mrblue

having been through all the rail tracks era, I can only say that (Imho) the best choice for lego minded people are the 12v gray rails, but in the same time, 9v and pf ones are the best if you think only about laying them out, but they feel like <insert that tiresome argument> parts. blue rail were the worst ever! blue color??? and not enough sturdy. hopefully, with the 12v gray update bringing the 2x8 plates with clips, track started to feel much more solid, even more than the new ones (if you consider like a 4/5 modules long track) my future layout will be 12v gray, blue and pf, but as soon as possible, I'll change the blue with the newer ones; 12v rail in bl would be too expensive. anyway, my vote goes to the brick built gray! have a nice lego train day mrBlue

well, for me they are not that bad either. they helped me a lot while planning my future layout. anyway, this level crossing idea is VERY good, and I wil use it for sure. it would be interesting to see if anyone has ever tried a level crossing on curved tracks... have a nice lego train day mrBlue

first of all, thank you to all who replied until now! my worries were in fact, about layer and be sure the painting stay on the bricks. anyway, in some cases I don't need to paint all the brick, and in other cases, the connection part will not be "heavy" painted. during the years, I've painted many metal minifigs and usually I sprayed thrm first with a coat of white or black depending on the effect I wanted to end with, but with plastic I always had bad experiences. I tried once with a coat of "something transparent" (don't know the name in english) to help color stay on, but with lego would be one more layer and maybe problems at connecting bricks. would you suggets to use some abrasive paper first? thank you for yor help have a nice lego day mrBlue

during my last mocs, I realized that some bricks are difficult to find in the right color, and even bricklink cannot help! some stores have the right color, but either the price is very high, or the minimum order is too high for my needs, and when the price is right, they don't have enough parts. then, I said to myself: people out there paint their own minifigs, why couldn't I paint some bricks? obviously, I'm not talking about common 1x2 bricks or so on, but I'm considering to paint the one not easy to get, for example 6x28 train chassis that are no more available in red or black or the palm trunk in black. which is the best technique to paint lego in your opinion? thank you for your suggestions have a nice lego day mrBlue

well, I sum up this: 12v is the best choice, BUT... no more available. too bad! let's get to the second place: 9v... BUT no more available... this is bad. last choice: PF. hopefully this is available. BUT it takes a lot of space and you have to change batteries. BUT you have no choices left, so I end that we (I) have to take what we can get. of course you can buy from bricklink, but it's still a matter of time until you'll be able to find needed parts. so, we (I) have to deal with what we have and what we can buy in large quantities! and I have lots of 12v era trains and motors, but my next huge layout will be PF with a small loop with few switches for my 12v trains that will not be converted. anyway, I think there are many more dangerous things to do with electricity than just test batteries with tongue, you can even think about kids inserting metal things inside plugs, and then for sure you'll see the real bang! by the way have you ever tried to test 12v layouts with your tongue? few days ago, I made a ldd project that I'll real brick build during next days of a PF little diesel shunter that can hold all components inside, you can have a look here jayhurst's steam switcher is very good! and I'll may steal something from that! have a nice lego train day mrBlue

hmm... no good no good... now I have to make a large order to bricklink to copy your wonderful container terminal!!! don't see this as a bad thing, just think that if lego would make a set like yours I'll be the first one to buy it!!! really, no kidding. I plan to make a similar terminal for my future layout and since I'm a bit on the lazy way during the last period, I'll may copy some of your wonderful ideas! too bad there is not a "container terminal building contest" because you could get the first prize with no doubts! have a nice lego train day mrBlue

I have seen the ME tracks and they are wonderful! but I'm not sure about the price... I mean are they cheaper than the lego ones? when they came out I'm sure that I checked the price and it was a bit high for my taste. I'm still considering to buy a box of enlighten to check their quality and how they get along with lego ones. I found each box at about 5/6€ and compared to the 19€ of lego, well they sound nice! and I also think that their brown color is more realistic, like the new ME. grab that train shed as fast as you can! it's wonderful! unfortunately I have not been so lucky to find a good deal for that set, but thanks to bricklink, I bought the parts to build two of them, adapting the colors to the new ones (ie light gray and dark gray to light and dark bluish gray). have a nice lego train day mrBlue edit: spell check

I think that if it was meant to be a set, it would be an UCS one, so a five digit code starting with 1. don't you think so? have a nice lego day mrBlue

wow, never thought about that. but does it really work? did you try it? it should work with 12v too then. have a nice lego train day mrBlue

I warn you! be careful! lego trains can be more addictive than anything else, including sw! when I was a kid, I had almost all the 12v train sets, then dark ages came! thanks to my passion for sw movies, lego sw sets gave me a hand to come out of that dark pit, but when the emerald came to life, I felt the urge to start to collect trains and build mocs. now for me it's too late... I'm a train addicted, and even if I don't have the space yet, I'm already planning my 4.20x4.20mt layout. good luck! if you don't want to buy all those expensive vintage sets, you can check the train forum, there you can find many mocs and some (mine also) with ldd instructions: I made some santa fe like wagons that can be made using available bricks, without buying the over-than-100usd ones. have a nice lego train day mrBlue edit: spelling check

thank you for the review! I'm really looking forward to see all the new POTC sets. I gave only 3 because I think only the minifigs and some pieces are worth in this sets. have a nice lego day mrBlue

thanx to roamingstudio and JopieK who gave me some ideas (and links) to improve it, I got to the version 2.0 which adds some more details and structural fixes. thank you also to all who commented with nice words. new LDD file here have a nice lego day mrBlue

hello again! this time I present you my (only LDD at the moment) small shunter that can be used with PF system. inside the small sized loco (6x16) I managed to fit battery box, IR receiver and (if I'm not wrong) it can also be PF lighted. thank you for watching and for your comments. LDD file can be downloaded here have a nice lego day mrBlue EDIT: new version and LDD file can be found some posts down here

to make it short: star wars sets took me out of my dark ages and the emerald night brought back my passion for trains... go buy it! you'll not regret! have a nice lego day mrBlue

totally agree! engine is let's say... wow! but for the two wagons I think that lego could have done something better, much better! the ttx set was "wonderful" compared to these. have a nice lego day mrBlue

I still have my copy of BNSF engine in the box, ready to be opened after my layout will be ready. since I don't have so many 12v tracks and no 9v tracks at all, my layout will be with a 12v loop + a big series of pf loops. I was wondering if anyone have already converted the BNSF engine to PF without using a supplemental wagon to carry all the stuff like IR receiver and battery box. Since I dind't find any conversion, I decided to make my own using LDD and this is what came out. I know it's heavy modified, mainly because I have to make it 2 studs wide where it holds the battery box, but using the maersk way would be a big trouble to make the yellow stripes. LDD file can be found here the additional bricks are in blue color and the PF stuff in red/white thank you for looking and for your suggestions. have a nice lego day mrBlue

I keep all my minifigs inside stow'n'go boxes by plano. the model is this with 3 rows x 6, and the spaces perfectly fit a minifig, even with the stand. have a nice lego day mrBlue edit: add link

I keep all (except those still in their boxes) in stow'n'go boxes by plano. the model is this one with 3 rows x 6 and each space perfectly hold a minifig. have a nice lego day mrBlue edit: add link

I know, it's not lego, but as talked in another topic, enlighten makes a compatible track in brown color, which I think is much better than the gray lego one, that can be "taped" like KimT (and others) did. my point is that I have not enough information about the quality of the product, but at least it's a cheaper way to get tracks and switching points. as soon as I'll have chance to buy a copy of those rails, and assumed that the quality is not that bad, I'll try to put my hands on as much of them as I can afford/need to make my big layout. (some photos of the tracks can be found here) have a nice lego day mrBlue edit: spelling check

can't believe! it took me so long to make people stop "laughing" at me when I say I'm 35 yo and I still play with lego, now what they will say that I'm going to change habit and lego for hello kitty? have a nice lego... oops have a nice hello kitty day mrBlue... oops, again mrPink

in my opinion this new train doesn't deserve to be an exclusive set at all! ok, it's not bad, but still lacks of that "wow" factor that we are used to have from lego 5 digits set numbers. as someone pointed out, it may be a toy chain exclusive, but then again no reason to stop the production of the old cargo train. imho it will just be a new cargo train available everywhere at a slightly cheaper price, let's say 30€/$ less. as a hint, lego should start again to produce engines and wagons sold separately like in the old 12v gold times! anyway, time will tell have a nice lego day mdBlue

very good review that brings back very good moments of my past. this and the brother 7727 were two very nice sets to own also for the red motors and having still both of them with working engine makes me really happy. unfortunately I never had so many 12v tracks and no 9v at all, so I'll have to replace the engines with the new pf ones in the near future. anyway this is for me the best ever goods train ever produced by lego, even better than the more recent ones and the white refridgerated wagon is still at the top as the best goods wagons design. maybe I'm too nostalgic, but the new ones are too "toyish" for me, but this doesn't mean I didn't/will not buy them have a nice lego day mrBlue

thank you! I spent already lots of time looking at your layout, and can't complain anything! it's big and beautiful! unfortunately I have not many more 12v tracks, but still almost all the 12v engines made by lego, so I'll have to convert all of them to rc. as you point out, only one train can "run" in the 12v loop while one stays at the station. I was also considering to make 2 separate loops for the 12v line, a small one and a bigger one with switches point, but could not use both crossings. anyway I still have time before setting up everything. blue and rc line will be connected with some "cut and paste" mod on the rc tracks, since they are still on production. regarding space left for building, is one of the main point I wanted, because I have many many old time sets to place on there. thank you very much for your reply have a nice lego day mrBlue

Hello lego friends! I'm packing all my lego stuff ready to move, but don't know exactly when. anyway I'm already planning my first train layout and I want to have as many trains as possible running at the same time. I have limited 12v and blue tracks, but (virtually) unlimited new rc tracks. For the 12v I have only two switches and two crossings and I wanted to use both of them, so I came out with a strange loop and a station track: in this way I can run two 12v trains. for the blue I made a big outside loop with two more small loops that can accomodate three trains and for the new rails (connected to the blue line with a 7996 switch) a big loop with a small one inside and a passing track, plus two tracks to leave my spare wagons. I was considering to look for another 7996 switch to make things easier too. switches are set up in the way that when the train enters the small loop, it have to make almost a full circle before entering the station (I wanted to make it a little more realistic ) 12v line is clockwise (the station loop), blue line is clockwise and rc line is counter clockwise. what do you experts think about it? do you have any suggestion? the space will be more or less 4x4 meters but can be even a little more on one side like 4.5 or even 5 (but I'll have to sacrifice 0,5 or 1 meter of working area. thank you in advance for your replies. have a nice lego day mrBlue

how can't I participate to this contest? since I'm packing all my lego (and most of them are already packed), I come across the star wars set 7658 Y-wing fighter and I decided to make a "container" using only the parts from that set... and here you are what came out: a fast-tainer which is a container self propelled that can reach unbelievable speed and if put at the end of the train can give a little "help" unfortunately the engine take most of the space so... it can accomodate only the driver and a small box. (right and left thrusters can rotate and fit inside to keep the "6x16 studs" size) mrBlue