Dan-147

Welcome Riley-NZL to the crazy world of LEGO trains. When you receive the Marsk, you will see 60052s weakness compared to it. This may push you to the dark side... I mean MOCing. Check out Zephyr1934s post http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=108434#entry2197376 to see what can be done. Dan-147

Great re-issue of an iconic LEGO set. The bogie detail is outstanding and I am more than a bit jealous that I didn't come up with something similar. I understand your frustration about not being able to get the Super Chief at a reasonnable price. I went through the same thing a few years ago, and it wasn't quite as expensive as it is now! I also changed some parts for cost and modernised it but, additionnally I changed the colors and certain details so that it was a model of a locomotive that was more significant for me. (VIA Rail FP9 ARM that is preserved at the Delson train museum near Montreal) As you can see on the picture, I stickered the windscreen. This allowed me to give it that rounded look typical of EMD F-units and E-units. The fact that the screen frame was black on a trans-black windscreen helped to blend it all together. One small suggestion that I would like to make. For the porthole windows on the sides, rather than use a transparent 87552 Panel 1 x 2 x 2 with side supports - Hollow Studs; use 2377 Window 1 x 2 x 2 Plane in red and light bluish gray. The windows won't be quite as big and overpowering. See the above picture as reference (blue in my case). Dan-147

I believe that what he ment is that this last production run of the Pet Shop sold less quickly than the previous runs. Town Hall now that one seemed to be a real slow seller since it appears to have gotten less production runs. Dan-147

When I was young in the early 70's ( yah, I'm that old!) there was an advertisment for a blue era train. I wanted it badly and I let my parents know, but I never got it. Flash-forward to the mid-80's when I got back into LEGO. I got the 4,5 volt sets. I would drool over the 12 volt sets that were unfortunately not availible here on North America (I always wondered why, can anyone enlighten me?). Then I went into what I call my Gray age (when I was aware of and desired LEGO but I just couldn't afford it and didn't have any free time). When 9 volt trains came out I barely managed to afford the small cargo set (I did drool over the Metroliner but only got it when it was reissued in the 2000's along with the Clubcar). When LEGO LDD came out I started tinkering with it to make train MOCs. Eventually I made them in real bricks. Now, the official LEGO sets just don't appeal to me anymore since I can make what I want. Dan-147

You can take reassurance in the fact that no LEGO is harmed in this conversion and that it is completely reversible. You do not know the power of the dark side... Dan-147

Sorry, I can't support it because I already am. Sometimes I wish I could vote twice. Nice video... Dan-147

Love the sign. Dan-147

My disappointment isn't so much that they re-released an almost identical set to the Toy Shop but more that they didn't release something I didn't have. I glad for all you guys that missed out when it was originally available but I can't bring myself to buy something that I (mostly) already have when my LEGO budget is limited.

I've been wanting to MOC a Winter Village themed church or train station for some time. I guess that the money I will be saving by not having to purchase the Toy Shop (I have an original one) could be used for that. Dan-147

I've been looking back and forth between the pictures of this Toy Shop and the original one. It felt like a "spot the 7 differences" set of two pictures you sometimes see in the newspapers... Dan-147

As I am an owner of the original Toy Shop, I'm part of the very disappointed crowd. I checked my calander to be sure it wasn't April 1st! Looks like I'll be skipping Winter Village this year... Dan-147

If you mean the U-shaped piece, it`s actually plastic. Evergreen sells sheets of white polystyrene in various thicknesses. I use a round needle file to cut the groove in a corner of the sheet, trying on the coupler box until it fits. Then I use a sharp hobby knife to score the sheet along the edges of the coupler box and then I snap it off. The final step is to use fine sandpaper (400 grit) on a flat surface (desk) to lightly sand the bottom of the coupler box with the spacer in place until the spacer is even with the bottom of the box. (Move the coupler box and spacer over the unmoving sandpaper, it`s much easier than the other way around.) If you don`t like the white edge of the spacer, use a permanent black marker to "color" the spacer. Hope this helps. Dan-147 P.S. For clearance issues, I use a metal file to grind down the top of the #2 screw until the slot for the screwdriver disappears. The coupler and screw are then just a little less than 2 plates thick. Not having the slot for the screwdriver is not a problem since you don't want to overtighten.

No need for a 3D printer. The standard Kadee 806 O gauge draft box can easily be attached to a 3 x 2 plate with hole using a #2 screw and nut plus a few small parts; Here's an example mounted on my MOC locomotives and freight cars; Dan-147

Funny, I had the same reaction with LEGO trains. I started making my own and I've been a happier person for it. So far, I'm still OKay with LEGO's modulars but I have to take my hat off to all those cool fan-built modulars! Dan-147

Cattle cars in North America were like wooden boxcars but with one horizontal board every two or three missing for ventilation on the sides. So the only things missing on LEGO's cattle car are ends, a roof and sliding doors. That one should have been back to the drawing board... Dan-147

Nice adaptation of the standard gondola. I would like to get a better look at your trucks (bogies) thought. However, the HO layout picture above is of a bathtub gondola, a modification with higher sides and a lower floor. My instructions on Railbrick http://railbricks.co...athtub-gondola/ are a better match. Simply replace the parts in red with yellow. By the way, great work!! I'm a bit jealous of your locomotives. The cars are a great compliment that is often overlooked. Dan-147

Actually, ME track has the same profile as the much older 4,5-volt/12-volt track from the 80's and earlier. I actually like it better for that (and the large radius curves) and I'm seriously considering it, like a lot of you guys Dan-147.

Years ago (when 9-volt replaced 12-volt/4,5-volt) I made an adapter by cutting both a 9-volt track in half and a 4,5-volt sleeper in half and gluing them together (Actually, it was two adapters!). It worked really well and it didn't throw off LEGO's track geometry. RC/PF track gave a new life to this adapter as it is unpowered on both sides so I made a few more. Much cheaper than the adapter you bought. Dan-147

"DO NOT HUMP" refers to a sorting yard system where the cars are pushed over a "HUMP" (a small hill) and are allowed to roll down the other side. An operator in a tower remotely controls the switches further down as well as "braking tracks" on each track segment so the cars don't slam into each other with too much force. This braking system is not good enough for delicate loads so these are marked "DO NOT HUMP" so that they are not put through them. Overly long cars, such as Schnabel cars are also marked "DO NOT HUMP" as they might get caught up on the "HUMP". Dan-147

K&S Engineering stock No. 8168, 0,081" x 12" brass rod. Cut to 40mm length (1,575"). One 12" piece gives 7 axles. Not bad for 2-3$. Plus it's a snug fit on the LEGO wheels so no glue is necessary for American style bogies. If you need a looser fit for LEGO wheel bricks (as with LEGO's axle) K&S Engineering stock No. 8169, 0,072" x 12" brass rod would be better. Dan-147

Hadn't seen these when I posted in your leftover topic! Dan-147

It is rather cute... I would love to see pictures of the other bits (complete train with 28-stud bases) Dan-147

I'm very impressed by your Ecto-1 modifications. I have been trying to reverse engineer it from your pictures on Flickr. I've just now seen your post on Eurobricks and I was thrilled to find out that an LDD file was available. I would much appreciate if ou could send it to me. Thanks in advance. Dan-147

Don't want to criticize but you might hit a problem with the lavender bogie plate in the above setup. Since the 90's, the pin is only 5mm high so it will only go though one 3x2 plate with hole. The old bogie plates from the 80's with 7mm pins would work but they are getting hard to find. Best solution might be to remove completely the top 3x2 plate with hole (the blue one) so the bogie plate can properly clip in place. As an added benefit the extra plate height recesses the top of the pin so that it doesn't intrude with whatever it is that's on top. Dan-147

Nice work on the intermodal (the locomotives also). Would you mind sharing your LDD file for the container car and the containers? They seem pretty neat but the details are hard to catch the way the pictures are framed. Triples are rather uncommon. Doubles more so. The most common configurations are singles and 5-unit sections. Dan-147