Posted February 3, 20205 yr Hi! I want to my hand at a new project - building a Miniland scale train. Unfortunately I'm finding it hard to actually find any details of the system there. Does anyone have any info? Specifically, I'm looking for things like, width of track between rails in millimeters, height to top of train from top of tracks, etc. I can see the trains are 18 studs wide that's all I know thus far. Thanks!
February 3, 20205 yr Hmm, interesting. I am going to LEGOLAND tomorrow and I can see if I can figure out some of that for you. I actually don’t know for sure if there are miniland trains where I’m going, but if there are, I can probably get all those distances. Edit: I actually won’t be able to get those distances unfortunately. Clutch Builder Edited February 3, 20205 yr by Clutch Builder
February 3, 20205 yr There was an article on the Legoland trains in Railbricks 6. I believe the Lego Discovery Centers use off the shelf model railroad parts, probably S gauge. If you are going big, the standard track might still work, otherwise I suspect G is the next easiest step up in scale.
February 3, 20205 yr From the picture of the Japanese train in Railbricks 6, it looks like the rails could be 10 studs apart.
February 3, 20205 yr 13 hours ago, Mr Hobbles said: Specifically, I'm looking for things like, width of track between rails in millimeters, height to top of train from top of tracks, etc. I can see the trains are 18 studs wide that's all I know thus far. Interesting thread - I've always liked Miniland trains and the possibility to replicate a lot of details using normal bricks I saw a Youtube video a lot of time ago, showing a derailed Miniland train. I'll try to explain what I saw: These trains have a "ladder" metallic frame and two bogies - as far as I saw the "rear" one was powered, I think from the rails. The Lego body was simply put on the ladder frame. These surely are very very heavy models, so I think some serious track is needed in order to support them. It seems, from what I can understand, that they're following a 1:16-ish scale, so track width is 10/11 studs (88/89mm). Train width is around 18studs (variable from 16 to 22 studs according to prototype real dimensions). By the way, are you planning to create a functional train or only a static model?
February 3, 20205 yr This article has some info on the miniland scale, as well as picture of a bogie. http://www.x-brick.de/brick-valley/trains/index.php
February 3, 20205 yr Author @Carefree_Dude Thank you very much, that contains (almost) all the information I'm looking for! There's no absolute height, but I can work it out by counting bricks in those pictures! :) @Paperinik77pk I'm planning a functional model, using the new Powered Up system. I'm planning to use two Control+ large motors per bogie, and utilizing Control+ hubs. A Spike Prime hub will be the brains, controlling the Control+ hubs over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The Spike Prime hub will also power the motors for the doors and pantographs. Control will either be with a standard Powered Up remote connected to the Spike Prime hub via BLE, or to an iPad app I'm planning over Bluetooth classic. Maybe one day I'll get to try it out in a real Legoland. :) Edited February 3, 20205 yr by Mr Hobbles
February 4, 20205 yr 15 hours ago, Mr Hobbles said: @Carefree_Dude Thank you very much, that contains (almost) all the information I'm looking for! There's no absolute height, but I can work it out by counting bricks in those pictures! :) @Paperinik77pk I'm planning a functional model, using the new Powered Up system. I'm planning to use two Control+ large motors per bogie, and utilizing Control+ hubs. A Spike Prime hub will be the brains, controlling the Control+ hubs over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The Spike Prime hub will also power the motors for the doors and pantographs. Control will either be with a standard Powered Up remote connected to the Spike Prime hub via BLE, or to an iPad app I'm planning over Bluetooth classic. Maybe one day I'll get to try it out in a real Legoland. :) The TEE model is gorgeous, and photos are really helpful. So, since the TEE is perfectly working on real Miniland track, the only thing to understand a bit is the modelling scale to be adopted. On the linked site, it is reported 1 meter corresponds to 20 meters in reality. Let's see...the TEE is large 18 studs, plus some details it will reach around 19 studs. The real VT11.5 is 3012mm-wide. Translated in bricks is 3012/20/8=18,875 studs, and it fits perfectly. So let's say 1:20 scale. For the track, a 1:20 scale calculation on a 1435mm gauge will bring 8.9 studs instead 9.5 of the real track. so the real track is a bit bigger than it should be, but on such big models, 4mm are not compromising the overall look. Well, it surely is a big beast! I like your idea to make it bluetooth-driven! Having tried some 1:22,5 scale trains I'd say - go for a big battery,and try to save weight as much as you can! You will surely run it in real Legoland! Do you have in mind a specific model of train? Ciao! Davide
February 4, 20205 yr Author @Paperinik77pk The train I'm designing is a San Francisco MUNI Siemens S200. Since I moved here in 2018, I've taken a bit of a shine to the workhorse that ferries me to work and back every day. :) I think I'm less bothered about making it 100% scale accurate as I am making it look "just right". As long as it captures the spirit of the real thing with reasonably correct proportions, I'm happy. I'm going to go with 18 studs wide, with 9.5 studs wide tracks as described above. As to the height, I haven't decided, but I think that will be determined by how it looks front-on as I build! My current challenge is fitting two Control+ large motors into the bogie. I don't want anything going above or below, so I can leave interior space for people, and I also don't want them to hang below the wheels so that can clear any switches. The design challenge continues!
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