legotrainfan

About half of the stuff that I have is assembled and will remain assembled, being put in the room for LEGO stuff only. Due to lack of space I've been forced to put some sets back in their boxes. They go there either fully disassembled or partly disassembled. Depends on the box and how big it is. I've recently been busy with disassembling some castles and putting them back in boxes. You cannot imagine how dusty they are! Even after washing them with hot soap water and a second bath with hot water (but without soap) there's still dust on them! Time for the washing machine!

On eBay if the description of the set says it is new (and MISB) you can be rather sure that it is unopened. However, I once bought a set that was supposed to be MISB on eBay, but one seal was broken and when I checked it all the elments were not in their original LEGO plastic bags but in some other plastic bags that were open. And 3 to 5 small bricks were missing! But I could see that the set I got had not often be played with. The bricks were still in very good condition and the stickers had not yet been used. But I was really frustrated, because I got only a bit of my money back. And though the seller promised me to send the missing bricks, I've never got them. *n* Even worse, just when I received the set, I gave the seller a positive feedback, believing that everything was alright as it is usually the case with a set that is MISB, but - as I've said - it wasn't new! :'-( But this is my one and only negative experience with a set that was supposed to be new. I bought many other new sets on eBay and they were really really new! EDIT: Ooops! Sorry! You wanted to know if it is sure to buy a set that has been opened! I should read posts more carefully! Well, I'd advise you to look at the pics closely or to ask the seller if they could possible send you some more pics by email. There are also sellers who promise you to send parts when you find out that some of them are missing. Concerning the colour of bricks: when you buy used sets it can happen that white bricks have become darker and old light gray bricks have yellowished. I'd say there is never a guarantee if a set is complete. I've mentioned above I've even had a negative experience with a set that was supposed to be new.

I got two RC tracks by phoning the LEGO replacement parts service. If you phone, it's easier for the LEGO employees to find the element you want when you give them a set number. So just tell them you want some straigth tracks which are in set 7896, for example. Or, even easier, give them the element number: 4279714 (product name: rail straight 16M). I know the number because I bought two once to - as I've mentioned before - build layouts that would normally cause a short circuit. But since I got them I've only used them to make sidings longer. The two straight RC tracks cost 2.72 Euro; at least when I bought them (excluding shipping costs). Maybe the price has gone up a bit since then. EDIT: When you ask yourself what you could do with the tracks if your plan did not work: to make sidings longer as I've done.

I think it works. But it won't work when you use two 9V tracks, two RC tracks, two 9V tracks, and so on. Then you would have to use a speed regulator for all two 9V tracks. I thought about inserting one RC track to be able to build routes that would normally short cut but I haven't yet tried it. With two motors it should be possible as long as one motor is on the metallic tracks.

I usually wash my bricks by hand. This is a long and exhausting work. I'm hesitant to put bricks into the washing machine. I am afraid that long plates (e.g. 1x8 or 2x16) might easily break or be twisted. I used to put standard bricks and plates in the same box. When the plates were closer to the bottom of the box, the whole weight of the other bricks was on them. And so some plates were - some a bit more some a bit less - twisted. :-( This could also happen in the washing machine when you put too many bricks in there.

The outside of the train looks quite ordinary, but your effort is quickly revealed when you have a look at the interior where you have put in a lot of nice stuff. *y* I also find it an ingenious idea to place the cables under the floor of the locomotive! I have never thought about buidling an 8-wide train but getting more space inside is definitely a strong argument for it.

I'd also recommend what others have said: check if there's a negative feedback removal system. The problem is that the negative feedback you got as well as the negative feedback you gave must be removed by MUTUAL agreement. At least this is how it works on eBay. To console you a bit: My brother has also been left a negative feedback once though his payments are the quickest on this planet! It annoyed him even more because he had left the seller a neutral one. He bought a package of trees and some other things for his model train layout and the seller stubbornly insisted that he had bought two packages of trees (on different days). But my brother showed me his eBay account and I could see he had only bought one package. So after a long discussion with the seller he got one package as wanted and left a neutral feedback for that item. Well, the seller "rewarded" him with a negative one. >:-( *n* Even worse: normally on eBay you can extent your comment (respond to feedback) after you've been left a feedback, but he couldn't do that anymore since he had already deleted that transaction. So he was really angry! So you're not alone! I can understand that experiences like that are tremendously annoying! EDIT: By the way, I have been quite generous with positive feedback on eBay twice or thrice. The problem is as soon as you give an HONEST negative feedback, the seller will usually take revenge - childish but true - by giving you a negative feedback as well. So I admire your courage!

I usually prefer using old gray bricks. I think you cannot say that bley is a more realistic colour. I believe that bley looks terrible when used for castles, but it is quite good when you want to build train waggons or locomotives with it. Maybe it's good to mix the two greys for some MOCs. Some of you have tried that and created some pretty good stuff. Still, I don't like bley that much and tend to avoid it.

I have no M&*$@cks or any other sorts of fake bricks though their could be some among those used LEGO bricks I and my brother once bought from eBay. But so far I haven't found a single brick that was not produced by TLC. Are you crazy to destroy M&*$@cks? I'd rather sell them on eBay, and if someone's crazy enough to buy them, I'd use the money for LEGO stuff, of course! :-)

I don't care much about it. I don't have a single exo-force set. I've never collected it, which is good. The end of the 9V system is already more than I can cope with. :'-(

Most of my minifigs came with the sets although I have got several knights with weapons that I got from eBay. Apart from those knights, most of my minifigs are on display. Of course, this does not count for sets that I put back in their boxes to keep them dust free. It's problematic to put everything on display when you don't have a room big enough for it. :'-(

When I first saw the pic, it also reminded me of an Irish pub. Anyway, it looks brilliant! A building with many nice details. *wub* *y*

The BNSF engine 10133 has a black 4x6 plate at its bottom (upside down construction between the wheels) and it also touches the tracks! I thought 10133 also had to be very close to the tracks and checked it today. The plate must also be substituted by tiles! As I've said only the waggons 10022 touch the rails through the two grey 2x6 plates at their bottoms. The middle part between the wheels hangs one plate deeper than the middle part of the waggons 10025. So the 10025s won't cause any unwanted friction. Once again: thanks to SavaTheAggie! *y* Without your advice I would have damaged the motors in my two 10020s and one more in my BNSF engine 10133!

I checked Tony's (SavaTheAggie's) suggestion and he's right! The studs of the two grey 2x6 plates in this middle upside down construction seem to touch the rails! As you know on each stud there is the word LEGO printed on them. On some studs one or two letters are hardly visible. And I have not had time to buy a rubber to clean the rails, which is - paradoxically but true - good because it gave me further evidence. The outer row of studs on both plates is a bit dirty. So the studs of the plates really seem to touch the curved rails. At least the two new motors have not had to suffer long. I have only used them for about 10 days. Thanks Tony and thanks to all of you for your effort and precious help! *y* *y* *y* And now it's time to go shopping on bricklink, looking for some old gray tiles! ;-) EDIT: It just seems to affect the 10022 waggons. The plates on the middle upside down construction of the 10025 waggons didn't show any marks.

The route my Super Chief usually takes has 70-80 track pieces, out of which are 30-35 curved tracks and six switches. All the other trains run nicely on the same route, but they are lighter and have waggons that are not so heavy (like 4512). The Super Chief accelerates nicely when it goes over several straights, but when it comes to the curvy area, it slows down. :-( I'll check if the studs touch the curved rails. Thanks Tony and thanks to all of you! *y* More advice is still welcome, of course! ;-)

Hi! Two Super Chiefs 10020 pull four Santa Fe waggons. Both Super Chiefs have got brand new motors (10153), but I think they are quite slow and that four waggons are too many four them. The Santa Fe waggons are quite heavy compared to many other waggons. And my track layout is quite curvy. Any ideas to make the whole thing quicker? I thought about adding a third motor into the B-unit I am going to build, but when you have three motors on one track route, they do not run as quickly as they could. Obviously three motors need too much electricity. And if you put 4 motors on one track route, they move even more slowly. Good idea to use two speed regulators to provide at least 3 motors with enough electricity or is it a bad idea?

Welcome, Cardinal Brick! Here you are not only among passionate LEGO fans but also among some other university students (so it seems)! I'm currently writing on my M.A. thesis! Good luck for your Ph.D. thesis! Spend your time with LEGO bricks and sets when you are fed up with writing! That's what I usually do when I need a "thesis break". :-D

Great MOCs, those two little waggons! The engine looks excellent as well! *y*

I don't sort. What is assembled is simply assembled. The sets I don't have enough room for I put back in their original boxes provided I still have them. And then I have two boxes with LEGO bricks; a bigger one for black and grey pieces and castle parts, a bigger one for the rest.... Oh! Three boxes! I forgot one: I put the minifigs and special stuff like tyres, weapons, etc. in it. So I am at a very very early stage of sorting and I don't bother much about it... not yet at least but sooner or later I will have to bother! :-|

Oh, I forgot one thing about Minou, the cat we now have! She once walked through my train layout and she is a half Angora cat. So she has longer hair than normal cats and I thought: "Brilliant! The cat's hair! Another way of removing dust from LEGO stuff!" :-D

Are your pets secret LEGO fans? Do they play with bricks? Or do they use bricks for something else? Or do they destroy your LEGO creations and bricks? Our last cat once slept on LEGO bricks that were lying on the floor. Have you yourself ever tried that? ;-) And now we've got a new cat. She's still quite young. Only 9 or 10 months. When she finds a brick, she plays with it and moves it over the floor, attacks it and takes it into her mouth to carry it around. I don't like it when she takes them into her mouth. Her teeth leave traces on the bricks. The cat who preceded those two already mentioned chewed on a knight's sword. The marks of her teeth could also be seen on it well. Or the son of friends once built a little house for their cat's little kittens. The young ones really enjoyed going in and out that LEGO kitten house. You should have seen them. It was hilarious to watch 'em.

When I was a teenager and all the years before being a teenager, I punchholed them and put them in a folder. :-( Since the end of my dark ages I've been more careful with the instructions. :-) First, I put them in those transparent sheet protectors and then in the usual folder. Just recently I have had to start a second folder. So my collection is not yet as big as many of yours and I have no problems with putting two folders somewhere. I also have multiple copies of instructions which I got by buying the Santa Fe waggons 10022 and 10025 twice. I've been thinking about throwing those redundant copies away, but have not yet done so.

For me it's no problem if my great cousin with her two little twins or some other cousins come for a visit. I have two big boxes with LEGO bricks. One with standard LEGO bricks in most colours and another one with castle parts and black and grey bricks. So they can play with that stuff. Those boxes contain about 8 kilos of LEGO. That is sufficient for them. As for my real precious train collection they are not allowed to play with them. But when lil' kids are around, my brother locks the celler anyway, because his non-LEGO modell train is also down there. And if the lil' kids want to play with some LEGO vehicles, I give them either my brother's X-D or some of my own collection that are old, dusty and easy to reassamble. But they won't get many vehicles! I don't want to spend hours on finding the right bricks or buying half of the bricks from bricklink because they lost them while playing. But playing with my trains? NO WAY! >:-( Though I'd possible let them play if they are at least 10 years old... and most of my cousins are not. But if I let them play when they are 10 or older is more a theoretical issue than a practical one! ;-)

Congrats to LEGO!! Happy 50th birthday!! I hope LEGO won't retire as people do. Otherwise we would have bricks and sets for only 10-15 years more! X-O ;-)