level instead of having a loop of some kind. The rail portion of it is designed with operations in mind, not just letting the trains run. Edit 2: One of the large additions that I will be adding to this somewhere on the layout will be technic set 42055. Because it's more or less minifig scale I plan on putting it in as the centerpiece of a quarry, even if it doesn't have much room to manuver, I will atleast be giving enough clearance for the boom to rotate to some degree. One thought was to have the line up to the mountain be able to dump scoopable material which could then be sent via truck to the scale area to be loaded onto another train, or be taken by truck to the harbor after loaded into one of the modular hoppers from 4565. Given the nature of the cargo loads that came with that set, I decided to focus on using similar load types that use the 4x8 footprint and have something ontop that can be secured by a hook for being moved around by crane. I originally thought about making 6542 and 4555 part of the layout, but after finding 6543 and thinking the area could use a place for private watercraft, there was nolonger room for both cargo ship docks. In addition to the space restrictions in the harbor, there was also having to choose the facility that came with 4565 or use 4555 instead, as there isn't room for both on the main level, besides, using the base from 4565 gave me a place to send the material that 42055 digs up! So it was down to choosing which type of 4x8 cargo to use, the type with a flat top similar to real-world shipping containers, or make things uniform with the type that gets carried around by cranes via hook, which allows for more versatile loads. The only way I can think of to still include 4555 would be to somehow fit it in with one of the other themes on a different level, if I did that, one of those container forklifts would be needed on the main level sense there isn't enough room to put a stationary crane with the proper attachment there. And even then, there's no room for the dock that would handle that type of load. And last of all, I intend on using a smaller loading gauge for the trains, based primarily around 4559's clearances, so running any form of doublestack isn't really being considered anyway.

Hey there. I'm working on the planning stages of a layout I plan to start construction on sometime in the next year or so, and I'm currently making the initial designs in BlueBrick. I have most of the main level finished, but I'm having trouble coming up with good methods to provide support for the different levels, as well as making room for some of the things I still want to add for detailing such as track side accessories. Another part of the puzzle I am having trouble finding an answer for is what the situation is for switches and weather or not setting the switches against a siding will disrupt the power flow to a 9V train sitting in said siding. Here is the first draft of the design. The lower level will contain a space area on the lower left, and aquazone in the lower right, with the possibility for top center and right being a staging area for additional trains. Top left will be a helix for going between levels. On the main area there is also a line going near the airport. This will be going uphill to a snowy/mountainous area. In the original concept, there was going to be a transition between the snow and space area via the iceplanet theme, but due to space constraints that won't be happening, but I would still like to put the ice planet stuff in with the snow area. For this reason I am also looking to figure out a way to make a ramp so non-rail vehicles can traverse between the space and snow themes. The snow area will be ontop of a mountain that overlooks the city level, and depending on how it's made, I might leave the underside of it atleast partially open, making an overhang of sorts covering the bottom level. Edit: the break between the space and aquazone area is ment to represent a visual barrier that will likely also provide support.

6542 was just one example I had, it was a general question on how often it is that none of the parts are side-specific so I can flip them around to provide better clearances within a given space. In the case of sets like 6542, this is indeed mirroring the layout of the entire pier as having the ships dock on the opposite side could potentially work out better if space is at a premium and I'm dealing with multiple docks.

Hey there. I'm trying to figure out how difficult it is to essentially take a stock set with no extra pieces, and make a mirror image of what's called for in the instructions. For example, how easy would it be to say, flip https://brickset.com/sets/6542-1/Launch-Load-Seaport so that everything is facing the opposite side of the pier?

Would there be a way to possibly make a 9v version of the turntable? I could imagine with some clever electronics (such as a polarity switcher), the table could be set to disable track power while moving, and re-engage once the table is locked at an indexed location to match the aligned spurs. *note: I prefer using existing relevant topics to ask questions like this instead of making an entirely new thread just to link back to the original, something that seems kinda redundant to me sense it's a proposed modification of the original design.

The only thing I see there that comes close is from the thread bellow: With how tiny the 4559 loco is, and the lack of anything to suggest pantographs or a third rail, part of me wants to say the thing could be powered by a miniature nuclear reactor (maybe a micro fusion generator?). I do also have the theory that the 4559 cars could be potentially lighter weight than the freight cars sense they aren't design to carry bulk loads. Edit: for the above link to be a possibility, it would need to be modified so there are couplers at both ends. Part of me is thinking of making the rail lines in the associated project end to end instead of a loop. Between that and being used as a switcher when required, it can't be expected to only pull form the back. At M_slug357's suggestion, I found a picture of the rear boxart. The locomotive itself is unremarkable as anything that would suit my needs, but the support structures and vehicle might have value:

Maybe a little? I posted here after my googlefoo failed to yield any inspiration. It seems there isn't much demand for locomotives that deviate from real-world examples.

Hello there. I am considering the idea of making a multi-themed diorama that makes use of the of the MILS concept, but this is also going to be a project that will be incorporating a large number of vintage sets from the 90s and I'm not entirely sure how I should go about it as many of these sets include baseplates, both flat and raised. I am also looking for ways to depict both surface and underwater oceanic scenes as part of this for things like ships as well as aquazone related sets. The sets in my inventory that make use of baseplates are as follows: 1906: Majisto's Tower 4565: Freight and Crane Railway 6262: King Kahuka's Throne 6278: Enchanted Island 6988: Alpha Centauri Outpost 6389: Fire Control Center 6397: Gas N' Wash Express 6455: Space Simulation Station Set dependent on elevation: 6540: Pier Police In addition to these, I was thinking about making an airport that made heavy use of baseplates for the taxiways, and there are likely other structures I haven't obtained yet that have a similar issue. I'm also not entirely sure how to compensate for roadbed elevation for trackside structures such as train stations and cargo handling facilities (something I've also asked about in the trains area).

How often is custom ballast used in conjunction with regular baseplates such as roads, and how do you adjust the elevation for trackside structures such as official station sets, or cargo handling facilities? Also, is there a guideline somewhere when preparing elements for use in construction of how much you need per standard piece of track?

Hey there. I know I seem to be in the minority when it comes to liking the 1996 "cargo railway". In my case I love that set enough to try and base a large portion of my rail system around the aesthetics that the train uses. I personally see it as a simi-futuristic set that could potentially be a means to transport people between a city setting and a space themed area. To this end I would like to work with someone on figuring out how come up with a freight loco that would similarly fit the transition between the two themes. For the most part I think the freight rolling stock that comes with the sets would work just fine, and I intend on using the more contemporary freight cars unaltered, as they will be sent all over the place, not just into the space area. It just feels like I could be doing more with a loco designed to make runs to that area and I'm unsure where to start. To give an idea of what could potentially be seen in the space area, I am focusing on the themes from the late 1980s through 1999, namely all of the themes between futron and insectoids. It is possible I will eventually get ahold of the monorail sets which would provide an additional link to the city, but for now the trains are my only real means to connect the two in a way that's visually separated (through a tunnel or other similar means).

Hey there. I've searched off and on over the past few months, and I've failed to come up with a good answer for this. Aside from the Bucket Wheel Excavator (42055), do we know which technic sets are more or less scaled to be used with minifigs? Almost every search I've found on google is actually talking about the old technic figures, which for the purposes of this topic I'm not interested in. I personally think it would be pretty neat if we had more of these sets that have technic complexity while also being something that might be able to fit in as a larger model used in a system setting, but at the same time I'm not quite aware of which ones are sized correctly among the already released sets. Secondary to making a list of official technic sets that fit the scale, it would be interesting to see what MOCs others have come up with. To clarify, I'm looking at sets such as the BWE that use primarily use technic elements for the build. This can include mindstorms builds, but more system--esque builds that only make minor use of technic peaces (such as the connector pegs to join the lego creator buildings) are not being looked at for this discussion.

Hey there, I might be coming into the possession of two copies of the big wheel excavator in the near future, and I've been looking to see what else I might be able to do with them other than using the A/B builds in tandem with each other. This eventually lead me to the various GBC builds and related videos, as well as looking through some of the existing threads here. The result of this pouring over of info has left me with a question I couldn't find an answer to: Is there any way to combine the Mining Plant and Mine Factory GBC modules in such a way that each of the major elements gets used within the loop? The only thing I've found that uses both was a video, where they were used in tandem at a convention, but in those cases, the way they were set up, most of the elements within each module were skipped. Part of me would like to see some kind of weaving motion going on where the two are combined into one big module, with the moving arm on the mine factory splitting the paths of the balls which eventually leads to one side of the conveyor or the other within the mining plant module, and then, to keep the circuit closed when it's only those two modules together, figure out a way to make both outputs on the mining plant return to the arm of the mine factory for re-distribution. Also, first post.