Building 7777

[Jetflap]

What do you do once you collect all the 12v sets and still yearn for more? You could build MOCs of course, or you could try a different challenge. Instead of just looking at the pretty pictures, try to build out of the 7777 Idea Book! Here are some of my results from over the years...

IMG_20170903_195512061 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170903_200034205 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_055921522 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_062934070 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_060517229 by jet_flap, on Flickr

More...

IMG_20170904_064331531 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_064534532 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_062654748 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_061351760 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_060550399 by jet_flap, on Flickr

Edited November 13, 2024 by Jetflap

[Man with a hat]

Oh my!. That's a childhood dream come true. I always wanted to build those bridges (never got very far with what I got then). And that steam engine.

[zephyr1934]

The 11 yr old me is SOOOOO envious (and so is the old old me). Now another challenge (for your wallet), build up the full layout with all of the remote controls (grin) that made the 12v system the best true model railroading system Lego produced. Excellent work!

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Wow see these things in real lego is amazing ...wonderful pictures! 

[JopieK]

Very nice Jetflap. 7777 was a nice book in addition to the 12V system indeed.

[HoMa]

Great to see 7777 comes alive, thanks for sharing! 

And don't miss my article about about 7777 on brickset showing my childhood version of the grand layout with the yellow bridge: https://brickset.com/article/25119

This layout will be on display at LEGO fan weekend in Skaerbaek 2017.

Holger

 

[Q3671]

nice work @Jetflap a kids dream comes to live. 

[PeteM]

Wow - excellent work!! I spent probably longer than was healthy pouring over the pictures in 7777 as a child, these models are great! I always wanted to try and recreate them but I never had enough of the right elements at the time, especially Technic which seemed to be a core component of the more interesting ones...

[Jetflap]

Thank you for the kind words all!

Zephyr- I would like to build the grand layout someday, I would need a lot more yellow Technic though! Almost everything else is a real set in this layout, sets which I already have. I would love to build that fuel farm though, it is definitely on the list. I have plenty track and track accessories for everything else.

Holger- I remember your layout when you first posted it, very nice! That is what inspired me to post my creations when I finally got around to it....

 

The steam engine was the most expensive thing to build by far. Most of the parts in this idea guide are pretty basic due to it's age, but the engine uses multiple of those old style windows (narrow and wide), 3 large train wheel sets and red boogie plates, and of course the red 12v motor. All of the parts in all of these builds are period correct vintage parts, BTW. I spent a lot of time pouring over the photos in the book to make these as accurate as possible with regard to every piece. In some cases, a piece is completely hidden from all photos, and then I just had to use an educated guess on how it was built, but one would be surprised at how accurate you can be if you look close enough.

My current project is the large red engine shed from the back page. Only the one photo, so I had to guess on how long it should be. I though one baseplate would be kind of short, so I went with two. I drew it up in LDD, and am now in the process of ordering parts.

Train Shed by jet_flap, on Flickr

 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Wow the large train shed ...I love it!

I hope to see this masterpiece in real lego as soon as possible!

[Brickviller V2]

Nice!  Seeing them build makes me really happy!  7777 was a great source for building back then.

[JasperL]

Awesome! That station in your first pic is one of my favourite scenes in the book. Did you notice btw that the tracks on page 43 don't line up?

I've still got plans to build the signal box on page 30. Your pics are inspiring, I should stop making excuses and make the darn thing!

[Jetflap]

4 hours ago, JasperL said:

Did you notice btw that the tracks on page 43 don't line up?

I'm not exactly sure what you are referring too here, do you mean the single track in front it offset by one half a track length from the two center parallel track lengths? The front single track is actually not connected at all to the baseplates for the set, but is one stud away, so I don't consider it be part of the set. I just laid a peice there for the photo. This differs from the train station sets Lego has released from the era where there is enough overhang on the baseplate to clip the edge of the track to.

4 hours ago, JasperL said:

I've still got plans to build the signal box on page 30. Your pics are inspiring, I should stop making excuses and make the darn thing!

That would be a great build, you should go for it! I would like to build this whole scene some day. I especially love the little water station on page 31 (also visible on page 41). I have the coal crane on the classic space baseplate built already but it doesn't look too impressive all by itself.

[harnbak]

Cool stuff here! Have been dreaming about this for 35 years... he he

[JasperL]

Exactly. The front track is not connected to anything. In fact, it's off by an odd 6.5 studs or so. However, I do feel the scene needs this track. It turns the station into a hub where you could switch trains. It also makes sense to have a restaurant and facilities at such a station.

So I started building the signalbox. This is just my first mockup to find out which parts I'll need. The building is actually a bit taller than I had expected, but I really like it. Still fiddling with the dimensions and figuring what interior I'll put in.

[HoMa]

Looks great, keep going! For the interior check the building inductions from 7838, 7839 and police/fire/space stations from that time to find some inspiration.

 Nothing to do with 7777, but MOCs like these two green ones also might fit into your 7777 project.

Best regards,

Holger

[Jetflap]

On 9/11/2017 at 5:55 AM, JasperL said:

 

Very nice JasperL! I like Holgers idea of keeping it vintage inside, but then it's builders choice. I could see it with a couple computer stations with chairs, but there is a lot of space upstairs and down. Maybe an old school coffee maker or telephone too.

Holger- very nice work, but not quite 80ish enough perhaps? Too much SNOT and modern parts I think.

[bumax78]

wow! That's an incredible jump back in my childhood!!! Lovely to see 7777 ideas built!

[clara]

wow! that looks amazing!

[Jetflap]

Borrowing from Holgers idea, here is another train engine that is not from 7777 but fits right in, my recreation of a LEGO prototype set from the late 80's. UP SW10. Someone on this forum posted 4 prototype set photos years ago, I would love to have higher quality images of these if anyone has them. Of the 4 sets, I believe this is the only one that can be recreated accurately as the other 3 contain significant unreleased parts.

Also. for anyone interested, I posted a few more photos of my 7777 sets on my Flickr page, and organized them into an album.

 

IMG_20170904_062812619 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_062828616 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20170904_062757507 by jet_flap, on Flickr

12V_2 by jet_flap, on Flickr

Edited September 17, 2017 by Jetflap

[Jetflap]

I just finished my large red engine shed from the back cover of the 7777 idea guide. There is only one photo of it in the entire book, and that only shows one corner and the front (as seen in the first photo below). I had to guess how long the shed should be and how to handle the pattern of the windows down the sides. I went with two full base plates, due to the large size of the building I thought it would look a bit silly on one.

IMG_20171204_165747206 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20171204_163129402 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20171204_163221989 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20171204_163139690 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20171204_163521689 by jet_flap, on Flickr

 

It is quite a large building! Here are a few photos comparing it to the yellow shed from earlier in the book.

 

IMG_20171204_164326517 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20171204_164348009 by jet_flap, on Flickr

IMG_20171204_164433424 by jet_flap, on Flickr

 

It was a fun build, I hope you enjoy the photos! Would you have done anything differently?

[bumax78]

Fantastic! Waiting for your Shell deposit :P

White and red engine is so cool!

[AlmightyArjen]

This is so cool! It's kinda weird to see these builds in sharp hi-res photos!

[Man with a hat]

I love watching these builds. It is so strange to see them for real. It was only a dream to imagine something like that would be possible when I was young.

[Jetflap]

On 12/5/2017 at 2:20 PM, bumax78 said:

Fantastic! Waiting for your Shell deposit :P

White and red engine is so cool!

Well, I was trying to decide what to work on next. It was between the Shell fuel depot, cargo depot and coal depot. I actually have parts of the coal depot built already, but I think I'll give the Shell one a try first, as those tanks are just too impressive. It also offer a greater challenge as there are just two small photos to go on, and both run across the spin/fold of the book.