roamingstop

Unfortunately an overload of work meant that any photoshoping was done in a quick 1 hour blitz before having to leave home. The tile was purposeful as a hint; the best April Fools are those which are believable to a point, and then make you laugh. I hope I succeeded on that. Thanks for the compliments - I would be willing to get some feedback on how to improve the model inside, and then perhaps release a limited edition run of 7812's for those fans who want them (Eurobricks Special? Railbricks Special?). Unfortunately the large 3x6 windows in yellow tend to be very colour faded or mis-shaped, and not many on bricklink. If you look at the photos of the Devon Belle, then there is no guard position, just a bar. I also should thank AussieJimbo who first published the idea of the Devon Belle for his Emerald Night collection. The lack of Tan windows would always be a problem, but it worked well for the 7740 series. And there is a grain of truth to the story; I did receive most of the 7740 models partially built with some tatty instructions, just not for 7812. Pity. And for Dan, yes I will generate the instruction - but reverse engineering the model not too hard. I dont have L-Draw installed; just LDD (which does not have the windows) but will look to generate these in the future. RS.

It is great to see such a good mic get so far. Hopefully TLG will mAke it as is: but probably it is better to split the set to make it appeal to more age groups. Adults would buy the 'winchester themed corner shop' which has same look and feel. The kfol would like a nice corner shop. An extension to the monsters theme could see a new realm of shaun and zombie characters. Those in the know would have no difficulty remaking their favorite scenes. Kids would love the slightly macabre theme of zombies and monsters... In the end 10'000 adults can't be wrong but this set has to also appeal to larger younger audience. HowEver it still worked for LEGO reports a loss - whatever that is (afaik some silly computer game about building blocks)

Well it was important to let one or two minor details through for those with eagle eyes! Dan - sure I'll post the scans of the instructions later - currently at the in-laws so it will take a while.

I recently won an auction containing some incomplete models of the classic 7740 set. Included were additional instructions, train bases, doors and large yellow windows. Sorting through the lot I came across a set of instructions for a model 7812 entitled Pullman Observation Car, in the colour scheme of the classic 7740 TEE series. Looking through peeron / bricklink drew a blank - no such instructions / model listed there... and I was wondering whether it might have been a prototype? The seller claimed to have once worked for TLG. Working through the various parts and instructions I was able to assemble most of the model - unfortunately some brown seats were missing, and replaced with yellow ones for the first photoshoot. From what I could find it seems to be similar to some of the Pullman observation cars, such as the Devon Belle, now restored to original status at Swanage Railway. An earlier photo shows some of the original details. However it seems no such cars were used on the TEE system. A few bricklink orders later and I was able to complete the interior according to the original instructions. It is worth noting that the chairs easily become dislodged because of attachment with only a single stud, and this might explain why it never got released? Certainly it adds a nice end to the 7740 / 7815 / 7819 sets, even if I still have a few bricklink orders to complete the models; and obtain a working 12V layout Does anyone else know anything about the 7812 model - indeed was it even a small country based release?

agreed but still think something along the lines of the crocodile locomotives with working linkages would offer the best of electric vs steam. Indeed even the smaller ee3/3 series would be nice, obviously electric. The new smaller electric locos for shunting are just too plain, but distinctive with their glass expanse. Don't know the names but Zurihb should.

if they did, there would be a lot of crossover to many of ABB locomotives in Europe and Hong Kong styled ones (cosmetic Changes mainly). Who knows - but he is probably not talking.

Now this really reminds me of Chur - and other places in Switzerland where we have two rail gauges on the same track...

The SwissLUG recently held an exhibition in Zurich - the SteinCHenwelt; I was unable to attend but there seems to have been many inspirational buildings - including this version of the Grand Emporium. IMG_8315 by eliasiten, on Flickr There are obviously more links from the SwissLUG - but this one really hit home well....

To deep link the images, select photo in Flickr, select share, and copy either the bbb code or HTML code Into the post - voila embedded image

It looks exactly perfect... thanks for sharing.

Actually its kind of fun - as the seats are all angled slightly inside the cars so that when you go up (at a slow pace) you dont fall out. And it is a fun ride... if you dont know it is coming there is sudden pause at the station whilst the pinion mechanism is deployed from the locomotive... and up you go for a while. Im not sure if the section is still there as some tunnels were built after regular rains swept the tracks away. But the image is enduring. In this at around 2:50 you get to see the gradient. Not my video!

Simple answer: it exists in Switzerland on the railway line between Luzern and Engelberg stations. The difficult bit will be the transition parts - but with slow curves it should be ok for most large bogeys.

Never mind the crash - some nice TGV models in the correct colours are lurking on the rails.

Over in the technic forum DLuders is know as being faster than a silver bullet... you wont be the first or last to be beaten to your own posts...

Unfortunately you dont have enough posts (yet) for a PM; but lets say that I worked with a few tetraplegics who had enough proximal arm motor control to use a large joystick to guide wheelchairs, and the same joysticks worked well as mouse input devices. It should be relatively easy to configure one large joystick for the mouse (left hand), and the other to map to the arrow keys (needed for LDD). A head switch could easily replicate the functionality of pressing space or ctrl etc. If you have enough wrist extension then a tenodesis grasp should help provide some stability for building... Anyhow I look forward to seeing some photos of grandfather and grandson building technic in the best possible way. And perhaps, breaking into Mindstorms for some really fancy programming! Technicbricks has many great adventures - especially this sorting machine or a simpler mechanical one.

Well Grum64 I take my hat off to you. I work for a rehab company and can really appreciate the enjoyment you must have from completing these models despite life changing scenarios. I'm sure you could be a great role model for others who may baulk at such a task. Do you also try to use LDD via head control software? To quote others on here : keep on building!

Are you dropping some hints or starting a new rumour for summer 2012

Stickered pieces should be soaked seperately to minimise the risk of removal. The rest - low speed machine wash is fine; if you worry about the lastre then hand wash it will be...

Give them a good wash in a washing machine; low heat; plenty of water. Sometimes an oxy-clean based product can help... but it can also help to remove stickers and old style embossed paints / decorations. if you are not confident with the machine; soak the bricks in a big bucket of warm water. If you have decent sunshine, and the bricks are discoloured slightly, then leave them in the water with a good oxy-clean based product & plenty of direct sunshine -I used Vanish with Oxy... and this brings up old white bricks looking pretty new.

Looks nice, perhaps an upside down slope or curved piece could catch the roof line? In a slightly bigger scale the old 4x6 slope pieces could work?

One page back is this link for the new EMD F7 project which will see new brick colours for Santa Fe Super Chief. There is another link somewhere as well (probably 2 pages back). Various others have been seen on flickr using brick built doors. And I posted a link to longer version here.

So does that mean haunted house is also more or less confirmed?... cool model.

So here the record is for 'plastic toy train track' - which is not the same as the model railway track used by James May.

I have a load of blue track and white sleepers waiting to be cleaned - so will happily help. Plus some really old 4.5V blue engines; circa 1968....

Or this one - from first hand experience - a lot of sky tree are visible through the chasis. A baldwin 280 in need of some TLC.