LEGO 40th anniversary classic train

[Paperinik77pk]

16 hours ago, Carefree_Dude said:

So will this thing need a floating middle axle? To me it looks like the wheels are close enough together to not matter. It's a minor change either way, just curious. Also I think the original train didn't have one?

As already written by @dr_spock , the track and wheel geometry hasn't changed from 12v to PF sets, so a side-floating axle is not needed

Different thing is when you try to apply traction to the two outer axles (like in old 12v motors)...in this case the two central wheels need to have a bit of vertical floating, otherwise they act as a fulcrum and do not allow good weight distribution on the traction wheels. I tried to remove the rubber bands from central wheels, keeping them only on the traction wheels, but I'm not satisfied 100%

[zephyr1934]

On 3/4/2020 at 5:31 AM, izx said:

Hmm..the skinny on this as of now appears to be that parts from the online PAB (very limited selection/colors/usually pricier than BAP) count towards GWP but parts from BAP do not (although they do count towards the free shipping minimum).

Yeah, after posting I went back and saw my invoice, turns out I had ordered enough non BAP stuff and I think the threshold was a lot lower for that promotion. Doh! Sorry if I erroneously got any hopes up

 

[LegoDW]

Waiting impatiently for moc videos on adding power to this set. Anyone have any links to share?

[dr_spock]

13 minutes ago, LegoDW said:

Waiting impatiently for moc videos on adding power to this set. Anyone have any links to share?

The quick easy way is to make a Powered UP tender to push it.

[old sergio]

Here are a some pictures of my conversion to PU of this set... well, it needs some improvement, especial for turning it on. But works for now.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by old sergio

[LegoDW]

I have not had the best luck with a powered tender pushing an engine.  On some curves and points, the tender tends to push the engine in a straight line causing the wheels to go over the tracks and not follow the curve (derailment). This engine with its 0-6-0 configuration will make this a challenge.  Will need to make the center wheels independent of each other.

Nice job getting that Powered up motor in the engine.  How does it run?  With the battery right over the drive wheels would think good runner.

 

[sed6]

13 minutes ago, old sergio said:

Here are a some pictures of my conversion to PU of this set... well, it needs some improvement, especial for turning it on. But works for now

Very well done! Thanks for sharing!

[Carefree_Dude]

I got mine yesterday and I gotta say it's an adorable little train. The giant buffers drive me nuts though, so I ordered the original train plate. Another minor gripe is that the wheels touch each other; this looks like a rather easy thing to fix though. For now I just gave it the Disney train tender. My 2 year old son loves playing with it and he has a much easier time getting it on the tracks than the Disney train. 

 

 

I love that powered up mod posted earlier in the thread. If I recall though I thought you had to hold the button down to make the motor go, and it wasn't variable speed? Or is that different now?

 

Also red and black electric tape will work wonders as battery box decals to hide it better

Edited March 8, 2020 by Carefree_Dude
More info

[CSW652]

For those that have built and powered this, how will does it take the corner tracks?

I wonder if Lego will release a 30th anniversary Metroliner next year or maybe they will wait another 10yrs.

[Carefree_Dude]

8 minutes ago, CSW652 said:

For those that have built and powered this, how will does it take the corner tracks?

I wonder if Lego will release a 30th anniversary Metroliner next year or maybe they will wait another 10yrs.

Handles corners fine. Wheels do rub together however and it makes a squeeking noise and adds friction. 

[CSW652]

13 minutes ago, Carefree_Dude said:

Handles corners fine. Wheels do rub together however and it makes a squeeking noise and adds friction. 

Just went through the entire thread and looking at the pictures, I can see now the wheels appear to be touching.  Guess I will just leave the one coming in the box then.

Was looking for a YouTube video of one running on track, but so far haven't found one.

Would have been even more awesome had they printed those pieces instead of using stickers, but I am still happy I have one on the way.  Hopefully they will release more like it.

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by CSW652

[Carefree_Dude]

9 minutes ago, CSW652 said:

Just went through the entire thread and looking at the pictures, I can see now the wheels appear to be touching.  Guess I will just leave the one coming in the box then.

It looks easy to fix though. Just those 1x2 bricks with two holes

[Carefree_Dude]

Here is a quick fix. Didn't have the right colors available offhand but it works really well. Spacing still works on Lego curves

 

[zephyr1934]

13 hours ago, old sergio said:

Here are a some pictures of my conversion to PU of this set... well, it needs some improvement, especial for turning it on. But works for now.

Well played!

 

4 hours ago, Carefree_Dude said:

Here is a quick fix. Didn't have the right colors available offhand but it works really well. Spacing still works on Lego curves

...

What about raising the tan 1x2 technic brick with one hole up by a single plate to reduce (eliminate?) the friction on curves?

[Phil B]

On 3/4/2020 at 5:31 AM, izx said:

Hmm..the skinny on this as of now appears to be that parts from the online PAB (very limited selection/colors/usually pricier than BAP) count towards GWP but parts from BAP do not (although they do count towards the free shipping minimum).

Thanks for this - learned something new. Indeed, Pick-A-Brick online counts towards free shipping and towards GWPs. Pricing is completely different from Bricks-and-Pieces, some stuff is way more expensive, some is cheaper. But, the limit in PaB is 999, whereas in BaP it is 200 :). I picked up 700 various leaf elements (big and small "Limb" as LEGO calls them) - the big 6x5 one is >$0.22 in bulk on BrickLink, $0.38 on BaP, but only $0.18 on PaB. Small one similar - $0.25 on BaP, $0.10 on PaB. Qualified for the double-dip that is going on right now - 40370 plus the little DOTS photoframe. And free shipping (saves $2.95 over BaP).

[Carefree_Dude]

17 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Well played!

 

What about raising the tan 1x2 technic brick with one hole up by a single plate to reduce (eliminate?) the friction on curves?

Wouldn't that look weird to have one wheelset on the train higher than the others? 

My original train plate arrived today! IMO it makes a huge difference. The brick build train buffers look cartoonishly large for such a small engine

Edited March 10, 2020 by Carefree_Dude

[LegoDW]

This gift with purchase seams to be very popular with the Lego community.  Hopefully this will be a yearly thing.  

[CSW652]

2 hours ago, LegoDW said:

This gift with purchase seams to be very popular with the Lego community.  Hopefully this will be a yearly thing.  

That would be awesome if they did a new train every year. 

Wonder how hard it would be to make a motorized version of 7750 using 40370?

[Carefree_Dude]

Speaking of Metroliner, my local lego resale store has a metroliner with an extra car and two club cars for $260 and i'm really tempted to grab it. 

[zephyr1934]

On 3/9/2020 at 12:44 PM, Carefree_Dude said:

Wouldn't that look weird to have one wheelset on the train higher than the others? 

Yeah, probably, but I would think you just need a small lift (half a plate?) so that it might become hard to see. Another possibility would be to make the middle  frame only 2 wide to allow the center axle to slide but that would destroy the illusion of a 12v motor block

 

16 hours ago, Carefree_Dude said:

Speaking of Metroliner, my local lego resale store has a metroliner with an extra car and two club cars for $260 and i'm really tempted to grab it.  

No, horrible idea, never do it! But PM the phone number of the shop to me (grin). Seriously though, that is a great deal if most of the parts are there.

[Paperinik77pk]

22 hours ago, Carefree_Dude said:

Speaking of Metroliner, my local lego resale store has a metroliner with an extra car and two club cars for $260 and i'm really tempted to grab it. 

The better temptation you could have!!! What are you doing still at home?

[Carefree_Dude]

Following @old sergio's example, I decided to do a full powered up mod in the engine, using a train motor. Surprisingly, I only had to make the engine a single plate taller to account for the battery box. (honestly looking at it now it would have looked a little cleaner if I only raised the boiler by one plate instead of the entire train).  

It runs really well, especially with the added weight of the battery box on top of the motor. Sadly the train motor being only in black and only able to use 4 wheels take a way a lot of the charm of this engine. (Im pretty sure i've seen custom printed decorative motor sides though that allow for a third wheel).

I could have used tiles similar to old sergio to "hide" the white part of the battery box, but I decided to opt for electric tape just to show how well it works. Also, in order to make the battery box fit so well, I had to remove the bottom; thankfully the pin of the train motor holds the battery harness in place so it works really well; It honestly works so well I wonder if the designers had this use case in mind when they designed that center gap in the battery harness. 

 

 

 

I went back and changed it so only the boiler is raised by a single plate. Much better! Im also considering adding lights. oddly enough the giant LED from the battery box shines through the front center light on the boiler. With the powered up lights, I could easily have all three lit up.  Anyways, here it is now. I haven't built a tender for it yet, so I let it borrow one. 

Edited March 13, 2020 by Carefree_Dude

[zephyr1934]

Nice work, though that tender in the last photo kinda dwarfs the locomotive. Enough coal to run for 48 hr straight I suppose (grin).

18 hours ago, Carefree_Dude said:

Im pretty sure i've seen custom printed decorative motor sides though that allow for a third wheel

What about doing away with the motor side, redoing the "cylinders" using a "1x2 x 1x2 up" bracket (kind of like this image, only without the crazy half stud offsets), and the right length of bar that also happens to hold the third wheel on. Or if it needs to be stronger than a bar, make a technic assembly in red to do the same thing.

 

[LegoDW]

Had a odd thing happen with my modified 7810.  I put a power up battery and motor in the engine similar to others.  I connected the engine to my hogswart express coaches 75955, the little Technic pins.  Running on curves to the right, worked great.  Curves to the left, the coaches forced the engine to lean out of the turn and go in two wheels.  Have no idea why engine could take curves one direction and not the other.  Was kinda funny till the stunt engine crashed into some scenery on my layout.  Will be switching to magnetic couplers.  

[CSW652]

So as everyone builds their 40370s, I suppose Bricklink will be running low on the old style magnet couplers.

Still trying to decide if I want to build mine or keep it in the box, maybe I should just get a 2nd one.

Edited March 15, 2020 by CSW652