peterab

I think all of us that have emerged from a dark age have faced this in one form or other. I'm sure we all feel for you. Some reasonable things to start with; 1. build any sets with east to find unique parts first, ie boats with one piece hulls, the big planes etc. 2. any colours that can be easily sorted out, ie orange bikini bottom spongebob etc. 3. sort into colours, and maybe roughly by part, for example bricks, plates, everything else 4. build the mostly one coloured stuff first, and the colour you have the most of. The idea is to make your pile of parts shrink in the quickest way possible, so you make finding the remaining parts easier to find. Don't get stuck on making things perfect, if it's taking too long to find something just move on, you might want to keep notes on whats holding you up for each set.

I didn't have to look very hard as I've been wanting to build a DB 103 class electric for some time so I've been collecting links. Still have to finish my current projects first but I hope to make a start on the 103 soon.

Do we have any Czech member who could translate that even roughly into english? The list is tantalizingly readable but doesn't give any new info without further translation. It does appear to have second half of the year info though.

Here's another couple of examples Power Functions Train Wheels Bottom by Shuppiluliumas, on Flickr CTS 5814 - Bottom by aawsm, on Flickr Co Bogie by gambort, on Flickr" Depending on how far apart you want your wheels, you might be able to have a non-sliding center axel, but there will always be some friction. There is also a technique which uses normal Lego train wheels with the center one sliding between the other two, (often referred to as Tall Tims trucks I think) but I couldn't find a link and they only work for non powered truck so probably wont be useful for you.

On my clubs train layout we try and have as much connection as possible between base plates. We use scenery, buildings, fences, small details like benches, tiling (though on an uneven surface this may not work well) etc. We try to avoid using the same method on every join as it becomes very obvious. Luckily on a train layout we have a headstart because the track and ballast holds most of the base plates together. Actually the modular buildings are connected with technic pins in the foundations of the buildings. There are no tiles connecting them. In your image I see no road plates, the roads are snotted bricks from what I can tell.

That is the obvious first idea, the problem with that is the wire from the motor must pass around the bogie pin to get to the hole in the baseplate. It gets caught up and can cause derailment or snagging on track. It is much more reliable to have both wires toward the center. Even if it did work you would probably need an extension wire anyway, so you don't save much.

I've bought a couple of each figure of both series so I don't share your opinion. But I do agree to some extent that some of these figures are hard to integrate to a town. On the other hand there is a higher proportion of female figures in the collectible series, and a bunch of of useful faces an printed torsos, and some very useful individual figures. That's got to be worth at least looking at one or two figures for any town.

What is in the best interests of a global company may not necessarily be in the best interests of us, their customers, and without the ability for the customer to push back a reasonable balance is unlikely to be found. Monopolies are considered a bad thing for this very reason. TLG had the legitimate protection of patents for a long time, and they now have a dominant position due to it. They will also be able to defend their copyright on their designs themselves if they are legitimate as in the case of the above crate. I don't think we need to help them out any more (and probably undermine our own interests) by simply dismissing their opposition as criminal. Enlighten already seem to be making their own designs in response to the difficulties in exporting their copied sets. Interestingly enough the two people in the Enlighten train thread over in train tech report that the quality of the new trains seems pretty good, maybe not as good as Lego but pretty close and much better than a lot of the scary warnings many others in the thread made. They certainly reported the clutch power as being fine, which for me makes the enlighten trains quite a bit more attractive.

That's because it's a subtle difference, and trying to simplify it doesn't help clarify the difference, if you use terms that don't apply like criminal. In fact part of the difficulty in explaining the difference is because many people don't understand copyrights (and don't care), and the fact that the laws vary from country to country and have varied quite markedly over time. Also copyright seems to be applied differently depending on domain. For example a list of instructions such as a recipe has traditionally been held to not be copyright, but similar lists in knitting are (because they are viewed to embody the design which may be copyright), and thirdly computer programs which seems to be a random mix of both depending on the prevailing wind. I guess the central issue I have is that you painted Enlighten as an illegal operation who we shouldn't support, but IMHO Elighten are probably not illegal (the importers may be) and I see the decision as to if I should support such a company as varying according to my local laws (not the whims of Welsh customs officers), my morality and assessment of the justness of my local laws, and most importantly if the Enlighten sets actually meet my needs.

Shipito will redirect from US S@H who will take your visa card. Shipping cost for the modular houses are high though, so I'd instruct them to take it out of the original box. Otherwise some of the US bricklink guys will do this, but most will take paypal (which will take visa). I think Cpt Zuloo did a good bricklink deal for some modulars from the US once, you could ask him who he bought from.

I think you are overstating the illegality of the bootlegs. Copyright and Patent and Trademark law differs around the world. In particular China doesn't necessarily recognize international Copyright so the manufacture of these sets even if they are a direct copy is legal (in China). What may be illegal is the importation and sale of these sets in countries that do grant and recognize copyrights. Also there is a difference between criminal laws and civil laws, and copyright is generally a civil issue despite the movie and recording industries attempts to equate copyright infringement with stealing and piracy.

I think this is a good approach, especially remaining as compatible with the existing PF devices from Lego as possible. I also agree keeping RF modular, since there may be times we want to use RF, but others where the existing PF/IR is sufficient. Also the more widely useful we can make the device, the more likely it becomes a de-facto standard. I think the basic things we need to address are 1) motor control, with options of multiple motors being safely controlled from one controller. 2) mechanical devices such as points/switches and semaphore signals 3) train and signal lights, these should be flexible in numbers and type to accommodate the many national signal standards and also both Lego LEDs and possibly third parties such as lifelites. a further refinement that would be nice 4) position detection and PC control BTW I have no PhD. I do have a Physics degree and another in Computing and Instrumentation, and have worked 10 years as a professional programmer including a couple of years doing embedded work for controllers of fruit sorting machines. My electronics is pretty dated now, but I worked for a year as a repair tech for IBM 486 motherboards, so I should be able to at least try and understand.

Of course that depends a bit on the market too. It works roughly for Euro and US$ but a better estimate for AU$ is #bricks x 15 cents. Either way it works out at a very expensive train. I'm glad we got the Emerald Night and hope exclusive trains continues in the future. I think there is scope to make a slightly more expensive train than the EN if it included more carriages.

I think the popularity isn't just about the model, but also about the availability (and also the price). The hobby train set allows you to build thirty models, and was discounted to 50% off, so was/is far more affordable. Also its a more modern set so more people probably own it. While I agree about the inaccuracy of the swiss crocodile theres a list of things that are not exact if you think 4551 is an 1020 class. The window layout is wrong, the vents on the side of the body are symmetrical, the white striping is in a different spot, the roof doesn't have the central hump, the noses don't have the correct number of vents, there are no grab rails beside the doors. The swiss crocodile is a far more interesting build in my mind because it uses SNOT techniques. It also has more fine details which make it a bit more interesting to look at (and more fragile; bits get caught and fall off it when it runs). I think they are both nice trains, and they are similar but one is a rarer collectors item and costs more, and the other was available at a discount no so long ago. I think the hobby train was far better value. Since I don't want to collect all the 9V trains I don't see 4551 as a must have.

I've been informed that 4551 was available in Australia, though as with most Lego trains it was only stock by a few retailers. That probably confirms that it had lower sales. Sets are discontinued when their sales drop.

I guess because of the 20% off it's worth considering the most expensive set first, though the cheaper sets may sell out faster.

I think it has some level of popularity among 9V collectors, but it's hardly a metroliner. It is also much rarer which suggests to me that it didn't sell as well as the metroliner. I think a lot of it's desirability is about rarity and collectors wanting all the 9V trains. It's certainly not the 9V set that I like the most, that would be Freight Rail Runner, or maybe the Santa Fe Super Chief. The hobby train model is of a Swiss crocodile which is a more popular prototype, there are many MOCs around of Swiss crocodiles, far fewer of German (I've built one and I've seen a few more) and I'm not sure I've ever seen an Austrian one, though I'd have to guess someone has made one. I'm not sure why the Swiss crocodile was chosen for the box of the hobby train, but I'd guess because it used more of the parts than the other models. Perhaps gambort has some insider info on that choice (since he worked on the hobby train set).

I think it's a combination of 4551 being an older set so fewer people remember it and the fact that it is a less detailed model of a less famous prototype. To me it looks like a German or Austrian crocodile, but the Swiss crocodile is far more widely known, but still not easily recognized in the English speaking world. I'm not sure but I suspect 4551 was also far less widely available, it didn't come to Australia as far as I know and I suspect it may not have been available in the US either.

I think this year I may finally get my bike back on the road, and since we've had the first couple of weeks of nice spring weather it could be really soon now :-) I'll think of all you people with winter climates that don't allow riding for the next few months.

Works fine for me now so whatever the problem was it seems it was local or temporary.

There have also been reports of the HP sets at Targets in Victoria on the MUGS list.

It's almost certainly cheaper to order the parts. CC has been unavailable for some time now and the prices are firmly in the insane collector realm. The only drawback is you are unlikely to be able to get them all from one seller.

Well, since I use my tables at shows, looking large, hairy and grumpy and warning kids who get too close not to touch helps a bit. Trying to control my fellow exhibitors from running the RC cargo train at top speed wasn't very successful; I had to rebuild it and its crane about six times. More seriously running longer trains helps a bit since they're slower, working out a track design to avoid collisions helps a lot, and some clubs keep their track 16 studs from the edges. I find I rarely have stuff fall off the side of tables at home, and am thankful Lego is rebuild-able at shows.

We can always hope but Lego have been pretty consistent lately. Police every 3-4 years, ditto Fire. They seem to have found a formula for trains too. One large freight train, one smaller passenger train, and a couple of smaller sets, plus track and accessories every four years. I'd be very pleasantly surprised to see any more city train sets for the next few years. I hope the Emerald Night has sold well enough to ensure another exclusive train. I'd also love to see a modular building style set for trains; perhaps a signal box, or as many hope a large station. It would be great if it allowed several to be combined for those of us who want a really big one, and maybe included an arched roof section, or at least a flat trans clear cover for the platform. Even better if it could be used with a couple of the current city station footbridges, but I guess we could modify that anyway. The only things I think we are likely to see are the AAA battery box and the new PF train motor sold separately on S@H. That will probably happen when the RC motors run out and they have more than required to meet the demand of the current train sets.