zephyr1934

Excellent, thanks all. Right now I have 1x2 plates helping to secure the switch sections together, I'll probably make a jig (1x12 plates + 4x10 plate) to hold the ties together while removing the point of contact away from the joint while the glue sets up. Now all I need is a warm weekend day so I can do this outside and minimize the sacrificial brain cells (we just had a bunch in Dec, sigh)

Good to hear and no problem. There's one more challenge with a steam locomotive with pilot and trailing trucks- uneven track. A steam engine typically has three points of contract with the rails. If you plan to run over a bumpy surface (e.g., transitioning from carpet to hard floor, or running on uneven tables) that adds more challenges. When going over a dip, the middle wheels can be lifted off the track or going over a hill the front or rear wheels can leave the track. If the flanges leave the track it can cause a derailment. However, if you are only running on a pretty flat surface you should be fine. Always best to build the mechanicals first and test to make sure you do not have any unanticipated problems before you build the rest of your locomotive. For all of these reasons, it is easiest to build an 0-6-0 as ones' first steam MOC, but as long as you are up for a bit of trial and error there's no reason one has to start with a simple engine like that.

This past weekend a group of us put together 8 ft x 30 ft layout. It was my first opportunity to use the Trixbrix R104 double slip switches and the R40 yard ladder. I am quite impressed by the functionality of the slip switch. My only (very small) concern is that the one steam engine I had with me bounces a lot going across the slip switch, but it never derailed even though it ran for 1-2 hours. The R40 ladder is a very efficient use of space for yards, letting the yard expand faster than any other alternative I know of. However, I'm not that thrilled with the stability of the switches for my use. The core of a TB switch are printed in two parts (a "detach" where the rails diverge and a "throw" that actually contains the points), which makes sense from a production standpoint, but this connection is a little floppy and does not always stay together with handling. It strikes me that the switches could do fine on a static layout, especially if ballasted or attached to baseplates, but packing them loose they are prone to splitting at the connection point. Which gets to my question, has anyone glued the TB switches together so that the core of the switch effectively becomes a single unit? What would be the best glue for the TB tracks, plastic weld? Superglue?

The obvious problem is that the standard Lego curves are so unrealistically tight. A car or engine with two bogies is fine, the trucks just turn a little bit more, but a steam locomotive has problems, the wheels have to follow the track but the boiler is rigid and has to stay in a straight line. There are many ways to allow this to happen. If you use hinges or turntables, you typically have to articulate with an arm of some sort (e.g., a 2x plate or a technic beam), which then requires rotation on both ends of the arm. The problem with using an arm like this for the pilot truck is that it has a large range of motion, but a steam engine has cylinders that have to occupy the same space. I believe the solution from your link limits the range that the pilot wheels conflict with, making more room for the cylinders.

Oh wow, you are just pumping out nice little shunters

While it is not as thin as the old hinged bars, you can do a lot with 11090 and a bunch of plain bars

That's a great little build, lots of details packed into such a small space.

The modern build style with the bulky windup motor is great. It really speaks to your building abilities how that huge motor is mostly concealed on the tiny MOC, but the motor still shows itself just enough that you know it is there (or if one is unfamiliar with the motor, to know that something is there)

That's great to finally see the station in the wild

That's brilliant! Great MOC, you did a fantastic job integrating the windup motor into a detailed design.

Nice MOD

You need to make a nice rainbow car too for the Apple 2 WOW! That's beautiful, you've done an amazing job of miniaturizing Katy.

That's a great little mail van.

That's a great MOC and a fascinating history. You did a great job taking a literal toy train and turning it into something that looks like a real train (to be clear, I find nothing wrong with a set aiming to be a toy, I just highly doubt 4560 was ever meant for someone to say "I rode that train"). The only nitpick I have is that your presentation threw me off, it was not clear from the context that the first three pictures in your post were not the subject of your work. I'd suggest moving one of the actual MOC pictures up to start of your post, before any of your text so that a reader knows the quality of which you speak. The situation was not helped by calling this a MOD. With that title I was fully expecting something like the first couple of pictures (real MODs) what you built is a completely new MOC that might have more inspiration from the HE than 4560. But the homage with the trans light blue windows and capturing the feel of the drop train bases is quite a good nod to 4560. So putting aside my quibbles, that MOC is even more stunning if that is your first time out. Great job!

It's so tiny! (isn't 9v great when you don't have to stash a battery) Great job with the tricky angles.

Some nice terrain elements you've got there

Great work! Keep 'em coming

Oh man, that would be so cool, I would love to inject a bit of Lego into my son's HO habit.

Tut tut, change numbers and increase the price by 10%

That looks VERY interesting, can't wait to see the results. Of course if it works, the next round will have to be figuring out how to make a real Lego HO locomotive (grin)

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You sir, are breaking all the rules

Very nice!

That's a great looking design!

Oh, I was suggesting to use that panel studs up on the bottom of the door, with a blue 1x2 plate on the bottom, then white 1x2 plate, then that panel in white. The top of the operator door would still be studs forward, but you might need a 2x2 plate in there so that you could secure the stack from inside.