zephyr1934

Yesterday I happened to run into a lego train builder I know distantly. I mentioned the crocodile locomotive, which he never heard about nor seemed to care, but then he went on and said that it would be a banner year since Lego is coming out with two new city train sets and a HP train set. My first thought was no way, but now that I see this, my second thoughts are, hum... maybe. Maybe in the sense that the three existing sets all have the old RC/PF wheels. So maybe they are being released as "new" with the new wheels (one less part per wheel set) and new instructions. Perhaps new set numbers or v2 of the old set numbers. Has anyone purchased a city train or an HP train and gotten the new wheels yet?

That is fantastic! The implementation is amazing. (BTW, the mark of a true garden railway is a hole for the trains to enter your house or shed).

Amazing work! Thanks for sharing

Clever part usage!

TLDR: I take the double crossover to indicate that Lego was trying to aim the AFOLs at the RC trains rather than 9v in 2007. ======== At the end of 9v I do not recall any hinting at keeping 9v alive for AFOL. Between 2001 and 2006 Lego made a big effort to reach out to the lego train community both in terms of sets (Super Chief, BNSF, hobby train). That was their first venture into AFOL groups with the formation of the "Lego Train Clubs." I believe Lego had a presence at the lego train display at NMRA 2005 and were scheduled to do so again in 2006 but pulled out at the last minute and never came back. Jacob McKee was the main force behind all of that and I THINK he left Lego right before the 2005 NMRA show. Under McKee AFOL = lego club, and it was the start of their outreach to adult fans. The Hobby Train was a poor performer. I was not involved with it but I know a lot of people who were. What I recall from talking with them is that development took a couple of years, after finishing the first round of designs everything was scrapped and they had to start anew. They fought hard and won for train doors, but lost big on some color other than red. The implementation of the Hobby Train was flawed in many ways, (i) few rare parts in the set, (ii) what rare parts were also simultaneously available on the just launched online PaB/Factory, (iii) most instructions were only available in pdf form, which was a big factor back then, and (iv) maybe 1 yr into what would likely have been a 2-3 year run of the set a child died after ingesting magnets from a different toy so Lego discontinued the old 9v style of magnets. Instead of updating the set to the new magnets they blew it out at clearance (50% off I think). In the meantime, trains were one of maybe 5-10 specific themes on the Lego Factory site, and I THINK that is where they were trying to move the AFOL train community. But the limited parts selection was a killer. I'm not sure what went on between 2006 and 2008 at lego, but there was a mild movement of "Save 9V" among the train fans. No one embraced the RC trains of 2006 (7897 and 7898) that came between 9v and PF, as a result, the now coveted double crossover (7996) from 2007 that I think was meant to entice AFOLs to the plastic track had little demand. Most but not all of the AFOLs stuck with 9v until it was discontinued. Lego upped the game in 2009 with the EN, which I think was announced at the same time the 9v track was discontinued. Along with the EN came the rechargeable battery box, the PF train controller, and flex track (which was originally targeted at AFOLs believe it or not... and in concept I guess that did make sense had it been better implemented). It was not until 2010 that we got PF train elements (AAA battery box and train motor)

Great creative part usage on an amazing little MOC. Only complaint is that the conductor and green shrub collectively obscure a clear view of the truck... but for a flower show I suspect the shrub is more important. Can you post a second view from the opposite side (perhaps add a small leaf element on the far side like a vine climbing down the side of the truck).

Water slide decals for conventional O-gauge have a very thin substrate and they typically scratch very easily. If you are careful (or protect with clear coat) you might be okay. I usually use a cling material (similar to colorforms if you are old enough to remember those) for my decals. You peel off the back like a sticker, but then apply with a bit of water, which lets you slide them around like decals to get the positioning just right. A nice feature is that you can also peel and reapply them if you need to.

I'd start working on instructions for compatible cars, I bet demand for those will go through the roof.

That looks fantastic, the interior detailing is insane. As for the steps, there's also the 1x2x1 panel with two sides,

Those are some really difficult curves you tackled there, amazing work. And use of the classic grill print is just icing on the cake.

SBricks are pricey, but they are good, compared to PU they aren't much more expensive though. For some reason I was thinking you said PU large motors (that stinkin crocodile thread) where the price difference in motors would balance the price difference in control. At any rate, the SBrick can deliver more power than the IR receiver (I think it is up to twice the current) and it has four separate outputs. In general PF lets you stack motor plugs on a single output while PU requires one output per motor. So in this case you probably would be fine with PU too. In my haste I did not notice that you were using the classic train windows, so that makes sense, curves vs. height does seem like an even trade-off, both are good and unfortunate that the parts do not allow for both.

Amazing work! But at least you chose the easy to build in 3 wide... just kidding, that is insane what you were able to do in 3 wide. I bet after all that SNOT your head is spinning.

Hopefully you mean "dead" and not "discarded." I think the 12v motors can be repaired, and if they can't they can still be parts donors.

Looking good! Only thoughts, to be prototypical it looks like the bell should be red (but I like the bronze appearance better too) an the front/rear cab windows look to be too low. As for powering it, I'd suggest going PF while PF is still available. If you don't have room for the IR receiver you could get an SBrick for just a little more than the PU battery box

Well, you are paying €2 for the circuitry and €18 for the "improved" price.

That's a very Alco look to it. If you built your train around the white and gray of the PU box then it would be easy (grin). Tiles over the side of the box could get you to a 4.8 stud wide hood. Anyway, the build itself has got a quaint look to it.

Nice!

That's a great deal

Ha ha, sounds like you need handbrakes on some of your cars. If you actually needed the roller bearings on the uneven layout you could make some hidden stops, e.g., a good looking boxcar that is actually attached to the track. Yeah, if you are running short or light trains you don't need the roller bearings. But with the newest plastic split axle lego train wheels that threshold has probably shifted lower.

I suspect the standard build for the locomotive will use the two port hub. I take GLuigi's post to indicate (1) that the crocodile will use the new L-motor, and separately (2) that the technic hub will be released as a standalone item at the same time.

Excellent use of your quarantine! A great loop you've got there.

Here it is... From this post...

An interesting variant on the stand would have been a modified PennLUG standard: replacing the light gray with dark gray while using RC track for the rails and filling in the rest with plates, then putting the brown tiles on top of that (or even better, dark brown tiles). That way folks who didn't want the stand would still get four segments of straight track.

The new banner is a billion times better! When you update to version 1.1 would it be possible to move the text off of the locomotive? Perhaps by incorporating the first 1-2 passenger cars in the first art and move the text to there?

Wow!!! And look, remote 9v too. That is an amazing collection. I like the fence you put up to keep mischievous minifigs from wandering into the controls