Aaron

I wouldn't mind paying the additional shipping expenses to have my plastic tracks arrive separately. The only metal thing I ordered was a sample pack, with about 9000 other things in plastic.

1:38.1 is the scale I chose to build all of my trains in, where 1 stud equals 1 foot. I mostly build American diesels and passenger cars for now, and it's worked out nicely for me so far. Eventually I'll have topics and pictures up showing all of the different techniques I use for my 10-wides. I've developed and refined a bunch of different techniques, since my goal is to make them as functional and realistic as possible. The nice thing is that when I build an 85' coach, it's always going to be 85' long. The panels and window panes seem to almost always match up very nicely that way, as well as almost everything else. If it were any bigger, at say 12-wide, the panels and window panes would be too small, and involve a lot of time and effort to find a workable solution. I don't like doing anything less than 10-wide because it makes the window panels that I use appear too big, and takes more effort to get the desired accuracy. Another thing I like about 1:38.1 scale is that the wheel diameter of most coaches is 36", and common LEGO train wheels are 3 studs in diameter, which make things easy as well. With ME models making wide radius curves, and the ability to manually create large radii curves out of straight track pieces, I don't mind building things that need larger curves. With all of the 10-wide infrastructure I've developed over the years for my trains to function in almost every way real trains do, the a I'm finally coming close to finished results, so I don't think I'll ever go back to using any other scale. It was definitely a huge hurdle to overcome at first, but now I'm finally nearing the finish line, and hope to be able to collaborate with and help others who also want to build in that scale.

I could never find a magnet solution that I like, so I've been trying to create functional knuckle couplers out of purely legal parts for quite a while. If I'm ever successful, I will share the results with the community.

I hear you there. I ordered two full loops of plastic r104 curves, 10 packs of 4 plastic double length track segments, two plastic sample packs, a pack of universal connectors, and a metal sample pack. This November is going to be the best month of my life.

What are your thoughts on reddish brown, black, or dark brown tiles as ties? I've been experimenting with dark brown lately, but it's difficult to tell if reddish brown or dark brown has more of the realistic "washed out" look that I'm going for. From some angles, your track looks very realistic, and I think it also helps that it's the old 9v track, since most rails are only shiny on top with more of a grayish brown rusted appearance on the sides. I kind of regret selling my 9v track after seeing your layout.

Nice techniques! Good stuff!

Edit: Never mind, I think you found a better solution.

That's why I don't buy sets in the first place. Why wait for new sets when we could just build whatever we want right now? You get more for your money that way, too.

As long as the next wave of trains has double-wide trans-blue panels as windows, I'll be happy.

O-gauge wheels would work very well for these.

I feel that I, and many other train builders included, desperately need these parts in the aforementioned colours in order to make some fantastic MOCs. The need for double wide train windows is killing me, and two 1 x 2 x 2 panels side-by-side just doesn't cut it. Another benefit is that they'd be very easy and cost-efficient to implement in sets. I could see these windows being used in some sort of Agents truck, police van, or new train set or something. Do it for me, and I'll tattoo the LEGO logo to my forehead. Panel 1 x 4 x 2 with Side Supports in transparent light blue. Window 1 x 2 x 2 Flat Front in both dark red and light bluish gray.

Very nice scaling and attention to detail. My personal favorite coaches are the PRR P70s, and I was thinking round cutout decals over transparent panels would work fine. Are you breaking up the windows with decals? If not, 1 x 1 bricks between them would do the trick. I wouldn't shy away from building 70+ long coaches either, with ME rail wide radius curves on the horizon. The sky is the limit!

If it's yours, you can do whatever you want with it. That's my philosophy.

Medium dark flesh would be perfect, but dark tan would be a decent compromise since there are more to choose from. I'm building a 1:38 scale MTT in either dark tan or reddish brown. I still have to decide which one would look more appealing.

That's the only option I really have with what I'm pulling. Anything less than 11.1 volts probably wouldn't be enough.

Pioneer Zephyr

I'm still considering it, but it probably won't be for a while. Engine 3751 was specifically the one I really wanted to build, but right now I have a monster of a project on my hands, which is also related to the ATSF. What you've built seems to be the same scale as what I'm working on. Did you build it in about 1:38 scale? I'm trying to find specifications on the ATSF 2926, but it doesn't seem to be listed anywhere. Either way, this is one of the longest LEGO train engines I've ever seen. Interesting. Have you ever tried Racer Buggy Motors? I'm thinking of combining those with the XL motors for maximum speed and power. I'll let you know if I find a way to make it work.

I've been wanting to build one of these for quite a while. I think you did a fantastic job, so now I don't really feel the need to build it anymore. Anyway, I'm going to run a similar motor combination in my trains, but I'm still awaiting some back-ordered IR receivers, so I have no idea what having several XL motors is like. About how much car weight can your steam engine pull?

Currently the most cost-effective way to obtain straight rails is by purchasing the straight/flex track pack directly from LEGO, in bulk amounts that give you free shipping, and re-selling the flex track components while keeping the 8 sections of straight rails per pack. If you don't mind waiting a few month, though, a company called ME Models will be releasing awesome custom track including larger radii curves and your choice of either plastic or metal straight track, which will by far be the best way to obtain straight track.

I've always wanted doors like that as well, and have tried just about everything, only to end up contemplating the possibilities of this part: Cutting some of these to 3 studs long, painting them the appropriate color, and fixing glass in the ones for the upper door segments might yield something pretty close to a real train door. On another note, the only thing that really bothers me about this model is that the gangway connections look a bit too wide. The doors are also a bit too large, but other than that, I really like the smoothness and realism of the whole thing.

Very nice. I've always loved black hopper cars. They're probably my favourite freight cars.

That is a very nice concept you have created. This efficiently maximizes the distance the train can travel given the size of a room, as opposed to a table layout.

I don't think I've ever been this excited in my entire life. Imagine the S-curves we will finally be able to make with the ME Models r104 track! I would imagine it will possible to make custom switching tracks due to the freedom of the independent rails. The plastic track could be cut/glued/acetoned together, with the switching elements sanded sharp and attached to Technic parts within the ballast, and then controlled via power functions. This opens up the possibility for us to make gradual switches, inclined curves, and anything else we can imagine.

I really like the way you did the railroad ties.

The first problem I see with this technique is that the brackets make the track difficult to ballast in an aesthetically pleasing way.