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zephyr1934

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Everything posted by zephyr1934

  1. zephyr1934
    Yes, 60052 has the PF parts you asked about, the complete part inventory can be found here. While the EN instructions only tell you how to power it with an XL motor (not included in 60052, but currently on sale at S@H in the US), you could also modify the tender so that you could use the train motor from 60052. However, if you go this route you will probably want to remove the gearing from the EN and only use a single red band on the driver wheels (exactly one, not one on each side), both to reduce unnecessary drag.
  2. zephyr1934
    Nice work and look at all of those 12v era parts put to good use. Of course now you need to build a car for the solid rocket boosters too, grin. Interesting payloads are always a great addition.
  3. zephyr1934
    Greetings new friend, while indeed there are all sorts of interesting bits in old threads like this, please do not bump an old topic just to add a small comment or ask a quick question. Few of the readers will remember the original discussion and it just becomes confusing for the regular readers. In cases like this you are better off starting a new thread. That said... To be "lego pure" you will probably have to modify the Maersk to get a polarity switch in, but it can easily be done. Probably the easiest spot is to put it in the cab, though it is likely to displace the engineer. You could bypass the polarity switch using a modified connector wire (cut it in two and swap the wires). In other models you do not need a polarity switch if you can figure out a way to get both motor power cords coming down on the same side of the motor (e.g., both to the rear of the locomotive), but that requires a cable hole behind the rear truck and the Maersk does not have that.
  4. zephyr1934
    Wow, so much detail, the flatcar is fantastic, the passenger cars are incredible (the 70's vintage window and the blanked out window in Howard Fogg) getting all of the undercar equipment perfect, the different trucks, getting all of the windows in, and pretty much not a single rivet missing as far as I can count. If I have only one suggestion, that would be an echo of the earlier comment to add a caboose to the freight train. Simply smashing, let me just highlight my favorite shot of the bunch...
  5. zephyr1934
    Wow, that looks very nice altogether.
  6. zephyr1934
    While I have no hard numbers, I would agree with Duq. There were few rare parts in the HE and most of those that were in the set were of limited use (e.g., the orange train base plates), so they were far less attractive for parting out compared to the earlier AFOL train sets.
  7. zephyr1934
    I don't know, the silhouette of this engine reminds me of the modern day commuter locomotives like the MP36PH. Sure the detailing on the sides are completely different, but even for being a purely fantasy train it does a great job capturing the look and feel of real trains. Nice job.
  8. zephyr1934
    Those cars make a fine complement to your engine, the entire train is fantastic.
  9. zephyr1934
    In the old idea books you can see the seeds of what would eventually become the gears and then technic. Here in the 1963 idea book you can see some of the "steam powered" factory equipment. Though maybe peeron has the date wrong since the top left corner does appear to show a 4.5v train with couplers... or maybe this idea book included forthcoming parts. Lego had been making trains for several years before 1966. The first were simply push trains with normal wheels, but here too, the 1963 idea book shows 4 wide push trains on blue track. While these pages show examples of the standard wheel push trains p16 and p17. Though again, peeron might have the date wrong, but a few of these train models can also be found in the 1965 idea book (p6 and p11). Meanwhile, it was fairly common for toy manufacturers to include HO trains in their modeling sets. I think I have seen a few other examples of Lego with HO trains. Kenner's girder and panel is another example from the late 50's (I've seen more involved examples but can't find them quickly)
  10. zephyr1934
    That's a great setup on many different dimensions- a tram running in the street, the automation, and perhaps the thing that stands out the most to me is the attention paid to the "transformer" building- a great job camouflaging the electronics.
  11. zephyr1934
    That is a great little model. The amount of detail that you packed in is very impressive.
  12. zephyr1934
    The Superliners are about 12.5 ft (3.8 m) The North Coast Limited is about 12 ft (3.7 m) If you look closely at this 25+ ft (7.6+ m) freight train, you will see the locomotive rounding the near corner on the right as the caboose is about to turn the far corner on the left. I've done longer, but this one is probably the longest I've done in the past few years and probably the longest I've gone with just regular lego magnets.
  13. zephyr1934
    Wow! You guys are crazy... TINY CRAZY... great work.
  14. zephyr1934
    Excellent, great work. Looking at the overview shot I think James might be the best of the bunch. A couple of minor suggestions, the Santa Fe engines were silver not white and the cars were all silver... or as built in the lego sets these parts were light gray. The BNSF loco is also great for the size, but the long hood was the same height as the cab, might be worth adding a plate or two on the hood. Finally, and the photo link for Thomas and Percy is not formatted correctly to appear in the post at the moment. Oh, and add a few more cars to the "random train" and you could easily get to the HE (presumably your tongue was in your cheek as you labeled it "random" grin)
  15. zephyr1934
    Thank you, and yes, indeed, these instructions are intended to be a gateway model for folks looking for a more in depth offering than what is currently available from Lego. To this end, I chose Conrail as the railroad for this model because I suspect it is by far the cheapest design given current parts availability. One very important point that I think may have been lost in my original post... the Conrail instructions are distributed completely FREE. While the stickers are not free, they help give a focal-point to the model. I suspect the build could easily be modified further to simply work with the stickers from the blue cargo train. In the long run I hope to put together a collection of "off the shelf" sticker designs from other railroads for folks to order. The one challenge is that there are so many different build techniques- one person might need a 3 wide herald while the next needs a 5 wide herald. Then the locomotive numbers, then the need for a special stripe, etc. etc.. With the Conrail build I can have a set of standardized stickers that I do not need to layout differently each time. The layout is quite time consuming but because each reprint does not require the layout I can absorb that time. So the railroad specific sticker sets should come in time. I'll use Conrail as the starting point to work out the distribution process. However, if there is already a lot of demand for stickers for a given railroad, e.g., CSX, or UP, or ..., then these folks should post. If I can get something that works for 3-4 people I'd be willing to try to give that a go sooner.
  16. zephyr1934
    Only one train? That's so unlike you. (grin) You continue to push the envelope, quite funny stuff.
  17. zephyr1934
    Thank you all for the kind words. I found the instructions probably took more time than designing the model in the first place. Though it is worth it, I think we need a few affordable gateway models for AFOLs. Of course we could always use more... Indeed, Conrail is not for everyone and it was not on my radar until I started looking at train base availability, but I figure it is likely more common in the US than, say, Maersk. I would also agree that there should be stickers for many more railroads. CSX and UP seem to be among the most popular across the MOCs I've seen, then NS and CN. So not yet on CSX, but hopefully in the future. Especially if there are several folks seeking a specific railroad. There is a lot of time investment in getting the stickers right. For more discussion about stickers without instructions, topic-wise it might be better to move that discussion to an earlier thread on stickers or PM.
  18. zephyr1934
    That cab window looks a lot nicer now (the first one was 3 snotted studs tall, this one is only 2). Could you get an orange tile below and orange plate above (both studs up) to make the horizontal part of the frame? Oh, and clever use of the unicorn horn.
  19. zephyr1934
    Sniff sniff... I miss your old layout. The new one is coming along very quickly and nicely though. Given your past detailing I can't wait to see the magic you work here. Just one thought before you get too far though. If you are planning on using 9v power for this track the loss at the rail joints are much higher in this grand curve configuration. So you will probably want to add more power drops along the curve.
  20. zephyr1934
    Oh, I know what you are talking about. The window frames are kind of like the pinstriping- a fundamental feature of the prototype that is way to fine to easily do in Lego. Yet another challenge for the builder. One thing to keep in mind is that the windows on a steam engine were usually open when running (it gets very hot in there), so perhaps you could go for the look of an open window, e.g., using one of these, snotted sideways, Glad they were helpful (and glad they were not taking as criticism). Yeah, there are a lot of features like that that would make LDD more powerful for AFOLs, e.g., just using the parts from a specific set, or similar. But ... probably will never happen. When I build in CAD I always keep an eye on bricklink for parts availability and cost. It can be surprising how much a simple change can save money, e.g., in colors like dark red, three 1x4 bricks might be significantly cheaper or significantly more expensive than two 1x6 bricks. It all depends on what sets the parts came in, so the smaller arch is fairly cheap because it came in a Star Wars set that lots of folks are parting out for the figures. The revised version is looking good. And yes, I've been known to make a custom rod or two (grin). Given the nearly infinite different configurations folks could use for driver wheels, I do not have a blanket, "this solution will work". I suspect the 4 hole 16 long side rods will work for you, but definitely double check by counting the holes between the wheels. As for the connector rod to the cylinders, that is typically design specific. Probably would be one of my stock 2 hole N long rods. If you are still not sure, I could probably count from a detailed shot of the running gear.
  21. zephyr1934
    Your MOC looks good and well proportioned, only a few small suggestions. It looks like you may have already done the first- replace the studs on the top of the boiler with tiles (the top image shows the studs, but the bottom with the green... Southern RR? engine they appear to be gone). Second, in my opinion the streamlined bullet shaped nose is the most distinctive feature on the J, have you contemplated other solutions for the nose? There is no perfect solution, but did you also consider 3x3x2 faceted bricks or the 3x3x2 dome top? as I look again at your build maybe it is equally good as these two alternatives. On the prototype the red stripe does an impossible bend (in lego at this scale) on the nose of the locomotive. Have you tried one of the arches? Here too, I'm not sure if they would be any better than what you have, but it might be worth trying if you have not done so. Finally, the cab window seems way too orange. I suspect the details of the window are way too small to attempt in lego. Perhaps trans clear 1x2 or 1x1 plates stacked sideways would be a good tradeoff between size and features.
  22. zephyr1934
    Cool, that is good to know. Next time I have a large layout I'll have to try swapping in a pair of new/new couplers at or near the locomotives. I kind of hope it doesn't outshine the older couplers too mucn though, I don't want to feel compelled to convert to the new couplers with all the trains I've got and then having to deal with the Euro style buffers on American rolling stock.
  23. zephyr1934
    This build is a fantastic reproduction of the original. It looks dead on. The colors and design just works so well together.
  24. zephyr1934
    Oh wow, that is a great train and I have to agree with Man with a hat, if this is just a quick background piece I can't imagine what your builds must look like when you put effort in to them. Well done!
  25. zephyr1934
    Thanks for the kind words, and as per my last post, the instructions are posted for free... but that is all discussed in the other thread.
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