randomoblong Posted September 15, 2011 Posted September 15, 2011 Hey. I've just got slightly carried away and ended up buying a 7898 on ebay. Does anyone have any idea of what i should have been aiming to spend on this set, from the pics it seems pretty good condition. I only bought it so i could power up my maersk train and it was more practical to pick up a full train set then just buy the newer RC stuff. My only other slightly belated thought is how powerful is the motor in the 7898 set (Deluxe green cargo train i believe?)? At the moment i only have the standard maersk train built but i will be adding more rolling stock to suitably improve the length of the train. Cheers (pics will probably arise once it arrives.) :) Quote
Jay Sathe Posted September 15, 2011 Posted September 15, 2011 Congrats on the eBay win, but I have some bad news for you. The Maersk train will NOT work with the 7898 RC Train base without some serious modifications. The Maersk uses Power Functions, while 7898 is just RC. You will still need the PF parts if you want to motorize the Maersk train gracefully. The 7898 is still a great looking train, and it has a lot of good parts, so it's not too bad of a loss, assuming you didn't pay too much for it. If you still want a train for the PF stuff, I would at this point go for the 7939. It has more container cars, and a really nice gantry crane for use with the Maersk. Quote
kyphur Posted September 15, 2011 Posted September 15, 2011 Sorry but the 7898 doesn't come with the right equipment to power the Maersk! The RC Receiver/Battery compartment is in the Train base... The parts to properly power the Maersk are only about $50. The PF Train Motor is currently on backorder in the US but the RC Train Motor is available and it only needs a $3 cable to stand in for the PF version. You got the RC Train Motor with 7898 which is reported to be less powerful than the PF Train motor but has better traction than the 9V Train Motor because it has O-rings on the wheels like the PF Motor. The 9V motor is reported to be on par with the PF Motor power-wise. Quote
randomoblong Posted September 15, 2011 Author Posted September 15, 2011 Sorry but the 7898 doesn't come with the right equipment to power the Maersk! The RC Receiver/Battery compartment is in the Train base... The parts to properly power the Maersk are only about $50. The PF Train Motor is currently on backorder in the US but the RC Train Motor is available and it only needs a $3 cable to stand in for the PF version. You got the RC Train Motor with 7898 which is reported to be less powerful than the PF Train motor but has better traction than the 9V Train Motor because it has O-rings on the wheels like the PF Motor. The 9V motor is reported to be on par with the PF Motor power-wise. Thanks for the replies. I was worried i'd get some kind of reply like this. I suspect there may be some creative adaptation ahead of me with rolling stock and alike. Hmm. The parts for powering the train here came to £65 i think when i added up on the lego site and i was looking at the city train set to do similar with but then the 7898 came up and i figured it looked nicer for a little more money lol. Quote
lightningtiger Posted September 15, 2011 Posted September 15, 2011 Take it from someone who has MOC-built an engine using the RC base plate/motor set up......gut-less wonder, fine on it's own....under heavy load....forget it ! PF it, the only way to go. Quote
kyphur Posted September 15, 2011 Posted September 15, 2011 Take it from someone who has MOC-built an engine using the RC base plate/motor set up......gut-less wonder, fine on it's own....under heavy load....forget it ! PF it, the only way to go. Why not use a 3 inch PF/9v converter and put the better Train Motor under it? Quote
peterab Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 Take it from someone who has MOC-built an engine using the RC base plate/motor set up......gut-less wonder, fine on it's own....under heavy load....forget it ! PF it, the only way to go. Its main problem is lack of traction I've found, add a second motor and change the rubber bands on the wheels (or just use wheels with the newer transparent bands) and that train base pulls like a beast. Quote
Snapshot Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 (edited) Why not use a 3 inch PF/9v converter and put the better Train Motor under it? Because the plate that fits to the motor is too thick and fouls the train base. You really need a short 9V cable on the motor first. But I think an RC motor will struggle with the weight of a Maersk loco anyway. Edited September 16, 2011 by Snapshot Quote
kyphur Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 Because the plate that fits to the motor is too thick and fouls the train base. You really need a short 9V cable on the motor first. But I think an RC motor will struggle with the weight of a Maersk loco anyway. Okay, I'll try again.... Toss the RC Motor. Use a PF Train Motor. Add the short PF to 9v Cord to connect to the power. You need to stash a little more cord but get the better motor... Quote
andythenorth Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 A twin-motored RC train works great, especially with the newest PF wheels which have thicker bands. It is though hard to build anything around the RC baseplate. Quote
WesternOutlaw Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 Normally a topic like this would probably be better located in the BSTF forum, but since there's a discussion that expands beyond the original question relating to price, I'll leave it here. Quote
randomoblong Posted September 20, 2011 Author Posted September 20, 2011 Well the train arrived today and yes i see sadly sadly you were all correct. The 7898 engine is decidedly lacking in traction to push or pull the Maersk engine. Pulls the rolling stock fine, even pulls a good few extras too, just not the Maersk. Looks like my Maersk will remain unpowered a little longer. Thank you all for your advice and pointers. I shall post if i get any creative mods sorted. Amused by the speed the thing can get upto with normal rolling stock though! :) Quote
adrian_dixon Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 This has been talked about in another topic but the trucks on the maersk engine create a fair bit of friction witch can be fixed by rebuilding the trucks using normal train wheels instead of the technic beams and axles. I have not got the maersk engine yet but did rebuild one of the trucks on my red passenger train with standard train wheels and it made a fair bit of difference to the rolling resistance. So perhaps if you try this the Rc train base might be able to be disguised as a freight car to push the maersk. Quote
harnbak Posted September 23, 2011 Posted September 23, 2011 Some info and measurements on the different modern train motors: http://www.philohome.com/ttrain/ttrain.htm Quote
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