Emerald Night Coach Questions

[DaveBey]

For those of you with 'long' Emerald Nights, how many coaches in your consist? What makes a 'good' length? Three or four coaches seem about right to me.

I'm interested in adding to my Emerald Night by designing some 'custom' coaches based on the included reddish brown/brick yellow coach but am curious what others have done. I'm also considering some different color combinations but haven't really seen much. Thoughts?

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

[mrjensmeister]

There exists a Dark Red version in reality and so I made 2 in red using mostly parts from the hogwarts express. Made them 3rd class and crammed 2 more seat in there.

[Hrw-Amen]

I have three coaches on my Emerald Night, they are all modified to be seven studs wide to fit the rest of my rolling stock. I think this is a good number considering the expense of things like the windows and glass. I would like to build another one but as a brake / parcel coach as opposed to the rest which are similar to each other. One day I'll get around to it.

[legotrainfan]

My Emerald Night pulls three coaches. One of the three came with the set. The other two are replicas of the origional one. However, the interior of my replicas is quite simple. There are only seats and nothing more.

I simply bought the necessary bricks to build the additional waggons. I phoned TLC to get those beige windows. I found them too expensive on Bricklink.

Well, I think if your Emerald Night consists of more than one waggon, It'll look awesome, no matter how many waggons you want to add.

[DaveBey]

I simply bought the necessary bricks to build the additional waggons. I phoned TLC to get those beige windows. I found them too expensive on Bricklink.

I didn't know you could call LEGO and get parts like that; I thought only parts in the Pick A Brick were available for purchase. If I just call LEGO they'll be able to sell me some?

I modified the color scheme of the coach car so I could use other color train windows available in my parts but if the brick yellow ones are available from LEGO, that may be the way to go! Thanks!

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

[Duq]

For those of you with 'long' Emerald Nights, how many coaches in your consist? What makes a 'good' length? Three or four coaches seem about right to me.

Haven't you just answered your own question there? Why worry about what other people think is a good length?

[DaveBey]

Haven't you just answered your own question there? Why worry about what other people think is a good length?

Did it ever occur to you since I currently only have one coach, I'm curious what other's results were with adding more coaches? For instance, do more than x number of coaches slow the train down or create other issues? I've already done a long Santa Fe El Capitan and this time I'd like something a bit more reasonable. Besides, I thought the whole purpose of this forum is to take advantage of fellow LEGO train fans experience... Sheesh.

[LegoSjaak]

Dave, for me 4 coaches is a good length.....

Greetz, LegoSjaak

[DaveBey]

Dave, for me 4 coaches is a good length.....

LegoSjaak -- Wow; that looks pretty sharp! Now I'm second-guessing my decision to make only three 'custom' coaches! How many straight rail sections does your Emerald Night use? Is the XL motor enough to pull everything along okay? Thanks for sharing!

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

[AussieJimbo]

I build a couple of extras (1 powered pusher coach, 1 standard) in dark red and white, similar to British Rail 1948 crimson and cream livery. There are no dark-red 1x1 bricks with handle so I had to use reddish brown ones but they fit in OK.

Sorry I don't have a better pic than this, I haven't posted this MOD on it's own.

Larger - http://www.panoramas....6 (Custom).jpg

:classic:

Edited December 19, 2012 by AussieJimbo

[lostdriveway]

All those double crossovers - wish I hadn't missed the boat on those!

[AussieJimbo]

I got lucky and picked up a few of them from TRU and Bricks to the world before they became scarce.

I should add that this 6 car consist struggles a little because the EN is quite heavy and all the valve gear adds friction. Even when I remove it, I still get quite a bit of wheel spin from the pusher coach.

:classic:

Edited December 20, 2012 by AussieJimbo

[DaveBey]

AussieJimbo -- That's a nice rail yard! I really like the boxcar variations.

After viewing the nice Emerald Night consists here, I'm going with four coaches and began placing some BrickLink orders to make my design a reality. I'd love to see other custom color combinations since it's neat to see what's out there!

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

[LegoSjaak]

LegoSjaak -- Wow; that looks pretty sharp! Now I'm second-guessing my decision to make only three 'custom' coaches! How many straight rail sections does your Emerald Night use? Is the XL motor enough to pull everything along okay? Thanks for sharing!

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

Dave, i'm not sure how much straight sections it needs... should have a look! My EN is not motorized, as there isn't so much room for my trains to let them go around all at once... decided to keep the EN without any motors, also because there are some problems with running it in a proper way....

Greetz, LegoSjaak

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I think 3 to four are ideal for aesthetics. For me, I envision my E. Night as one of those trains that run for special occasions or events, like some steamers do here in the U.S. More like a novelty train ride of years past. I haven't really thought about how I'm going about motorizing it yet either.

How many straight rail sections does your Emerald Night use? Is the XL motor enough to pull everything along okay?

Three coaches alone would take up almost 6 straight tracks. Based on the train car being 28 studs long, multiplied by 3 = 84 studs. Add another 6 studs for space between the cars and take that 90 S, divide by 16 (1 straight track) and you have 5.6 track pieces (round up to 6). The engine and tender about another 4. So, 10 just to have the train lined up straight. For the rest of the track, just plug in some numbers for a total length of one straight-a-way (multiply by 2 for the return side of the loop) and there you have it!

The XL definitely has enough torque to keep it running. I'm sure even a L motor would.

[LegoSjaak]

I think 3 to four are ideal for aesthetics. For me, I envision my E. Night as one of those trains that run for special occasions or events, like some steamers do here in the U.S. More like a novelty train ride of years past. I haven't really thought about how I'm going about motorizing it yet either.

Three coaches alone would take up almost 6 straight tracks. Based on the train car being 28 studs long, multiplied by 3 = 84 studs. Add another 6 studs for space between the cars and take that 90 S, divide by 16 (1 straight track) and you have 5.6 track pieces (round up to 6). The engine and tender about another 4. So, 10 just to have the train lined up straight. For the rest of the track, just plug in some numbers for a total length of one straight-a-way (multiply by 2 for the return side of the loop) and there you have it!

The XL definitely has enough torque to keep it running. I'm sure even a L motor would.

I think you'll need 11 straight sections...according to this picture a made earlier this month, without knowing about this topic...;-)

Greetz, LegoSjaak

[DaveBey]

Wooooooowwwwww... That's neat! I'm excited about getting parts now for my coaches. I went with blue and white as my two main colors. We'll see how it turns out!

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I think you'll need 11 straight sections...

Ah, but that one has four coaches, he had mentioned his original plan of three, which is what I based it on. Should he do like you, and go four, he'll definitely need more. I figured you'd need at least 12 straights for four cars... guess not. Seems like a lot to undertake if you don't already have a good track stockpile, especially if you pair it with that noisy flex track. Plus all the necessary pieces needed for a custom coach. Would you be able to measure the length of you E. Night, without the track?

[DaveBey]

I was curious how big of a loop I'd need to set up around the living room to see it in action. I know I have plenty of 9V track for this since I did my full-consist Santa Fe El Capitan but I may be lacking in RC track. I didn't want to drag out the wrong 'box o' track'!

Thanks for sharing everyone! I feel kind of bad bringing up something I know's been done before but it's so nice to see what others have done.

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

[Missing Brick]

I decided to add 2 additional coaches via bricklink. I haven't decided whether to expand all the coaches to 7-wide yet. So far I have one 7-wide and one regular 6-wide. I'm waiting to see how they look with the engine which is currently wrapped up under the Christmas tree :). I may post a 6/7 wide comparison in January. But I agree that you need at least 3 carriages to make a decent looking EN.

[DaveBey]

Four months later, I finally get a car built... I had a bunch of Container Frame 1x4x3, Bright Blue so I used Bright Blue and White as the main colors with Earth Blue and Earth Green accents. Plate with Bow 2x4x2/3, Medium Stone Gray were too expensive so I went with a Black roof. Since I already had the Frames, I believe the rarest part used was the Wall Element 1x2x2 with Window, Bright Blue. I still don't have enough Chassis 6x28x6.4, Dark Stone Gray so I used Dark Gray.

Below is an image generated with POV-Ray:

I'll try to snap a picture of the coach behind Emerald Night tomorrow. I think It looks pretty good. The Black, Earth Green, and Earth Blue darken the Bright Blue when the coach is assembled but it goes well with the Earth Green of the locomotive and tender.

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave

[Locomotive Annie]

Your coach looks very handsome indeed in that colour scheme, The darker green and blue accents are the perfect touch in my opinion.

[Hey Joe]

Yes, that looks really nice.

Joe

[zephyr1934]

Nice MOD. To my eye the dark green seems a little too much, did you try it with dark blue in place of the dark green?

[DaveBey]

Nice MOD. To my eye the dark green seems a little too much, did you try it with dark blue in place of the dark green?

I feel a another BrickLink order coming on... Thaaaaaaaanks.

I went with the Earth Green trying to tie it into the locomotive / tender, if that makes any sense. You're right though; Bright Blue, White, and Earth Blue does look pretty sharp! Thank you for the idea!

Cheers from Claremore, Oklahoma USA!

Dave