zephyr1934

Brilliant work! That's a very practical solution, I like the flexibility, especially with the open loop running on the yellow line. I also spotted all sorts of interesting trains in the photos, you've been busy without posting. The latter is not a complaint, life tends to make everyone busy, but whenever you have time it would be interesting to see what you've been up to with rolling stock.

Looking ever so slightly closer at the spreadsheet, there's an interesting quirk that might still have implications for trains. Specifically, the small hub has only been extended to 2028 while the train motor has been extended to 2030. I bet whatever was envisioned to replace PU has been delayed. With the track coming out the middle of the build, the station has a similar form as the leaked image of 60473 City Tower. I wonder if they are designed to go back to back. The station is $90 and looks to be 2 stories while the tower $200 looks to be 3+ stores.

Nice build!

So many inspirational builds on those shelves. Looking forward to many more amazing trains to complement these.

Bravo!

That totally looks like a throwback to 4559 or 4560 The new track parts look interesting. That seems un-lego like to make a dedicated track part just for a crossing, but a proper re-railer requires a smooth continuation on the outside of the rail so that a wheel that wandered outside the track can easily slide over the rail to get back in. The lever piece also looks like it might be interesting.

Wow! That's crazy cool. So how did you do the trucks are they actually only two axle? Or do you have hidden articulation and/or sliding in them? I was just looking at the DD40's a few weeks ago and noticed that the lettering is non-standard. The normal UP lettering has a circular O and C, but it appears that the DD40's have oval shaped O and C. I don't know if that was used throughout their lifespan or just one variant.

Great work, really captures the spirit of the locomotives

A well built MOC is always rewarding unto itself so I don't think you came out behind. However, if you anticipate making another then you might want to get that set too (grin). While it's a nice set, there's plenty of room for improvements in the set, e.g., adding doors

Oh wow, the interior is very detailed, looking great

Amazing build. Is there an interior too?

My jaw hit the floor when I saw these, porthole windows just got a million times easier While on the subject of new windows, these 1x3x2 windows should be useful for some train builds (especially 6 wide)

That MOC certainly has a metroliner feel to it. But you've just hit the big problem with MOC's, getting all the parts you need winds up costing a fortune in postage. What about starting with one of the existing sets as a "parts pack" with all the train critical bits, then you don't need to buy as many other parts. In fact, if you like the Harry Potter train, you can motorize it with circuit cubes pretty cheaply. Scroll down on this link for instructions.

That's some amazing engineering to build one of the smallest motorized lego train engines

Looking good

There were many different connectors of that era that spanned about 30 years. The newest versions with the center plastic pin could only be plugged into themselves, while the older versions could be plugged into either variety. The latest version had the plastic pin: earlier versions did not Note that the gray era connectors had holes on the side to allow for side connections. I THINK most if not all of the connectors also allowed stacking end to end. Also note that you can plug all of the versions without the center peg into a connector with a center peg. Of course some of the connectors only had one pin There were also versions that were wider, I think to offer a distinction between 12v and 4.5v

Your side rods have a pair of 7 long half beams connected at a single stud at the middle driver. That might allow too much flex (or it might not) so something to test when you build it in real life. If it does prove problematic, you can probably fix it by moving the outside 7 long half beam forward one stud. Of course I can't help but recommending using a single 13 long rod instead (grin). In all seriousness though, using a non-lego part for the 13 long side rod will allow you to prototypically connect to the middle driver while moving the cylinders in 1/2 stud each.

welcome @LMGbros 772 Books could be written about building lego steam engines, but here are some good starting points. If you've built the cars already, that will help you design a suitable drive-train for the locomotive, otherwise, try to find some cars that will mimic the load of the train you want to build. Next up, forget about the "look" of the locomotive you want to build. Start by getting the mechanicals worked out. So wheels (drivers, pilot and trailing), motors, and gearing. Forget about rods, boiler, or anything else right now. Though you will want to put some weight on the drivers. Either use boat weights or roll of coins, or simply extra lego bricks. Now build and test until you have a unit that can pull what you want the way you want it. Run into problems along the way? Post pictures and questions on EB. Potential point of problems: if the train wheels do not have traction bands you might have difficulty pulling a heavy train. Once you get that worked out, then establish your clearances. Project your locomotive into the "ground" and map that shape out with plates and just enough bricks. Then put that shape on your tender trucks and locomotive trucks. Will it travel through all the curves and switches you need it to? Forward and back? What about bumpy track, do you anticipate bumps? If so, simulate that in your testing. Once you've past that, time to figure out the rods and cylinders. Get past that and then comes the time to try to squeeze everything inside the size of the boiler.

So the AAA hubs and train motors reappeared on the US S@H a few weeks ago. I bought a few of each. The train motors arrived this week, each one came in this cute little box that I've not seen before. It has been a long time since I've ordered train motors, but if these boxes are a new thing then perhaps the transition from polybag to box packaging might explain why some items went out of stock for a little while. Still, the selection of available PUP parts is lower- the sensors are gone, M motors are gone, etc. so I still think they are winding down, just slower

Nice... what about using pin connectors instead of 1x1 round bricks for the smaller logs?

Not always, just the last 20 years . Even then, the first RC system was a train wreck and needed to be replaced. But PF was good, even had backwards compatible cables. But then they lost the thread. If there is a new system coming, hopefully they do not change the connectors again.

Indeed, that could mean they are coming back, e.g., a couple of years ago the small hub was backordered/sold out for 6 months. But it could also mean that they are listing remaining stock as it is found and will then go to sold out once it is gone. Given the fact that other PU elements are no longer listed at all (color sensor, large motor), I suspect that this is simply a final cleaning out. I would so much prefer to have one motorization system they keep improving rather than having many successive incompatible motor systems. While that is typical Lego to do something like that, it is so counter to the spirit of the Lego system to do so.

Another great MOC, I'm sure it was an organic build. (yuck yuck yuck) Brilliant! Can't wait to see that in motion

Great job recreating a quirky prototype

You're putting the Orient Express to shame