MetroiD

The thing I hate the most is that they never find a map of where he hides all the rum. I've been silently lurking for so long, waiting for that revelation, and yet once again -- nothing. Perhaps I'm mistaken in thinking that any rum was stolen, ever? Perhaps there was never any rum available at Eurobricks? Perhaps there's been an ongoing prohibition ever since Jipay founded the forum? Or maybe I just need to go out and take a deep breath... Oh and by the way - you're all playing a hell of a game guys!

Wow, how have I missed this. I've now got a new thing to look forward to every week! What an amazing project, and your progress looks fascinating so far - as is the case with all your work

Good one Btw, is it just me or are there only trans-colours missing on there? Bit of a shame, even if I'm not such a big fan of Fergie's.

Spot on Cale, personally I've found that's also a great motivation for LEGO Fans who are contemplating coming out of their dark ages. I wouldn't really include many official LEGO sets in event displays which are aimed at impressing the adults, but the exclusive trains are a must-have. Knowing how you go about MOCcing, I assume that "I would like to build" should means "Expect to see soon", so I must say I'm looking forward to that! As to me, coming up with new cargo for the heavy haulers is fine; and additional cars for the Emerald Night are also doable without breaking the bank (thanks to Tim and his cheap EN Car version), but my real trouble is the Santa Fe train since I'd never consider taking it apart but I only have the engine. Anyone selling Santa Fe cars for cheap? I fear I'll need to hide it at our next LUG event if it continues being so lonely...

Wow. I'm off to bloggity blog this. P.S.: Et voila: Hats off sir!

I recently bought something off of eBay and along with it got a 9V battery box, of the ancient 4-wide variety, which is crucial to the "thing"'s functioning. Unfortunately, despite its perfect appearance, the battery box hasn't exactly been stored properly and battery acid has obviously been allowed to leak into it. I tried cleaning it up a bit and removing some of the acid stains from the connector, which brought back some life to it, as demonstrated by a silent, quickly dying whine when testing the battery with the 9V sound siren. I'd like to take apart the entire battery box, if possible, and try to clean the metal connectors - or even replace them. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a "legitimate" way to do that, so I was wondering whether any one of you guys had any idea and could help. Thanks in advance. P.S.: Just a sidenote: I'm aware of the fact that alcohol should help solve the problem with leaked battery acid, but I'm not sure if that's the only issue here. That's why I'm really looking for ways to actually disassemble the 9V battery box - of course, without permanently damaging it.

Yup, that's some skillful SNOTting right there. Do show us the finished article please - and I'd also _love_ to see it adorned with LED lights!

I'll bring that to the attention of fellow Ambassadors and LEGO's Quality Control team. Thanks for the pic!

I'm taking the liberty of dusting off this old topic and bringing it back from the dead with a view to further discussion considering the recent introduction of ME Models' rails. Seeing as those do not require sleepers to be placed underneath them, seamless integration of rails in Town layouts should become a bit easier, although it's still not exactly the most simple task. Using ME's rails on baseplates without placing sleepers underneath them would eliminate one plate of height between the baseplate and the tiles on top (due to losing the sleepers). 1 plate + 1 tile would then look quite appropriate as the height for a pavement - if you consider having the tram lines going along the studded section of the current street baseplates. That does not, however, solve the problem with curves, which as mentioned by Zeek remain the tricky part. Have any one of you considered tram layouts with integrated rail for your cities using the ME Models rail pieces? Would you still stick to the old SNOT roads + tiled sections solution or would you try the rails-on-baseplate option - and if so, how would you apply that?

Of course I don't mean the BNSF would be 'relieved of duty' per se and I'm also well aware of where Maersk is active; I was merely speaking in LEGO tabletown terms where cargo isn't quite as abundant as it is in the real world. That's also why I was wondering whether people who've already set up their Maersk Train would be running another engine with container cargo as well or would have it switched to hauling something entirely different. I for example do not plan to have any more container wagons with the GP-38 and will instead build a few hopper and grain cars for it, along with a car transport wagon.

Here's a question that I think TheBrickster might appreciate. With the arrival of the great Maersk train, there's now a new blue beauty in town that will probably be quite capable of handling all your city's container-related needs. That pretty much makes the TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car a thing of the past - but what about the engine it was originally intended for, the BNSF GP-38? Now that they're being relieved of their container-carrying duties, what will your BNSF trains be hauling in the future?

Happy birthday Mike! I'll buy you a beer... when I meet you In the meantime, here's a Maersk-ish cOpcake for you: Have a great day mate :)

Actually, to me that makes it all look even more garage-style... The drummer looks extra aggresive, just as if he's gotten a hold of any random couple of rods (not sticks!) found lying around and is working his magic in DIY style

Depends on how you define "worth". A complete Santa Fe is quite an expensive purchase nowadays anyway and you can take that from me, I got my SF engine over 2 years ago and I still haven't bought the wagons because getting four or five of them, as I would like, would cost a small fortune. I'm even considering building them off Bricklink, although that won't be cheap either. So in that sense, I'd suggest you concentrate on that first. As a direct answer - what you get with the limited edition is the following: * a couple of 1x2 red tiles with the LEGO print on them * printed tiles with the train No. * a few pieces in different colours * certificate of authenticity It's your call on whether it's worth the extra cash. To me, it wasn't.

Happy birthday Walt mate! Have a great one :) P.S.: What simonjedi said!

Argh.... must.... fight... the forest evil!!!

On an unrelated note - it was only after I joined the online AFOL community that I realized that yellow minifig legs are supposed to be "pantless" legs. I... really really don't like what you've done to my innocent mind guys.

I'm loving the studio! Pure garage ambience, looks really convincing

Considering how you're a pro in all things propellers, I'm not the least surprised I can remember doing that on multiple occasions in the past - I don't do it any longer though since I don't actually build most of the sets I get... I know, it sounds horrible, but with some I know what pieces I need and what I need them for, so they go straight to the sorting bin. Others I just build, consider how this or that could have been better / more realistic, but don't actually fix it since I'll be disassembling the entire set anyway. And with others (actually, as of late that's what happens to all sets), they just sit there unopened since I can't find the space / time... A shame really. But I digress. "Handled" props ftw

It looks much too well produced to be a joke of any kind and is obviously a real old TV show. Makes me reconsider my stance on getting a Fabuland sigfig... Damn you Hinckfried... Siegley... oh whatever!

Those Technic type o'balls, y'know? The ones that make great Town decoration! I'd love to own a bunch of those...

Alibabo or Zorbas, feel free to use the resized pic from the blog ;)

Great work Andy!

These battery boxes are obviously a great solution and as Tony pointed out, they've really been thought out for LEGO Train fans. But their price is just crazy, and having to buy _two_ sets of these (well OK, sans the remote control and charger), one for the Emerald Night and one for the Maersk Train, for a total that's higher than the combined price of the two LEGO sets they're supposed to power, makes me want to puke. P.S.: Sieggy, thanks for the link to Thorsten's analysis, I'd somehow missed that. Whoa, now there's a good read