brickie

Thank you for the encouraging responses. ScotNick, I have placed all of the Duplo Thomas trains on 9V motors so they will be moving around the 4 tracks on the display. I have made carriages 8 studs wide to be the same width as the Duplo trains. One of our BrisBrick members has a lego built Thomas, Annie and Clarabelle so they will fit in well on the island. This is firming as the name for the station. I am now working on Ffarquhar station in the countryside. Securing the tracks firmly in the vertical position was the biggest challenge. There were many, many efforts at doing this before a solution was reached.

I am attempting to build the Island Of Sodor for BrisBricks 2013 in October. This is my attempt at building the main station on Sodor. I need to give ii a name; any suggestions?

Pleased to announce that $13 000 is to be donated to the local community centre after our highly successful show.

When I saw this 'Headline' through bleary eyes this morning, my hopes were raised that at last we were getting a Lego store in Australia. Then after the coffee kicked in, I realised that it was Austria. Lucky Austrians. I guess we will just have to wait here DOWN UNDER.

Thanks for the encouraging comments. The next outing for Doomben is at the Gold Coast model train show in 3 weeks. Those horses certainly earn their money. I have not given next year a thought at this stage. Who knows what may crop up.

Many thanks for all the kind comments. Yes LT, especially if a tile lifts or the string for horse one gets hooked on the inside fence. Totally random, though sometimes the same horse will win a few races in a row You should see them gallop when I turn the control on full power.

This year, the first model train show for BrisBricks was to be held at Doomben Race Course here in Brisbane. I was unsure as to what to build for my tables on the LEGO train display. Then it hit me; build the race course including the grandstands. The result has been very popular at train shows and a mini Expo. There has been much excitement from the audience as the horses race down the straight in the Doomben Cup. The starting barrier comes with flashing lights for the starting signal. We even had streakers attempt to disrupt the Cup. Luckily the judge had a camera ready in case there was a close finish. Each race had a random winner. Here is a video of the Doomben Cup. It was a lot of fun building the race course and even more fun seeing the smiles on faces when the horses 'gallop' down the track.

I believe that each store will have a very l i m i t e d supply of the orange train sets.

Signs at Target today read something like this, " 20% off selected range of toys". It then shows icons for the selected brands; LEGO is not pictured.

Hello Kristel, Following the success of the BrisBricks Expo in 2012, BrisBricks Inc will be presenting two Expos this year. The first will be at Strathpine in Pine Rivers on the weekend of 15, 16th June. The major Expo will be on the 5, 6 and 7th October at the arena at the Sleeman Centre at Chandler. At both events there will be a large range of retailers; local and from interstate. Further details @ http://www.brisbricks.org/

BrisBricks Inc. will be holding a major EXPO at The Areana in the Sleeman Sporting complex in Brisbane on 5, 6 and 7th October, 20113. This will be an annual event to be held on the first weekend in October each year. Further details @ http://www.brisbricks.org/

BrisBricks Inc. will be holding an Expo at Strathpine on the weekend of 15, 16th June. Further details may be found @ http://www.brisbricks.org/

BrisBricks Inc. will be holding a LEGO Expo on 5,6 and 7th October at Chandler sports complex in Brisbane. This event will be held each year on the first weekend in October. Details @ http://www.brisbricks.org/ It would be appreciated if this could be marked on the calendar. Thank you.

Many thanks from Down Under.

Brilliant MOC. I agree with Lightning Tiger that the 'eating beans' scene would be great in Lego.

Thanks everyone for the advice. As I seldom have a TV going in the house, I think that bit will be recycled.

Hello Norm103, Last year I made a mini coaster using the track from the Indiana Jones temple set. I modified the car from that set to what I needed. I found in playing with this, that when you put 2 of the 'drop' pieces together, the car would become airborne at the bottom. After much experimentation, I found that it worked with a straight, curve and a drop, straight, curve and a drop pattern. For the straights, I had a problem. On the ground it was easy to use 12V track and use 1x2 jumper plates to join them to the narrow tracks. Once you got up in the air, it was a difficult build as you needed additional support structure. Whilst having a few drinks with a mate one night, he came up with a simple solution for a track that will clip onto the narrow gauge line; cut the plastic PF track. AAArggghhhh! I hear you say. So did I at first until I tried it. I cut out the centre 2 studs of a track and the joined them together with a 2x6 plate underneath and a 2x2 plate in the middle on top. Unfortunately, my mutilation of track was not yet finished as I had to cut the little curvy clips where they join. Once the 2 styles of track were joined together, instant coaster track. WARNING The track you have just mutilated is now no good for any thing else. I kept mine in case I build something similar this year. I'll see if I can find some photos.

A fantastic MOC! I love the roof; the arches are wonderful. One question though; if the station was constructed in 2012 and now it is crumbling, have you taken legal action against Dodgey Brothers, the builders? Also, did the worker kill that rat?

Like most of my 9V cords, the rubber coating has perished on the contacts to the track. I am going to replace the old wires with new. It was easy to open the two contact points and disassemble the insides. It was a little harder to open the black cylinder next to the contacts. Inside the cylinder, I found that the wire was looped once around a metal tube; not connected in any way. What is the purpose of this device? Is it necessary to be refitted onto the new wire? Many thanks.

Yesterday, I went to Myer at Carindale for their sale. The toy manager bought out an unopened box of series 9 from which I could choose. Whilst feeling my way through the packets, another BrisBricks member turned up and gave me a hand to pick a set of 16. They worked out at $3.30 each. Alas, this morning, they were opened by my granddaughters and I had a double; uurrrggghhh! I had two Fortune tellers and no Judge. Today I was out Logan way and I dropped into the hyperdome. Mr Toys had S9 for $4 each. When I started to feel some packets, the lady asked me which one I was after. A young fellow came up behind the counter and opened a display case and took out a judge; $4 thank you. Wow! I was blown away by the great service in both shops.

Even a Geonosian feels a bit scared when he meets Santa for the first time.

Thanks for a great review. Hopefully Santa will bring me two of these. A few years ago, I modified the red passenger train to this:- I added another PF motor, receiver, battery box to the rear engine. I also included a PF control switch where the rear 'driver' sat. I reversed this motor, set the control to the same channel as the front motor, put his head on the technic lever and the unit worked perfectly. As it went around, it just looked like a guard in the back. This is probably a safer solution for those of us who don't like opening motors. Then again, 2 x 9V motors will also work wonders.

Lest We Forget!

Thanks for the feedback. The Members of BrisBricks Inc. had a great time in presenting the Expo to the public. The response was overwhelming; we certainly didn't expect to find so many LEGO enthusiasts eager to see LEGO displays. Over 8000 people came along and judging from the 'WOWs!' and 'AWESOMEs' that were heard, one would think that it was a great event. Many thanks to the Scouts for doing the catering; we hope they have fun at their Jamboree. Stay tuned for BrisBricks 2013 on 5-7th October, 2013.

Thanks for that. I think that you will find in the fine print on their signs "This offer is not to be used with other offers". It is usually one or the other.