simonwillems Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Hello my fellow Eurobrickers, Long time no post from me, but I hereby present my city. I have been very busy the past year, but found some time during weekends to work on my city and to collect a vast 12v collection of trains, tracks and most of all: lights. The result is a city layout that is lighted up using a total of 15 12v original lampposts, working railroadcrossing using three red 12v lights, an original Amsterdam house with the remaining 12v red light used as part of a tiny red light district , 13 9v lights in some houses and the fibre optics system on top of my diner. Next to that, of course, some working train signals and four electric points. A lot of numbers, but let's start the tour: Overview of the city. It is build in a rather small room (my collection has been outgrowing my room for years now) so this is about the best overview I could manage. When building the station I was inspired by a discontinued station in one of my favourite American cities: Dearborn Station in Chicago. My station has two platforms, connected through a bridge and four 12v lights. The trains stop here automatically whenever the signals are red. The Legostore. No town can do without (unfortunately the city of Amsterdam has not yet reached that conclusion ). The store has Pick a Brick walls, shelves with sets, a life size Spartan statue, some built models, some wiring running straight across and lots more. All managed by a $50 minifig and lit up by a total of seven 9v lights. The roadside, seen from across the tracks, showing the Legostore, the modified 10184 theatre, the Cafe Corner and two other buildings. Notice the streetlights (I am very proud of them, you might have guessed by now ), the security cameras on the platform and the trees lining the street. Standing on top of a chair I took this top-down picture from the entire layout, showing in the top right hand side a grey building with a tower, my cycle shop. Close up of the cycle shop along with some wiring. We are supposed to be a mature website, so here is the tiny red light district in my Amsterdam styled house.... When evening falls the girls open their curtains and start waving at passers by. A red light is hidden inside to provide the right ambience. The 50's style diner in the park, lit up using the fibre optic system. Forgot to take a picture of it working though, but it does! The 12v control panel with my three 12v trains lined up in the back. Nightfall The trainstation at night seen from the tracks. The signalhouse in the distance is lit up with 9v lights. Standing in front of the Legostore, looking west towards Green Grocer. I think I like this nighttime picture the most of all: standing in the park and lit from the underside up, stands a building some might recognize as the Metro train station from the early nineties. View from the platform. The view from the theatre's second floor is great. Some security cameras are blocking the advertisements, but we all know what is showing at 7pm, don't we? Waiting in line for the closed railwaycrossing in the center of town, looking towards Cafe Corner. I needed three sockets for all the lights and trains, two of them are unfortunately very visible here... From a minifig's point of view the transportation of a camel in an open crate might seem strange. The passers by are not very focused, that's because they did not care to stop for the photographer but decided to hurry along Looking westwards from the busstop, having just missed the only available bus. Trainsignal number two is green so that means the train is gone as well. Maybe a stroll in the park is worth the while? The view from the train, having just left the station. Don't you just love slow cameras? This photo was taken with the train in motion, rolling towards the camera. The signalman is keeping a close watch overhead. And that concludes our tour! Very picture heavy, I know, for even more pictures, see my Brickshelf Gallery Question and comments are very welcome! Quote
Sirens-of-Titan Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Wow! The city is huge and the wiring is very impressive! :thumbup: Talk about a great mix of sets and custom builds. The one thing that I'm not fond of is the color of your train station, it's so bright that t distracts attention away from the rest of your wonderful city. I'm really digging the Lego store! Quote
Fuzzylegobricks Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 WOW! you have great talent with lighting and making us entertained. Great Job, so keep on lighting! Quote
Syn Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 I love it, your storytelling just made me smile. your attention to detail is very good, I loved all the buildings Including the lego store! hey who knows maybe TLG will see this and build on in Amsterdam! Quote
mpec82 Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Fantastic. Great idea the Red Light District. Quote
-zenn Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Nice looking town, love the red light district... Quote
Red Fox Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Beauitful city you have there! The lighting is great and really adds to the city. Quote
Wout Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 A nice city you have. I like the bikeshopbuilding with redlightdistrict very much. The pic with the old station in the parc is real good. When I first read the line from this post on the homepage, I thought TLC would finally make a brandstore in the Netherlands. Quote
shutinc Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 That's really something! I simply just love your city! The use of real light in it really makes it a winner. Not to mention your LEGO-store, which looks excellent, both exterior and interior wise. Good details and all! Quote
buddy Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Excellent City! It is realistic and detailed. I particularly like the Lego store and the lights around the City. Extremely well done. ~buddy~ Quote
lightningtiger Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 AWESOME city 'simon', the lighting adds the word AWESOME to it ! That Lego store is one of the best I have seen and the PaB bins - clever, I like the clear panel trick there ! Excellent fusing of some modern builds (Town Plan) into the classic world ! I hope you keep updating us on the state of your city and Brick On 'simonwillems' ! Quote
The Player Nº1 Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Nice city. How did you do the lights? It's a LEGO piece? Regards Quote
LEGO Guy Bri Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Very cool city you there simomwillems! Great job on lighting the town up. Keep up the good work! Quote
L@go Posted January 14, 2011 Posted January 14, 2011 Firstly, let me say that your town is built in a way that I would have loved back in the late 80s and early 90s, but now my personal taste has moved on to what the Lego Company does these days. But that also means that your town fills me with quite a lot of nostalgia! And it would be plainly ignorant and stupid not to acknowledge the amount of work that has gone into this. It's so wonderfully detailed, the sets remind me of my childhood (I still own quite a few of these, sitting in storage bins somewhere gathering dust - the 6655, the 6530, the 6521, the 6677...) and I really love the way it all looks consistent. The buildings fit together very nicely, as do the vehicles - four-wide classic mix quite well with six-wide trucks. And of course, then there's the lighting. Wow! A couple of those 'night' shots really come to life. As Syn said, your storytelling just tops it off. I was smiling all the way through, especially at that remark about the passerby who didn't stop for the photographer. Who knows, maybe he's afraid of camels? They're huge animals... :D Great work. A little stroll down memory lane, sprinkled with some modular buildings! Quote
Capn Frank Posted January 14, 2011 Posted January 14, 2011 Welcome back Simon! Thank you for sharing your great city. The Lego store idea is just plain awesome. I am so surprised that I have not seen anyone make one sooner. Quote
simonwillems Posted January 14, 2011 Author Posted January 14, 2011 Thanks everyone for the nice comments! They mean a lot! ...The one thing that I'm not fond of is the color of your train station, it's so bright that t distracts attention away from the rest of your wonderful city. Thanks! I had a big bin of bright red lying around and it was the only amount available at the time of construction that I had in the right quantity, so that's why it's red... A more darker tone would be nicer, giving that the original Dearborn Station also is more dark, I am waiting for the newer colors to become cheaper on Bricklink.... Fantastic. Great idea the Red Light District. Thank you! I was amazed by the color of the 12v red light and it crossed my mind to build exactly the scene Amsterdam is famous for around the world. Moreover I had just acquired three torso's of the figurehead of the latest Pirate ship 6243, and they are perfect for 'the job' A nice city you have. When I first read the line from this post on the homepage, I thought TLC would finally make a brandstore in the Netherlands. Haha, I fooled you there! Just as intended Nice city. How did you do the lights? It's a LEGO piece? Regards Yes, it actually is. This 12v light piece was sold by Lego between 1980 and 1991. It is a light the size of a 2x2 brick which connects to a powersource using little plugs that fit into the backside. It shines it's light to the front and downwards, which makes it perfect for streetlights. Set 7867 contains the streetlights and I managed to pick up a few of those in the past months. To accomodate the wiring half the city is raised by one brick, visible here on the bottom left hand side of the picture: The wiring is connected to a 12v and a 9v train speedregulator, in series of three or four lights. ... But that also means that your town fills me with quite a lot of nostalgia! I am quite a nostalgica lover myself, I have been collecting the little cars and bikes for over 20 years now, and I still enjoy putting them together every once in a while. Welcome back Simon! Thank you for sharing your great city. The Lego store idea is just plain awesome. I am so surprised that I have not seen anyone make one sooner. Thanks! I actually have seen a few Legostores made out of Lego (on the forum as well, but I can't remember by who) and when I bought a large quantity of the big transparent panels I wanted to give it a try myself. It was weird though, I have made lots of things out of Lego, but this was the first time I used Lego to construct...Lego! Quote
icy brick Posted January 14, 2011 Posted January 14, 2011 It´s so great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But end your routes to make it more city and the park is awesome. Quote
JopieK Posted January 15, 2011 Posted January 15, 2011 very nice city!!! I love the way you apply 12V as well... Quote
jth781 Posted January 16, 2011 Posted January 16, 2011 Very neat I have been thinking about making street lights my next project. Quote
simonwillems Posted January 16, 2011 Author Posted January 16, 2011 It´s so great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But end your routes to make it more city and the park is awesome. Thank you! I am not sure what you mean by 'ending the routes'? Maybe Built roads that are not leading out of the city? I always like to give the impression of a much bigger city of which I constructed only a small part, so that's why all roads are just passing through instead of staying within the city limits. very nice city!!! I love the way you apply 12V as well... Thanks! I have really fallen in love (if one could say that about Lego ) with the 12v system, it all works so smooth even after being made 30 years ago and bought second hand! Very neat I have been thinking about making street lights my next project. Streetlights add a lot to your city and are great fun to install. Making them 12v volt Lego-ones like I did is quite expensive though, I paid about 7-10 euros a light, and I have 15 streetlights... Quote
Zorbas Posted January 16, 2011 Posted January 16, 2011 Wonderful city layout simonwillems! The integration of classic town and modern era sets is very successful and they look great all together. The MOCs you've created look very nice too and it's a good thing that they vary in size and style. In that way, the finished result looks balanced and all the elements in the layout match together in a "smooth" way. What I really love and could stare for hours are the nightfall photos. Just beautiful. Quote
icy brick Posted April 29, 2011 Posted April 29, 2011 Yeah I ment the roads y know I might be getting old :) Quote
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