peterab

No, those are not the correct magnets, they're the ones used on cranes. The correct ones are these; https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LEGO-Eisenbahn-alt-4-5V-12V-Magnetkupplung-Ersatz-Pärchen/262899174897?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649 Unfortunately it is quite common for the magnets to break and the wagons are not worth much without the magnets. You might be better off by buying a few wagons with one good magnet and use them to repair your ones. Be careful taking the magnets off, they require a bit of force, and it can be easy to break them.

They participate at toy fairs to show their product to buyers from toy stores. The press are an added benefit only if they want press at the time. If the early photos are contributing to copying by clone brands I can see why they would want to avoid them.

I think the second question answers itself. How many people would buy a set based on nostalgia for a 1941 film? How many people who originally saw it are even still alive? D2C trains have been aimed towards adults and older kids in the past whereas Dumbo is likely to be aimed at younger kids (but with Tim Burton who knows) so I'm not sure about the likelihood with any of this. On the other hand we've had the Disney castle recently and the Toy Story train so I guess it is possible for something. My gut feel is it is more likely to be like the Toy Story train rather than the Emerald Night in distribution if it does happen.

Yeah but they are all more expensive than the V2 receiver too, and include a whole bunch of functions many people don't need for their home layouts. I just think a cheap one transistor power amp would be a popular choice for people who just want to add an additional motor easily.

Well they could do this but I guess they wont since we haven't seen a new 'exclusive' train since the HE and the rumours are that its sales were disappointing. I'm pretty sure if you cant get a complete train to sell well they aren’t going to risk individual cars when they already feel they sell even worse.

One thing that I have considered and am surprised no-one has offered yet is a current amplifier to use with the PF receiver. The V2 receiver is relatively rare and expensive but plenty of people want to use 2 PF train motors or multiple XL motors on trains and they become constrained by the current limitations of the PF receiver. A simple circuit with a single power transistor would be fine, with power from the rechargeable battery box, an input from the output of the PF receiver and two outputs for the train motors (of opposite polarity to avoid the need to use a reversing switch). It should be relatively cheap compared to the V2 receiver and popular enough to sell well.

My understanding is the concept of the Santa Fe was heavily pushed by US AFOLs. That is why it was a complex design of a real world prototype. It was the most realistic train build LEGO had sold up until that point and is still in the top five. I agree that you cannot blame the design. You yourself have illustrated the problem by comparing LEGO with Märklin & Lionel. A successful LEGO set will sell hundreds times more copies than a Märklin carriage. Retailers for LEGO in many markets like Australia and the US are large variety stores whereas traditional model trains are often sold in smaller speciality stores. Model trains are also much more expensive so retailers can afford to stock them for longer. Variety stores want stock to move quickly not take up shelf space, that is why LEGO concentrate on train sets only. The argument was that customers would buy the carriage sets later but that didn't really happen because the large retailers had already got rid of their stock on clearance and didn't want to order more of a slow selling item, and back then most customers didn't know of the LEGO website and shop at home service. While there may have been extra factors at work in 2002, I've been told that single carriage sets have never sold well, not 9V not 12V not 4.5V. As LEGO have become more successful, the sales figures for town or City sets have risen, so by comparison it gets harder and harder to justify making poor selling extra sets for the train line. Even the complete train sets only get replaced every four years or so to allow longer to recoup the design costs.

If your pledge reward was for metal rails that would explain why they didn't contact you; they had completed the molds for the plastic stuff but were still having manufacturing difficulties with metal rails. The story was they were gradually filling plastic orders.

All the official LEGO PF batteries provide 9V which is essentially full speed for the motor. If you don't want remote control as provided by the PF receiver and remote but still want a slower speed, one solution is to provide a lower voltage. Instead of using a 9V battery you could modify a 4x AA battery holder to provide 6V to the motor.

I'd be interested in any coupler system that allowed remote uncoupling so realistic yard activities were possible. I doubt I'd want to change my whole fleet over but perhaps all my engines and freight; 20-30 pairs. If they were in the ballpark of the current prices for LEGO couplers that would be fine. BTW I model German trains so if they fit the old buffers as a replacement for the magnet that would suit me best.

Nope, I had a pledge of $270 too and have seen nothing. Mine was all plastic so there was no reason as far as I can see that my pledge couldn't have been completed. I got an email a year ago saying it was ready to ship if I could confirm my shipping address. I did confirm and have heard nothing since.

That was the theory behind the 3 in 1 instructions of the original Super Chief carriages but sales were terrible. They were eventually almost thrown away at steep discounts. Part of the problem is retailers don't like separate train cars as add ons. Parents tend to buy the engine, then wait a year to look for the carriages. By this time the sales for the carriages have been very low, and the retailer has discontinued stocking the carriages.

Deleted already answered question.

I've spent the last couple of weeks reading the English version. It's an excellent book and I can't imagine any LEGO train fan wouldn't find parts of it useful. I've loved building a BR 10 and a BR 80 from Holger's instructions and learnt a lot doing it. I'm currently modifying the BR80 into a BR 81.

Hi McWaffel, How you use the transformers depends on what you want to achieve. If you want to run two independent trains you will need to isolate sections and connect a transformer in parallel to each section. Since you don’t have two independent loops that probably isn't really very helpful to you, and your siding will already be isolated anyway for storage of your second train. More helpful for what you plan, you could just attach the two transformers in parallel so you have more current available.This is done on large exhibition layouts to overcome voltage drops and to have enough current to run extra motors. Your layout isn't big enough to suffer from noticeable voltage drop especially since it doesn't have grand or straight curves, but heavy wagons, and long trains on normal LEGO curves can draw a lot of current. The LEGO transformer varies from region to region, and the controller comes in a couple of different versions with different maximum current outputs. The worst combinations can struggle with two motors under heavy load, so you might benefit from parallel controllers. As you suspect just connect them up exactly the same in parallel. Test that you've got the polarity right by making sure a motor moves in the same direction when you turn each controller on. In operation you should try and keep both controllers on the same setting so they don't fight each other as it could potentially damage them. Just in case you get conflicting advice here's a picture of my clubs layout from a few years ago to illustrate my experience with multiple controllers;

These are both beautiful trains. It is very generous of you to share the files. Thanks.

Hi Jim, If simple cars are all you want, you cant really do better than those designed by LEGO themselves. Most of the instructions will be easy to find on the internet. LEGO themselves has PDFs of instructions for the last 15 years or so in the service section of their site searchable by set number. For older stuff I really like PICSL which was one of the early community efforts to preserve instructions; http://www.peeron.com/cgi-bin/invcgis/scans/?ct=1 To browse through the sets available try a search for train sets on Bricklink; https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=S&catString=124 Once you have set numbers you might be able to find single carriages from recent sets for a reasonable price on ebay or bricklink. If you want to buy individual pieces bricklink or the LEGO site are probably your best bet. Another way of doing the same sort of search is to start with a search of train sets at brickset; https://brickset.com/ Each set page also has external links to places you might find instructions but they are a little more hit and miss. They work best once you know the area of speciality of the external sites. Hope some of this is helpful to you and your son. Peter

There are a bunch of reasons people don't use Lipos. Mine are as follows. 7.2 V means they limit the top speed of trains (not so bad for freight). Lipos need more care when charging. Their energy density isn't all that great when compared to the LEGO rechargeable battery. Yes they provide a smaller footprint but at the cost of a much smaller running time. I'd only really consider Lipo for a really small engine. I've often thought of making a custom battery pack from 8 AAA or AA rechargeable batteries in two groups of four. 9.6V is well within the tolerances of the PF receiver.

Since I'm in Australia this may or may not be very useful but I use Starmaid boxes. They are currently stocked by Big W, but were stocked at Woolworths supermarkets for a couple of years. I'd imagine there are similar boxes in most markets, just chose an appropriate size for your trains. I really like boxes which only take one layer of trains; it's easy to remove exactly the one you want.

The Super Chief loco sold well but the cars were sold off at about a third of the RRP. They are the reason LEGO doesn't do individual train cars any more. Overall I think the Super Chief is regarded as a failure.

I just use plastic storage boxes for my MOCs. I buy the short ones which fit five long passenger cars or up to 10 shorter freight cars standing upright next to each other. You would probably fit about 10 official LEGO cars in each. If you were really paranoid you could wrap each car in bubble wrap, but I've found most cars without too many greebles are fine without. Mine live in them permanently and the only issue I've had is when they were stored in a hot trailer. Avoid temperatures above about 30 degrees Celsius. For long term storage remember to remove any batteries.

As has been pointed out to AFOL train fans before flying off the tracks is a feature not a bug. The trains are designed to fly off because kids like crashes. It makes them better toys.

I pretty much exclusively use them for all my 7 wide rolling stock and have never had a problem over many years running at train and LEGO exhibitions.

The step numbers seem to be messed up. 4 5 4

I was contacted to confirm my shipping address on 21 December, replied promptly and have yet to receive a shipping notification. Patience does seem to be a virtue. It is encouraging to see others receive their Kickstarter rewards, though it does make me more eager for my own.