alainneke

I'm really sorry about that! The next batch should be available for ordering in 3-4 weeks. It takes some time for me to make all the parts, and the wheels themselves have to be shipped from the U.S.

There is a nice article in RailBricks 7 (starting at page 46) about this. I haven't given it any thought (yet), because I have no need for batteries in my trains. It shouldn't be too hard to make a nice cable, though

Hmm, powered metal wheels on metal track will probably not provide the traction you're looking for. If you look at the original 9V train motor, you will see that LEGO used a combination of rubber traction tires and spring-loaded conductive flanges to combine both power pickup and traction in a single wheelset. Unfortunately, this is something I cannot do (for now)

Last year, the Dutch 'Hanzelijn' (a new railway between Lelystad and Zwolle) was officially opened at Legoworld Zwolle. The bridge that lets this railway cross the river IJssel is called 'Hanzeboog', and a brick-built version was present at Legoworld: More pictures: http://www.hanzelijn-hattem.nl/foto/548

This was posted on lowlug about a month ago (Dutch article, but multi-lingual pictures): http://www.lowlug.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11483. Looks like a very nice job!

Fitting these wheels to a Technic axle is very hard. The best solution I can come up with, is to make a custom shouldered metal axle which fits part 4274 'Technic Pin 1/2' (http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=868&colorID=86) and put this pin in a Technic brick. This way, the Technic pins work as bearings for the axle

Sure!

The insulators are already in the wheels (3,15mm OD, 2mm ID), but can hardly be seen... I'll provide some additional details on the splash page. As for the 12V pickups, they were asked for by 'Andromeda'. Not for the faint of heart: you'll have do disassemble the motor!

As promised, more photos (the wheels have been specially polished for the occasion): Emerald Night tender by alainneke, on Flickr Emerald Night tender by alainneke, on Flickr Emerald Night tender (underside) by alainneke, on Flickr Custom power pickup by alainneke, on Flickr The wheelsets are now available in my BrickLink store

Yes. They have a (quite overwhelming) catalogue available at http://nwsl.com/NWSL_Online_Catalog.html.

Good news: the new wheels have finally arrived! The flange is very similar to that of the LEGO train wheels, so it should result in very reliable operation. From left to right: LEGO wheel, newly arrived wheel (NWSL /210 33" 0-scale), the 'old' wheel (NWSL /172 33" 0-scale) Train wheels by alainneke, on Flickr I will have to adapt the insulator bushings, because the new wheels are a bit wider. More pictures tomorrow!

Very informative! Repairing the rivets with MEK could be useful for 9V points, too. Thanks for sharing!

No need to try it, because LEGO already did (from the instructions of set 4558): (link to original)

The recent 'Locomotive Annie' modern steam locomotive and the suggestion of a solar-powered locomotive made me think of more alternative propulsion systems. How about these: ... do you hear that sound... Is it a plane? Is it a car? No, it's the ER22 to Moscow! And of course, you can use other aero plane technology to power your train. Better hold on to your newspaper when the Schienenzeppelin passes the platform...

That's why I explained what they suggested: replace the diodes with higher rated ones. Besides, there's always Google translate

Thanks :) It's quite hard to get everything to fit, especially the monorail. The command station is a great piece of equipment with a lot of possibilities!

I came accoss a post on a Dutch board in which they, in addition to replacing the wall wart, suggest to replace the diodes of the bridge rectifier with higher rated ones: http://legotreinforum.forum2go.nl/9v-trein-meer-vermogen-meerdere-transformatoren-t1764.html . Also, the internal LM317 regulator chip is designed for 1,5A; maybe it's possible to replace this by a LM150 (3A) or LM138 (5A)?

Something like this? Firebox LED for LEGO 12V motor by alainneke, on Flickr The bridge rectifier makes sure the LED will also work when you reverse direction...

RailBricks 3 (page 20) has a nice article about joining 1-gauge tracks to LEGO sleepers. If you put them side-by-side on the two center studs of the sleepers, you'll have 12V style rails...

Sorry, but the ones I have now are all in use on my Emerald Night... Sorry for the waiting!

Thanks! The other half of the layout is just as interesting, but I haven't got around to making decent pictures yet. The grass can be bought at most garden shops and is great to work with; just be sure you get the most compact (shortest) grass one you can find

The output voltage of the boosters doesn't matter. You can configure the decoders to limit the output voltage of (some of) its motor- and function outputs. The motor output can even maintain this voltage regardless of the track voltage (e.g. when the voltage on the track changes because of different load, the decoders will still output 9V to the motors). You're also not limited to 1 voltage, so connecting a 12V lightbulb to a 9V motor on a 15V track is no problem :)

Actually I'm still waiting for the wheels to arrive. I've asked the company who makes them, but they haven't replied yet... I'll update this thread as soon as I have some news!

Here you go...

Sure, here you go... The sensor and infrared LED (no grass yet..) Infrared sensor by alainneke, on Flickr The power supply mounted under the table (input 15V AC, output 12V DC) Infrared sensor power supply by alainneke, on Flickr An overview of the wye (after letting the grass grow). The sensor is hidden under a little structure, the LED is mounted in the signal post Wye overview by alainneke, on Flickr ... and how it works: - the polarity on the left side of the wye (the tracks leading to the engine shed) matches that of the sensorless branch, so a train can pass the isolation without problems - when passing the sensor, the polarity on the left side of the wye is reversed to match the polarity of the sensor branch*. When the train has passed, the polarity switches back *This particular setup only works with DCC, because the motors don't reverse direction when you change polarity (forward is always forward). Analog layouts require 2 sensors and an additional piece of isolated track. Furthermore, you should only change the polarity of track sections ahead of the train (not under the train) when running analog