firstofminifigs

Sorry if this has been asked before... Has anyone tried using a PU simple medium motor instead of the large one? I have the medium motor from the PU Batmobile and I'm wondering if I can throw that in the Crocodile Locomotive and save a little money. TIA.

I'm planning in getting 41174 Starlight Inn (Elves). It seems like an obvious choice and all you really need to do is change the roof to white and add some holiday decorations. Currently only about $25 USD too.

I first read this as "That's why mine is displayed virtually." Which would also solve the problem lol.

I have a feeling the main reason we haven't seen more marble maze MOCs posted so far is because people are holding out for a contest... Too bad because I'd really like to see what people are coming up with.

Seems like this piece could be very useful for the corners of the front of the speeder. Unfortunately it is not yet available in dark orange so you would have to paint it or cross your fingers and wait! Brick, Round Corner 3 x 3 x 2 Dome Top

Speaking of which has anyone looked into how many pieces in common Tydirium and the UCS shuttle have? I have bought two on sale and I was thinking of combining them to make a minifigure scale Imperial Shuttle.

I have done both the anti-droop mod and the Mixel joint mod to hold down the SNOT side panels. They are compatible with no problems for me. I did notice a slight droop/increase in gap size in the 'flight' display stand mode that increased if I pulled down on the fuselage. The mod suggested here fixed it completely. The more annoying aspect of the finished model to me was the side panels moving and rattling too much when handled. The Mixel joint mod fixed it no problem. I spent about an hour of trying to find another spot to attach the SNOT panels to the frame with several methods without luck. Finally stumbled upon the Mixel joint mod on this site which worked great. Overall, love the set, my first UCS set because I really love minifigure scale and the last one I owned was the original Slave I when I was 12. I built them both to show my wife the difference. A good representation of what Lego was and what is has become.

I think we better limit our expectations. If it is being labeled a holiday train it will likely be cartoonish, not to scale, not motorized, not representing any real locomotive. Much like the original holiday train. At best it will look decent around the tree or the WV which a lot if people may be happy with. Hate to be a pessimist but maybe if I set the expectations low I will be more surprised.

I have up to this point avoided modulars because they are so expensive and because I know I'll want to go back and collect the retired sets which will be exponentially more pricey. However the fact that there are about 5 modulars available at/around this time has pushed me to order the PS before it retires. With plans to buy the others before they retire. After all half the line isn't bad. And I'll probably regret not getting them later on. Right?

Something like this? http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2615608 Technique from swoofty, not me.

I am greatly looking forward to it. I have already started redesigning the passenger cars (mostly lengthening them, changing the bogie design) in LDD. I think I will only be doing 4 cars to keep the costs reasonable although I would like to have as many as you do. One mail/baggage car, one sleeper car, the 'pleasure dome' car, and the rear observation car along with the loco and B unit I think will look pretty sharp. I looks like I will have to cut them myself. I paid $8.99 total for the sticker sheet including window stickers for the original loco. I paid $4.00 on top of that for the extra porthole stickers for my B unit. I would love to see what you have to offer as I will eventually need to buy stickers for my passenger cars.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated as this is my first topic posting. The sticker set I ordered from StickyBricks actually includes stickers for the porthole that fit on the 1 x 2 x 2 trans-clear panels which is really beneficial. I paid a little extra and got enough for the B unit porthole windows as well, just haven't applied them yet as that will be one of the final steps. See pic below. 2015-09-15_04-23-48 by Adam, on Flickr I was supposed to get another Bricklink order today based on the shipping tracker but didn't find it in the mail box. The third Bricklink order with the red curved pieces for the nose hasn't been shipped yet, I ordered and paid a little over a week ago. So currently I am working on designing a bogie that uses frictionless pins without the original housing so I can keep the bogie design consistent on the non-powered bogies as the one I designed was meant to fit over the train motor.

As the title implies, I can no longer stand not owning 10020 Santa Fe Super Chief and accompanying sets. Such an iconic train coupled with memories of my dad's N scale model of this train drive my desire to have a Lego version. I was about 13-14 years old when 10020 was available, the start of my 'dark age' and with the budget of your average middle schooler. I'm trying to remember if I even knew this set was available at that time. More recently, I am very tired of watching eBay auctions for this set skyrocket higher than anyone should ever be paying for ~400 small pieces of plastic. I thought about modding the current set in LDD but by the time I started messing around I had built a new version from the ground up. I've started with the loco and the B unit. I for sure borrowed many techniques from the original designer of 10020 and even more so from swoofty. I will likely have to modify a few pieces but totally worth it to save the money and for the end product in my opinion. Santa Fe1 by Adam, on Flickr Santa Fe 2 by Adam, on Flickr Santa Fe 3 by Adam, on Flickr The brick version WIP already is different in a lot of ways. I lengthened the loco by 2 studs. The grilles are flat silver which I love. Hoping to save some $$$ on LBG bogies by replacing with my original ones. PF fit perfectly with capability of two train motors. 0913152216[1] by Adam, on Flickr 0913152216a[1] by Adam, on Flickr Not sure if I will sticker, paint, or pay $$$ for the windshield piece. I have ordered StickyBricks copy sticker sheet so advice/reviews on those would be helpful. Still waiting on 2 bricklink orders to fill out the rest. Let me know what you think! I know this is a somewhat unoriginal idea however something I just had to do as I am sure many of you will understand.

Hmm I wonder about this, especially if your locomotive magnet (separate from bogie) and the magnet/bogie on the trailing car had a significant range of motion. Something I will have to experiment with at some point. Maybe it would work on the new ME Models wider radius curves a little better too. I think it would most certainly look better running overall.

I really liked the idea of the bogies moving independently from the stair railings in your first version. I feel like that would make it look a ton better going around curves on Lego track if there was enough clearance for the bogies. I'd also like to see you attempt a CSX GEVO loco to add to the fleet. Here is my version I built pretty recently, one of first train MOCs.

Just came across this video and made me think about this thread. Watch until the end.

Nice engineering work. Almost modular in a way. Where do you get your third party flex tubing for hand rails. Someone else told me 14 gauge electrical wire but I've tried it and it is too small for a clip.

Here is my progress with the lime green/white version. I didn't think about medium azure I may look into that color as well. Maersk Alternate Color WIP by firstofminifigs, on Flickr If its helpful, you should be able to use six 1 x 2 x 2 windows without a problem. Also for the tile with studs around it covering the power functions, you might be able to get away with four 4 x 6 for cheaper. Or one 6 x 16. My problem now is finding flex tubing. Anyone know of a non-Lego substitute?

I'm currently waiting on a Bricklink order to complete a lime green, white and black loco based off the Maersk train. Lime green in place of Maersk blue and white in place of lbg. No particular reason for those colors other than I thought they looked good and it was relatively inexpensive. I'll post the progress and LDD photos when I get a chance. Should be able to get it done for under $30 USD using parts in my current collection. I'm talking about the locomotive only btw. Using regular plates instead of train base plate. The train parts and flex tubing have been the most difficult/expensive to obtain. Here are the LDD screenshots. Lime green looks terrible in LDD if you ask me. LimeGP40-2 by firstofminifigs, on Flickr LimeGP40-2rear by firstofminifigs, on Flickr

I doubt the addition of a steam locomotive to a modern 'City' line. Based on the currently released City trains, my guess is a European diesel freight or a GE Evolution series based locomotive.

Hypothetically speaking, if Lego did release a generic creator train (3 in 1 or expert) this year, what color scheme/livery is the most desired to get train (or non-train) parts in rarer colors? What 3 color combo would look the best to you? EN - dark green, tan, black Maersk - Maersk blue, LBG, black HE - orange, black, white

Let's turn the speculation into action. The most supported non-licensed train Ideas project (turntable and roundhouse) only has a little over 2500 supporters and a very small chance of making production. Why not get a few realistic train projects up with a reasonable piece counts, popular liveries, legal, smart, intermediate to expert building techniques, 3 in 1 potential, STEM undertones, and decent presentation quality. Also, collaborations have seemed to do well so far on Ideas. Then as a community, back and promote these projects all the way to 10,000. I think the recent Railbricks set design contest was on the right track. However, over half the entries would have made pretty unrealistic Lego sets due to piece count, scale, techniques, etc., including my own entry. Let's say we get a project to 10,000, at the very least, we show TLG that there is a demand for expert level train products.

@brickbuilder711 and nils, Love both your models, exactly along the lines of what I was thinking would be a great train for TLG to release. I'm actually in the process of designing one myself. Swoofty has a ton of great GE models in the GE colors as well that I have been using for inspiration. A friend of mine recently got a management job with GE in Erie PA where they manufacture these, hopefully he'll be able to give me a tour someday. GE CSX WIP by firstofminifigs, on Flickr As for freight, TLG could go a number of different ways (or create several types of cars) and still be successful in my opinion. I don't think they'd need to worry about sales, let's be honest we're all going to buy the train set if it is released. Most of us have made the mistake of NOT buying them in the past and are now paying the price (literally... on Ebay).

I would love to see a set representing any of the GE Evolution Series locomotives in any color scheme. I think there exists the opportunity for advanced building techniques, rare color offerings and an appropriate piece count. These are the trains that I (and kids, teens, AFOLs) see most often at train crossings and even in TV commercials now. International appeal may be there as these trains have been exported to China, Australia, Russia and South America (unfortunately may not be popular in Europe). However if they are going every other, it is the American's turn. A couple advanced freight cars would be nice too (tanker, hopper, flat). I would love to see TLG's solution to the GE nose too.

Turtle Contest Entry 2 by firstofminifigs, on Flickr My second entry, this time 'Creator' themed.