Spitfire2865

Honestly, In my opinion, the piston doesnt look right. It just sort of juts out from the rest of the loco, and just looks out of place. Maybe if it was a piston action rather than a crankshaft action it would look better.

I didnt really mean for an exposed wheel or pistons. Look at some pictures of this locomotive. https://www.google.com/search?gs_rn=12&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=Ux3kINhpvBd-9jTV4D6x8A&cp=12&gs_id=1c&xhr=t&q=city+of+truro&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47008514,d.dmg&biw=1366&bih=643&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=5VOiUb3vCMPE4APf44HQDg I meant something like this sorta. Where the rod is exposed but the wheels and pistons arent. I think it would look better on the sides instead of big wheels turning with all those gears.

Well what do you mean exactly. It could have something like a magnetic driving wheel, which would repel the mag-lev track, making the train move. Just like that reference image you have. Something along the same lines. Just I would maybe have 2 of those round wheel housings on each side, and maybe a steam locomotive connecting rod hooked up on each side. And maybe you could gear those connecting rods to the wheels the model actually sits on, so if the model moves, it appears to be functioning.

Brick G- A way to solve the issue of visibility is to have the cabinet walls flush with the edge of the table, and to have glass sides and glass shelves. And also lighting inside. I think this idea for a layout with displays would work perfectly and look amazing.

Trust me. If bricklink doesnt have the part youre looking for, it doesnt exist!

If you need parts, Bricklink is a great site. I personally havent bought from them yet but almost everyone else has. They have almost every Lego part ever produced in some form or another. http://www.bricklink.com -heres a link.

That opening quote is perfect.

The thing is Flickr is a public photo site. They cant just not allow what some people would find offensive. You are going to find stuff like that anywhere on the internet if you look hard enough. That is why they have the "Safemode" option. That way, if you dont want to see something, it doesnt show up. I say you give it another chance. Dont let the rare possibility scare you away. And another thing. My flickr is set to moderate and I have never seen anything that you seem to be nervous about. So safe mode would be perfect for you.

Exactly how much of this room do you want to devote to trains? Half? Quarter? Because if I were you, I would build it as large as I feel comfortable. Remember, if you have area in the middle, it wont look good if its bare. As long as you are sure you can fill the empty space, you should go for it.

This is one of my favorite events in the entire HHGTTG series. The whale looks amazing.

Well it all has to do with preference. If you want a mostly train layout, you should go for enough room for the track and maybe a little bit of scenery. If you want to go for a more real-world layout with a town and all, you should have a larger area.

When I say too tall, I also mean the buffers. They just dont seem right for some reason. Are you working off any prototype?

I think its already too tall. What size wheels are you using?

I find it just difficult to navigate. I welcome the extra storage space, but I dont like when any website randomly decides to change the entire layout and interface.

Vinyl sticker? Not purist but shown to work.

Well my mistake then. Could have sworn I saw some from the challenge there that didn't have their own thread.

Ya missed me. :) Also, sorry for quoting such a large post, Im on my phone and cant delete it easily without messing up multiple times.

Lots and Lots of snot work. Haha. Maybe you can use the 1x3 half arches and 1x2 half arches for the boiler? With proper orientation of course.

No, no. I mean keep the loco motor if you can. Remove the motor from the tender definitely. The tender looks better with 3 or 4 axles anyway. And the powered baggage coach should be able to pull the entire train. Though having a motor in the loco still would be useful if you plan to run the loco alone for a short while, such as changing coaches or going into a shed.

I wouldn't rely solely on the motor bogie. And tenders rarely look good with 2 axles. Especially a large engine such as the EN. If you're looking for extra pulling power, why not build a baggage coach to house 2 motor bogies. That would give you extra pulling power and speed while not compromising the tenders design.

All I can say about the PF inclusion is if youre powering the drivers, make the chassis extremely rigid and tough, you dont want loose gears or pressure points while running. One of my PF locos often works itself apart while running.

Oh wow, interesting to use actual ballast. Easier to get in the corners I guess.

Maybe you could put some sort of gray sheet underneath to represent ballast where the white table is exposed? Would probably look better than white table top.

The wheels on the tender are the medium drivers, so they come in flange-less.

Beautiful. Only flaw is the magnet coupler. Would be nice to use buffer and chain couplings. Has anyone used that with Lego yet?