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Thank-you!! In my younger, more naive days (i.e. before Christmas) I thought that St. Pieces might have a shot on Ideas, and this is what I wrote ... **** St. Pieces Station. With the invention of railways a new age was created. Nothing could travel faster than a train and, to house these glorious engineering marvels, the most incredible stations were built, the grand cathedrals of the 19th Century. St Pieces Station is monument to times past, Neo-Gothic splendour or folly, the people are undecided, but it's aspirations and audacity are nonetheless as breathtaking now as they were when it was completed 160 years ago. Pull yourself away from the solid, yet ornate masonry outside, enter through the opulent doors and travel back in time, from the intricate mosaic floor to the atmospheric arches and the central hall, so massive it needs a clerestory to light it. Marvel at the grand chandelier, masterfully converted to brand new electric lighting one hundred years ago. Perhaps you know the station manager and you might get to climb the endless stairs to get to the uppermost terrace, with unparalleled views across the city. Unfortunately, times move on, and state of the art 160 years ago is no longer good enough today. Regional control is squashed into a corner, the columns of the arches get in the way. Staff endlessly complain about cramped working conditions and, although the buffet is busy, there is only space for cakes and coffee. Worse, rats have been sighted in the rickety rafters of the roof. St Pieces station is under threat and there are calls to demolish it and build something more modern and 'better' in its place. Will you help to save it?

Emergency links for those who can't see embedded photos, web article to follow in the next couple of weeks http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/01_Parade.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/02_Front_CarNo1.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/03_Front_CarNo4.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/04_Front_CarNo2.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/05_Front_CarNo3.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/06_Underframe.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/07_Sides_Cars1-4.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/08_Sides_Car2.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/09_Sides_Car3.JPG http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Edwardian_EMUs/10_Interiors.jpg

February 1905: New prototype electric multiple units delivered to the Lego Railroad and Tramway Company (LRTC). With Botanical Gardens completed, I wanted a nice straightforward project to round off, and so I decided to create some appropriate Edwardian trains to go with the station. The first electric commuter railways ran in the UK in the 1900s using a variety of designs - many influenced by American practice - mainly using third (plus fourth) rail DC systems. Rather than pick a particular train and fail to replicate it, I decided to create a variety of atmospheric Lego-esque motor coaches with the same basic structure, representing the pioneering designs of times past. 8-studs wide was chosen because I wanted them to hold a useful (for commuter rail) number of minifigures (the lowest capacity design seats 12 with 9 standing). The advantages of imaginary rolling stock means that the designer is the sole arbiter of realism! Inspiration comes from the London Underground and Lancashire & Yorkshire railways amongst others, as well as later designs by the NER, L&NWR and L&SWR. I wanted to model tumblehome - a distinctive staple of British railways - with companies trying to squeeze as many people as possible into the restricted loading gauge. Doing this realistically either involves mind bending SNOT or else lots of extra weight and no room inside for minifigures (or both). In the end I settled for aircraft parts to get the smoothest simplest result. The result is a bit extreme, but I think I just got away with it. The Intention was strong imposing looking period pieces. Thoughts: These are all unmotorised and the doors don't open, I am completely at peace with that! The colour scheme is determined by part availability, I'm not a Great Western fan! Annoyingly, the new lantern has a stud both sides, meaning it can't hang vertically from a clip (surgery was required). I am looking forward to a red version, yellow as a safety colour is a relatively recent invention. Suggestions for improved door handles welcome, the plates used almost work but are not quite right. Ditto luggage racks, the solutions used don't work well for many reasons, but whatever I use has to be implementable in a two-studs-wide and six-studs-wide version. Car No 1 has external wiring on the roof for electric lighting. The wires are chopped up antenna (unfortunately not available in white). Bars would be too thick, leading to the dreaded half-plate problem. Suggestions for less clunky lamp holders welcome, they need to be circular. All other suggestions welcome, including for variations on these designs, I have parts left over.

As promised, here are all images on a dedicated web page: My Long MOC journey

Thanks! Once I decided that the roof needed help, I wanted to make it look nice. The geometry of Lego clip-and-bar hinges is ... interesting. I like St Pieces but, although the concept is sound, there is something not quite there. One that needs starting again I think, keeping the basic features but getting them to work together better. I love Lego tiles, which is why my builds end up as studs-not-in-view, If I see a stud it is hard to resist putting a tile on it. Thanks! Lego trans plates make fantastic stained glass, when the light catches them in the right way they look incredible. It's a shame that we don't see more of this in official sets. I will see what I can do with lighting. I wanted Festival Gardens to look neat and slick. However, it needs slightly higher ceilings inside. I was restricted by the method I used to create the window-walls, 1x10 tiles would have made a big difference, but no can do!

Thanks, I don't have a Flickr presence, but I'm new to this world (first Bricklink order placed Sept 20th 2020) and what you see here is just about everything. My html skills are vastly better than my photography skills, so once I get a couple of pages up and running, all will be well. Contrary to what Brothers Brick say, "Seriously, personal websites are a thing of the past." personal we pages are not quite dead! www.tubemapcentral.com is in good health!

Apologies to those who can't see the images, they are hosted in a folder in my web pages, not sure why there would be problems. The locations are below, but going to these individually will be tedious, I will make up a web page next week. www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/05a_StP_top.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/05b_StP_front.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/05c_StP_right.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/05d_StP_middle.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/05e_StP_loft.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/06a_FG_top.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/06b_FG_front.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/06c_FG_back.jpg www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/06d_FG_left.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/06e_FG_centre.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/03_three_quarters.JPG www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/04_full_rear.jpeg www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/09_glass_floor_and_roof.jpeg

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, you are completely right, these are in order of development (and ambition), and Botanical Gardens is the most recent. The real challenge is where I might go next!

Would empty window frames work along the sides? https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=60594#T=S&C=7&O={"color":7,"iconly":0} They are a little bit thinner than bricks.

Thanks! I need some more trains and track to go with them. I was wondering about using SNOT and/or cheese slopes to smooth off the arrows but that would have been quite a battle in a small space. Oh, and if anyone knows a trick to centre the clock in the circle properly, let me know!

I've been building occasional Lego Architecture sets for a few years now, but the series now seems to be well-and-truly moribund. Just tourists traps and Skylines that don't appeal (although the Miami skyline on Ideas is rather nice). But I've always had a train interest too, and the Crocodile caught my attention last year, and I was hooked.I needed more than that to keep myself busy, and I had a collection of OO scale model railways that, in all honesty, were never going to see a layout, so I sold them and switched to Lego trains.I started with two City Train sets, 60197, at good prices, but they really needed a proper station to do them justice. Like many people I think that the Metro Station 4554 is one of the nicest that Lego has ever created. I completed this in Tan, and replaced the windows with panels, which give it a nice 1930s look. I needed another building for the other platform. Lego does Brutalism really well, and 7997 looks the part in Light Grey. The station buffet is long closed, a victim of economies. Together, parting up 4554 and 7997 are a really good lesson in learning the ins and outs of Bricklink and the waywardness of Lego parts colour availability. These are both nice stations, but I wanted something a but more grand and old fashioned. The Disney Train station 71044 is really the only large station that Lego has ever created (it keeps rejecting good stations on Ideas), and I managed to get just the building by itself for a very reasonable price from Ebay. Of course, platforms are needed too. Several Harry Potter stations combine nicely to create an attractive substantial set-up. Although the Disney station is large, it still gives the impression of a country town station rather than a major city terminus. The next step was a chance encounter with a book on the history of Lego sets. The Town Hall in 10184 looked too good to stay as a Town Hall: I could see a Neo-Gothic Victorian monument struggling to get out. St Pieces is the main central station on the layout in my head. Typical Victorian grandiosity (as per St Pancras). I followed the original 10184 plans to the letter and then extended outwards and upwards. My big lesson was not to design like this. It is much better to start with a concept and a blank slate rather than adapt someone else's design. For the record I will note that the 2x2x3 roof slope is HORRIBLE, that part doesn't have clutch, it has anti-clutch, and that roof exploded messily at every opportunity. All those joists in the loft are there for a reason. The desire to return to Brutalism was strong, showcasing just how nice a such a building can be when done well. Inspired by the Royal Festival Hall, Falmer House (University of Sussex) and the Crystal Palace Sports Centre, for Festival Gardens Station I particularly wanted to show the metal-framed windows that characterise these buildings, and I've always wanted to do a circular roof. Initially, I thought I had cursed myself by making the whole building an odd-number of studs wide but the Lego gods were merely testing my resolve: the circular roof went together with the main building like a dream and fitted perfectly. I just wish there were more inverted slopes available. I thought that Festival Gardens would be the last stop on my journey, but Art Nouveau has always been my first architectural love, and ideas started forming in my head about ways to make it possible. You've already seen Botanical Gardens, but here are a few photos again so you can see my full journey! So, that's my long MOC journey come to an end. I hope you enjoyed the results. I think that's exhausted my inspiration for now, but who knows what might pop into my head next! If any of these buildings generate particular interest I will start a separate thread for them with extra photos, I need the practice!

Um, so although trains beat all the castle sub-categories, and most of the others, it got kicked out of the second round. Their reasoning doesn't follow either. If the castle fanatics used all three votes for castle sub-categories, then combining the sub-categories gets one vote for super-castle, not three. If they are going to have a second round, they should include trains and adventurers, both of which beat the best castle sub-category. Or they should just admit that they want castles to win

I wasn't referring directly to your post with my last comment, sorry! Those windows are indeed really useful for trains, my current project wouldn't have worked without them, let's hope for more colours.

But none of these answer my original question. Experiments notwithstanding, Before 1967 (Pullman reversed rail blue and grey) I'm not aware of a single coach that ran in passenger service on a UK mainland railway with a 'reversed out' livery, that is with windows darker than lower panels. That's what I am after, are those dark brown or dark purple 1x3x3 window frames of any use? Or could they only be used with an all purple or all brown livery (with some lining to relieve the slab of one single colour)? So if nothing in the UK fits the bill, how about overseas?

That's hardly a helpful suggestion, that sort of information tends not to be posted on the internet these days, and even when it is Google tends not to find it. Google is much more about selling stuff than finding stuff now. So the short answer is, 'yes I tried and I found nothing useful'

It's a fantastic representation. As for the original, what was its fuel consumption? In my reading about the previous two prototypes they performed well and had potential but this was at the cost of gobbling up fuel like nothing seen before of British Railways.

I am creating some old-style-looking electric multiple units, in minifigure scale, and the newish 1x3x3 window frame is perfect for these because it matches well the profile of a seated minifigure. Currently, this window frame is available in just three colours, Bricklink Tan (thank goodness) is a good historic railway colour, pairing nicely with reddish brown, dark red, dark blue and dark green. The other two colours - dark brown and Bricklink dark purple - are more of a challenge because older two-tone railway liveries usually had the mid-body (including windows) in a lighter colour than the lower body panels. So, can anyone point me towards old railway liveries for coaches that could make good use of these window frames?

I see a Deltic nose!

A definitive GG1 would be my ultimate Lego train dream, and I've never even set foot in the USA, let alone stood next to one. But those curves and slopes are so difficult to capture, the essence of that beast is perfect smoothness.

Thanks, that is really helpful. I guess you have already seen the entry, although my head is buzzing full of ideas to take it to the next level, time and Bricklink will be my ruin in that respect. I've signed up for the photography webinar, looking forward to that.

I've looked at the entry requirements, six photos, not many! And a video, but are there any specifications for this? [Would have preferred 12 photos OR 6 photos plus video, I wouldn't even know where to begin to create a video!] Is supporting text allowed, to say something about the design from the designer's perspective and/or minifigures' perspective?

Hopefully, with so many curved pieces being added to the Lego range in recent years, they might consider corner slopes one day, would any other piece transform train construction more?

I tried it and could only get brown to work for the steam engine parts. 'Brown Night' doesn't carry quite the same excitement. Nothing is more frustrating in the world of MOCs than trying not to work in brown, grey, tan, black, or white!

Thanks for kind words all round, life seems strangely empty now that this is finished and the Bricklink deliveries have come to an end. This is very much a station where I would like the trains to be late, I could sit in it for hours. I had a look around to find the most appropriate trains to call at this station, and I think these ones fit the bill nicely ...

Oh, I hate arcane technical problems. All photos here http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/01_above.JPGhttp://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/02_front.JPGhttp://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/03_three_quarters.JPGhttp://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/04_full_rear.jpeghttp://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/05_towards_office.jpeghttp://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/06_towards_restaurant.jpeghttp://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/07_office_side.jpeghttp://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/08_restaurant_side.jpeghttp://www.tubemapcentral.com/legophotos/09_glass_floor_and_roof.jpeg