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Showing results for tags 'Loco'.
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I've been looking around for my next loco to tackle, and I've run into a bit of a problem. What ever I model, I want it to be from the Southern Railway, but the vast majority of the nice looking and/or recognisable ones suffer from the same problem, large wheel arches. There *are* a few Bulleids I could do, but seeing as I'd inevitably just copy the rather nice ones someone else has done, I'd like to do my own thing first (I know I'll break down and build at least one eventually). So, do any of you guys have any techniques for dealing with arches too big to get away with slightly undersized wheels/slightly too high footplates?
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A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing eBay and noticed several knock off Lego trains by a company called Ausini, some with wagons or coachs very clearly based on old Lego designs, some with random new design coachs, all with locomotives that are different to existing Lego designs. One in particular actually looked rather good, and being very cheap (£25 inc postage), I thought why not? I received the set, and was happy to see that, while the bricks were far from Lego quality, they were more than good enough to blend in with proper Lego, and that the set was a fun build. It wasn't, however, perfect. The main problems were the asymmetrical cabs, naff under loco detail, stunted pantagraphs, doors that were too far inset and lack of motive power. I briefly mulled over just using what I had, but I knew I'd need a lot more of certain green and blue bits, and that proper Lego versions would stand out for not being the same shade. So, I decided to buy a second set (irritatingly, it had gone up £5... but still a bargain, considering I was getting another couple of wagons too, oddly enough, I looked after I ordered, and sure enough, it had gone up again by £5... strange strategy by the seller). I already had most of the general Lego pieces I needed to add, and the PF battery box and receiver, but needed a couple of motor bogies (which I duly ordered). Before. Cheating! I like my locos to have 2 motors because I like big heavy trains. Unfortunately, I have yet to pluck up the courage to open up the motors and reverse the polarity, so have generally had to resort to having one end riding on it's wire, causing the loco to wobble at speed. I decided to try something different... I cheated! I left a gap in the floor of the slight overhang the cab is built on at one end, and cut a bit of plastic off of the middle of the end of the (not-Lego) trainplate, to allow the wire to pass into the loco without anything resting on it. Other than that, the construction was a fun and easy process that happily took up an otherwise rather useless morning. The Finished Loco. Notice the use of dark transparent studs to indicate lights that aren't lit, both on the cab ends, and next to the currently not in use pantagraph. I also needed to come up with a way to fit in the sensor and the on button into the roof, which took some modifying of the original design (a shame because I liked it). I fashioned a free floating block of Lego with the round and rounded upside down plate at the bottom to act as the switch.
