Dan-147

I was wondering about that. I'm presently gathering the pieces to make my own version of the locomotive and the cars but in VIA Rail colors (Canada's passenger train service, similar to AmTrak). The big advantage is that VIA Rail's colors (blue and black with yellow stripes) make the parts easier and cheaper to get. I would also like to add a "Pleasure Dome" so the locomotive's pulling power is a major concern. From what you wrote it seems that 2 motors is a minimum but is it enough? I haven't committed to a "B-unit" yet and your experience will probably settle it for me. When I get all the pieces, I'll put it together and post some pictures. Dan-147

Hello, Except for the 3-axle trucks, it seems very similar to Ulf Schwarze's Nohab Rundnase MX (it has 2-axle trucks). Ulf's complete instructions are available for download on Railbrick's site Instructions. There are a few nice designs for 3-axle trucks as well on the site so modifying it to match your prototype shouldn't be hard. Dan-147 EDIT: A quick search on Wikipedia confirmed that the DSB Class MY (numbered 1101 to 1159) was indeed built by NOHAB Wikipedia link. The Class MX that Ulf modeled was a smaller stable-mate to the Class MY

During the 12-volt era, all train sets were numbered in the 77XX series (individual cars and items were in the 78XX series). The 7777 name was a tribute to this numbering, essentially it stood for the TRAIN-TRAIN book. Dan-147

I've converted all my train MOCs to Kaydee couplers. Official LEGO sets still have their magnets. IMO it looks pretty good and does not distract at all from the LEGO. No LEDO brick was mutilated or otherwise hurt in this installation. I use a #2 screw & nut through the hole of a 3 x 2 plate with hole. Dan-147

Those are pretty neat! Very much in the LEGO spirit; they could actually come from an official LEGO set. Dan-147

Hi Stefanwest, Nice to see this locomotive in the brick! I designed it for a friend based on my own dark gray B37-8E, a similar locomotive but with a more traditional cab. I have an almost complete brick copy of that one (missing a few pieces, just like yours). Like a lot of people, (myself included) my freind has a fondness for ATSF's warbonnet and he wanted to build one. You actually beat him to the brick version! I'm curious about that one. I must have missed it. Could you please elaborate so that I can improve the instructions. You can send me a private message if you prefer. Thanks! I was aware this part was not (yet) availible in red. Actually, when I was designing the nose of this locomotive, I was suprised that LEGO didn't make it! But I couldn't come up with a better way of closing up the nose (there are only two places where this piece is really necessary) and I figured it was just a question of time before LEGO finally produces it. I did mention it to the RAILBRICKS gang when I submitted it. I'll try to get a few pictures of my B37-8E and post them. Dan-147

If you read French or if you can translate it, there's a great article on the FreeLUG site about LGVs (Ligne à Grande Vitesse) or high-speed lines. Here's the link: FreeLUG LGV. The close-coupling article is available on the Railbricks site, in their reference library: O-Train close-coupling. Dan-147

Hey my distractions from LEGO include work, home renovations and repairing the car with my limited talent as a mecanic. HO trains sounds like a lot of fun in comparision. So I'm not the one that will hold it against you. I might be a bit envious though... Dan-147

I use Kadee #806 O-gauge couplers. They work great! I just use a #2 screw with proper shimes and attach it to a 3 x 2 plate with hole.

Hello Darren, If what you want is just a train to go around the Christmas tree, I say you can get along with your current set. I assume that you replaced the wheels on the car with 4180c04 or 4180c01 and that you are using the blue track. I'm a bit curious about how you fit the 4,5 volt motor in the locomotive. It is quite a chuncky motor. I would love to see a picture or four. For the battery box, you could easily MOC it into a tender. The real Hogwart's Express (as well as most steam locomotives) has one. Set 4841, another version of the Hogwart's Express, had one!! Whatever your choice, good luck and have fun. However, you may find that LEGO trains are addictive and you might want to add a few more... Dan-147

The information I have is that it is indeed molded in red plastic, no sticker. Even better, there's going to be a complete normal grey battery box in the set with just the bottom of the battery box in red thrown in seperately. It seems that it was easier (and cheaper) to include the grey bottom than to change it for the red one. The complete grey battery box is treated as a single piece by LEGO. For the same reason, the Toy Story train includes the two red blind train wheels even though they are not required in the set (the six wheels packaged together are treated as a single part). That is my design, thanks for the compliment. It's still a WIP, I need just a few pieces to complete it. I had brought it to the meeting to show it off (of course) but also because I wanted to compare it with the Maersk train (I didn't have mine yet). I got mine recently and I want to modify it to the same standard (7 studs wide). I made complete instructions for the Grey locomotive (a GE B38-7E) if anyone is interested.

Are both locomotives powered? If so, the motors seem to be fighting ach other. Probably best to have two motors on one loco and to leave the other one unpowered. That would mean reversing the polarity of one motor with a 8869 Power Functions switch. Otherwise, those Technic axles add a lot of resistance. You might want to rebuild the unpowered trucks with standard train wheel bricks in a manner somewhat like on the Metroliner. Check page 17 of these instructions.

Not using the one-piece bases is fine for North American locos as they ride high on their trucks. Unless you use the new yellow bogie plates, they just tend to blend in with the structure. For freight cars, that is another matter. They usually ride pretty low on their trucks. However, LEGO wheelsets,although great for modelling European rolling stock, don't work very well with North American freight cars as these almost universally use one-piece trucks that are very distinctive. For the trucks, I've converted to a variant of Cale Liephart's design (Instructions on Railbricks, bottom of page). It works very well; the cars even ride one plate lower than with one piece bases. Plus you can have the length you want...

I agree with you. Certain specialty items that LEGO won't make for whatever reason are probably better done by small "back-yard" companies. BigBenBricks (steam loco wheels in 4 sizes) and BrickArms (military weapons) come to mind. Certain economic factors make it such that small fringe markets are not profitable for large companies with big overheads (like LEGO) to service but the smaller companies can make a decent living catering to these markets. They don't really 'replace' LEGO but rather compliment it. I have no trouble supporting them. Dan-147

If you really want to leave your track outside, you might as well use garden railway supplies. Code 250 rail is almost the same size as LEGO track. FREELug uses the aluminium track for their LGV (Ligne a Grande Vitesse) track where they run TGV models as fast as they can. See this article in French Oversized image removed Gauge 1 or G gauge is about 1,75 inches compared to LEGO's more or less 1,5 inches so you could not use G-gauge track sections or flex-track but you could hand-lay your track on treated wood ties (sleepers). That way, you could keep your LEGO track for a small indoor switching layout and/or for club layouts. Left outside, the aluminium track might not be the best option if you want to power your train from the track but it certainly wont be worse that LEGO plastic track. If you use Power Functions its a non issue. If you choose to hand-lay your track, I would recommend a rail bender to make the curves A nice side feature about the rail bender is that you won't be limited by LEGO's incredibly tight curves!! These two pictures are from Sunset Valley Railroad's web site. You can order from their site but I don't know if they ship to the UK.

If you really want a 3-axle truck, may I suggest Scott Warlaw's design? You can find it in Issue no.6 of the Railbricks magazine (page 62). http://railbricks.com/media/railbricks_6.pdf A medium Power Functions motor will fit in the hood and with some rearranging you could probably fit the battery and the receiver as well.

Actually, the Santa Fe Super Chief is based on EMD's much older F-series; F3 built from 1945 to 1945, replaced by F7 built from 1949 to 1953, replaced by F9 built from 1953 to 1960. All three models were bought by ATSF and painted in that fantastic "War-Bonnet" livery for passenger. The FP45 is a somewhat more recent locomotive that is a lot squarer than the classic F-series. ATSF and almost all other American railroad companies discontinued passenger service when Amtrak was formed. That is why passenger equipment looks out of place on more recent American lines. EMD's GP series (including the GP38-2) are "road-switchers" and are used both for switching and for long-haul. Their distinguishing feature is the use of two-axle trucks. However, on long trains SD units (that have three-axle trucks) are prefered because the extra powered axles give more traction when starting the trains and also increase the dynamic braking.

I tend to agree. When the Santa Fe and the BNSF came out, I thought they were brilliant but I couldn't afford them at that time. I still think they're great but for the price they sell them now on EBAY and BrickLink, I'd rather spend the money on parts for MOCs. They are more unique and they tend to be more detailed since selling price is not a constraint.

Hi greenmtvince, I can do one better than that. I've made complete instructions for a B39-8E and for a C30-7, both GE products. The first one rides on 4 wheel trucks (hence the "B") and the other one (you guessed it!) rides on 6 wheel trucks. They are quite similar to EMD products so you can use them as a base to convert the Maersk loco. That's what I intend to do just as soon as I can get my hands on the set. I'm less than 20 pieces away from completing the B39-8E and I can assure you that it is quite a sturdy design. I've started gathering the parts for the C30-7 but Bricklink puts a dent in my budget and it can be quite time consuming if you want to keep costs down. That's why the Maersk train is such a windfall. Even if I intend to modify it into an SD40-2 to the same standard as the B39-8E and the C30-7, most of the parts required will be in the box. If you are interested in the instructions, you can send me a message through EB and let me have your e-mail address. I'll then forward them to you. Anyone else who might be interested can also send me a message and I'll be happy to send you the instructions as well. Dan-147

North American practice is to use two, three, four and sometimes more engines (as required to get needed horsepower) at the head end of the train. The last unit is usually set to go "backwards" so that when the locomotives must change direction, the engineer moves to this unit and it becomes the front. Europeen locomotives, especially electric locomotives, are individually more powerful and the trains that they pull tend to be shorter so that only one locomotive is generally required. You can see that a cab at each end is almost required in Europe. Some North American railways (notably Union Pacific) did try Mega-Horsepower locomotives but they were less flexible and off-the-shelf than standard units so they fell out of favor. Cabless "B" units have also fallen out of favor as they were less flexible than standard units. Hope this answers your question.

I can understand the attraction with parts... I'm completing a locomotive MOC to a slightly higher level of detail than the Maersk loco. The hardest and most frustrating part was gathering all the required parts from my own collection, from Bricklink and from sets bought specifically. The Maersk loco is beautiful and detailed but the fact that most of the parts I need (all of the parts for most fans) come in one box makes it's purchase a no-brainer. I will modifiy it to the same standard as my MOC (7-studs wide, slightly longer and more detailed) so I can run them together. Gathering the few parts required should be a lot less trouble than starting from scratch. Just a few more parts to find and I should be able to post some pictures of my MOC. Dan-147

I'm a big fan of Bricklink but I like to combine it with my local LUG (LEGO User Group). Several members of my LUG (QueLUG!) have their Bricklink stores. A week or so before a club meeting, I'll go through their stores. Payment and pick-up is at the meeting, so I save quite a bit on shipping and I can usually get around their minimum order when I only need a few items. I'll also stop by and make a local pick-up when the Bricklink store is close to somewhere I have to go anyway for an unrelated reason (work, family, etc.). Most AFOLs run their Bricklink stores from their homes so it is easier in the evening or on week-ends. You have to watch those shipping costs because they really add up in the end.

Yes, he did seem quite nervous!! I'm not trying to make excuses for Pierre, but English is not his mother tongue (he's francophone). A++ for effort. It was quite interesting to get this insight to a LEGO design. Dan-147