Duq

I can't say I'm of similar age, I was your age when I came back to Lego. My childhood Lego was kept in my parents' attic for 14 years until I came back to it and I'm glad I/they kept it. Yes, you can sell it all for some cash to get yourself some flash wheels. There are other ways to get the cash though, and believe it or not, there's more to life than your car. Building your current collection back up in a years to come will be very difficult... My advice would be to leave your collection with your parents for now if they have the space and be patient with the car-upgrade.

Err... The colours haven't been renamed so there's no catching on for PaB to do. Lego use different names for colours than fans do. And even the fan sites don't always agree... Have a look here for colour translations.

It's the same here in Ireland. I only buy exclusives from Shop at Home because the price of other sets is the same as in the local toy shop and the €11.95 shipping is a lot relative to the price of sets. Sales on Shop at Home are rarely more than 10% off which still wouldn't make up for shipping costs. Anyway, this is a little off-topic. And besides, even though a Euro is worth more than a dollar, a $50 set in the US is usually a €50 set in Europe...

Hi Ben, It's good to hear that this is all above board. The strange thing for some of us train fans is seeing designs that we recognise as being yours or James', with a 'The unique brick' watermark and a description by Yonlev saying 'building instructions for my custom models'. The other seller that was mentioned in this thread did turn out to be a scammer; as soon as he was contacted all his instructions were removed. I'm sorry your friend was tarred with the same brush but I guess you can see how that happened... Ronald

the_book_hut has now removed all his Lego instructions. I have contacted 'bricks Northwest' on Bricklink who said "I got a bunch of parts and a printed out papers on how to put it together from a garage sale" and offered to remove the instructions for my design from his shop because he doesn't want to step on toes. He's done more than that, all train instructions are now gone. I'm pretty sure they will surface again under another name pretty soon...

Has someone reported that guy on Bricklink yet? He's selling my instructions too. [Edit ] I just have: http://www.bricklink...e.asp?ID=702247 Had a look at the eBay link. The DB V200 here is James Mathis'. Anyone recognise the other designs here? http://www.ebay.com/...=item35c1119460 For the original owners of the IP: go to this page on eBay to report: http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/vero-rights-owner.html

Yes! Absolutely! In dbg or black, a straight counterpart for this curve is now due so I can put a tram in front of my Modulars.

Noticed that too the other day. It's a strange set. Introduced while there was still another freight train in stores, rarely available in stores, and now it's phased out after only a year or so while the other freight train is still available. I'd love to know what Lego's reasoning behind this set was...

Would you mind translating that please?

This is a famous one in the Netherlands. I think there are now plans to remove or replace it.

Now that Lego have finally (30 years late!) produced a slope 33 double concave I would like to see it in black, dark grey and red.

You've a lot more in your Brickshelf folder. You sure like your trains in red and white don't you? The one you call BR1515 in your Brickshelf is the NS class 1600/1700/1800. For a long time the 1637 was the only one in red, used by NS Cargo: With DB Schenker now operating in the Netherlands they have a fleet of 1600's that they're painting in their red livery: DB 1615 & DB 1612 Kfh by Arjen-V, on Flickr

2859 and 2861 or 75541 and 75542. They're unofficial parts though.

Buying two wouldn't be so bad but I'm already thinking about number 3 to get parts for stretching the carriages...

Flex track exists in LDraw (88492+88493 or 64022 for the assembly). Switches exist in 9V version so you can use them for planning if not for rendering. I don't think the double crossover has been done.

I'm still wondering what you are trying to achieve.... Do you want to build a 1960's Lego design? Do you want to build a steam train with the classic blocky Lego looks? Do you just want to build a Lego steam train? If it's the second option then I'd look at around 1980 if I were you. Something like 7810 or 7750: Have you considered the classic 396 Thatcher Perkins?

Have a look in this thread as well.

Can we assume you're in the US? Doesn't say in your profile or your question...

You're probably going to get some purists telling you painting parts is going to the dark side and some other people telling you painting is fine. I would say, if the dark blue parts aren't there you either figure out an alternative design with parts that are available or find another prototype to build.

You mean the top of the smoke stack? That would be 2536, Plant, Tree Palm Trunk.

I'm sorry but 7720 looks absolutely nothing like the prototype you're showing. The size, shape, colour, number of wheels are all different. The only thing in common is that the cab is in the middle.

No, those wheels are the same size as the BBB small wheels; 24mm. That is, the flange diameter is 24mm. Medium wheels are 24mm with a 30mm flange. You can download LCad/MLCad for free by the way, and BBB wheels are available for LDraw.

I guess you're also familiar with Rene Kok's pneumatic engines: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2128722 Standard gauge is 1435mm, L-gauge is 37.5mm. That makes for a scale of 1:38. At that scale European trains should be 10 wide. The problem isn't the width of the track, the problem is that trains at scale-length and width are too heavy for Lego motors and the standard curves are way too tight. With pneumatics the motor problem is resolved and with the new track options from ME-Models and BBB the curve problem is resolved. So nothing should be stopping you. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing NicJasno trains....

I'm not quite sure what the problem is you're trying to solve... The problem with long carriages is that if you have double track, they get too close to the inside curve because they get so far outside the track. I don't really see how a sliding bogie connection would resolve that. Can you explain your solution a bit more maybe?

Nice model of an unusual rail vehicle. The lights with the big switches wouldn't be my cup of tea but I appreciate the work involved. May I suggest one improvement? I would do some of the detailing in the undercarriage (like the tanks) in dark grey. They look dark grey in the pictures, and that way you'd get a little more contrast.