Davey

Oh yeah! I love random facts threads. It's always cool to see what people are into outside of LEGO. So let's see... - I used to be a rally driver (my wife was my co-driver) and raced in the SCCA ClubRally Series and the Rally America Championship series. We won two Central Division championships in a 1986 Dodge Omni GLH (similar to a Talbot Sunbeam for you guys and gals across the pond). - I have a Private Pilot Certificate and once flew a Boeing B-17G. - Music taste is all over the map but mostly Punk/Emo, Metal (Power & Hair), and Dance music. - I work in the plastics industry and I am currently working to help start up the Defense/Aerospace Division at a major thermoplastic compounder in the US. - I'm a gamer...not a hardcore one...but a gamer nonetheless. - RPG games are my favorite. Like Pepermint M I am a Final Fantasy fanboy and I also like the Persona series. I also LOVE rhythm games (DDR, Rock Band, GH, Singstar, etc.) - I consider myself to be emo... - I love the cartoon Rainbow Brite. - I enjoy watching Anime and reading Manga. I've started to collect Anime series, though I've just got into that the past year. - I enjoy boardgames...the euro type (eg: Agricola, Dominion, Ghost Stories, Shadows Over Camelot, Pandemic, Small World, etc.) - I to DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!! - I have aspirations to be a professional musician...though I am pretty convinced it will never happen. - Along those lines...I recorded a CD in college in my dorm room for my wife (girlfriend at the time), Stacy. - I'm married to a LEGO Ambassador. - I enjoy reading fantasy novels including high fantasy, steampunk, and pirate novels. - I really want to live overseas for a few years (preferably Europe). - I like to snowboard, skateboard, wakeboard, and surf...though I haven't been able to do any of those as much lately due to work commitments. - I like to indoor rock climb (gym climbing). - I am afraid of heights...very much so. - I own a 2005 John Cooper Works MINI Cooper S. - I had my dark ages in 1995-2003. That's about all for now...maybe I'll add more later. -Dave

I think I've been a pretty good boy this year so I am expecting a whole bunch of Classic Space sets along with the Technic Crane Truck, Technic Front Loader, Fire Brigade, Grand Carousel, Galactic Enforcer, Tantive IV, and a bunch of other stuff I really can't remember. It's a good thing I have 16 days in a row off work at X-mas this year (had vacation to 'use or lose'). -Dave

My sources have told me that LEGO has rectified the 'dodgy Chinese-made Minifig' issue. Apparently the issue was brought to the attention of the head of Quality at TLG and that person was EXTREMELY unhappy that the Minifigs were sub-par and was not aware of the issue. Swift action was being taken to fix this, so I imagine we should not see the same issue with the new custom figs. Just my $0.02. Looks like this could be an expensive endeavor for me. I'll just HAVE to order 2-3 cases. -Dave

MMM....prime lens at f/1.8. You're making me drool Big Cam!!! Oh...and you bring up a good point. Don't be afraid of prime lens for LEGO photography. The fixed focal length lens are usually WAY cheaper than a zoom and you can get much faster lens' in prime than zoom. -Dave

The XS is a good starting point and will probably serve you well for quite awhile. I have found that with D-SLR's, the body is nowhere near as critical as the lens you use. I would recommend looking for a couple really good lens' as you have the money to purchase them (warning: they are EXPENSIVE). Stacy and I have these two and love them for photographing LEGO. Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM Canon EF-S 60mm Macro f/2.8 We're also considering purchasing a Canon MT-24EX macro flash. Another good 'do it all' lens is the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM. I know the prices are a shock but the better lens really does make a big difference. Especially when photographing something up close like LEGO. -Dave p.s. If you come to BW in 2010, I'll let you check out the two lens I mentioned above.

Wow! Great work there! I particularly like the shape of the roof and how you achieved it. In addition, the SNOT work to achieve the cab shape is very well done. The stickers are superb and really add to the realism of the MOC. I also like how you chose to hide the IR receiver under the transparent curved slopes. Very innovative and something I had not seen before. Would you be willing to post some pictures of your truck design and how the motors interface with the trucks? Great work! -Dave

I was just going to mention this! A couple weeks back I was at TRU and purchased the R/C Cargo Train with a 20%-off coupon. At the time, they had 5 or 6 of this set sitting on the shelf. When I went back this past Friday, they were all sold out. So, they aren't lasting more than 1-2 weeks on the shelves. That bodes well for the upcoming sets I imagine. -Dave

Holodoc: You might want to consider the Brickstore program. I think it would fit your needs pretty well based on what your spreadsheet looks like. -Dave

Hmm...no images showing up there. You might try uploading them to a photo service like Brickself, MOCpages, or Flickr and linking to those. -Dave

I use multiple methods...mainly because I am anal retentive about having back-ups for insurance purposes and I still haven't decided which method I like best. I started out by just having a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that listed all of the sets I own. As good as that was, it was lacking things like the ability to show what parts I owned and keep an accurate current price. From there, I joined LUGNET and uploaded my setlist to there. Again, this was about the same as the spreadsheet, just online. Not much of an improvement. The next step was to join Peeron.com and port my setlist from LUGNET to there. At this point, I had a good way to see what pieces I owned, but it still wasn't as user friendly as I would like. For one thing...I had to be online to update it. Finally, I found the Brickstore program which seems to be serving my needs right now. It allows me to use it online or offline. In addition, I can add sets or individual parts, I can import orders from Bricklink, and I can get a current 'worth' based on Bricklink pricing. I would suggest you look at all of these solutions, but in the end...I think Brickstore is the best out there right now...IMHO. Lugnet Peeron Brickstore Good luck! -Dave

Great work! I really like the paint striping on the nose of the CSX. The dynamic brake boosters on the Southern Pacific GP40-2 are really nice as well. Keep up the great work! -Dave

Cooper: Yes! I agree 100%. I was looking at it more from an AFOL stand-point, but agree that the KFOL's do kinda get the 'short end of the stick' with the EN. But as you say, I imagine the 2010 sets will address this and bridge the gap (so-to-speak). -Dave p.s. Your cab-forward train and coaches are absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! I them! Excellent work there.

Actually...it's not a lie. It's just slightly incorrect. The actual issue was not the mold that molded the plastic portion of the track. It was the machine that crimped the metal rails to the plastic track. That was the machine that broke and the one that was deemed to expensive to fix. Now, as for the new sets. We know they will be PF as the RC line has been discontinued. As to whether they will use gearing (ala Emerald Night) or the PF Train motor remains to be seen. Either way, I would urge all of you to support the line regardless. You have to look at the Train sets as a 'box of elements'. I recently purchased the RC Cargo Train because it came with a number of rare elements in rare colors that are useful for building trains. I built the set per the instructions, played with it a bit to see what it was like, and now I will be tearing it down and MOC-ing it. For me....that's what LEGO Trains are about. The MOC are (90% of the time) going to be way cooler than what LEGO produces. That's what made the Hobby Train so awesome! It was a box of 'train specific' elements for MOC-ing. As for people not wanting to buy multiple Emerald Night's to get additional coaches. Why is this??? The price/element ratio for that set is <$0.10/piece and it comes with almost exclusively rare colors!!! What other set gives you that much Dark Green???? Plus...you get MORE STEAM WHEELS. I bought five or six of the Emerald Night, built one engine, four coaches, and parted the rest into my collection. My wife is now using a lot of the pieces in her MOC's to add a splash of rare color. Yes, I know to get a train with an engine and five coaches, you will spend $500...but look at how expensive model railroading is. We actually get off pretty cheap. Finally, I'm going to rant a bit here regarding the LEGO Train Community. I said this to the round-table at Brickworld and I will say it here. I love you guys and you're all my friends...but 9V is dead and it's not coming back. Deal with it. Move on. No amount of complaining or pining for it will bring it back. If you want to stay all 9V on your layout...by all means do it, but understand it will be expensive and you are running a system no longer supported. If you're just getting into trains, I suggest you jump in to PF with both feet. There is a LOT of flexibility in that system if we all start being creative. I guess I'm just tired of the community bashing LEGO for making a decision that helped them remain profitable in a time when they were in financial turmoil. It was something that had to be done. Yes, I miss the 9V stuff...but aside from the motor and track...everything else is the same with PF trains. And we've demonstrated that the new PF trains can EASILY pull as much (actually MORE) than the old 9V system if the train is designed properly. The system isn't as bad as everyone thinks. LEGO Trains will always be a small portion of TLG's business. I'd love to see them grow in popularity, but I'm being realistic. It's up to us in the Train community to take the elements that LEGO gives us and build the amazing creations we desire. I'll name drop here a little: John Neal, Cale Leiphart, Tony Sava, Mark Bellis, Swoofty, Scott Wardlaw, Brian Williams, Holger Matthes, Tim Gould, and others I'm forgetting. All of these people are pushing the boundaries of LEGO Trains without needing sets to necessarily be released. They are all building amazing MOC's that are an inspiration to the community. Check out the Flickr LEGO Train Pool...you won't be sorry. Do we really need sets? No...I think we just need elements and a good dose of creativity. -Dave

So far, your gearing looks pretty good. Although I don't understand what the second large gear (on the right) is doing. To further slow the motor down, you could look at picking up the 8878 Power Functions Rechargeable Battery Box. If you look at the picture below, you will see the orange rotary dial in the middle of the battery box. That controls the voltage and will help you really slow down that motor. The downside is that you will lose power as well, but you aren't lifting much so I can't imagine it would be an issue. Good luck! -Dave

Welcome to Eurobricks and the LEGO Train Community! Glad to hear that you are getting into LEGO Trains. Fun set! It's a great introduction to the LEGO Train line, though I think you will find that you go through batteries pretty quickly. The new Power Functions line offers some improvement by using a rechargeable Lithium-Polymer battery. It's a little more expensive up front, but you will definitely save money in the long run. If you can talk your wife into it, try to get a copy of the Emerald Night set. It's a great set geared more towards the AFOL crowd. It's a more complicated build and comes with a number of pieces in rare colors. It will also introduce you to the idea of using Technic gearing to drive your trains instead of a dedicated train motor. This has allowed a number of talented train builders to build powered three axle trucks...something that previously was not possible. You could use the HO style astroturf, but it does tend to 'shed' a little and can be kind of messy. I used to use this when I was a kid and was not happy with it. Since becoming an AFOL, I now use the baseplates. It's also more fun to build LEGO scenery. Whether you use the baseplates or not, you will not need to fix anything to the tables. The weight of the track is enough to hold it in place. If you go with baseplates though, you can attach the track to the baseplate and even get into ballasting the track as can be seen here. As others have said, yes....the RC system is being phased out in favor of Power Functions. The good news is that the RC train motor is still being used with the PF system so you can use your motor with the new rechargeable battery box as well! In addition, the gauge (or width between the rails) of LEGO Trains has not changed since its inception so in theory all LEGO Trains are compatible. Where it gets sticky is how to power them. The best way to put it is that any battery powered LEGO Train will run on any LEGO track. 9V train motors, however, can only run on 9V track. As others have said, 10027 was the gold standard for engine sheds. As such...it's wicked expensive now that it is collectible. Your best bet is to MOC one. You'll have more fun that way anyway! It's worth checking out some of the LEGO train groups on Flickr for ideas. There are also a number of good creations here on Eurobricks and Classic-Town.net features a lot of train creations as well. You can kind of see my shunting yard in the picture below. The switching tower is a MOC. The red engine shed in the back is actually two of the 10027 sets back-to-back. Again, glad to have you here! You'll find that the LEGO Train community is a fun bunch and most are usually very helpful. If you have any questions or need any help, feel free to ask. -Dave

Nice work! It's always nice to see how other approach the challenge of building steam engines. I think the Hogwarts Express is one of the most MOC-ed steam engines and I don't think I have seen any that use the same techniques to capture the shape. Great work here and you have given me some ideas to improve the Hogwarts Express I built in April 2009. -Dave

I'm looking forward to seeing what you have come up with once the folders go public. -Dave

Exactly! I remember hearing Jørgen say in a recent interview that the average family spends $62 on LEGO sets each year. My wife and I easily spend 100x that each year. So, in our particular case 1 Adult Family = 100+ Kid Families. This probably isn't true for everyone but the truth of the matter is that AFOL's generally spend much more per year than the average family. -Dave

Welcome to EB Ben! Always glad to see another Star Wars fan. It's such a timeless classic! As others have mentioned, I'm sure you will enjoy your stay here. If you need anything, just holler. -Dave

Otters has a good point here. Fall 2009 has been one of the busiest I have ever experienced at work. With the economy starting to recover, my clients are all scrambling to get development projects rolling that were delayed early this year. Nobody wants to be late to the recovery party! This is causing me to have less and less time to hang out on EB and check out all the amazing MOC's. I've had to limit my viewing to the 'LEGO Pool' over on Flickr and an occasional glance at the Trains and Town forum here for blog topics. As much as I love being busy, I'm really looking forward to having a couple weeks off starting December 18th. It will give me a chance to hopefully catch up on a lot of stuff I've missed lately. Anyway, sorry for the threadjack Tony...again...great work here. It's been blogged on Classic-Town.net. Best Regards, Dave

Thanks for putting this together Nannan! It was a great cause and I am really honored to have had the chance to play a part in it. I hope you bring it back for the 2010 holiday season as I will be sure to participate again. Again, great job and thanks a bunch. Happy Holidays! -Dave

Great topic Brickster! I'll put my $0.02 in and say that I prefer freight trains over passenger trains when it comes to using diesel locomotives. When I'm building an electric or steam locomotive, I prefer to build passenger coaches to go with those. Overall thought, I would have to say that I love the playability that comes with the freight/cargo genre. Moving goods has always been a fixture in my creative play with LEGO and over the years I have felt that the freight/cargo sets (especially the trains) have had some of the most well designed and playable sets. -Dave

Simply gorgeous Tony! Your building and detail acumen never ceases to amaze me. You are quite simply one of my steam train hero's. Great work here. Thanks for sharing! And like others...I am looking forward to the RailBricks calendar. :thumbup: -Dave

Ohhhh! I can't wait to see your Noddy fig, Cutlass_Iz!!! Pictures soon I hope? That will be ultra-cute when it's done. -Dave

See...I am going to assume the arm is another person in the tub...being drowned. It's a happy scene. Nice work! :thumbup: -Dave