Heppeng

I was just trying to buy a selection of bricks from lego UK bricks and pieces, as they were cheaper than that available via bricklink. As I placed them in the 'basket' I was deleting them off my bricklink wanted list. So when done I click the 'checkout' button, which takes you to a page with t&c etc, check the box saying I have read them, and then click on the 'go to shop checkout' (or similar wording, I think the only other option was a 'back' button) This took me straight to the lego shop home page. No order summary, no asking for payment details etc, and no evidence of any order being placed. I was logged in as a VIP, and I was hoping that if I went back I would be able to retrieve my order and try again, but the basket was empty.... Whats particularly annoying is that having deleted the items from my bricklink wanted list it is now a little harder to work out which bricks I was ordering from lego. I think tonight I will work out what all the element id's are and order over the phone tomorrow if it still does not work!

OK, I intend to start ordering bricks for these this weekend, Any further comments/suggestions before I commit myself?

Very nice, and I like the story to go with it too!

I think he may have been referring to the internal doors, which are sliding on the full size. It has to be said, it never ceases to amaze me just how much realism can be achieved with lego bricks. Well done!

One way to help is to remove the pins holding the front bogie 1x6 technic beams that the wheels connect in to. A single frictionless pin in the middle of the beam will alow some wheel movement which helps, but they can't move far before fouling the underside of the loco, and the snowplough on the bogie can sometimes rub on the tops of rails if the track is particularly uneven. You could of course mount the buffers on the loco instead of the bogie, but they would then be decorative only. Try running it first with the front and rear bogies/trucks removed, and if that fixes it that is your problem.

Not only that they are often used on secondary routes with 60ft jointed track, the natural frequency of the springs seems to correspond nicely with the frequency of the joints when running at just the right speed... which is often the speed they do run at making them very bouncy!! The nodding donkey nickname arising as when one end is going down the other is going up... And the long wheel base means they squeal nicely on curves, again something you get more of on secondary routes!

That's true, my fault for going off topic, the Pacer was being compared to 7725.

Nah, I'll do it for you: 10170 American 10133 American 10020 American 10022 American 10025 American 10014 American plus a whole load of My Own Train sets which are not specifically European or American but could pass as American such as 10013 10015 10016 10017 etc. etc...

The closest I can think of is the British class 144, Its a horrible diesel but it does have 3 four wheel cars. However they were introduced years after the 7725.

The problem with abrasive track rubbers is that they can damage the plating and cause rusting, maybe OK to use once or twice for really stubborn dirt, but not regularly if possible.

One of the issues the EN has is poor grip on uneven track, which is due to the leading and trailing axles taking the load when the drivers are in a dip. Unfortunately with the restricted amount of room there is not much scope for giving the axles freedom of movement to compensate, so the first step is making sure your track is dead level.

What about the 7725 ? That has to be a pure flight of fancy surely!

The 12V transformer is rated at 800ma, so should be able to run 2 motors at least.

The lego 12v rails are plated steel, which means if they are rusty then the plating has worn off/come away. You won't be able to restore the shine completely on these, but having said that I have a few rails in this condition that the trains run over happily enough. I do find the rubbing action of the pick ups on the motors does have a self cleaning effect, If I have not used the trains for a while they will stutter and stall a lot from whatever has fallen/built up on the rails. However if I 'assist' the trains around after a circuit or two they can usually continue unaided, and two or three circuits after that they are running smoothly - presumably the pick ups by then have wiped all the crap off.. It would probably make quite a difference if I was not stubborn and cleaned the tracks prior to every running session!

The Kitchen of the Kitchen car ended up being a little more 'open plan' than I was hoping, which was a constraint of working it in to a six wide car - not enough room for walls! Still it includes oven, two burner hob, cupboard, worktop, sink, and serving counter. I think there is just enough room to squeeze a chef in too, although he won't have room to move! Yes the printed Windows are Enlighten, I was not sure what sort of reaction I would get for using a clone brand, but the windows are so close to what is needed and will make such a difference to the finished train it would be a shame not to use them solely on a matter of principle. Thanks for all the kind remarks!

The Pullman cars that these are inspired by did have large windows that take up the entire height of the tan section - here is a typical example: Whilst the windows may be slightly too large, OTOH 2x2 would be way too small, so I think probably the larger panels are the best compromise. The windows I intend using are shown below, and even include a good representation of the curtains you can see in the picture above. The one thing that's eluding me at the moment is a better design for the bar stool in the bar car. I can't afford to make it any taller as there would not be sufficient headroom for a minifig with a hat and it has to have studs so the minifig won't fall of when the train is in motion, but I want something that looks a little more elegant than a 2x2 round plate!

I would expect the principle to be the same.

If it's no more than four studs wide you could use it for trains too. Deltic anyone?

I have to confess.... The printed windows from the Enlighten cars are so nice and so close to the Pullman style, even including curtains, that I don't think that I am going to be able to resist using them... OTOH if Lego had done the same, then I expect the printed panels would have been just as expensive as the tan windows, perhaps even more so because you could use them on any colour train! And I really would have liked to do them in 8 wide, the extra space for the bar and kitchen would have been a godsend, as well as being able to have table and chairs down both sides. However they will be getting run on a 12V railway with somewhat restricted clearances, and there was also an element of attempting to build something that could have been done by Lego themselves instead of the EN coach they ended up with.

It does, would probably end up something similar to what the EN coach has - the trucks are about the only thing left that is the same as the original!

These I hope are my eventual solution as to the conundrum of something suitable for my EN to haul. Of course ideally it would be up to four of the standard coaches that came with the set, but I could not justify the expense! As a short term measure the coach from my set was sold and replaced with four Enlighten First class coaches (+ plenty of change left over!) However whilst the Enlighten coaches are quite good quality and well detailed, with some very nice printing, particularly the windows, they are somewhat of a design compromise to say the least. They only come as an end car, a sort of cross between a British Pullman and a Santa Fe observation car, but without enough windows to observe through. They also substitute green instead of brown, which kinda matches with the EN, but is not right for a Pullman. And finally they use six high transparent doors - great for printing a nice representation of a Pullman oval window (in green!) but bad as it makes the coach tall, which is a particular problem since the EN is not only wider than a standard Lego train, but shorter too, and these coaches really emphasize that! So it is time to come up with something better. I started out with the original EN coach design as a base, and started to turn it in to something more Pullman like. Indeed I thought that originally this would just end up being a MOD, but I just kept tweeking the design until there was so little left of the original that did not seem appropriate any longer!!! And then when I started adding interiors I MOCed it some more in to four different types of car! I have tried to ensure that I have only used colour/brick combinations that actually exist, but am open to constructive critisism and other ideas - of course reserving the right to reject them!!!! So without further ado, this is the result: 1. Pullman Parlour car: 2. Pullman Kitchen car and interior: 3. Bar Car and interior 4. Brake/Luggage car And finally the whole train assembled behind the EN: Over to you!

I would not recommend 3 in 1. You want a plastic friendly type of oil, such as that sold in model shops for model trains. You may also find suitable oil in shops that specialise in R/C cars etc. Yes per cc it is way more expensive, but as you generally buy it in much smaller amounts and only use a few drops at a time anyway, the initial outlay is not all that much.

Well the XL motor does not seem to like higher voltages much at all. My Emerald Night was converted to pick up from 12V rails, and used to haul four fairly heavy coaches. Of course I did not use full voltage, but it runs somewhat slowly on 9V so it is extremely difficult to resist the temptation to give it a bit more. After the second motor failed due to commutator problems, (lots of nice blue flashes inside once it could be persuaded to turn) I decided to give the old black 12V technic motor a go, which I had not tried previously because I did not think it would be powerful enough. When geared down sufficiently it just about did, but it was running flat out at about the same speed as the XL on 9V. I suspect that whilst it is old and running at its limit it will still last longer than the PF motor did!

Now thats just taking the p*ss.

Buildings are around for a long time so can be pretty timeless irrespective of when they were built. The buildings in the main street of my hometown are up to 700 years old, so would cover quite a wide timescale, and I bet they now have wifi!