Jump to content

zephyr1934

LEGO Ambassadors
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    4,464

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by zephyr1934

  1. zephyr1934
    Oh no, lego trains are incredibly resilient, even many (but not all) MOCs. I've lost count as to how many MOCs of mine that have gone screaming off the table at shows only to crash on a concrete floor, including some of my best MOCs. I've found that the greatest risk is losing a part at a show. Usually I've been able to rebuild within 30 min. While I do my best to avoid table dives, so far the only broken part I suffered was the pin snapping off of a bogie plate. The traditional model railroaders can't say that. If you REALLY want to flinsh, check out what AlmightyArjen has done, e.g., here. That said, wandering back on topic, the ME R88 and R108 curves allow me to run some of my heaviest trains at top speed. But if you run for a long time the tracks will slowly slide across the floor or table. So it helps to use spacers (either baseplates or 2xn plates) to keep the tracks apart and if on a table, just watch to make sure the tracks do not wander near the edge. This problem has nothing to do with the ME design per say, as it would be true of most curves.
  2. zephyr1934
    Indeed, that is an incredible build loaded with detail. The interior of the shed is just as nice and the surrounding scene. Very complete, excellent work!
  3. zephyr1934
    That is a great little layout with a lot going on. The buildings are well done (I particularly like the warehouse with the masonry bricks) and the idea of having the train disappear into buildings instead of a tunnel is a neat trick.
  4. zephyr1934
    Another excellent MOC
  5. zephyr1934
    That is a slick little layout, I really like it (I'm working on a streetcar myself, my first 9v moc in a while, and perhaps I should say this is even inspirational). All in all exceptional work (especially with your station MOCs). I did a couple of RCX layouts in the long distant past that might be relevant to what you are doing. First, the light sensors in this thread. They use a PF LED to shine in to the light sensor. I put the LED behind a 1x1 technic brick with a 1/2 pin to keep the beam focused on just the sensor and the light sensor having a "tunnel" pointed straight at the LED to keep the ambient light out. Also, I wrote the code so that the first thing it did was to auto-calibrate the light sensors to the ambient lighting. The other RCX layout I did that is of relevance was a simple one track "ping-pong" similar to your layout only with one train and no switches. I was running a longer, heavier train at a show. By the end of the 3 days the 9v motors were burned out, probably in part due to the PWM of the RCX. You might want to consider putting a capacitor in to the circuit to smooth out the PWM and get something closer to DC.
  6. zephyr1934
    Excellent work! Impressive how you were able to hide all of that PF in an excellent looking MOC. I would agree that the best MOC's make horrible sets (and that no matter how good they are, trains are a difficult item for IDEAS). Great job capturing the essence of a K-36. About the only quibble that I have about the locomotive is that I would try to replace the yellow, red, and tan parts on the running gear with gray if possible. The coach is fantastic, and that looks like you have a wide open interior to place figs in if you wanted to (a bonus for a set). The caboose is the weakest of the three pieces. The running boards on the roof are too tall, the 1x tile on the side of the copula doesn't seem right, and the panels on the roof of the copula are strange. I think the train would look better with the coach and a combine car to make it a strictly passenger train. The diorama just pushes the whole work over the top, incredible work and really does a good job setting the scene. I am not surprised that the MOC is a prize winner.
  7. zephyr1934
    You never cease to amaze and surprise me with your video projects. Yet another stunning project. Simply incredible. Just one question, how did you get 9v so far up the mountain (grin, I know, PF retrofit)
  8. zephyr1934
    Wow! That's an impressive crane, amazing that you were able to fit so much in to such a tiny package. The linear clutch is brilliant and using a game controller is also slick. The PF truck was also impressive (even if it was not a train, still inspirational)
  9. zephyr1934
    No matter what you do with the EN, if you want it to run, you should do something about the cylinder (which is discussed in the MODs article above). The cylinder can bind and stop the locomotive. Worst case, if you have binding at the show, you can simply pull the connecting rods that go to the cylinder. Second, if you turn the EN in to a push locomotive you will also want to bypass the gear train that is used for direct drive from the XL motor. It has A LOT of unnecessary drag when it is not being used for propulsion. Probably easiest to just pull the crown gear on the driver axle.
  10. zephyr1934
    Excellent work! Very nice looking structures (and tram car). Detailed buildings like this really help bring a layout alive. Hum... while the buildings are fantastic, looking at some of those characters I'm not sure I'd ever want to visit (grin)
  11. zephyr1934
    In the mean time, one or two years back there were a couple of good threads about replacing the actual motor in a 9v shell with the motor from a PF shell, e.g., this one . One of the big limitations is that the brushes wear out, but a few folks had solutions for that too... don't remember if that was discussed in the linked videos.
  12. zephyr1934
    Nice work! Powering it could be a nightmare though. Maybe if you made one axle with the PF train wheel and have that truck pivot point right above the axle you could make something work?
  13. zephyr1934
    While I usually prefer models based on real prototypes, I find your MOCs are compelling. There are a lot of great details in the locomotive. Very impressive work just with the wedge plates alone. The striping and grebbling are well done, even if there wasn't a particular prototype it certainly has the feel that there was.
  14. zephyr1934
    Excellent work! (as always) And here I thought I bought out all of the yellow tiles with studs for my earlier build. You definitely brought a lot more detail to the design, e.g., proper scale for the containers and much more realistic detailing on the ends.
  15. zephyr1934
    Wandering back to the OP, I've been thinking more about your experience and I bet the "exploding" track is due to attempting to put two outside rails in one segment and/or two inside rails on another segment. An easy mistake to make. Obviously the outside rails are longer than the inside rails, but at R104 it is only a small difference. As I mentioned in my previous post, there is a faint "I" and "O" on the underside of the rails. It would have been nice if the ME rails had a divider on at least one of the rails, right where each tie was supposed to go, but they didn't (well, I think they did for the center tie on the R88, but on the R104 there is an even number of ties so the center does not have a tie. So it is a matter of sliding the ties back and forth until you get a good alignment. I think there was a thread about how to get the spacing correct.
  16. zephyr1934
    While I found the ME rails to be testy like that, for me they would mostly stay together when left in place. I think part of the problem is that there simply is not enough clutch, so whacking with a mallet shouldn't help the problem (albeit a good way to vent). As others have said, glue is the way to go. I think your experience is a little extreme though, one thing you definitely need to check is to make sure you have the inside and outside rails in the right spot. It is a pain to find the "I" or the "O" on the underside of the rail, but if you get one reversed (as I've done) or you get two of the same on one rail, it will definitely explode. Even glue won't solve this problem. Meanwhile, I had always wondered why lego went from multi-piece 4.5v to a one piece 9v track. Then ME showed me why. Too much force from the trains on the curves will eventually pull the rail off the ties. That gal is a keeper Hobby stores are probably the best bet. If you don't have any in town search the web, particularly on-line hobby stores. I think I used MEK (I can dig up the exact name if it helps). The stuff I used you do not need a brush, it wicks in between the cracks in the bricks. But you do need an applicator bottle.
  17. zephyr1934
    Great job capturing the look and feel of the locomotive, you really nailed the era. Lots of great little details too (the "fire" in the firebox is a fantastic touch). The luggage rack in the passenger car is brilliant too.
  18. zephyr1934
    Nice work!
  19. zephyr1934
    Yet another excellent MOC, both inside and out. Really good job capturing all of the details and an impressive job of wiring it all up.
  20. zephyr1934
    Wow, that looks nice and well proportioned. There are some crazy build techniques too, like the clip snot to hold in the grill tiles on top and the cab doors. Excellent job concealing the PF. I think the side windows look fine (wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't had said something).
  21. zephyr1934
    An excellent build with great details. Your title is so wrong though, there is little "Emerald Night" in this very fine MOC beyond the prototype for inspiration. Every feature I see is far superior to the EN (mind you the EN was a great set, but it is overshadowed by many MOCs like this one). Please do post a new topic about your smoke generator, that is a fascinating feature.
  22. zephyr1934
    An excellent rendition of the big boy! The R104 curves were made for engines like this. There is a lot of great detail in the build, you should definitely take some detail shots (on its own the cab looks like it has a lot going on inside).
  23. zephyr1934
    I didn't know that you could improve upon perfection, but it looks even more fantastic!
  24. zephyr1934
    Is that unit only 7 studs long? If so, I'd suggest lengthening it to be 8 studs or 1/2 half of a standard track length. Also, you should test the side clearance to make sure that a steam driver with at least a full technic beam can clear (there are some steam designs like the EN that actually require two technic beams beyond the wheel). Another thing to keep in mind is that many builders do 8 wide pilots. Sure, tricky or impossible to make something work for all possible builds that folks make, but possibly contemplate a second version if demand arises (no sense in doing so until someone actually asks for it though... and I am NOT asking with this note, just giving a few observations).
  25. zephyr1934
    I think the conventional model railroaders do think of us as real modelers, but the fact is, NMRA is at least 50% a trade organization. There is no incentive for TLC to join nor any of the nascent entrepreneurs.
×
×
  • Create New...