Hey Joe

You can use free software such as Dropbox to share files. It's easy to use. I'm designing my own layout presently, so I feel very proficent with Blue Brick. However, £100 is not much to work with. What is that money supposed to buy; track, baseplates and tables? How much do track and baseplates cost in your area? Joe

Hey, it's hard to remember! Let's try: - Neil Young (3X) - Grateful Dead - Allman Brothers (w/o Duane) - Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman - Charlie Daniels Band - ZZ Top - Van Halen (w-Sammy Hagar) - B. B. King - Frank Zappa There were some more, they'll probably come back to me soon! Ok, here are some more: - Yes - Moody Blues Joe

Hey! That's really awesome. I like the idea of a nuclear reactor in the tender a lot, and it may be prophetic. Joe

Hey, that's quite useful. Many thanks. Maybe a mod could cross-post this over in Train Tech? Joe

Hey, why would we hate you? 7937 is a decent set, and certainly better than no station at all. Your's looks nice. Joe

Hey, you found a use for flex track, well done! Seriously; I like that a lot, and would like to see more pics. joe

Hey, Happy Birthday! No Lego? Well, what Lego would you give to a man who owns everything? Joe

Hey, thanks. I'll look into those when I get back to the States. Joe

Something that really started to bother me a lot back in my railfan days in the States was the fact that there was absolutely nothing in the railfan and model railroading publications about foreign railroads, except maybe for the occasional Canadian-oriented article. Is it the same in other countries? Do you get many articles about American (North and South continents) in Europe, Australia and points in between? Kalmbach Publishing is the major publisher for railroad hobbists in the U.S.; this is their umbrella site: http://trc.trains.com/ Joe

Hey! This is another great one from you. I especially like the starfish (I guess that's what it is) and the little pink guy sort of under it. Great overall use of parts and an ideal place for the CMF Diver. Thanks! Joe

That's a funny story. On a more serious note; we fans often call Lego sellers 'dealers'. People who sell comic books are commonly called dealers. We're really not doing ourselves or our hobby any favors by doing that. Joe

Hey! That's a beautiful piece of work. I like especially the Tiger and all the detrius of war scattered about. Many thanks for sharing. Joe

Hey! What a crime to package anything in such a manner. I would send it back. Joe

Hey! Thanks for the great review White Fang. The filial piety was touching. It's nice to see so many minifigs who could fit right into a typical town setting, I'm lovin' it. Joe

Hey! Looks great Lightning Tiger. I especially like the little pump, great stuff. Thanks, Joe

Hey, no worries, I wasn't offended, but others may have been, I can't speak for them. My next post in this thread was going to point out exactly what you have; the fact that EN, Maersk and HE are beautiful sets. It just blows my mind a bit that they only have four different types of track to run them on (straight, curve, flex and switch). It wouldn't be like that if I were calling the shots, but perhaps that's mistake #1; letting someone who enjoys playing with the product make the big decisions! Joe

I'm sorry to say that I guess what we need is a train-oriented blockbuster movie - and all of it's related tied-in products - to rouse the bean counter's interest in Billund. We've had "Cars", and "Planes" will be out soon, so the next logical jump would be our favorite subject, right? Let's keep our fingers crossed. I sort of avoid licensed products personally, but some of it has merit. They had a chance to come out with some new track pieces at least with the new Lone Ranger train. Guess we should just be grateful for the water tower, and the fact that it included track at all. Lego trains are really cool, and I think that they are a good thing for our boy, but I'm also planning on getting my old HO layout up-and-running as well. Lego trains seem a little rigid to me. I know I can't build an HO train in the same way as Lego, but I can paint them in my favorite livery. I just couldn't stand to paint Lego. Lego layouts are also quite spendy. For example, you could build an HO roundhouse out of wood scraps if you were so inclined. Plus, I've got a whole bunch of nice HO stuff just sitting in boxes, why not use it? Also, maybe it's not fair to lump me into a "Disgruntled Collectors Union" (particularly as I'm trying to avoid getting into a collector's mentality with regards to Lego). Perhaps what I'm disgruntled about is the direction that modern society is going; the fact that the hobby (trains, HO trains in particular, but Lionel as well) I loved as a boy is no longer very interesting to tablet-toting, video game-obsessed children who require mass-marketing thrown in their face at every turn to nag Mom and Dad for a toy. Anyway, hope this is on topic and that Lego comes out with some more cool-looking train stuff soon! Joe

Hey! You did a great job. I especially like the brick-built logo. Thanks, Joe

Hey, I hear you, but I'm living in China. Enlighten sells everything individually, and the price is extremely reasonable here, so I've been buying a lot of their stuff. Lego doesn't have PAB here. Bricklink seems another world away, and I avoid the Chinese postal system. We're moving back to the States soon though, and there's a new Lego shop in my city. Now if I can just get a job and have some money left over after paying for health care everything will be ok! Yeah, I really enjoy the new set experience myself, and you get the lovable "Hey!" guy on the back of the box! When was the last time that they tried to sell individual train cars, ten years ago? Their sales have gone up a lot since then, haven't they? They have a lot more of their own stores, and Internet shopping is now a common, everyday thing. I'm not saying that they need to offer a whole slew of train cars, but one or two (one freight and one passenger) so that people who would like to have a train set of just one type of car could do so. Yes, I couldn't agree more. It would seem to me to be a necessity even if they lost money on it, but I'm not a consultant for McKinsey. Joe

Hey! Welcome JopieK! Joe

Ok thanks again. I think I'll try to sketch something out and post it in a seperate thread and get some feedback hopefully. Cheers, Joe

"Those are cute" Joe

Hey! There's a large bus with a Lego ad painted on it in "The Bourne Surpremacy". Bourne (Matt Damon) has just arrived in Moscow and he goes out of the train station and gets into a black taxi (that's what we call unlicensed ones here in China). The bus is in the background as they pull away from the station. Wow, what a great car chase in that movie, I'd forgotten. Ranks right up there with the ones in "The French Connection" and "Ronin". Joe

She's ok, I wouldn't want to portray her as a battleaxe or anything. Occasionally she'll gripe a bit, but Lego is pretty spendy here. Ordering thirty plus boxes of track (why do they put the curves in with the straights ) would raise red flags in just about any household though, wouldn't it? I'm working in stages; scored six boxes of switches a couple weeks ago, hope that's enough. I can always play the "it's for our child" card if necessary, but I try to keep the big guns in reserve if possible! Joe

Hey! That's a beautiful layout. I love it all, but if I had to choose some favorites they would be the massive train station and the beautiful streetcar. Oh, Joe's Garage is a winner as well! Thanks, Joe