Duq

I've had clips break after first use, lots of cheese slopes have cracked, minifig arms split past the elbow and many Technic parts with cracks. And let's not start about colour differences... And yes, it pisses me off no end, especially every time I read about record breaking profits.

Err New Zealand is not in Europe.. I'm sorry, I had to laugh out loud at this. We tell jokes about how little 'mericans know about geography but they're not as good as this one... New Zealand is not in Yurp, but Old Zealand is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland And there's another Zealand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealand Oh, and of course Greenland is not in Europe either. Hey, so you own Greenland and one of the European Zealands ;-)

Am I the only one who thinks that the 'Heavy Haul Train' could very well be a road train?

Really guys, did you read any of this thread before you posted? Really? What about the Lone Ranger theme? That disappeared from shelves way quicker than expected and without being replaced, mainly because it didn't sell after the movie tanked. Unfortunately I think you have a very good point there. Lego trains just don't sell like police stations and fire trucks. At Lego shows the trains tend to be very prominently displayed but among AFOLs the train builders are an ever smaller group. That's an interesting point I hadn't thought about. If we want to have any chance of keeping Lego Expert trains alive long term we will have to 'recruit' or 'convert' more AFOLs to buying and building trains. Lego Ideas may help but a lot of the projects there are unrealistic. Here are some of the most realistic train projects in my opinion. If you agree, support them and tweet, whatsapp, facebook or whatever about them to get more support. Trans Europe Express VT11 is an iconic train to a lot of people (in Europe at least) and it has a nice colour scheme in dark red and tan. 40 tan train windows anyone? DB E103. For similar reasons as the VT11; same colour scheme but slightly more modern. This could be seen as a re-imagined 7740. Union Pacific Dash-9. It doesn't have to be the Dash-9; I'd leave it to experts on American Diesels to decide which is the most iconic, as long as it's different from the Maersk model. The Union Pacific colour scheme works well but the BNSF (although done before) might also work. It should be an 8-wide though to allow more details and make it properly different from previous US diesels. Super Mega Steam Power Train Builder Production is the most interesting project, designed by renowned train builder James Mathis. It's basically modular trains; you can build different configurations of engines and carriages. The German colour scheme is iconic, dark green is still not an easy colour to get lots of and the various options would encourage people to buy multiple copies.

I like your wishful thinking but I'm afraid it can just as well mean that there will not be a Creator Expert train this year. I've given up hope anyway...

I'd like a motor the size of the old 9Vmicro-motor, at the speed of the L-motor and with the torque of the XL-motor. Add to that a rechargeable battery the size of two 2x4 bricks with a capacity twice that of the current battery box. Oh, no, wait, I want metal tracks with a wider radius and a DCC controller, both so cheap to produce that Lego can sell a complete motorised train set for €50. Damn, back to the real world. Bluetooth with smartphone control anyone?

How do you know it's been retired to make way for another train set? I'm not so sure... There's a few parts that could limit the colour choice. Most critical is probably the big wedge that forms most of the front: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=32084

Really? 60052 American 60051 European 3677 European 7939 European 7938 European 7898 European 7897 European 10233 European 10219 American 10194 European Should I continue?

You mean this story? http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=102213

Have you tried the search function on this forum? This question has been asked many times before...

Beer coasters make great shims for leveling tables ;-) Another must-have accessory: Duct/Duck/Gaffer tape.

It's a nice idea to do the polar express but this model has so many issues it's hard to know where to start. I haven't seen the movie but if I search for images I see carriages in a much lighter blue, with narrower windows in a dark red band (not interrupted with blue). You might also want to read up on train terms. You mention "a coal shunter, 4 passenger cars, and a caboose". What I see is a steam engine, a tender and 4 passenger cars. So nice idea, but back to the drawing board...

I guess you mean Black Friday? Good Friday is usually in March/April ;-)

I've done a number of events here in Ireland but also in the UK and the Netherlands. I've always been part of a group layout which really helps with a number of things such as giving your trains a break and sharing the workload of manning the layout. None of our layouts has ever had the plexiglass screen but we've had various types of rope or metal barriers. Whatever the type you still need to watch all the time. With a layout that's got the public on 4 sides ideally I'd have two people on opposite corners and if needed for control someone in the middle. Talking to the public is half the fun for me and you just can't do that from the middle of your layout. It's tempting to have the train run on the outer baseplates and have the buildings and landscape behind. If you can though, keep at least a half baseplate between track and edge of table. It'll make it harder for little hands to reach the track and if something does derail it doesn't leave the table immediately. It's also nice to have a train disappear behind something - keeps kids entertained. There's no problem with minifigs near the edge but make it average ones, not your rare Batman. I don't know how you'll prepare your modules and how you're going to transport them. We always spend a lot of time 'dressing' a layout; trees and other greenery, scenes with minifigs, repairs. As said before, you'll be amazed how long it'll take to set everything up.

Hi Andy, Good to see everything arrived ok. Looks like you've got yourself a nice bit of space there!

My advice would be: don't go there. I was where you are a (good) few years ago. When you only have a few sets and a handful of extra parts you can still just about keep track. Now you've designed a MOC and you're ordering 200 parts from two different sellers on Bricklink. Are you going to enter all those parts? Maybe there's a way to get the details from the confirmation email or from Bricklink so your parts inventory is still up to date. Then you go to an event and you get a goody-bag with lots of parts. Or you buy some second hand parts on eBay. Or your inventory tells you you still have 4 of part x but you don't because you didn't build that MOC last year exactly according to your design... See where this is going? Just look in your drawers and order what you need.

So 'minifigure' is 40% owned by BMW? ;-)

Their rules are explained in detail here: http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/legal-notice/fair-play Notice also the footer on their site:

Hey, look who's still alive! ;-) Promising teaser, I'll definitely check out the project when it's up.

That's a really nice V100! Never realised those mini brackets existed in red.

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=bb53b You can see it in some of the pictures.

Nice work. A few stickers really make a difference on a model. I've a few waiting to be done myself so yes, please share details of the stickers/decals/print method you used.

Absolutely brilliant! You could use the same setup for a level crossing or other track-side structures.

Galidor, yes. Anyone remember ZNAP, Lego's answer to Knex?

Some people simply build much quicker than others, some people are better at time management than others. As for large collections: time helps. When you just start out it seems like some people have impossibly big collections. Then ten years later you look into what used to be the spare bedroom and there's 117 boxes with half a million pieces ;-)