Charles Christy

I did try using a Lionel NW2 Lionchief unit, but all the 'circuitry' that is under the body shell was a mess. Using a regular old school engine frame would be easy, you would just lose the remote control features and sounds that the Lionchief units provide. Right now, that system allows multiple engines working at different speeds around the layout at the same time, a nice feature I think. I'm still playing around with the ideas, many thanks for all the feedback!

Here are a few pix of cars I've built. The first couple on standard double axle trucks are on Lego train plates, with Lionel truck assemblies underneath held by screws and using the holes in the Lego plates. The engine is a Lion chief Plus NW2 diesel so I get all the sounds, smoke, whatnot, that Lionel puts in their locomotives, real smooth low speed performer as well. The best feature of this system to me is that once you have a fleet of usable chassis, you can create or recreate whatever you want as opposed to having to purchase an endless stream of new stock. I didn't make any of these to be particularly 'prototypes' just interpretations of what you might see. Like the whole Lego RR system I think half the fun is to always be a work in progress. I'd put up a few more but there seems to be a limit, so more when I can, single axle Euro style Era II or III short goods wagons. Thanks for the interest!

I am a model railroader in the US, but I got tired of buying cars and buildings that once built were 'there', unchangeable... So I started using Lego for buildings and later, tried fitting Lego bodies to Lionel type trucks, making cars as well. So here comes the question, has anyone else ever done this or contemplated this or am I just out in the trees somewhere? I found that Lego for structures let me design and redesign the layout so it never gets 'old' or 'stale'. I applied the same to making rolling stock, changing and redesigning as desired. I run on standard 027 3 rail metal track, with Lionel power packs, ac trains, and all the locomotives are Lionel Lionchief Plus 2.0 units, each with their own remote controls. Cars are built by fixing a Lego plate, usually either a 6x16 or an actual train frame plate onto a Lionel chassis or Lionel trucks with the normal Lionel knuckle couplers to attach to the other cars or locomotives. I'll get some better pictures up soon if there is any interest. I originally put this up on Bricklinks but it was suggested by another user there that this forum might also have some interest, so I'm putting it here. I added a (poor) photo of part of the layout, it is smallish, about 60' of track or so, and the cat prowling the back side is just added fluff... The locomotives are all Lionel 027 Lion chief Plus 2.0, the 'chassis' for the rolling stock is all either single axle or dual axle Lionel frames with Lego bodies. Sadly, I can't (yet) build an engine as the Lego drive units won't fit, and rebuilding the body shell on a Lionel unit is more difficult than just creating a car... but I'm still looking at the possibilities.