Hey Joe

The sad thing is though; Amazon (and others) now have less reason to discount these sets as Lego isn't. Has anyone seen these larger sets on sale anywhere recently? I haven't. Joe

That's a really great museum, although I kinda liked Berlin's more as it has the roundhouse. Taking my three-and-a-half year old was the main reason I went back to the China Railway Museum for the third time. I thought he would look around a bit and get bored pretty quickly, but no, he loved running around and going up into the engines and playing with all the buttons and stuff in the cabs. He also liked sticking his hands into the steam drivers and wheels (luckily the grease had long since gone). We were there a couple hours, and he probably would've stayed longer given the opportunity. Joe

That's one I'd really like to go to, but unfortunately it's a little far off the St. Louis to Chicago highway corridor. The railway museum in York (and York itself) are definitely on my must-see list. London and riding the train in the UK is so expensive though. Joe

THAT is one beautiful ship. You'd never guess that was Lego from a distance. Many thanks for sharing. Joe

Hey! Beautiful truck and garage, I'm in awe. Love that huge sliding door. Thanks for sharing! Joe

I also recommend Kingdoms Joust 10223. It's an awesome set, and the design fits right in with both MMV 10193 and the Chess set you have. Happy Jousting! Joe

If memory serves (which isn't a given) Lego only sends out catalogs with coupons to those people living near a shop. Joe

That's a cool train, it reminds me of the engine in the China Railway Museum with Chairman Mao on the front of it. Is 'musea' even a word? Are you going back to Latin on us? The Deutches Technik Museum (English link this time ) is one of my favorites. The cattle car used to transport people to concentration camps is one of the most poignant exhibits I've ever seen in any museum. Great replies so far, keep it up! Joe

What's your favorite railway museum, and why? I was at the China Railway Museum here in Beijing a few weeks ago for the third time and it got me to thinking about all the wonderful train museums I've seen in my travels. I thought it might make for an interesting discussion here in the train forum. Mine would have to be the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. It's been awhile since I've been there, but some pieces that stick out in my mind are the Big Boy (above, photo from their website) and UP 6944 (below, photo from UP150.com): This GM Aerotrain (designed to pull modified highway bus coaches for commuters) always fascinated me (photo from Wikipedia): They also have the original EMD FT Demo engine # 103 which is a model I always admired (photo from American-Rails.com): Anyway, they have a lot of stuff there! If you're anywhere near it, don't hesitate to take a look. Their web site is here. Besides the large array of historical pieces, the fact that it was within walking distance of my home factors in a lot to it's ranking as my favorite. A couple other American museums that I remember as being exceptional are: California State Railway Museum in Sacramento, CA B & O Railway Museum in Baltimore, MD ...but I'll leave those for others to discuss as I'm not so familiar with them. Oh, the China Railway Museum in Beijing? It's pretty good! It's completely enclosed in one huge shed and they have an interesting array of motive power there. It would be better if they had more English placards and maybe a bus that goes there as it can be tricky to find and hard to get a taxi out of. If you happen to be in Beijing and have an afternoon to kill, go take a look. Their web site (in Chinese) is here, the Wikipedia entry (in English) is here. They also have an annex in the center of the city in the old Qianmen Railway Station, but I've never been there. I don't think that there's any rolling stock there. Ok, so which museum(s) is/are your favorite? Joe

Yeah, I know, but I'm kinda hoping to get it in the discount bin at Target or someplace like that (I avoid trading at Wal-Mart) sometime in the future for less than that. It's difficult to be patient though. Joe

Brickset has a pretty good 'Minifig Browser', here's the link: http://www.brickset.com/minifigs/browse/ Have fun, Joe

Hey, great looking mod! It's impressive that you even went so far as to put the pilot axle with rods. If I were to try to do something like this, I'd probably just connect one rod to the three driver wheels and call it a day - mission accomplished. Thanks for including the instructions. Dropbox could work for the PDF? This train would look a lot better (not that it looks bad now) with a bigger tender now that you mention it. Out of curiousity, what would it cost for those four non-Lego 'mod-rods' (hey, that's kinda catchy) postage-paid 'round St. Louis way? Feel free to PM that if you want. Thanks, Joe

They get paid? Ha ha, seriously, I read somewhere (sorry, but I don't remember where) that the pay "isn't generous". That's all I know, hope it helps. Joe

I found another blog that talks about the Lego market in Hong Kong: http://thebrickblogger.com/2012/05/lego-hong-kong/ It's been very tempting for me to make a trip to Hong Kong just to go there, but I'm afraid of the damage I'd do to my credit card! Joe

They're moving some Lego at the shops here in Beijing. My son is only three, so we've been spending a lot of time at some malls near our home (they're a clean, safe environment where he can interact with other children and play with toys at the toy shops) and I've been seeing more and more people buying larger and larger sets. Probably the same people who drive the Lambourginis and Porsches in my neighborhood. The prices are exactly double of the U.S. price, so maybe not so shocking to Europeans and Aussies, but seems quite high to me. Lego in the department stores is pretty spendy in Hong Kong I hear, but there's a great market there with lots of little shops that sell sets pretty close to U.S. prices. There was a great blog about it that came up if you googled 'Hong Kong, Lego, market', but I can't seem to find it now. I'm sure the Hong Kong Tourist Association would know the market. It's in Kowloon, and most of the shops are only open at night or on weekends. I've been to Hong Kong more than a dozen times, but unfortunately have had no reason to go there in the two years I've been back from the dark age. Joe

Hey! Thanks for the review. This is a cool set, albeit slightly pricey. Hope I can find it on discount somewhere. What kind of trains are you running, HO? Joe

Hey, that's hilarious! Thanks. Joe

Hey, lookin' pretty good! Your dusk photos aren't bad either, especially the one on the left. Joe

Thanks Grogall, appreciate the pics. Nice looking little sets, I dunno if I'd go too far out of my way to get them, but since I've got some stuff to buy anyway? They'll look nice in the Winter Village. Does anyone know if and when we'll get Double VIP Points with free shipping in the States this year? It was pretty disappointing that they didn't offer free shipping with the Double VIP Points promotion this past spring. Joe

Oops, sorry. Maybe I opened a bigger can of worms than the one I was trying to help bury? Anyway, the title of the thread was 'The Lone Ranger' I think. The topic was the movie, not the sets. I looked for it several times from my 'My Content'. Maybe only my polite, respectful and well-meaning comments were deleted and the thread remains? I dunno. Anyway, hope that helps and have fun! Joe

Recently, I saw an entire thread that I had posted in vanish. Not moved, not merged, gone - poof! Joe

Hey, that's a great steam shovel! Joe

Hey, thanks for sharing that with us, it looks great. I also would like to make a little shunter, but will probably choose that iconic British one (sorry I've forgotten the name of it). Engines like these are great for kids I think. I for one would very much like more info about your coding project. Please give us some updates. Joe

Hey, I really like those a lot. I especially like the color stripes and the fact that you strung cantenary. Do you have any pics of the cantenary going around curves? Thanks for sharing. I used to feel that way too, but the pantograph is easily removed and the trains still look great. The Horizon Express would look a little odd in this fashion however, IMO. Joe

Yeah, really. Oooh, the Aerotrain and those bus-like coaches. That's a cool train. Yeah, those retired steamers really start to go to rot pretty quickly once they're put out to pasture. That's a shame about 1522. I don't think I'm too far off the mark when I quip that lawyers and insurance men are ruining the country! Have fun, Joe