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zephyr1934

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Everything posted by zephyr1934

  1. zephyr1934
    Indeed, the trains are excellent and the bridge amazing
  2. zephyr1934
    Figuring that the modern Lego magnets are $2-$3 per pair, the old "choke yourself" ones probably > $5 a pair, and Kadee about $5 a pair the target price seems viable. Even though I am too invested in magnets to switch I could see building specific train sets with the new coupler system (e.g., a unit train or a new passenger train).
  3. zephyr1934
    The R120 are insanely awesome! Did a show with them a few weeks back and it is so great to see curves that approach a realistic (scale) radius. On a side note, the BT rail profile is essentially the same as PF track, while the ME rail profile was more like the 4.5v track with a wide base for stud receivers.
  4. zephyr1934
    If coaster is talking $4-$5 per coupler and legoboy has a pair of Kaydee at the same price that might make a lot of sense (not clear if coaster's target price is per coupler or per pair though). @legoboy3998 have you ever attempted putting your Kaydee couplers over uneven track? If so, how bad can the track get before problems start?
  5. zephyr1934
    A few more thoughts, as I recall from the horn-hook HO couplers of my youth, they had an integrated "spring" in the coupler. That is to say, molded in with the coupler was a plastic tab that served as a centering spring... let's see if I can get a linked image to work. (presumably these are the "whisker springs" legoboy was talking about) These springs are designed to be mounted with sides for centering, but you could probably figure out how to do it from the back, perhaps requiring a 1x4 plate right behind the coupler. Another alternative would be rubber bands instead of springs, but then that becomes a hassle for the user.
  6. zephyr1934
    A couple of things, first, Coaster is responding over in the BrickTracks thread to discuss any and all things BrickTracks, please follow suit. Second off, if it is true that ME is out of the lego compatible track business, I would still like to express my gratitude to them for leading this effort to the betterment of the entire AFOL train community. While many of us might be stinging from orders that were paid for but never completed (myself included), I fear they might not have ever made it in the black. ME took the risk, showed the demand and allowed so many of us to start building bigger.
  7. zephyr1934
    Another thing to try is flipping the tender over and run the motors. Do the two motors run in the same direction? Do you see any evidence of slow moving motors when there is no load like this?
  8. zephyr1934
    Thought #1, ___ that's cool Thought #2, I have how many existing cars? Thought #3, those could be a hassle to work with both in terms of having to manually center the couplers and how do you release the couplers? Thought #4, as a fan of stupid long trains, I have contemplated alternatives to the magnets, e.g., in the style of old lionel couplers- look like knuckles, but they are one piece and don't open. Those could be nice for assembling long trains easier and (hopefully) cheaper than magnets. You would have to manually lift one car to make the couple, but it would be a STRONG couple. Points of concern, see thought #2 and how well would only having one degree of rotation do on a show layout with bumpy tables? I could see one knuckle slip below its mate and come undone, or if they somehow locked in place so they don't slide vertically that it could lift the flanges on one of the cars out of the rails. I am fortunate enough to still have a bunch of the old style magnets (and am not above cutting the the buffers off of the new style magnets), so while I think the design looks really cool, I doubt I would be an early adopter. Thought #5, On the other hand, I could see those as being a piece for a display train that is also capable of running. I know that if I had a show piece on my shelf that I would much prefer those couplers over the lego magnets.
  9. zephyr1934
    That is looking really good, and really tough to pull off in an honest 6 wide like that. Though the matching cars are worth a mention too.
  10. zephyr1934
    What a great MOC, small motorized builds are always tricky but you made it look easy. If that really is your first train hopefully your boy will pull you in to the deep end (grin)
  11. zephyr1934
    Wow, that is a beauty. The thin pinstripes are really sharp and I can believe that they were a serious pain. With all of the microdetail and clip snot is this MOC fragile? As for the dark blue plate with handles, would there be other options (in case you wanted to build more), like a 2x2 dark blue plate with a black plate with handles inside the car? The flickr album would benefit from a few more detail shots (the trucks, the underside, and any other features you want to show off). Looking great!
  12. zephyr1934
    As I recall, Lego officially said that you could run up to two 9v motors simultaneously off of one controller. I don't think you need the extra power though. I think I've gone up to 3 motors and 20+ cars off of a single controller, and I THINK if you go over power the controller will simply trip off. The problem you will likely face is loss of power due to all of the track joints, so the train will slow down when it gets far from where the track connectors are. Simple fix, use two power connectors from a single controller, probably where the horizontal meets the vertical part of your "T" in your first post. Your yard will have the greatest power loss but in a pinch you can hand shunt that bit and it sounds like you will have a PF locomotive to shunt anyway. All of that said, this layout is pretty small and as long as your train is not that heavy, you quite probably will have zero problems even with a single controller with a single power drop. Still not sure? You should be able to quickly slap the main loop together at home to test it out. The one thing I would do though is keep an eye on the temperature of the 9v motors. You don't want them to get too warm to the touch, if they do, power down and let them cool off. The heavier the train the more quickly the motors will heat up.
  13. zephyr1934
    The Maersk was essentially a re-release of the BNSF + container car. That doesn't preclude anything since there are some things that Lego revisits again and again. The Super Chief transcends national boundaries in the same way the TGV or Flying Scottsman do, they are iconic classics. The BNSF is regional within one country. Even in the US, if you live in the southeast you are not likely that interested in BNSF (it is nowhere nearby) but you could live anywhere in the US and go "Maersk can run on my local lines". But the Maersk brand has the added benefit of not being tied quite so closely to one country (especially given the two variants for the containers- stacked or end to end), and having a much easier licensing agreement for lego. What would be really nice is if they came up with two different builds for the locomotive too so that instead of JUST looking N. American it could also be modified to look more European (under the assumption that most of the rest of the world tends to fall somewhere between the two styles... at least to the levels that are realized in a lego set)
  14. zephyr1934
    This model has friggin boiler tubes!!??!!? And complete brake rigging? And piping to the cylinders? And the most complete valve gear I've seen? And did you see that backhead... not a thing missing that I can spot? Then there are the extensive lighting system... WOW! That is the most amazing lego locomotive I've seen in a long time.
  15. zephyr1934
    That is a fascinating prototype. All sorts of great details. I like the 1x1 plate with tooth as a headlight shield on the tender. I don't think I've seen full width diaphragms done in lego before, also a great touch.
  16. zephyr1934
    Ah, okay, there was an article or blog post that talked about some of the behind the scenes from Jake McKee's time at Lego and the formation of the Hobby train set. I think it was somewhere in railbricks. There were two or three concept models built and that figured in the background of some of the official lego shots from the day and as I recall one looked like (possibly even inspired) the engine shed you found links to. While I can't find the article, it did mention that photos of the models were featured as extended content in the train section of lego.com up until the end of the 9v era.
  17. zephyr1934
    Given the back story, it seems the choice is obvious, quoting from Wikipedia, "Bombardier MultiLevel Coach... Joint order with AMT (Montreal)." Besides, the multi-level cars are much more interesting on the eye. (grin)
  18. zephyr1934
    The roof is crazy insane and there are some really tricky angles on the nose. Great job!
  19. zephyr1934
    Set 4512 was essentially a redo of 4564 10 years later, and then 3677 a redo of 4512 8 years later than that. Nothing has been the complete system of the 80's though. Lego evolved from only the best is good enough, to... well... I'm not really sure what they were thinking in the late 1990's, to chasing the highest profit margins in the mid 2000's. They probably needed to do that to survive and now they are clearly thriving. It would be nice if they brought back the train accessories (3737)
  20. zephyr1934
    Great to see the T1 again (I still think it is a fantastic build), and it is neat to see all of the improvements you've made in the conversion to MP54, it is amazing what the 1x2x2 windows do for the look. Great MOC!
  21. zephyr1934
    While I am not holding my breath, it would be fantastic if they did re-release some of the classic trains. Our community always benefits from having a good gateway set for the AFOL train fanatic. The perennial problem is that trains are a niche market, but there are a couple of sets that seem to have overcome the regional tastes of train heads (or crossed over to non-train heads). Super Chief, Maersk and EN are the obvious candidates. If they do the Super Chief, I bet it would be a one engine + two car set with instructions to build all five cars... or even better, include the lost dome too, and ideally an extra 4 gray porthole windows so that one could build a B-unit out of the box. If they re-release the EN, I too hope it would be in a different color scheme (sand red would ensure high sales for parting out even if it isn't prototypical, grin). For any of these an update to modern parts could be a good (the EN can benefit from several 1x2 curved slopes)
  22. zephyr1934
    That is an incredible layout, really complete in shape and feel. My favorite bits are the fact that the trains (appear to?) swap themselves out, the large radius curve in such a small layout, and the details on the station building (the brick arch above the top floor windows are super). Some neat trains in the background too.
  23. zephyr1934
    These engines look fantastic with so much detail. A great job recreating a logging railroad. So do you have a logging line on your layout? What about log cars?
  24. zephyr1934
    Aw, that's a cute little train, very nice.
  25. zephyr1934
    Oh wow! You have had a very productive October. A very nice rendition of the prototype with incredible detail (even if it is not finished) and the back story is just icing on the cake. Thanks for walking us through the process of refreshing our ballast and illustrating it so nicely with your MOC
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