Selander

This is a "reefer" from company Sandgreen's container services Inc. Container has the company's characteristic colour, which later gave name to a lego nuance

Thanks Richie, To achieve the realistic look I wanted, this loco is absolutely full of more or less advanced SNOT:ing, which for the sides, (with those for BR103 so characteristic rectangular “vent holes”) demands building “deep” inwards. As a consequence the loco body is absolutely full of plates and bricks, and there is no room for any PF-stuff - especially not a PF battery box. => This loco is designed to have one (or two) 9V train motor/-s, which explains the 4-axle design. I am mainly into 9V-trains, but when shooting the above photo in snow, I used the few plastic rails I own, and didn’t bother to fit any 9V motor to the loco (due to moisture environment) However, if going for James Mathis BR103 version (as mentioned in a previous post) I think it would be possible to make a PF version, because that design can be made quite “empty” inside the body to preliminary fit a PF battery box etc. Though even if using James Mathis design, I believe that building a 6-axle PF motorized version would represent quite a challenge. Thanks Peterab, and good luck with building your own BR103, it'll be very exciting to see what you come up with ! Regarding spacing between vents, I acknowledge this is probably the trickiest part to achieve. My design is built from 4 equal brick built modules with a tan plate 4x6 as a bearing element. Over and under that plate 4x6, you find the "vents" (brick 1x2 w grille). Direct inside the "vents", hidden from outside, you place elements like 87087 and attach tan tiles 2x2 vertically. By using technic brick 1x2 w 2holes + suitable plates in between 87087, you can dock each module to the next module. To satisfy the classic 5:2 SNOT ratio, there are 4 modules and 5 rows of tiles 2x2 which results in one big module with a correct even number of studs. (18studs in total) I forgot to mention that on top of each module there are tile 1x4 beacuse otherwise the train roof cannot be attached becuase of stud mis-match. Now, if you are completely lost after this very theoretical explanation (I probably would be..) you can send me a message through EB and let me have your e-mail address, so I can take and forward some close-up pictures for you.

Thanks ZueriHB, yes you are right but I made a 4axle version.... Wagons are similar to Emerald night, but longer and with "brickbuilt" baseplate, (and Tan/DkRed). I'll upload more pictures later Thanks Gareth. Instruction that you refer to are indeed for a BR103, but James Mathis version. Mine is quite different, where the whole sides, and part of front +front windows and roof, are redesigned, to look more like the prototype, (which was Tan/DkRed). However if you have the yellow/red wagons of 7740, I appreciate you stay with those colors for your BR103.

I updated my German locomotive type BR103, with a new color scheme for the lower part of body, in DkRed which is very near the prototype colors. TLG recently released element 6005 in that color, which made this rebuild possible. Three passengers wagons are also completed in the same Tan/DkRed color scheme. A lonely alpine skier is admiring the set from above More pictures (indoors) to follow, when I have time to set up a photo shoot. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy watching. Feel free to comment.

Fisherman in a hurry

Great looking, realistic design - very well done. I also like your green/red "old style" truck - it looks excellent as well.

I thik this is a teaser made by TLG for the show only. It will not be an official set. Some of the "new" elements could be just never released pieces that was moulded by TLG during various development of sets that never hit the shelf. This is my own speculation.

As Fuzzylegobricks already pointed out and refered to in his post, I made an "In-Loco-Decoupler-Design" using a gear rack and standard PF stuff. I does the job quite well, and you have the advantage of de-coupling at any place along your layout, not necessarily at a particular spot if you have a stationary solution. Please keep us posted about any progress after making your own trials.

No problem, mate ! I already took about 15 close-up pictures, for a member of Swebrick who shared your interest. So, if you send me a message (through EB message board) with your e-mail address, I'll send you those pictures ASAP

thanks ACCURATEin. Next step will be to add micro-size PF-motors to run the upper deck remotely TLG just has to invent them first.... Thanks KielDaMan. You are correct about supports for rear technic liftarms, but they are in fact a stable solution. As you say, it's a clean and neat solution, and it was the best design to allow easy folding of upper deck. The other designs I tried (using cross-axles / tubes / pins...etc ) all required too much force which meant that upper deck easily broke to pieces during operation.

I already showed this Mercedes Actros Smart transporter before as a WIP-project. After building a number of different designs to manage the raising/lowering of upper deck, I choose the below solution, which has the "sleak" look I wanted, and it is also easy to fold & unfold. As can be seen on one picture, two tiles (1 x 8) are attached to respective deck when cars are loaded. Feel free to comment.

I'm not into LDD at ll, but I must admit this is one one best designed trucks in LDD I've ever seen. Living in a snowy cold country, this sight is just too familiar on the roads

Thanks Perfectionist. About the scale, I do not see any problem with that. It's just a matter of having a clear strategy and to stick with that. All my trucks and buses etc are 6-wide. All my cars are 4-wide. So scalewise, they fit perfectly togehter. If TLG releases 6-wide cars, I don't buy them, or I could rebuilt them to 4-wide versions to fit my strategy. However if you start mixing scales and sizes, your town will probably look strange and unrealistic, so you have a point there. Bottomline is that it's all about your own consistency.

Thanks L@go for your kind words !! Feel free to copy - I just take that as a compliment, and copying is a great way to learn new technics for your own MOC:ing. Thanks Prateek !!! I really appreciate your comments. I assume you mean how to build the Mercedes front... which is more or less quite basic - I think you can see almost everything if studying pictures closely. The "only" special thing there is, is the black grille (with Merc logo-sticker) which is built upside down. A short tutorial follows: One black Technic plate 1 x 4 is placed in the bottom of grille. On top of that you put a tile 1x2 and plate 1x1 (4pcs needed) with studs facing down into the holes of 4263. A plate 1x6 holds the black cheese pieces and via the 1x1 plates and another tile 1x2 in center which "meets" the face of first tile 1 x 2 you are done. Perhaps difficult to undrestand when reading first, but kindly re-study the pictures again, and then I'm sure you follow me. Otherwise - just keep on asking Good luck building your own Mercedes truck !!

I've built quite a few Mercedes Actros trucks the last couple of months...so please find below a Mercedes cavalcade...

Really impressive stuff - top-notch. "The-off-the-grid-concept" looks so much better that the usual regular square pattern. Also, I like to praise your choice of "natural-looking" colors, which brings a lot of realism to the scenary, I'm just allergic to town scenes in bright yellow, red, blue and green....

Thanks Rob ! I have been thinking about magnet "manipulation" too.....but haven't tried in IRL....(yet) One theoretical way that I have been thinking of, could be to replace the normal Lego magnet with an electro-magnet on locomotive. An electro-magnet is only magnetic when a current flows through it (a coil over a iron core), so the magnetic force is possible to turn on/off remotely. But as it consumes continuous power during hauling, I assume that would drain the batteries very quickly, if even technically possible. Generally, I prefer to stick with a solution which is 100% non-modified Lego, as in the design I posted

Old 9V + New PF => To combine the best from two worlds ? Background and goals: In the old 12V-system there was a stationary remote controlled, decoupling system. How about recreating something similar with elements available these days? Comparing the pros and cons of a stationary versus a “rolling” decoupling solution, I’d prefer the later because of the obvious advantage of decoupling at any place along the layout. Until recently I have been somewhat reluctant to the new PF train system, and I still think the old 9V system has its advantages, but at the same time, I must admit that using PF elements also opens up many new opportunities. My Swedish Railways RC-locomotives are reasonable copies of the prototype, but they are “simply” equipped with a 9V train motor (ref 5300) and have no other technical functionality. So how about integrating PF elements in the locomotive body, but keeping the 9V motor intact for reliable propulsion? My goal was to add: - working lights in front, plus: -integrate a decoupling system in the locomotive, with a minimum change of the external design. -both features should be realized by remote-controlled battery operated PF-items. -also I wanted to keep the Lego original magnet coupling system to allow using any standard rolling stock with my locomotives. Design phase: Main challenge was to fit all PF-stuff, such as a battery box, IR receiver, PF-motor + racks, lights etc in the relatively small size locomotive 6 x 28 studs (external dimensions). Considering a drivers cab in each end, and sides built from bricks, there was a limited room for all items needed. So which solution could work AND fit? Because of the strong magnetic force in couplings, I needed to create a distance of approx 40mm, (1½”) between locomotive and first wagon, to make the two magnet fields “loose contact” with each other. So my primitive idea was to physically push the wagons away from the locomotive using a 40mm stroke “piston”. To do that I was thinking in three alternative ways: A) Using a linear actuator. B) Using a wheel with a technic beam as “piston”. C) Using a gear rack as a “piston”. After some thinking, trials and consideration of space needed, I decided to go for alternative C, using a 1 x 10 studs long gear rack + a simple gear design. Realization: Locomotive body has been stretched 2 studs, so it now measures 6 x 30 studs externally, (6x28 base + "1 stud" SNOT front & rear) to give a little more internal space. Front has been re-built to fit PF-lights, and the rear has a small hole which allows the 1 x 10 studs gear rack to go in/out. To drive the "piston" I use a PF-motor Medium. I know it is basic and primitive, but it works. Roof is slightly rebuilt so the top of IR-receiver is visible for reliable operation. For remote control I’ve tried both 8879 and 8885, but the later is much better for my application, since gear rack must be run in/out at a minimum speed, and also LED-lights can be switched on permanently at the lowest power ( to save batteries). So…..here are finally some shots and a small video showing the results: -Internal view showing a full locomotive body with PF stuff. -Train front with PF lights which can be lit also when locomotive is “still” (compared to old 9V-lights). -Gear rack pushes wagons to physically separate them from loco magnet. IR reciever can be seen on roof. Short video link: video on my Flickr Conclusion It was possible to combine the best of two worlds for added fun and functionality!!! IF putting more efforts into decoupling issues, I am sure the talented builders of this forum can come up with a better-looking and more smoothly working solution than mine. So I hope you can accept this is a challenge to develop an even better decoupling system. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed reading/watching, and please feel free to comment.

Below my new SCANIA and MAN-trucks with fully functional hooklift and container. I tried to make the hooklift look as realistic as possible, but of course you have to take into account the limited scale I use. Container is built up-side-down to get that smooth rounded shape in the bottom as I wanted. A bonus is that hinge tile for train gate can be mounted on top, to allow a "free flow" when opened. Normally I fit wider rear wheels, but that had to be sacrificed to fit the hooklift mechanism, which demands 4 studs of the width. Mechanism runs on tiles and just over I have plates with door rail so that the movement is controlled in all directions, allowing it only to travel from front to back and vice versa. Any comments are welcome as usual.

First I wish you good luck with building your own Mercedes truck, I am sure you'll figure out a nice design. Secondly, given the width of 6wide and considering doors (or panels)the available width internally for minifigs is 4studs. Normally I put the steering wheel + driver on the two studs nearest to the left door, and since a minifig is wider than two studs there is not room for a second minifig. Unless you rip off the drivers right arm, as well as the passengers left arm to form a siamese twins (then two minifigs will fit)

Now, that's an intersting input. I was hoping for these kind of constructive proposals. I'll continue to do some thinking, and see if I can come up with more ideas, as well as evaluate your good idea. Thanks for sharing, Ricecracker !!! I am afraid there isn't much of cab interior, except for a steering wheel and an antenna as gear shift. If you study this, and my earlier Mercedes:es, (see links below) I am sure you are able to copy the design, it 's pretty much just what you see, no special tricks...oh I can mention the use of a technic plate 1 x 4 to reverse direction of plates/tiles/slopes in the front grille arrangement.

Thanks Ricecracker and all others for positive comments. My original thought was to keep the upper deck in two sections, where the part over cab is static, and the rear upper part is possible to lower so it will be positioned just over the lower deck, enabling cars to easily drive on to it, and after that raise the deck with cars on it. My main problem is to find out what kind of "mechanism" which will look good an still get a reasonable functionality/playability. Once again, if you can come up with something and post here, I'd certainly be most grateful.

This is another truck in my Mercedes Actros style, now in Dkred with a small DkTan stripe. It is built for a temporary display in Stockholm Technical Museum next week. Due to limited time (many projects right now...) I had to focus on getting the look and proportions as I wanted, meaning functionality can be much improved. Inspiration comes from the below medium size truck from forwarders Norlens Åkeri in Sweden. For the prototype the whole upper deck is possible to raise and lower at four points, two in rear and two in front, to facilitate loading and unloading of cars. IF possible I like to achieve something similar, BUT without adding a mountain of technic parts. The ideal would be a compact, yet durable and functional solution.....so if anyone has an idea or suggestion, I would be very greatful. For the moment, as presented on pictures, there are hinges in the lower rear part, (just after rear wheels) and another pair of hinges in the front upper part deck. So there is a already a limited functionality. As said, feel free to comment

Nice interpretation of this trainset, which I think is a bit tricky to copy in Lego, but you have done a good job,especially when considering the limited scale you have used. Well done Esben.

Lovely models Gambort. Very well done indeed.