DaveBey

I feel a another BrickLink order coming on... Thaaaaaaaanks. I went with the Earth Green trying to tie it into the locomotive / tender, if that makes any sense. You're right though; Bright Blue, White, and Earth Blue does look pretty sharp! Thank you for the idea! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Those are some awesome bridge designs! Ever since I saw the pictures from LEGO World a couple years back, I've really wanted to build bridge supports using 98283: Profile Brick 1x2 Single Gro., either in Medium Nougat or Medium Stone Gray. Good luck with your bridge project; I can't wait to see what you design! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Howdy and welcome to Eurobricks! Nice modification of 60017: Flatbed Truck! If you keep the bed rigid and move the pivot point for the bed forward a couple studs, you'll be even more prototypical. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Four months later, I finally get a car built... I had a bunch of Container Frame 1x4x3, Bright Blue so I used Bright Blue and White as the main colors with Earth Blue and Earth Green accents. Plate with Bow 2x4x2/3, Medium Stone Gray were too expensive so I went with a Black roof. Since I already had the Frames, I believe the rarest part used was the Wall Element 1x2x2 with Window, Bright Blue. I still don't have enough Chassis 6x28x6.4, Dark Stone Gray so I used Dark Gray. Below is an image generated with POV-Ray: I'll try to snap a picture of the coach behind Emerald Night tomorrow. I think It looks pretty good. The Black, Earth Green, and Earth Blue darken the Bright Blue when the coach is assembled but it goes well with the Earth Green of the locomotive and tender. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Thanks for sharing the pictures of the level crossing! I like your solution for dealing with the increased height of the track ballast. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

I love your LEGO camping area! It's neat to see your inclined curves come together in your layout. It's kind of hard to see for sure in the LEGO Digital Designer image; are you using LEGO road baseplates? Do you have a larger picture available focusing on the level crossing(s)? Thank you again for sharing! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

That's really neat; thank you for sharing! Have you modified it any since you originally built it in 2011? Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Very nice! I can't wait to see the finished layout, bridge and all! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

galacticslave -- Forgive the late reply but my MOC: Boxcar for 10219 Maersk Train is heavily influenced by the Old-Style Refrigerator Car in Getting Started with LEGO Trains. I followed the instructions for the Old-Style Refrigerator Car last year and built two; one in Sand Green and one in Dark Orange. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

What a wonderful display; thank you for sharing! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Either one will work. The train sets with Power Functions include the AAA Battery Box. The Rechargeable Battery Box offers the advantage of not requiring removal of the entire battery box to replace batteries. You'd only to to remove whatever bricks/elements were covering the charging port for the plug from the transformer. The AAA Battery Box is great for home or casual use while the Rechargeable Battery Box is really great for running trains for extended periods of time like at train shows. Or for folks like me who are too lazy to replace batteries. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

If you already have a LEGO city layout, I'd recommend the passenger train over the cargo train. The way I figure it, 7938: Passenger Train and 7937: Train Station together are the same price as 7939-1: Cargo Train but integrate much better into a city layout. Like you, I've not seen anything like it in real life. I believe the realistic rolling stock would be a flatcar with the maintenance-of-way vehicle chained atop along with the pallet.Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Everyone has such nice collections! My train collection is viewable in my profile although I own enough trains I'm running out of space! With the exception of my Santa Fe El Capitan, everything is currently disassembled while I reorganize. I do hope to add some additional coaches to my 10194: Emerald Night in the near future though. Bricktrain - I really like those re-colored locomotives from 3677: Red Cargo Train and 10219: Maersk Train. Very nice! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

The trouble with the Modular Buildings is they're ALL good! If you're a VIP member, the nod might go to 10232: Palace Cinema right now due to the free shipping. On the other hand, perhaps 10197: Fire Brigade or 10211: Grand Emporium might be a good place to start since they'll be the first to be retired of the bunch. And once you start with the Modular Buildings, you can't stop! If you're just starting out, I'd recommend 10197: Fire Brigade or 10218: Pet Shop. They both have a lot going on in the build, there's plenty of playability, and 10218: Pet Shop is like a two-for-one! 10224: Town Hall is the most expensive so it may not be the best one with which to begin. Watching the Designer videos might also help you. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Thanks for the links! I'd forgotten about L Gauge... A combination of the Front Runner and Spine Car seems to be what I'm after. The PennLUG cars look nice but I they model in 8-wide and I'm trying to stay with 6-wide. Those are some nice looking trains though! Here are a couple of screenshoots of what I've done... Rough, I know! Hopefully the screenshots clarify what I meant earlier by lowering the middle section. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

My LEGO sat in my folks' attic for a while and I'm glad they kept everything. My wife on the other hand... Growing up, I was into many different themes (or as many as I could since there weren't many to begin with) but since I've got back into LEGO, I've limited myself to the types/themes of sets I buy. If you need money now, perhaps you could sell some sets from themes in which you're no longer interested. As an auto enthusiast, I've spent untold amounts of my money on my pickup truck but would never consider selling any of my LEGO. Fortunately, I got my truck where I wanted just before I got back into LEGO so my money isn't torn between go-fast parts and LEGO. Planning the work you want to do to your car is a good place to start. Also plan out your travelling and when you want to do so. Consider the costs associated with both, when you want to everything accomplished, and you should have a good place to start. Does your current and expected income allow you to accomplish what you want in the time you allowed? If you're this torn about it, keep the LEGO as it sounds like you'd regret selling even part of your collection. Since part of your collection sounds like an investment, save it for when you really need the money. On the other hand, if you do decide to sell, please keep me in mind as a buyer! Hope this helps and best of luck! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Lately, I've noticed TOFC spine cars (maily with FedEx trailers) bringing up the rear of BNSF intermodal trains going through town and so I thought I'd try to model something similar in LEGO. Unfortunately, I seem to be drawing a blank in LEGO Digital Designer. I'm basing my design off a shortened trailer from 3221: LEGO City Truck / 7848: Toys "R" Us City Truck. As you can see, I just shortened it by one six-stud section. TTX even has some great digrams on their web site under Railcars For Sale. TOFC (pdf) TOFC/COFC (pdf) For the spine car itself, the shared bogie from 10170: TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car is my go-to design when sharing bogies. I can't help but use 6087: Bottom 2x5x2 1/3 to lower the middle section as a true "flat" car design seems to put the trailer too high. Any input for a TOFC design? Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Those are from 4860: Doc Ock's Cafe Attack (2004). Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

I'm not sure what you but in this picture you can clearly see where the two 'halves' are joined together. I do like how the tile on the second floor of the Bike Shop is orange and black. I wonder if that's an intentional nod to Harley-Davidson? Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Howdy and welcome to Eurobricks! What a nice layout; thanks for sharing! I think you'll really enjoy the mining sets. After the Farm sub-theme of City, Mining is probably the best. I really enjoyed building those sets and can't wait to see how you integrate them into your layout. Maybe you could even add the Harbor inbetween the mining and water areas? Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

The fire truck is indeed much better in person. I initially wasn't sure about this set but when Toys "R" Us had it on sale for $29.99, I couldn't say no and was pleasantly surprised. Plate is correct; pictures of the fire truck don't really do it justice. It's a really well-designed truck. My only complaint is the instructions don't really show how to store the accessories. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Am I the only one sad we've not yet seen a Truck Stop?!? Is it just me or is the City Sqare very close in design to 10184 Town Plan? Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

On the lookout for new instructions / build techniques, I couldn't find these on Brickshelf. Maybe I missed something? "His" Spinecar Instructions are from my 10170-Style Double-Stack Car for 7939 Containers on Brickshelf. Apparently I should've charged for those! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Fellow Eurobricks member eiker86 posted some pictures from LEGO World 2013 on Flickr and there are some interesting ones of a modified 4203 Excavator Transporter on rails. Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave

Wow! Really nice refueling depot! A great addition to any layout! Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA! Dave