peterab

Clearly absurdist, since no horoscope I've ever read has made predictions on my toileting habits, and any broad enough to be interpreted in that way could mean anything to anybody. I like your use of the old door

It's pretty clear to others here that you are applying the technical aims of PF from the email, to the RC motor which was not developed by the PF team, but was later branded PF by marketing. In fact this was confirmed by Gambort. While it may be a fact that the train system has changed over time, your reaction to that and mine (and others) is different. You label us as minions because we don't see the need to react in the same way as you and safeguard ourselves against a change that may or may not happen. Yet you maintain it a reasonable stance? You admitted your fears were a bit paranoid but are surprised that not everybody else shares them. BTW I said you were NOT bad mouthing Lego, but insisting on the reasonableness of a (in my view) over cautious avoidance of the PF train motor may hurt Lego unnecessarily. It is unreasonable (not necessarily wrong) because the only way of testing if the M motor or the PF train motor disappears first is to wait and see. The unreasonableness is in your insistence on the relative likelyhood of the two outcomes. No one knows, so your more limiting action may not keep you any safer. Technic in its shorter history has had some big changes (like studless beams), and if you include the samsonite gears from the early 70s it even has some non backward compatible stuff. That's why I said your argument was not inconsistent, it is a logical argument, fits most of the known facts, but without testing it it against other logical arguments like my own, we can't tell it's the best argument. The only way to be sure is wait and see. In the mean time you may feel more comfortable not using the PF train motor, but if it turns out you're wrong and have convinced others not to you've stopped them from enjoying whatever benefits they may gain from the PF train motor for no gain other than your own peace of mind. Since we now have a history of four pretty much drop in replacement train motors in a row (12V 9V RC & PF) I don't have the fears you do, and I can't agree that the XL and M motors which have different size and connection from any previous Technic motor are a safer bet. Since we just don't and can't know what will change in the future the reasonable stance is to just use what works best for each individual, and not avoid particular products based on logical but untestable positions.

Each time I look at this I think the columns are a great match for the box, but the yellow crystals could have been replaced with the 1x4 brown tiles with the Viking markings on them. They would be a much better match for the box. Still it's a nice little MOC.

Well given that one of the 'not really appropriate' posts was replied to by the Root Admin without a problem it appears there may be a range of opinions on that. Mine is that since it's probably not worth the postage for Aussies to trade overseas, and we already have an Aussie specific thread whose contents are time sensitive so few will be trawling through the older posts, it's probably as appropriate as starting an Aussie trade thread. It is IMHO far more appropriate than meta moderation comments, because if you have a problem you could just report it and not spam up the thread.

It's a horses for courses thing I think. Given I'm enjoy designing a custom steam engine that will be PF driven, removing the b***h factor would probably remove some of the fun for me. The new PF train motor is also reputed to be stronger than the 9V one so thats an easier option. The strength of the power functions range is there's a bunch of different options. One of the things I didn't like about 9V was that the motor restricted where you could place it due to it's wheel arrangement, it wasn't even as flexible as the 12V motor in this regard which could have a center wheel added.

I think one reason my PF and RC trains got such a workout at the last show is the owners of the 9V may have been trying to protect their motors. We do like to run long trains as kids seem to like that, and all the reports we've seen from others doing shows is that 9V motors heat up over time whatever trains they pull. I imagine over time we will use more and more PF motors.

It seems you've already voiced your choice. Get a 7740, either from parts on BL or a complete one. Sell the 12V motor and track if you get it. It will easily pay for an new PF motor, a battery box, and some track. You could also consider selling the wheels. You have the full nostalgia of the look of the train, and the benefits of cheaper and still easily available PF stuff.

I'm surprised no-one has commented so far. Your project looks good, be sure to take lots of photos of the final display. I'm certainly interested in the European trains in the photos. Your cat seems to like helping, so do ours. We have two grey British shorthairs, one with eyes like yours, another with slightly greener ones. One of them really likes to see the trains running.

That doesn't really help the vast majority of Lego train fans who don't build MOCs, because sets are easier for them. Fine for me, fine for you, but it seems like you are creating a lot of drama about something of the same significance as elf ears. It just doesn't make any difference to the vast majority. And although you are not directly badmouthing Lego, you would fit the criteria for spreading FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt). Given that you have admitted your fears are paranoid, your argument is based on your own definitions of Lego brands, not those used by TLG (and therefore reasonable to assume most other peoples), and that most here don't seem even to understand the distinction you are trying to make let alone agree with it, I can't see the point beyond wanting to start a semantic argument. For the record the best criteria I can think of for deciding to use an M, XL or train PF motor is which best suits the wheel layout of my prototype. Any prediction of which will be 'future proof' is speculation based on assumptions which may or may not be correct. I could probably form a consistent argument to say give the performance characteristics of the M motor, since its weakest it's most likely to become obsolete as a smaller replacement becomes available, but it wouldn't make it any truer than yours.

Well, I think it also has something to do with supply and demand. The supply of 4.5V motors is static, they very rarely burn out (far less so than 9V train motors), can be easily repaired with replacement motors, and they were far more widely available as they were the only motor for a very long time. There is also far fewer 4.5V collectors and a lot of those collect MISB. I'm pretty sure 9V motor prices will eventually plateau, but I think it will be a long while before they come down.

Since I modeled German prototypes and had a collection spanning decades, and liked freight switching on my layout, the coupler change obsoleted some older wagons since they couldn't be fitted with new couplers. Since the operations were the key part of the layout having two different coupling systems was not practical. When the track standards were changed the finer wheelsets derailed on the older track, and after some time, fitting older wheelsets to new rollingstock became impractical. I was left with the choice of replacing all my track, obsoleting more rolling stock which couldn't be fitted with new wheelsets or not buying new rolling stock. None of my track was snap track, I was using Peko track, with Fleishman trains which was part of the problem. The British and Germans had varying standards, but they were the better quality stuff that was available to me when I built my layout. I never moved to DCC because I couldn't retrofit some of my locomotives and they represented a lot of my capital investment in HO. None of the changes I made were by choice beyond like it or lump it, if I wanted to keep adding to the layout I was forced to upgrade. I think that is a good comparison to the Lego changes.

Yes. The train motor fits a particular niche. It's a simple motor for kids train sets. It or a functional equivalent will be available as long as Lego trains are, which I might add is longer than PF or in fact technic by at least a decade. If as the adage goes, the past is the best predictor of the future your argument fails. If i have to buy an additional PF XL or M motor to 'future proof' myself, why wouldn't it be easier to just wait a see what options the future brings, and buy the replacement then instead of now?

It is paranoid. I'm a 4.5V collector. My stuff can run on 4.5V, 12V, 9V, RC and PF track. In fact with a little bit of mucking around with power cables I think its probably possible to make any system run on any track. While TLG changes the system occasionally (four time in my lifetime so far) they do put some effort into being backward compatible, that's why you see no functional difference between the RC and PF motor; they produced an adapter cable. I can still buy second hand (and sometimes even unused) 4.5V train motors (the technic ones seem to be rarer which doesn't speak very well to your argument either) or if I wanted too I could adapt any of the later motors. Is this any worse than HO? Not really. I've been through changes in couplers, track and wheel sets (code 80 to code 100), 12V DC to DCC. Each of those changes were far more expensive and obsoleted some of my rolling stock. At least with Lego that never happens, only some parts have become obsolete.

I really like the MOC, and I don't have any suggestions to add. It all depends on who 'The Pharaoh' is when he isn't playing dress ups. If he's the chief of police ...

The link is bad in that example, there is a doubled http section in the link (which causes the searching to happen).

While I share your love for 7740, you can probably recreate something very similar much cheaper with newer parts. The 12V motors have become quite expensive. A few parts such as the grey 2x2 windows are rare. The older wheels are similar in price to newer ones, but the new ones run much more smoothly. Replace the yellow windows with white ones and you'll save some serious money. Once you get to this point you might as well just build a modern MOC like these though. Buying your parts through bricklink rather than LDD will give you a bigger variety to choose from and cheaper prices, though you may need to shop from multiple sellers. In the end it comes down to what you'll enjoy more. Nostalgia can be a wonderful thing in itself.

I hope you are joking. Here's a quote from Railbricks; "Longer trains/Stronger Motors - The new PF train motors are equal to or stronger than the 9v motors. Trains built with standard PF motors (Either the Medium or XL motors) and brick-built motor bogies are head and shoulders above 9v in terms of pulling power/tractive effort. At Brickworld 2009 a train strength competition was held and none of the 9v locomotives using non-LEGO power supplies could even come close to out-pulling the PF locomotive."

I'm pretty sure the Santa Fe and Intermodal cars were available in retail shops for a short time, but trains are slower sellers than other lego, so retailers will get an initial batch of trains and wont restock them. In the interview Cpt Zuloo did with Jamie Berard, Jamie said that train cars were poor sellers so Lego would be very unlikely to make them again. I know what you mean about the quality of the exclusive sets, thats why I buy more than one when I can afford them. It allows me to MOC and keep one together. Not only that you can order just the parts you need for a MOC. I design my MOCs by fiddling around with real bricks, but I'm getting in the habit of doing it with multicoloured spare bricks I have, and only order in the final colours when I've worked out the design correctly.

I predict we will get the PF motor separately eventually. Shop at home probably have a stock of RC motors that they will want to sell first though. The other problem with the RC motor is the plug on top of the wire makes it hard to use with a train base apart from the RC battery box one. The RC motor isn't all bad though. I added an extra one to my green cargo train engine and it makes it quite powerful with great traction. If they can't sell the RC motors and put them on sale I'll try and pick up a couple more.

Some of the older 9V motors were reputedly better made than the later ones, but our show trains seem to be longer and heavier than yours. As an example we run about 16 Santa Fe coaches, about half of which are double decker Mocs. We use three motors on that train. Some of our more worn motors pull far less and still overheat. We have about twelve 9V motors and at times had difficulty finding one to run.

In practice on the M>LTC club layout, the RC cargo train with an extra motor (pulling a bunch of extra cars) way outperformed our 9V motors. We have gotten into the habit of only running our 9V train for an hour at a time, and sometimes even this is too much for them, and they overheat and cut out. The RC train (and the new yellow PF train) were surprisingly robust, and the RC train ran far more than anything else over the two days of our last show. We also had a lot of fun running multiple trains on a loop at a time. The RC train was also the only one capable of going fast enough to fling cars off the side of the layout around curves. We got through the whole show (just) on one charge of the rechargable AA batteries in the RC train, but we had to swap most of the other 9V trains (about 6 other trains) out at various times due to overheating. Much of this may be because the 9V motors we have are older, and we don't yet know how the RC/PF motors will last, but currently a I'd rather depend on a new RC or PF motor than buy a potentially worn 9V one.

House of Logos on Bricklink http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=HouseOfLogos has all the parts slightly cheaper than PAB and they are in the US so the shipping should be OK. It does strike me that both these places are the obvious places to look and the original poster should have done a little searching himself instead of starting this topic though.

Not only is your MOC of the Rocket great but the presentation is outstanding too.

It depends a lot what you wish to build. If you want to build to the same scale and detail as the modular houses, you will need about between 2000 and 3000 bricks. If you want to use similar colors as the modulars, there are very few sets at a lower price per brick than the current modular sets, though the creator houses come close. If you don't mind using used bricks in common colours like white or red, you might be able to find them cheaper on bricklink.

Now it's perfect