Freddie

A store in Oslo, that sells old sets and exclusives together with new sets, has 10190 Market Street, in MISB, for sale. The price is a whopping 6000 NOK, or roughly 1150 USD.(Yes, they keep it locked up in a display case.) Fair enough, the shop is a niche store, and sells LEGO next to RPGs, comics and mangas, but that price is still very, very high. They also have a MISB 10182 Café Corner, for a lower price, for some reason.

LEGO never changed the format of the tracks, so all of them are interchangable, with the exception being the diagonal end of the half-curves and the branches on the switches - those have a special connection designed to fit each other, so it's not possible to build diagonal track. But you can build S-curves and S-switches. And just to add, PF is backwards-compatible, so the new stuff will work with the monorail-motor if you use the extension cord. Then you won't need the control-tracks.

I'm working on a monorail of this type. It's tricky but doable. The rail-structure is accomplished with 1xN-bricks, two bricks tall plus tiles - straights using mostly 1x16 bricks, since these are strong enough to allows supports some thirdy studs apart. Turns are built with alternating 1x2 bricks, which are then forced to shape a round bend. These bends will fit in an area of three 32x32 plates arranged in an "L". For reference, the monorail I'm working on is inspired, and based, on Psiaki's.

That is simply a stunning pair of buildings you've built there! The design of it all, the details and all that. Well, wow! No to mention that it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb when connected to other modular buildings, but rather fits in instead, while looking pretty distinctive, tells how well designed it is. To sum it up, that is a most excellent MOC you've come up with there. Very, very nice. Thank you for sharing!

Here's my last-minute panic-build-entry for the raffle. It's a portable generator, if anybody is wondering what it is. Yeah, it's a substandard image, but then again that's what I get for not having a digital camera. Edit: Changed to approriate size.

Very nice tankers indeed, and a three-axle arrangement isn't common. But, I'm a bit surprised that you didn't use couplings between the axles. The ball-joint coulings that are used for cars and trucks work for this, and would let the outer axles pivot in corners, reducing friction (plus, it looks impressive). Or is the design too compact for it to work?

Nice to see some bigger pictures of the set. Still looks really nice, and no less attractive then before. Nice to see a confirmation that it will support power functions as well.

Well, that came out of nowhere. Very, very nice train indeed. At first glance the locomotive looks like a recycled BNSF, but there are bits and pieces there that I don't recognise. Nice to see more of that blue color as well, not to mention a yard tractor! Reckon I'd start saving up, next to the new modular and the Unimog this year, this is one of the few sets that I really, really want.

It's a beautiful model you've built there, Teddy. Not only are details impressive, but the technical solutions and how you've integrated them and how they work. The picture of the engine in an S-curve shows this - it doesn't look like it was a large-radius locomotive crudely adapted to work in tight curves, but rather it looks like it is purposely built to handle them. Yeah, it's beautiful.

The starter train sets come with everything, except for batteries, that is needed for making the train move. That is, a train motor, a AAA-type battery-box, a speed-adjustable controller, a receiver and any cables that are necessary to connect all of these together. Also, these new trains are fast. The new motors are proven to be more efficient, and thus faster and more powerful compared to the 9V motors, under identical circumstances (that is, same power sources). They are far superior to their slightly older cousings, the RC-train motor, which, frankly, was useless, so do not confuse the two. They are easy to tell apart by the fixed cable that the PF-train motor has.

That is very, very nice. Make sure to shoot some first-person video too, when you're at Fanwelt! By the way, you did endurance-test the power supply, right? That is, if you're using the standard power-supply, it has a tendency of shutting down after a few hours of driving, if you're using multiple motors or heavy trains on a big enough circuit. Your circuit certainly falls somewhere between the categories "large" and "immense", and by the look of the trains, they ain't light. Keep in mind, this is something I've noticed last weekend, using two motors to pull a 20-car (that is, mostly out-of-the-box cars) train on a simple "C"-shape 4,5mx1,3m circuit, with a single controller.

That monorail was an unreleased prototype, which was part of a theme that would eventually evolve into Aquanauts. All sets in that folder, including the figure, are all "official" prototypes, and the pictures where released some time ago in Brickjournal. And there were a lot more sets that those shown there, as well. Kontact 60 seems to be a good lubricant for monorail switches. I've been wondering how to fix mine too, but so far I've only seen the type of work required to rip it apart, which kinda scares me, knowing how expensive these switches can be.

Reckon I won't be driving at all! Dates are fine with me, and it's still so far away in time that it should be possible for me to save up enough money for the trip. I figure I will be spending the time between now and then finding and moving to an appartment, so I think my life will be in a bit of turmoil around then, but other than that, I really should be all good to go!

With magic! It looks like the arch-pieces are left out intentionally, and that the arch is instead built with regular bricks set at and angle to each other instead. Using a flex-hose as a spine makes it possible to build a relatively solid and well-rounded arch using headlight-bricks as well. Could well have been some other trick used in that construction, but its kinda hard to tell.

I prefer european locomotives above the american locomotives, and even more so when it comes to passenger trains. There's just something about american passenger trains that just doesn't sit right with me. The exception to this would be the Santa Fe and its diesel engines, but then again, those engines sort of made it here as well, in the shape of the NOHAB Mx-locomotive, which shares its style, but has a cab at both ends. As for the discussion of power; electric locomotives are always more powerful than diesels, but mostly so because range really isn't an issue, for obvious reasons. With that said, the SJ Dm3 iron-hauler-locomotive have for a very long time been the most powerful locomotive in the world, with 9650 HP and tractive effort at 940 Kn. By comparison, the IOREs that replace them musters some 7200HP and 600 Kn tractive effort - those always run in pairs, and go faster, so there isn't exactly any loss with the replacement. European diesels generally are just as powerful as american diesels, mostly because they're powered by the same engines, or engines in close competition with the american.

It's a common "problem" - While I can't comment on if the 12V trains did it, all other trains did tip over in corners at full speed. It is an intentional play feature LEGO left in, so kids could have fun with them and incorporating emergency services and such. The exception to this is 4559, which could be sent around corners at full power without tipping over or losing its cargo.

Done my bit of voting too. I'm not much of a builder, so my choices are mostly of stuff I believe the community would like to see and/or find useful: Basic elements: 3005, Brick 1 x 1, Dark Tan 87609, Plate Modified 2 x 6 x 2/3 w/ four studs on Side, Black 4460, Slope 75 2 x 1 x 3, Sand Green 3676, Slope Inverted 45 2 x 2 Double Convex, Light Bluish Grey 3070, Tile 1 x 1, Transparent Clear Various elements: 4719c01, Bicycle, Complete Assembly, Blue x69, Green Plant, Tree Cypress, Dark Green 87990, Hair, Ponytal and Swept Side Fringe, Reddish Brown 87991, Minifig, Hair Tousled, Dark Tan 50745, Mudguard 4 x 2 1/2 x 2 w/ Arch Round, Light Bluish Grey Doesn't mean it wasn't hard to make choices, though! Seriously, there were lots of parts in there that I would have liked to see!

The only real complaint I have about 8404 is the price. Other than that I am psyched that the tram and bus share their colors with the trams and regional buses Oslo uses. Other than that both 8403 and 8404 look like genuinly good sets, with a classic sort of aura around them.

I took a look at those videos, yesterday. They really trigger some nostalgic feelings, as far as those I saw on TV are concerned, but all the other ones are great too. I'd really like to see even more of these, and I have a suspicion that whoever uploaded these have access to the source-material one way or another - the videos are far too high quality to be recorded from regular broadcasts. But, really nice to have easy access to those old commercials.

With a bit of cheating, actually. All of that wasn't live, but pre-recorded (with the exception of the german dancers). Still, the choreography, the dance-moves and such, were available on YouTube, and everybody interested could sign up to participate.

Figured I'd highlight my personal favourite moment of the show: Media here are reporting that MadCon's the real winner of ESC 2010, thanks to that.

Wow. They're sold out in the EU-S@H. Bummer, as I'm yet to get hold of a box of these.

I'll echo what everybody else is saying - fantastic building, and innovative, modern design. Yeah, I really like this one.

Way to go, Lena! Fantastic song, and nothing but a worthy winner. And lots and lots and lots of charm to boot. Sorry for the very late reply, Jvvv, but I frankly I haven't got any clue if there's any specially recommended record stores in Oslo, other than the one you visited.

Saw it on Flickr yesterday. I think it's fantastic. But, how did you attach those plates that make up the flame-job?