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zephyr1934

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Everything posted by zephyr1934

  1. zephyr1934
    That is great work, I really like how you capture the essence in the nearly impossible 4 wide scale.
  2. zephyr1934
    No hoax, brilliant design. Great work!
  3. zephyr1934
    Perhaps Lego has loosened the restraints on alcohol, the HE has a bar, the French restaurant has a waiter serving wine, etc. And everyone knows that Octan is really a beer company. Oh wow, the mill and grain elevator are fantastic. I was going to ask if you had any shots of the picket fence on the factory, but see that it is there on flickr, simple, clever and effective. Great detailing throughout!
  4. zephyr1934
    Everything I have heard is that nothing is coming at least through the end of 2015, after that, unknown (but that is where hope begins). If you want a Creator-like train building experience, there is always the Conrail GP40 instructions that I MODed from Maersk to work with parts from the blue freight train. As for timing, I believe both the EN and Maersk came out about April of their respective years. I think HE came out January. Unfortunately there is no "regular cycle". Here's a fairly quick MOD to turn the lone ranger train into something more realistic... and you can even use pure lego beams if you prefer. Personally, the thing I would like to see is a much better done hobby train (i.e., better part selection, rare colors, printed instructions, etc.), with three variants (being true to normal Creator sets) that can build a locomotive, a couple of cars, or a couple of other cars. Thus providing a real set that can be bought in multiples.
  5. zephyr1934
    Sure you can, only then it becomes a mixed train (grin) Yes, that is a very fine train
  6. zephyr1934
    It has been a long time, but I had a few wayside bits controlled by RCX and homebrew sensors. I found that reed switches between the rails responded 90% of the time to the magnets too... and I was stumbling around. Someone with actual experience would likely to do better. My more recent RCX creations use the photosensor. At startup I do a 30 sec calibration so that it can sense the ambient light and then use that setting. You could get fancier and sample the light once per second and use the median value over the past minute. Unless you are running train lengths that are comparable to half your loop, taking the median like this should filter out the train. I used this on a pair of semaphores. To keep the "wait for next event" from hanging everything, I just put all of the actions in a big loop, While (infinite) if sensor occupied and did not start then start motor to close semaphore, set time stop variable, then continue with loop if time stop variable < current time then stop motor to close semaphore, then continue with loop repeat for second sensor etc. end In this fashion, it checked the status of things, if it was time for a change it would take that change (skipping a few cycles if the change was demanding) and then resume scanning. It never sat there idle.
  7. zephyr1934
    Compared to 9v (even when available in stores) the PF switches are really cheap, you can pick up a pair on bricklink for $10. Buy extra for modification attempts and then you'll have no regrets if something goes wrong. As for remote controlled switches, you might want to look into spear switches that folks came up with for 9v switches. You need a hole in the side of the rail, but that is just a small drill bit away. If you don't mind climbing a plate you can even do a modified spear switch without a hole. See "Fixing the double crossover" in RB 9. The neat thing with this configuration is that you could do an "all string" non-electric remote switching scheme like a real switchbox/tower if you are working with such a small layout. That would work well with your great working signal. Oh wow! That really has the feel of 7777 and 12v gray era sets. Excellent!
  8. zephyr1934
    These road vehicles are all great builds. There was someone at Brickworld 2015 that also updated the old Maersk semi and came up with something similar to your semi. I like the two trucks the best, they came out really well (and look at all of those special Maersk parts and stickers). Excellent work. As for the crane lifter, there was a great lego part for that job, I think it was specifically designed for 4 wide containers and might not open all the way out for 6 wide though.
  9. zephyr1934
    Thank you to everyone who has been looking out for my interests on this matter. While indeed it is quite flattering to see someone borrow heavily from one of my designs, I ask that they keep private any of my secrets that they discover in the process until asking for and receiving my permission to share them. I certainly do no mind pictures posted of a MOD, but I do not want someone to share build instructions or digital files that borrow so heavily from my creations without permission. Furthermore, I did not authorize nor do I approve of selling said instructions or digital files. LegoGunInstructions, feel free to continue showing the images of your MOD, but please take down your offer to distribute the instructions and please remove your EBay listing of said instructions.
  10. zephyr1934
    The large radius 9v curves would be fantastic if they work. I see two very tricky spots though, the first is coming up with a means to provide reliable electrical connections between track junctions. The second is coming up with a cost effective means of securing the rails to the ties. BBB tried something similar a few years ago and ultimately had problems reliably securing the rails to the ties. You are not facing an easy challenge. So don't invest more than you are prepared to loose in case something goes wrong. That said, these would be a valuable asset to those still using 9v trains and I would love to have a wide radius 9v curve. You might want to start a kickstarter just for development money without promising success on the first round.
  11. zephyr1934
    I'm liking that cab
  12. zephyr1934
    Good color scheme with lots of nice detailing. I like the 3x3 dishes in the turntable bases on top and the half stud inset with the 1x2 grilled cheese bricks for vents is slick, with a little tweaking that feature could make for a nice GP30. And who doesn't love the bottom of a snotted headlight brick? Too bad the 1x3 arches haven't been made in transparent yet.
  13. zephyr1934
    Heh heh, you know, looking back, the UP stickers were one of the big things missing from Jake McKee's getting started with lego trains book from ten years ago (and EVERYONE needs a Big Boy, grin)
  14. zephyr1934
    Thanks and indeed, just look at the sides of that blue boxcar, you can't get much simpler than the 6x1x5 panels. It would be nice to get some grab irons or a ladder in there, but I'll save that for a later MOC. (not enough of the right parts to do it in the brick built dark green boxcar and not enough flexibility in the panels used in the dark blue boxcar)
  15. zephyr1934
    After building the containers to demonstrate the container stickers I was really taken with the look of the large stickers on the side of an assembly. I'm partial to boxcars and wanted to see what I could do with the stickers. I built these two cars for Brickworld. First off, what with my North Coast Limited train (discussed here, and seen in the background of this shot) I just had to build one of the NP boxcars advertising the NCL. based on the prototype And in my quest to redo my MNS fleet based on the prototype Sadly to say, I am now feeling this pull to go and rebuild my roughly 30 other boxcars (grin).
  16. zephyr1934
    My apologies to your pocketbook (grin) but you've gone on to build a mighty fine collection.
  17. zephyr1934
    I really like this layout and I think it is inspiring. A builder can really add a lot of detail (as you have) on something small scale like this without it becoming overwhelming. And yes, I think it is a lot more fun to switch around than to just set a train to run at a constant speed. Depending on how ambitious you get, you could modify some switches to make a single crossover that only steps 16 studs away. You could also automate the switches so that you can control them remotely. At least in the states the flower stems occasionally show up on the PAB walls in the lego stores. Assuming you are far from any lego store, find a buddy who could pick a cup up for you and you'll have enough weeds to keep your track crew busy for years (I rarely walk into a lego store, so unfortunately I'm no help in this regard) As for the brief move to the floor, if you ask me, I think you just need a spiral ramp at the end of the layout and then connect it to a floor level layout of way more track (grin).
  18. zephyr1934
    Oh wow! Those are all so fantastic, I would think most of those projects are each worth their own thread. There is so much to take in at one time that a lot of the fantastic details are overwhelming. Please do post, and please do post renderings of work in progress, it is always fascinating to see how a project develops. The rolling stock are all nice detailed work in their humble selves. I like the hopper cars the best, though the break vans really remind me of the original Thomas books (which in turn were based on similar prototypes). One stupid question, are the strings with grips on the tank care more prototypical than simple strings without grips? The dark green diesel is top notch, like the rolling stock, well executed MOC of a humble prototype. The two electric Austrian trains also are great. And the steamers are to die for... This one is probably my favorite of the lot. So is the boiler half plate steps as it expands back toward the cab? Or even smaller than that? Is the transition seamless on the sides? I'm sure somewhere there is a pirate cursing that locomotive though. I like the added chain on the tank engine though. They are all fantastic, as I said, I think each one is worthy of its own thread, but hey, if time prohibits I am still enjoying the summary post.
  19. zephyr1934
    Just a small update... somewhere along the line someone said, "looks great, but you really need to do that for CSX." I have now produced stickers for two more railroads, CSX Dark Future scheme, And UP, Examples of the unapplied decals can be found here while the stickers can be purchased here. I do not have instructions for the other railroads, but that is a nice "next step" away from standard instructions by making your own MOD. Of course these are generic enough that you should be able to use them on many other designs too. Oh, and for you UP steam enthusiasts, especially Big Boy fans, I have a treat for you too,
  20. zephyr1934
    Oh wow, another fine little detailed building that goes a long way to help make the entire layout pop. Great work
  21. zephyr1934
    55 cm would be just over two baseplates (32 studs) wide while the 115 cm would be about 4.5 baseplates wide. The Horizon express cars are about 30 studs long, so the wider shelf could hold about 4 HE cars, maybe 5 if you squeeze them in. Though there is nothing saying that you could not combine more than one shelf together. In any event, great idea, can't wait to see it in action on your wall. I could see a neat display with two of the shelves spanned by a lego built bridge to show off a long train.
  22. zephyr1934
    I'd suggest doing a repaint of the Super Chief, not too bad if you do a common color. Here's my take on the Empire Builder, essentially just a repaint of the Super Chief, though if you are on a budget stay away from the macaroni bricks for the domes. If you are a fan of American trains you will be most happy with a MOD of one of your favorite railroads.
  23. zephyr1934
    Excellent to see it in brick, very well done and it looks better than many 6 wide trains.
  24. zephyr1934
    The Pullman car is looking great in real bricks (albeit a little lonely for more of it's kin, grin)
  25. zephyr1934
    At the brickworld presentation Tony said that just as they were finalizing the metal track their metal fabricator said they were no longer doing parts that small, but that ME was close to finding a new supplier.
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