Trains in 4-Wide

[koalayummies]

This thread gets better and better! These four wide trains are very fun, fantastic designs everyone.

[Paperinik77pk]

Hi all, 

I bought some metal H0 wheels to replace all the wagon wheels in my old vintage Lima trainsets. These wheels can be found on many auctions sites, and are available in different diameters. On H0 wagons, it is sufficient to remove the old wheels and to insert these metal ones, which are waaaaaaaaaaaay smoother (plus they make a very pleasant rolling sound, at least for me!).

These wheels can be disassembled, therefore the axle can be inserted in some sort of chassis. This is the simplest chassis I could think of, without modifying any Lego part. For the moment no success using the pointy ends of the axle with an outer support.

The smoothness of the inner part of the modified plates and the metal axle seem to work fine together.

I did not try a more sophisticated version using ball bearings, since I have to find suitable ones and wait for them (2 weeks!!!).  it's absolutely something that must be tried, since I'm pretty sure that too much weight on the chassis will compromise more and more the rolling ability.

Here's the chassis on rails!

In the weekend I'll try to create some kind of wagon and I'll see how it behaves when pulled by a real H0 locomotive. 

Ciao!

Davide 

[zephyr1934]

18 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

Here's the chassis on rails!

 In the weekend I'll try to create some kind of wagon and I'll see how it behaves when pulled by a real H0 locomotive. 

That looks VERY interesting, can't wait to see the results. Of course if it works, the next round will have to be figuring out how to make a real Lego HO locomotive (grin)

[XG BC]

6 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

That looks VERY interesting, can't wait to see the results. Of course if it works, the next round will have to be figuring out how to make a real Lego HO locomotive (grin)

i am in! maybe rubber band drive with cirquitcube motors?

[LEGOTrainBuilderSG]

This thread has inspired me to make my own little 4-wide trains (a nice little display for the office table).

 Mini LEGO MR 20 and 24 Class:

Gonna get a mini nose stripe for the MR 20 Class. 

These are based on my two larger lego train MOCs:

 

[Feuer Zug]

Nice work downsizing your locomotives to 4-wide. They are instantly recognizable.

[zephyr1934]

16 hours ago, XG BC said:

i am in! maybe rubber band drive with cirquitcube motors?

Oh man, that would be so cool, I would love to inject a bit of Lego into my son's HO habit.

[Paperinik77pk]

A little update!

I found a nice 2-axle,  long wheelbase wagon in a Marklin catalogue (lenght 14,5 cm), so I used it as prototype to be adapted to the H0 chassis with metal wheels.

It was not yellow, but I needed more its shape and dimensions instead of its paint scheme! I thought that the "Banana Wagon" (present in EVERY respectable starter set) could be a good start!

There are no metal wheels in Stud.io, but the black Lego Ones work properly for design's sake. 

So, from design to the real thing (I did not have all the parts handy, but I built something similar) :

 

 

 

 

 

The H0 coupling hook was bought on the usual auctions site! It works, but it can be reinforced.

And here's a short video of testing on a Piko H0 switch - the Lima 280 locomotive (the real prototype of the Lego one I've shown previously in this thread) is working at 3V , so at 25% of its power. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138174786@N04/51755684694/in/dateposted-public/

Next steps...try a bogie wagon...and thinking about a Lego H0 working locomotive 

Ciao!

Davide

Edited December 19, 2021 by Paperinik77pk
Updated picture

[XG BC]

3 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

--Edited---

you really did it! awesome!

Edited December 18, 2021 by Peppermint_M
Please don't quote pictures.

[Paperinik77pk]

Thanks!

On 12/18/2021 at 11:26 AM, LEGOTrainBuilderSG said:

This thread has inspired me to make my own little 4-wide trains (a nice little display for the office table).

 Mini LEGO MR 20 and 24 Class:

Gonna get a mini nose stripe for the MR 20 Class. 

These are based on my two larger lego train MOCs:

 

 

These are veeeeery nice little giants!!! I love the chocolate-yellow paint scheme of the MR20!!! 

 

18 hours ago, XG BC said:

you really did it! awesome!

Thanks  - I still am in deployment phase - I just realized that the wagon chassis is sitting too high on rails, therefore the wagon is one plate smaller than it should be, de facto replicating a 1:80 height (old "wrong" RivaRossi scale) instead of 1:87. 

I think it can be solved, since that plate means internal space and opportunity to have more details or shapes, or colors.

"ONE INCH, AT A TIME" 

In the meantime, here's another "flavour" of the wagon (I'm a big nerd, I know).

Ciao!

Davide

Edited December 19, 2021 by Paperinik77pk
Inserted Atari Wagon picture

[zephyr1934]

19 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

And here's a short video of testing on a Piko H0 switch - the Lima 280 locomotive (the real prototype of the Lego one I've shown previously in this thread) is working at 3V , so at 25% of its power. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138174786@N04/51755684694/in/dateposted-public/

Next steps...try a bogie wagon...and thinking about a Lego H0 working locomotive 

Great work! Keep 'em coming

[XG BC]

6 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

Thanks!

These are veeeeery nice little giants!!! I love the chocolate-yellow paint scheme of the MR20!!! 

 

Thanks  - I still am in deployment phase - I just realized that the wagon chassis is sitting too high on rails, therefore the wagon is one plate smaller than it should be, de facto replicating a 1:80 height (old "wrong" RivaRossi scale) instead of 1:87. 

I think it can be solved, since that plate means internal space and opportunity to have more details or shapes, or colors.

"ONE INCH, AT A TIME" 

In the meantime, here's another "flavour" of the wagon (I'm a big nerd, I know).

Ciao!

Davide

awesome! then you are in good company with your nerdieness i guess. the atari wagon looks awesome with the colored stripe and the black. kinda missing the wood grain from the og 2600 though.

[Paperinik77pk]

7 minutes ago, XG BC said:

awesome! then you are in good company with your nerdieness i guess. the atari wagon looks awesome with the colored stripe and the black. kinda missing the wood grain from the og 2600 though.

Reading my mind again! I have it quite ready, but I've to figure out the second version of the chassis before finalizing it   ... I think there will be a wagon for any computer brand of the 80s... (hint! one will be white, one "big blue", one again black...) 

[XG BC]

Just now, Paperinik77pk said:

Reading my mind again! I have it quite ready, but I've to figure out the second version of the chassis before finalizing it   ... I think there will be a wagon for any computer brand of the 80s... (hint! one will be white, one "big blue", one again black...) 

lemme guess ibm and the second one i dont know unfortunately

[Paperinik77pk]

A little update, the second version of the chassis is ready, and now integrates the couplers. All in all it is a bit more complicated to connect to bodies, but it's really modular. 

Different wheelbases can be achieved only changing the central axle (in this case a 12l).

Some other - very Italian - bodies (reworked to fit the new chassis): 

Let's try something different...

The new chassis rolls fine, but the bodies are heavy, just imagine that the long wheelbase 2 axle yellow wagon weighs more than a 2 bogies Lima one.

 

On 12/19/2021 at 6:19 PM, XG BC said:

lemme guess ibm and the second one i dont know unfortunately

• White one: Commodore
• Blue one: IBM
• Black one: Sinclair

Coming soon! 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Paperinik77pk

[Toastie]

Good evening Davide,

you should H0 "companies" as well as TLG loudly know what you are doing here. This may be a game changer, when it comes to bricks and H0. Particularly because the number of bricks required to match both worlds, is on the much lower side as compared to the other train scale modeling worlds.

This (your!) route is simply fantastic - and by the way - the principle idea of LEGO is fully resurrected: Imagine, let people think/dream/realize what a MOC represents - and make it as easy as possible. Which is what you do.

The H0 scale has never really appealed to me - I mean the modeling worlds of Märklin as well as all the others. This has changed - with the advent of your ideas and realizations! I mean - "H0" includes the >full< suite of all track geometries (powered!!!) you can dream of.

Wonderful.

All the best,
Thorsten 

[Feuer Zug]

Utterly astonished. This is an incredible development. Your design is fantastic and retains everything required to function in both worlds.

[Phil B]

I am intrigued by the concept and the work you have done. Would this work as an articulated bogie?

And this is stronger, but technically an illegal build:

Edited December 21, 2021 by Phil B

[XG BC]

18 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

 

• White one: Commodore
• Blue one: IBM
• Black one: Sinclair

Coming soon! 

oh yes now i know like a zx spectrum themed one! why didnt i think of sinclair i thought of every computer manufacturer of the 80s but sinclare i forgot!

[Toastie]

1 hour ago, XG BC said:

but sinclare i forgot!

WHAT??? You forgot Sinclair??? These beautiful machines? OK, the keyboard sucked, but when I upgraded from the ZX81 to the ZX Spectrum I thought I was in heaven.

Both number crunchers are sitting here on my desk, I got both to work again - and the Speccy is now controlling my 4 PUp, 7 PF and 2 RCX trains. Next thing is to make it also throw switches, but that has to wait a little, as it means a complete program overhaul. BASIC - now that is my world.

You may enjoy this little write-up (ZX81/Spectrum this and that and repair): https://uni-wuppertal.sciebo.de/s/IvuL0kCjbl3nLDZ 

Best,
Thorsten

 

[XG BC]

1 hour ago, Toastie said:

WHAT??? You forgot Sinclair??? These beautiful machines? OK, the keyboard sucked, but when I upgraded from the ZX81 to the ZX Spectrum I thought I was in heaven.

Both number crunchers are sitting here on my desk, I got both to work again - and the Speccy is now controlling my 4 PUp, 7 PF and 2 RCX trains. Next thing is to make it also throw switches, but that has to wait a little, as it means a complete program overhaul. BASIC - now that is my world.

You may enjoy this little write-up (ZX81/Spectrum this and that and repair): https://uni-wuppertal.sciebo.de/s/IvuL0kCjbl3nLDZ 

Best,
Thorsten

 

yes i forgot sinclair please forgive me i am too young to have seen these when they where new. i am an early 2000s kid but your project is interesting aswell

[Paperinik77pk]

Thanks, really thanks to all!!! 

 

20 hours ago, Toastie said:

Good evening Davide,

you should H0 "companies" as well as TLG loudly know what you are doing here. This may be a game changer, when it comes to bricks and H0. Particularly because the number of bricks required to match both worlds, is on the much lower side as compared to the other train scale modeling worlds.

This (your!) route is simply fantastic - and by the way - the principle idea of LEGO is fully resurrected: Imagine, let people think/dream/realize what a MOC represents - and make it as easy as possible. Which is what you do.

The H0 scale has never really appealed to me - I mean the modeling worlds of Märklin as well as all the others. This has changed - with the advent of your ideas and realizations! I mean - "H0" includes the >full< suite of all track geometries (powered!!!) you can dream of.

Wonderful.

All the best,
Thorsten 

Eeeeeh at least Marklin (and LGB) tried to put studs on their wagon wheelbases (and Lima did it too), but I think there's always been around a bad ... feeling mixing the "toy" and the "model". And the lack of colors and wagon base sizes and types limited a lot this kind of experiment. This scale is quite nice to work with, due to the fact that you can detail the rolling stock until a certain point, using Lego. The result is always bricky, pixellated, very un-precise. But is where the modelling purpose stops and toy feeling prevails.

By the way - my compliments for the ZX Spectrum controlled railway!!! I'd like to see it - I'm myself a collector of these old computers, even strange ones like Oric / Sharp...(even if I'm selling some of them due to lack of space)!!!

Thanks again for your always kind words! 

8 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

Utterly astonished. This is an incredible development. Your design is fantastic and retains everything required to function in both worlds.

Thank you!!! I will try other ways to improve - I am inspecting the ball-bearings solutions, since the H0 wheels axle diameter is the same as 9V/PF lLgo wagon wheels, so same bearings apply. Currently the most interesting challenge is thinking how to power the wheels in a "solid" way. 

5 hours ago, Phil B said:

I am intrigued by the concept and the work you have done. Would this work as an articulated bogie?

And this is stronger, but technically an illegal build:

 

It could work, I am not sure if the two studs underside will hit the switches, I'll try it! I'll show here below how I thought them some time ago, but it's really really near as a solution 

On 12/18/2021 at 4:11 PM, zephyr1934 said:

Oh man, that would be so cool, I would love to inject a bit of Lego into my son's HO habit.

I'm not near to the motorized locomotive, but there's something I wanted to show you - I made it immediately after OcTrainber - just the time to receive the book!!!

And now I can really tell that your Katy inspired me to try a 4-wide version, which I used to test an idea of H0 bogies (pardon my poor coloring skills):

 

Here she is, high on her wheels - the bogies are not so visible, therefore to show them I'll use the exploded view:

It's not a perfect 1:87 (more 1:80) wagon, but it could be the opportunity to have a "Caboose who got loose" on H0 track! 

Ciao to all!

Davide

Edited December 21, 2021 by Paperinik77pk

[Toastie]

3 hours ago, XG BC said:

forgive me i am too young to have seen these when they where new

No I can't: Because there is absolutely no reason to forgive, as there is absolutely no reason for what!

This: "thanks but this is more of a trying to fix something then a i need a pf receiver now. am a thinkerer" in your Technic Forum thread on your PF receiver fixing work made me think you were older as dirt - as I am :D

So nice to know young folks going the long way

All the best and good luck on your project!

Thorsten

 

[Phil B]

If you have the vertical space, here is an articulated bogie design that has the same clearance from the track as the non-articulating version @Paperinik77pk published before. I think the half height offset created by the Technic Gear Shifter piece makes the coupler connection exactly the right height without needing adjustment, but I have no way to verify this.

[Paperinik77pk]

5 minutes ago, Phil B said:

If you have the vertical space, here is an articulated bogie design that has the same clearance from the track as the non-articulating version @Paperinik77pk published before. I think the half height offset created by the Technic Gear Shifter piece makes the coupler connection exactly the right height without needing adjustment, but I have no way to verify this.

Oooooh, nice!!!  The shifter is a part I do not have around ... great solution!