7740 Restoration

[ced64k]

Hi,

I'm new here

I cleaned my attic this weekend and I re-discovered a box full of vintage LEGO... with my old 7740 Intercity train inside !

But of course a few essential parts are missing. I lost the 12v motor, cable and light bricks. Some bogie plates, buffer beams, couplings, and a lot of track sleeper plate are broken.

Bricklink is the best site the buy theses parts ? Nowadays, 40€ is a "normal" price for a 12v motor ?

[Sokratesz]

40€ for a 12v motor is cheap, but most of the ones you get 'cheap' run terrible, eg they will run slow, noisy, their sleepers will be dirty and worn down and their internal axles will be clogged with hairs, or any combination of these. Most of the other parts can be bought off of bricklink reliably, but for a motor I would try to find one nearby so you can inspect it before purchase, or shelf out more and get a good one.

- Sok.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Sokratesz

[snefroe]

before i'd go and buy this from bricklink, i would keep an eye out on local flea markets, toy bourses and other events... you may have to buy an incomplete set or a box filled with lego from all sorts of sets if a lot like that holds a motor...

i do think an inspection of the motor before you buy it, is very welcome

i guess it all depends on how important this is for you. i guess 40 euro is a minimum limit

[WesternOutlaw]

Welcome Ced. If you're a big train fan, you should introduce yourself in the Train Tech Registry - all are welcome.

I always enjoy reading about "finds in the attic". That's a great classic train! I'm not the best person to ask about obtaining parts (although BrickLink is probably my first resource), but you should certainly retore this beauty to it's original condition. It's too nice of a train to not do so.

Good luck with your searching and let us know how you progress.

Welcome to EB!

[Brickaroo]

Welcome to the forum Ced!

There are many of us here that are 12V collectors and fans like yourself, feel free to ask any questions.

Bricklink is fantastic but make sure you're buying from sellers with reputations.

You can find the motors in this link:

http://www.bricklink.com/browseList.asp?itemType=P&catString=122

I'd recommend asking questions of the buyers about the motor before purchase, you don't want to get a clunky motor that moves on the spot!

I've actually restores a 7740 myself (along with many other 12V trains) and I find the best way to go about it is to list every part you need and start scouring bricklink. Try to get as many parts from as few sellers as possibly to minimise your postage costs.

Good luck!

[hoeij]

Bricklink is the best site the buy theses parts ? Nowadays, 40€ is a "normal" price for a 12v motor ?

Depends on how long you want to wait. You can buy 12v parts on eBay, but it can take time before the right item appears, and the selling price is unpredictable. If you bid 40 Euro's on a 12v motor on eBay, with some luck you end up buying it for less than that, but often someone will outbid you in the last 15 seconds.

If the motor is running well, then 40 Euro's is a good price. Of course, you don't always know that.

Track can be cheaper on eBay than on bricklink, but again, it can take time before you get some at a good price.

For the electric cables, there's no real need to use official lego wiring, any wire will do.

The light bricks are not terribly expensive, but a drawback is that when the train goes slowly, then the light is dim. I've considered replacing the light bricks in my 12V trains with the new PF lights (and put a 9V battery in the train to power them). This way the lights are bright, whether the train is going slow or fast.

Perhaps you already know this, but a used 7740 (even an incomplete one) is worth quite a bit of money.

[Sokratesz]

I might also have some of the other parts you're looking for as well as a good working 12v motor but I'll have to check tomorrow.

- Sok.

[hoeij]

By the way, a 7740 engine sold yesterday on eBay for 76 Euro's.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180696014931&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

That would have been a good buy because for that money, you would have had a motor, lights, and your 3-car 7740 would have turned into a 4-car 7740 train. But as I mentioned, to get a good deal takes quite a lot of patience.

[JopieK]

well, we hope to have replacement stickers available at the end of the summer holidays (so around september). We are finally in the process of moving to are new house but I had the equipment finally up and running again ;)

So in case you need those in your restoration process just PM me and I'll look up the costs.

b.t.w. the 7740 is a very nice train, I have owned one from my child years on :)

[Brickaroo]

well, we hope to have replacement stickers available at the end of the summer holidays (so around september). We are finally in the process of moving to are new house but I had the equipment finally up and running again ;)

So in case you need those in your restoration process just PM me and I'll look up the costs.

b.t.w. the 7740 is a very nice train, I have owned one from my child years on :)

haha, Jopie it never occurred to me that you run the ministickers website. I've bought from you in the past.

Highly recommended. :thumbup:

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Welcome Ced64

The 7740 set has been my first love when a was a child

On Bricklink you can find everything, but for the motor ask to see a picture of its bottom to verify the electric contacts

In your picture I can see also a 4,5 switch point, do you own other train sets?

[ced64k]

In your picture I can see also a 4,5 switch point, do you own other train sets?

Mhh I didn't know it was for 4,5V. I remember my father bought two "manual" switch points because the electric one was too expensive.

[Sokratesz]

There's a difference between electric and electrified. The ones in your picture are manual, and not electrified (4.5v or push train series).

The ones with 12v midrail came in two varieties, manual and with remote control. ('electrified')

- Sok.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

You can try to sell them on e-bay

[Shupp]

Very nice (re)discovery! I found one of these at a flea market a couple years ago, and it was basically the opposite situation you have. It had the box, instructions and all of the working components; motor, transformer, wheels, magnets, track, etc. but most of the basic parts of the actual train were missing. Some of those can get pretty expensive, like the light grey 1x2x2 windows. I'd like to complete mine someday as well, but the cost has kept me from doing it.

I would definitely recommend Bricklink for parts, especially if you'd like to get it all together fairly quickly I've bought 12 volt motors there and had good luck with them. Good sellers will specifically state that a motor is tested and working. If you're still concerned there's no reason not to ask them about it. Also, as far as the wire goes, I have often bought just the connector ends on Bricklink, and gotten wire after market. It can be much cheaper that way, and you can just cut whatever length you want.

I have a related question I may as well ask here. Sorry if this has been/is being discussed elsewhere, but what do people do about cleaning the contacts on their 12 volt motors? I find mine corrode very quickly with use, and I'm worred continued use of abrasives is going to permanently damage them.

[Sokratesz]

I have a related question I may as well ask here. Sorry if this has been/is being discussed elsewhere, but what do people do about cleaning the contacts on their 12 volt motors? I find mine corrode very quickly with use, and I'm worred continued use of abrasives is going to permanently damage them.

Go to a model store and buy some 'SR24' cleaning oil. I use it to clean all electric parts and even the plastic on the switchpoints and crossings. Grab an old cloth, put a few drops on it and rub thoroughly, and be amazed at howmuch stuff comes off.

- Sok.

[Brickaroo]

Very nice (re)discovery! I found one of these at a flea market a couple years ago, and it was basically the opposite situation you have. It had the box, instructions and all of the working components; motor, transformer, wheels, magnets, track, etc. but most of the basic parts of the actual train were missing. Some of those can get pretty expensive, like the light grey 1x2x2 windows. I'd like to complete mine someday as well, but the cost has kept me from doing it.

I would definitely recommend Bricklink for parts, especially if you'd like to get it all together fairly quickly I've bought 12 volt motors there and had good luck with them. Good sellers will specifically state that a motor is tested and working. If you're still concerned there's no reason not to ask them about it. Also, as far as the wire goes, I have often bought just the connector ends on Bricklink, and gotten wire after market. It can be much cheaper that way, and you can just cut whatever length you want.

I have a related question I may as well ask here. Sorry if this has been/is being discussed elsewhere, but what do people do about cleaning the contacts on their 12 volt motors? I find mine corrode very quickly with use, and I'm worred continued use of abrasives is going to permanently damage them.

Contacts should generally be cleaned with something alcoholic. (I use nail-polish removers, metho would work too). They're what Lego recomment in most of their instructiions for both 9V and 12V electric tracks.

[ced64k]

Now I understand why evevybody talk about theses light grey 1x2x2 windows, 4-5€ on bricklink Hopefully I have the 10 :)

[Sokratesz]

They've only ever been grey in one set, and that's this one :)

You could get them in yellow, those are dirt-cheap and it might even improve the look of the train. I'm considering doing just that with my 7740, I don't mind the slight difference in colour if it yields me 50 bucks.

- Sok.

[StephanSz]

Maybe you should consider to not restore it to 12V, but convert it to PF.

You can buy all the parts on the lego site (couplers, bougieplates, engine (you actually need 2 engines to run it with all cars), batterybox etc)

Or just buy the cargo train (not from the legosite, because it's expensive there) and use all the parts from it.

It's much cheaper than buying all the missing parts from bricklink.

I converted my 7740 to PF and it works great. Allthough running it on 12V is much more romantic/nostalgic ofcourse :)

[Staalis]

They've only ever been grey in one set, and that's this one :)

You could get them in yellow, those are dirt-cheap and it might even improve the look of the train. I'm considering doing just that with my 7740, I don't mind the slight difference in colour if it yields me 50 bucks.

- Sok.

What about skipping the windows and replace them with part 2877 (the 1*2 brick with grille) in grey, yellow or black ? Has anyone considered that?

Edited July 30, 2011 by Staalis

[Brickaroo]

Personally I think making any changes to the 7740 goes against the natural order of the universe.

[Staalis]

Personally I think making any changes to the 7740 goes against the natural order of the universe.

Fair point, but I would rather have a 'refurbished' 7740 than none at all.

[Sokratesz]

Personally I think making any changes to the 7740 goes against the natural order of the universe.

Wallet disagrees.

[pikappa79]

I converted my 7740 to PF and it works great. Allthough running it on 12V is much more romantic/nostalgic ofcourse :)

also Engine's lights with PF? I'm trying to do something similar with 7745 set