zephyr1934

First thought, maybe this set is targeted at Russia (grin) Second though, ah, "Heavy Haul Power International" in Germany with the real 311d's and the "Heavy Haul" lego train set with the uncommon running boards between full length cabs on either end. Any similarities are purely coincidental.

Ah, okay, you used the stud on the half pins to connect to the technic beam in Fig 8. Sneaky. Yes, the dimension of the fences are a quirky artifact. Looking again at the image I posted, I bet one could use a pair of 1x4x2 fences to get the right gauge for lego track while still being symmetrical. Of course it would be strange looking rails that are way too tall, but???

I like it and the frame looks very interesting

Hey, you invented lego spray paint! (youch!)

That is some great detailing. I like the open drawer next to the red chair in the last photo, the partially open cardboard boxes throughout, and the tile rails along the inspection pits.

Oh my comment about actually being on topic (albeit barely) was mostly in reference to my previous three posts in this thread that were not on topic. "Wha ha ha ha haaaa! If we can hoodwink those Danes with this ploy we'll be able to take over the plastic construction brick world!"

Yes indeed, the doors on Flickr user Lolasso's containers are great (not my design, but I have a good eye for great work)... speaking of which, this design looks to make for good well cars (also not mine). If there is demand I could see aiming for compatible stickers.

Thank you for sharing what you have clearly worked hard to discover about the lego track geometry and how to work with this pre-system design feature. I found it to be a very neat background. Your solution is very impressive and looks great. That is an incredible work of snot in a very tight space. Looking at Figure 8, I'm not sure that would work as sketched, I thiink the studs from the neck bracket and the technic pins might conflict. Of course there are other ways of doing that, e.g., use a longer technic beam and alternate holes for the studs and for the pins. Another thought that comes to mind is that you are aiming for symmetry in the track design, which is critical if you ever want to connect to conventional lego track pieces. There are quick and dirty solutions that would be much simpler for pure straight track. If you do not care about transitioning to a lego track piece that opens up a myriad of possibilities, e.g., from p21 of [3], you can get a 10 LDU offset from a jumper plate and a 4 LDU from a headlight brick (or most brackets, etc.), which provides a lot of ways to get to 94. The lego gauge is an artifact of pre-system thinking in lego parts from the 1960's. I think another one of those ancient designs offers a very simple solution to getting 94 LDU, though it does look very hokey. Specifically, using part 3633 (1x4x1 fences) for the rails. I believe the fence is 6 LDU wide... but it might be 7 in which case this only gets you 93 LDU. Of course any of these non-symmetrical solutions would be difficult to impossible to connect to a lego track piece.

You've got to keep in mind that there are (for the most part) two types of people on this forum: those who's interest in trains is expressed via lego and those who's interest in lego is expressed in trains. These lead to very different perspectives on "beauty" neither view is wrong, they just value things differently. I personally think it is neat to see how many different perspectives there are. But there is one thing most of us would agree on, "why a helicopter?" (look, I got back on topic!... grin)

Okay, I've uploaded my current stock of stickers on hand for the containers and Conrail locomotives to bricklink (quick link, http://TrainedBricks.com). The descriptions have the rough size: widths in studs and height in bricks. I have also uploaded application directions here. The prices listed for the container heralds are per pair. I personally find the stickers to be a lot more pleasant to work with than lego stickers. If you apply them wet you can slide them around to get a perfect alignment. If you later change your mind, peel off and redo with the exact same sticker. A quick comment on the Maersk herald, my artwork is a little larger than what 10219 used. Also, the blue is a little darker than the Maersk blue bricks (by about the same amount that the 10219 stickers are lighter than the bricks). It is close enough that I don't think you would notice at a distance, but if you are looking for a perfect match I am just letting you know ahead of time in the name of full disclosure. If it is critical that I match the size of the 10219 artwork, I can do that in a future run, just drop me a PM. If you are looking for more copies than what is listed please do not buy out what I have. Instead of buying out what I have listed just drop me a PM here or via bricklink. I will then print whatever quantity you need on my next run. I have a few smaller stickers in hand that I have not listed yet because I still need to take photos. Probably of broadest interest are 9v era double arrow train logo (the PF train logo has slightly different arrow heads) in white, scaled to fit on a 1x2 brick. Now on to answers for questions, @pirzyk Yes, I have definitely thought about it, but the trouble is that there are so many different container car designs out there. The time and effort to layout one sticker is enormous, so it only makes sense to do it if the stickers are likely to work for several different customers. That said, I'll likely add some Railroad Heralds to my catalog in the future, so TTX is certainly an option. If there is much demand for stickers similar to those used on the Maersk container cars I should be able to add those too (while I can't make everything, I'm open to suggestions, just start posting back with ideas) @dr_spock Indeed, I chose to start with containers because they see worldwide service. If the container stickers prove to be popular I have another 5-6 container lines in mind to add. Depending on time to layout and space to print, I will likely add in some contemporary railroad locomotives similar to those that I did for Conrail (but in this case no instructions, just stickers). As noted above, I need to keep the design generic enough so that it will work on many different building techniques. It would be impossible to satisfy all of the possible variants out there. So I'd still be aiming for gp40's since they are a pretty good "generic" locomotive. I'm open to suggestions for different lines. @LEGO Train 12 Volts Heh heh, the containers were just something I threw together to demonstrate the stickers. I originally wanted to make these (with instructions that can be found in Railbricks 14) but then I decided to simplify them because the doors were tricky to do in all of the colors. I wound up using the 1x6x5 panels. Of course now that I have the containers I do find myself wanting to build well cars for them.

If you want to cringe, watch this . Then are amazing unto themselves, the crashes are just a bonus. There is absolutely nothing wrong with preferring the stock sets. They do not have as much detail as many of the MOCs, but they are pure lego, closer than any MOC can get. Each AFOL is entitled to their own preferences after all.

In my opinion 4564 might be the best 9v era train after the licensed sets.

Thanks all for the kind words. The AFOL community needs more stickers, often they create the missing focal point that makes a MOC really pop. @JopieK- Good to see you around these parts again. @Dr. Spock- JB Hunt seems to be on just about every intermodal train that goes by my neck of the woods so of course I had to include them. @AlmightyArjen- These stickers are similar in size to those from the Maersk train, but they are a little larger, but I've seen several different versions of the Maersk containers go by. I'm thinking of doing a Sea Land version too. @Lego Dino 500- Heh heh, when I started out on these, I just figured that I would build a few containers to show off the stickers and be done with it. Well of course now I am hankering to build a set of well cars to run them in. The Maersk containers are 16 long while mine are 18, but the stickers should work on a range of designs. I'm not ready to do custom orders just yet, but once I've done a few more I'll start entertaining taking custom orders to resize the artwork. In the mean time, here's my first round of instructions (absolutely free). @Redimus- Indeed, a repaint is an excellent way to start in to MOCing, and it allows you to fix odd quirks that the lego designers need to do to make the price point or keep a model "lego legal". Often the repaint can be a lot cheaper than attempting to part together the original (e.g., the above instructions compared to the Maersk, or the EN coaches). The brickshelf gallery is now open and I'll post back once I've had a chance to list the stickers.

Excellent solution for getting the light out of a tight spot.

You did a great job capturing the look and feel of these workhorse commuter trains.

Many if not most of my MOC's are far more crashworthy than the recent lego sets (and yes, I have unwillingly tested several of them at various shows). That is one of my complaints about the newer sets, they tend to sacrifice structural integrity for a combination of looks and low part count. I build my trains such that they can travel long distances packed 10 to a box and stuffed in the back of a car. Perhaps my most durable locomotive of recent times was specifically designed to be kid tough. This one is about the only train that has survived my son and it is approaching three years. In that time both the yellow and blue freight trains have slowly been ground into random bricks. He even shot this engine off of the table in the Brickworld train drag race (that one took about 20 min to rebuild though).

That is a great solution you've used to replace the expensive tan train windows, I think it looks fantastic.

I don't care what you say, this locomotive is impressive no matter how many MOCs you've built. And Doh! You're right, I should have caught that 1x3 tile.

For all of the trains that you have this layout seems way too small (grin). I guess you just need a nice set of displays shelves on the wall behind it (grin some more)

The roundhouse is looking great, both from a railroad perspective (spot on) and from a general building perspective, e.g., I like how you've blended the brick bricks using plates or tiles to make for a more realistic transition.

Coming soon (hopefully this weekend) I will be adding stickers for a few container lines to my bricklink store. Here are two summary shots, the individual lines should be viewable once the folder is moderated on brickshelf. [full gallery]

I don't know, 60052 seems to be a fairly cheap parts pack if you use all the train parts.

Excellent! Though I'd hate to imagine what might happen if she took a trip for a week (grin), but I'm sure I'd be impressed with the results.

Wow, indeed, the running gear have a lot of great detail and you moved quite fast to a near complete MOC. That nose on the smokebox has a Nordic feel to it.

Oh wow, that is an incredibly detailed MOC with a ton of clever parts uses. I had thought that those window panes would make great ladders but was always stymied by how to attach them. The vents on the roof with the arches around them, the porthole windows from the Santa Fe, the "swimming goggles", right down to the star on the nose. Excellent work! From all the detail while this might be your first train MOC I can only assume that you've built many non-train MOCs. Oh, one thought. On the nose there is a 1x4 tile. Should these have safety stripes? If so, I think there are some printed lego tiles that might fit your needs. Probably some 1x2 tiles too, but you would have to go fishing through the thumbnails and find the printed from the stickers.