The Trans Europ Express, or TEE, is a magical name when it comes to railroading and pioneer in high speed, and international and luxury travel. Today we dive into the history around this concept and the train which made this concept a reality. We’ll look at not one but two LEGO versions of the TEE, in this collaboration article between Holger Matthes and myself.
VT 11.5 – A star is born.
In the
mid-1950s, the European economy picked up speed again, and the western European
countries began to establish new relationships after the devastation of the
Second World War. In this context, eight European rail companies decided to
introduce a joint train offer: the Trans-Europ-Express, TEE for short. The
modern express train network was intended to connect the European metropolises
with one another and, in particular, offer the wealthy business travelers of
the economic miracle an alternative to car and air transport. For this new type
of traffic system, the Deutsche Bundesbahn procured several multiple units with
type VT 11.5 railcars, which were put into operation in June 1957, later also
locomotive-covered trains were used. With this decision, DB made history. For
15 years the German diesel multiple units were used as TEE and shaped the image
of international express train traffic like no other train set.
601 001 in Friedrichshafen Stadt, 24.04.1983 . Foto credits go to ( Thomas Reincke )
Symbol of a Europe without borders
Close
cooperation with its European neighbors was of great importance to the Deutsche
Bundesbahn right from the start. An example of this is the European freight
wagon community “EUROP”, which was initially founded in 1951 with the
French State Railways, creating an extensive, freely available European freight
wagon pool. Three years later, the DB agreed with most of the European railway
companies that in future only two wagon classes would be used, which would be
comfortably adjusted.
Another
result of the growing (western) European cooperation was the establishment of
the European express train network TEE. Development began in 1954 with the
founding of the Trans-Europ-Express Commission based in The Hague. The founding
members were the State Railways of Belgium (NMBS / SNCB), the Netherlands (NS),
the Federal Republic of Germany (DB), France (SNCF), Italy (FS), Luxembourg
(CFL) and Switzerland (SBB); later the Spanish State Railways (RENFE) also
joined.
Since the
railway administrations were unable to agree on the introduction of a standard
vehicle, they were limited to introducing the trains under the common name and
logo TEE and defining several binding criteria:
Due
to the low degree of electrification in the individual countries, the TEE
trains should initially run as diesel multiple units.
They
should reach a top speed of 140 km/h.
Only
the 1st car class should be offered (at least 120 seats and no more than three
seats per row).
The
trains should have exclusive on-board catering.
There
should be spaces for passport and customs control while driving.
The
trains should be painted uniformly in a wine red / beige color dress (in
Germany RAL 3005 / RAL 1001).
Some countries did not have their own vehicles built for TEE traffic. In DB’s opinion, the requirements set by the TEE Commission could only be met with a new development. That was the birth of one of the most striking rail vehicles of its time, the VT 11.5.
Everybody who exhibits at a convention or show with their LEGO models is probably asked this question multiple times: “How do you get your trains running so good?” There are multiple answers to this question, and it’s difficult and annoying to summarize them all. At conventions, I probably answered this question 10 times an hour, so I decided to compile it into an article: a small list with tips and tricks to make your trains run better.
Control Systems
There multiple control systems in for LEGO trains. For the sake of this article I will skip the old 12V system. The 9V system is one of the most reliable in the LEGO world. Plug them in, turn the dial, and it goes. The biggest problem with the system is that it’s been decommissioned around 15 years ago. So, the prices are getting quite high and parts are difficult to come by. Beside that, it’s one of the most reliable and easiest to use.
The Power Function system was introduced back around 2007. Let’s not get into the complicated history, but in short, the system used a receiver and a remote. The first version of the receiver had a very complicated fail system intended to make sure no child (or adult) was able to overload the train. By having that fail system, the older PF receivers aren’t that useful for powering trains. Newer versions of the PF receiver’s including the V2 version could handle more power. The biggest problem of PF is that it uses infra-red, which has only got a range of around 3-4 meters.
Using a different receiver isn’t the only option you have when using the PF system. There are multiple third-party options. Including Sbrick and PFx brick. These third-party options give the option to drive your train by using Bluetooth instead of infra-red (with PFx offering both). Therefore, you have more range than the 3-4 meters infrared has. Secondly, there are more options for setting up the drive abilities to achieve greater realism for your trains. It’s difficult to describe that in one article, so I’ll leave a couple of links down below to websites that provide more information.
Powered Up is the newest option for powering your models. I don’t have a lot of specific tips and tricks for this system but I highly recommend using the “The Lego Train Project” control software.
Ball Bearings
Ball bearings are small metal rings that make your trains wheels roll with almost negligible friction. Because of this, the wagons ride smoother and don’t put up as much resistance behind your locomotive. Therefore, your locomotive can pull more wagons at a higher speed.
I personally use the MR52ZZ ball bearing. There easy to come by ad specialize stores and online website. If you want to safe time and energy. BMR provides fully assembled sets.
Weight
One of the biggest problems that train builders face is that trains have problems with friction. A good example is the official Lego Christmas Train (10254), the trains looks beautiful but the train can’t run at high speed. The reason for this is quite simple, the engine itself is light so it’s not able to grip the rails and get enough traction.
A simple solution for this is making your locomotive heavier. For this there are multiple solutions. Here are some that I know off and have used in the past:
Battery box: One of the easiest options is placing the battery box on top of the motor. This provides enough weight for the motor to get enough traction, biggest problem is that most of the locomotives don’t have enough room for the battery box to be on top of the motor. This usually works best with a PF train motor or similar setup.
Boat weights: LEGO has made a couple of weights in the past for their boats, one of the best to use for trains is part 73843.
Spare change: Tape some rolls of spare change together and place them on top of the motor.
Weights for fishing rods: These are small and easy to come by.
Gerard Salden rebuilding his “FLying Dutchman” Vectron. This model is a great example that even in small moc’s you can use weights.
The finished model, the model uses multiple weights for fishing rods and it’s thereby able to pull rater large trains compared to it size.
Rubber Bands
The second method for gaining traction is using small rubber bands. By placing small and thin rubber band around BBB (Big Ben Brick) wheels, for example, give the wheels more grip with the track. There are different rubber bands you can use. I personally use old bicycle tires (since I live in The Netherlands they’re are easy to come by here). I cut them in small pieces which can be easily placed around a BBB wheel.
The inside of old bicycle tires create more traction for your models who use BBB wheels.
Illegal Tricks
Reader be warned: unconventional techniques lie ahead. The main reason I call these techniques “illegal” is that there is possibility to damage your LEGO.
Glue: Yes, glue might be one of the most hated things to use with LEGO. It has pros and cons, but sometimes LEGO itself does not have enough clutch power. So, glue may be a good option.
Silicone spray: silicone spray is corrosive to Lego so it’s dangerous to use with Lego. But if you use caution you can use it as lubricated with Technic gears and make them run smoother.
Editor recommendation: I prefer Labelle 107 lubricating oil, which is safe for plastic. – Glenn
For more information, I redirect you to the following websites:
The date is February 2019. I was become a bit bored with building landscapes and infrastructure for my Bahnbetriebswerk [https://brickmodelrailroader.com/index.php/2019/06/06/the-design-of-bhw-neukirche-by-enrico-lussi/]. I wanted to build something different, a locomotive that would be a real “working horse”. It took me three weeks from the design to the building of not just one but a total of three locomotives. In this article I will take you readers into the design process and how I was able to design and build in such a short time.
I was spending every “Lego building”
time that I had into my Bahnbetriebswerk. Which is something that isn’t that
unusual when you build such a huge layout. The problem was that I was getting
bored with the Bahnbetriebswerk. To get some renewed energy back into the hobby
I decided that I would spend all my free time for three weeks in building a
locomotive. By doing this I would get new inspiration and energy for the
Bahnbetriebswerk.
But how do you decide which
engine is best to build?
I decided to separate the three weeks into three phases (each week one phase). The first would be the research, the second the design, and the third the actual building. But first, a bit of history.
The “workshop” table with a couple of my MOC’s during trains day at Brick King. From left to right: ICM 4001 “Koploper” NS2454, NS 2459, NS 2412. That workshop became the inspiration for this article.
History
The NS 2400 [WIKI LINKJE] was
a diesel electric series locomotive built for the Dutch Railways in the 1950’s.
They were used from 1954 until 1991. They were designed and build by Alsthom in
France. The first 16 engines where painted light blue, the rest of the series
was brown and from 1971 they got the famous Dutch yellow and gray color scheme.
In 1991 all of them were either sold or scraped.
Several of them ended up in Belgium, Saudi Arabia, France and Italy. After
their service abroad, several came back home again. In total there a 6 still in
the Netherlands, they are owned and used by Dutch Railway museums . The numbers
of those 6 are as follows: 2412, 2424, 2454, 2459, 2498, 2530.
The light blue NS 2412, the blue colors is really discolored by the son in this picture, yes the son doesn’t only discolor Lego, but trains to. Beside the NS 2412 is the NS 2019 a locomotive which is imported from the USA to the Netherlands.
The Research Process
The “normal” research process that I do for a train takes around a month. The reason that this time I was able to do the research in just one week was the fact that I already had accumulated information for a long time. I already had a lot of detail pictures on my hard drive, and a few books with Technic information about the locomotives. And to top it all Raised was able to provide me with a scaled drawing that I was able to get to the scale I built (1:45 for the win!!!). Also, since several of these loco’s are currently used in a lot of Railway museums in the Netherlands the ability of seeing these locomotives in acting is just an hour drive from my home for me.
Since I already had a lot of the information I needed at hand, I was able to start the project quick and with ease. For the readers that are wondering, “why do you need all that research for a Lego train?”, the answer is quite easy, I try to build a “copy” of the real-life version in Lego. Because you’re building a copy you need to transfer each detail into Lego, if you miss a detail, it won’t become an exact copy. And beside that people like Raised and my other fellow LUG members won’t stop criticizing my locomotives if they miss a detail 😉
This picture really shows how the squire looking design has some strange and unique curves.
So, 1 week down, 2 to go.
The Design Process
My normal design progress contains a lot of trial and error in LDD (Lego digital designer). For a change however I wanted to use a different design process, something Raised and UrbanErwin swore by. By getting designs of the original locomotive in scale 1:45 I was able to work out the sizes and scale of the locomotives. Besides that, it provides a perfect “blueprint”. The original design plan was in scale 1:400, Raised was kind enough to scale them to 1:45 by using Photoshop and then I was able to print them out on A3 paper.
I decided to build a prototype by using the scaled designs of the locomotive and all the bricks I had in storage, colors I had in storage were mostly black, dark bluish grey (DBG) and Light Bluish Grey (LBG). Because I wasn’t restricted to colors I could experiment as much as I wanted until I finally had a design I was satisfied with. Rainbow designs are the best. The best thing about this is that you can get a quick 3D model which shows how the engine is going to look. I really recommend doing this! You get a quick good look at how your model is going to look and it definitely helps with the Bricklink part later.
The difficult thing about the
design of the NS 2400 is that it looks really squire, but it has a lot of
strange and unique curves and beside that in scale both “noses” are 5 width and
believe me that is not a fun with to build (more about that later).
But there was one problem. It
took me around 4 days the design the locomotive. However I wasn’t satisfied
with the nose; it looks like a simple design, but it truly isn’t. The nose has
4 lights in it that all have a size that’s difficult to build in Lego if you
try to build exactly to scale. Second was the height; the nose is now 6 bricks
high but in 1:45 scale it should be around 5 bricks, but the amazing Martijn
decided to help me out by quickly designing a prototype nose in LDD. He couldn’t
change the height of the nose, but he was able to help with the difficult
shape.
The real life version and the Lego model, there a couple of details that don’t match. And I promise I will change that…. one day.
I still had 8 days left for the building progress, building itself wasn’t the problem, but the shipping time however, was.
Building progress.
I decided to build 3 different
locomotives. They each are based on a locomotive that is preserved in a museum
in the Netherlands and by building 3 I was able to build one in each color scheme
that the locomotives had, being light blue, brown and dark gray-yellow.
I won’t take you through the entire Brick Link progress, but I got to mention that I was fortunate enough that I was able to purchase all the parts from Brick Link stores which shipped quickly. After 3 days of waiting patiently the first orders started to arrive, but there was a problem, something little called college… I had a very important week of exams, so I couldn’t build for most of the 8 days that I had left, losing most of the days. I only was able to start Friday 16:00, (meaning I had until Monday evening to finish 3 locomotives), after I finished my exam and rushed to the metro to get to the closest train station. After watching the trains arriving and departing, I got on my train that would take me home. 18:00. Let’s get this party started.
In just 3 hours I was able to get 80% done of the brown version(2459) but I was still missing a Bricklink order. Luckily the last final and very important order arrived Saturday morning. And then the marathon really began. The reason I started with the brown version is simple: The parts of the brown version arrived first.
For power there was a big problem. There wasn’t a lot of room inside the engine to place an IR receiver and a battery box. Placing the battery box was already tricky, however, I was able to hide the battery box by using a clever trick and thus placing most of the battery box inside the cabin. So, I had 2 options, Powered Up or SBrick (there are more options out there, but I don’t use/have the laying around). A difficult decision to make, but why make the decision to go for only one? Since I was making 3 locomotives, way not use both! So, the brown one (2459) has 2 pf train motors a reachable battery box and a SBrick. The blue (2412) and yellow-gray (2454) have 2 powered up motors and battery box.
This picture shows how much “space” there really is in my NS 2400 design. And yes that’s a rubber band holding the pf wires together.
And then, finally, Monday evening!
Did I make it? Yes, I did. But was I completely satisfied with the result? Not
totally: The undersides use simple parts, and really miss a lot of details. I
still haven’t got around to finish it. But I promise, one day I will get to it
and I will let you guys know!
So, that’s it for now. Three weeks and three new locomotives later I was finished. But it was a great journey and I hope that I was able to take you to the journey and hopefully inspire you to build! Because that’s the goal of this article, to tell you that you don’t need that months and months or even years and years before you finish your MOC; just three weeks is enough to have a great time!
Three weeks, three locomotives, do I need to say more?
Now that it turns out that TLC has officially phased out the Li-Po battery packs for PF, I’m wondering how we as a community are going to power our PF motors from now on. The ‘easiest’ way would obviously be to switch to PUP (not really, because of the exact same lack of LiPo boxes available), but for people like me, who still have a bunch of M and L motors laying around, this isn’t an option.
So, what are the options in the mean time? Well, after some discusion over at the EB Train Tech forums, we concluded there are several solutions currently out there:
Batteryboxes with regular recharchable batteries Annoying because you have to dissasemble the whole thing all the time. However, the most sustainable solution since you can keep on changing batteries. Even my old 9V boxes still work perfectly fine, so the same will most probably happen with these.
Buwizz with build-in remote Not the ideal step if you for example want light & sound and thus want to include a PFx Brick, or if you are totally hooked on SBrick or the Lego IR receiver
Modding your existing PUP, PF or even 9V boxes and installing a LiPo pack in them yourself. A solution for the few of us with the proper knowledge of electronics. More difficult than you would think, since you would also need to include protection circuitry to keep the LiPO cells from running down too low and overcharging
FX Track Sytem Only being released in 2020 and a whole different ballpark to begin with.
Our well known clone friends from China The ‘clonebrand that shall not be named’ is currently producing Li-Po battery packs that look almost 1-on-1 like the TLC Li-Po packs. However, officially they should be shutting down after the raid, so is this really sustainable? Also, in a matter of ethics: Are we really willing to sponsor them? (in this case I’d say yes, since TLC decided to ditch the Li-Po PF battery pack, so there’s no alternative anymore)
So, what are your thoughts? Have we forgotten any that deserve some attention, and what are your experiences with the different solutions that are currently out there?
Of all the designs which I regard to be “almost unattainable” in terms of LEGO modeling, those of Sir Nigel Gresley are perhaps at the top of the list. Probably one of the greatest locomotive designers of all time, Gresley is responsible for the legendary A3 and A4 pacific locomotives of England, not to mention numerous other successful designs.
Gresley was also responsible for the six P-class 2-8-2 ‘mikado” type locomotives used by the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). These locomotives arose out of the need for more powerful engines to be used in passenger service between Edinburgh and Aberdeen. One locomotive was initially built, which sported three cylinders and an A3-style boiler with a longer firebox, double blastpipe, feedwater heater, and smoke deflectors. The result was delivered in May of 1934, numbered 2001 and named “Cock O’ The North”.
The original P2, #2001 “Cock O’ The North”
The following P2 locomotives were improved upon until the last one, 2006, was completed. Gresley died in 1941, and his successor, Edward Thompson, rebuilt all P2 locomotives into A2/2 pacifics.
Currently, there are two separate groups working to build new P2 locomotives. One is based in Darlington, and comprised of the same team responsible for the Peppercorn A1 class Tornado. Similar to Tornado, the P2 Locomotive Trust is building a new locomotive of the class, improving upon the advancements made decades before, instead of rebuilding a former member of the class. Once completed, this new engine will be numbered 2007 and named “Prince of Wales”. Several modern techniques are being used on the locomotive, like a new pilot truck design, and use of the Lentz/Franklin rotary cam valve gear. The other P2 group is recreating the original locomotive, 2001, in the classic Gresley streamlined style.
Illustration showing #2007 “Prince of Wales” completed
Sam, of Australia, who goes by his Flickr username British Bricks, has chosen Prince of Wales as his newest modeling endeavor.
As promised, this is a follow-up to the post by BigDaedy and me about how the both of us designed our Bombardier Traxx’es.
The people who know me, know that most of my Lego projects can take weeks, months, even years to finish. It’s something I’m not especially proud of, but on the other hand, I know it’s just my way of building. For some reason I never mastered the art of Digital building, so everything I build, is build IRL. For me that makes the process even more lengthy, because I also tend to delay my BL orders. However, every now and then you meet somebody who seems to be having the exact same project and lengthy building process, and can actually stimulate you to finish a build. This post is the result of one of those projects.
For me, this story started the moment when the Dutch Railways (NS Hispeed more precisely) started operation on the High Speed Line between Amsterdam Schiphol, Rotterdam and Brussels. Because the ordered 250 km/h High Speed EMU’s weren’t ready when the HSL was finished, NS Hispeed decided as a stopgap measure to use the Bombardier Traxx F140 MS and IC carriages instead for what they called their “Fyra” service. Fun fact: The name comes from the same people that came up with the nonsense word “Thalys“.
A short note: Officially this consists isn’t high speed at all, but after a bit of re-gearing they could run 160 km/h. The main reason then wasn’t the speed, but the reliability and operationability: The Traxx was at that point in time the only locomotive that was able to run on the HSL to begin with, due to troubles with the special version of the European Train Control System that was used at the HSL at that time.
However, this being the first new Electrics by NS since the NS 1700-series build between 1990-1994, which I build several years ago, they immediately caught my attention. Due to the double curved front shape, I didn’t really know where to start, at one point even contemplating to just saw the Jack Stone car canopy in two. However, being the purist that I was (In my defence, I was a lot younger back then) I decided against it an shelve the whole idea.
In the end of 2014 I finally had my first a-ha erlebnis and realized how to build the double curved front. After trying it out and getting the ‘right’ feeling, I decided I should move forward and try to actually build the whole thing, instead of only the front. However, me being me, it just didn’t work out, and I got stuck with half an engine that I didn’t manage to finish.
Now, this is the moment that normally I would shelve an idea indefinately and just give up. Luckily for this build, this was the exact moment I got in touch with BigDaedy. He was very enthousiast of the build and told me I should just continue. The reason was simple; he had just started his training to become train driver on the German Traxx. In his own words:
“If I remember correctly you started building your first iteration of the Traxx sometime back in late 2014, right when I started my trade training to become a driver.”
Even though he tried to get me enthousiast about a total rebuild, I just didn’t see any added value in that, I had just given up on the loco. BigDaedy however had a different view and got inspired in 2016 to just give it a try himself as well:
“I’ve built my first version in early 2016 after seeing this post in a German forum, 1000steine.”
We kept in touch while I was living abroad for a year, and thus was away from most of my Legos. I did keep the original mock-up of the front, but wasn’t really interested in doing anything with it. Every time when BigDaedy send pictures of his current WIP it kind of gave me the feeling to keep on trying, but in the mean time I had started several other projects, plus it’s really nice weather in Curacao so why bother.
Around the time I moved back to Europe I got another message from BigDaedy: His second version was ready. Ditching the curved slopes he came up with a totally new front design, which didn’t bear any resemblance with mine at all. It’s always impressive to see how different builders can come up with totally different designs for the same prototype, and this was no exception.
This second version however left me with a problem: I got really inspired this time around to start building again, but for the next two months, all my Legos were locked away in a container, waiting to be shippped back from Curacao to Europe. So again, I wasn’t able to actually build anything (and still wasn’t comfortable with LDD either).
So finally, in the beginning of 2018, I was reunited with my Legos and ready to go. I didn’t change all to much from the previous iterations external, but internally I did a lot. As usual however, life catched up on me, and more than that, Legoworld 2018 did.
An then came the build by Dennis aka Techno, and I knew I had a major
problem. Cause Dennis actually managed to get almost everything right
that I never managed to. I had been struggling with certain details in
the front for example that I never got around to fix, and he just nailed
them in his first pictures.
To make matters even worse (or maybe better?) for me was that BigDaedy contacted me again, showing his almost finished Traxx P160 DE ME, the Diesel version of the Traxx, in use with DB Regio. That one set the bar even higher, incorporating some of his earlier design elements from his Electric Traxx, but also some elements that Dennis aka Techno had introduced.
In the meantime I had however finally been able to find my ‘ideal’ front. I combined several types of slopes and techniques, including a nice incline, to get to an as natural possible version of the shape that these beasts have.
So then came the most difficult part (at least for me): Choosing the drivetrain, desiging the frame and building the trucks. All other parts of building a loco are pretty easy with me, but these three always turn out to be a huge pain. Finally I just ended up with a plates + bricks frame that is party hold together by the L-motors themselves. It does very well actually, the loco is really stable, so I can’t complain.
I however did have to exchange gears in the end (and thus come up with a different way of connecting them) because this way it actually slowed down the motor, whereas I wanted an increase in speed. I’m definately not that good with gears…
And that actually leaves at the end of this story. Because when I had these parts finished, the rest just fell in place, and I was finally able to keep up with BigDaedy’s speed. He actually decided to ditch his last version of the front of his loco and change it to the one I had just engineered, so that took him a couple of extra days to figure out how I had attached all those parts. In fact, his V4 and my V2 have been finished within a month of each other. Not bad when you think of it!
To quote BigDaedy for the last time:
“In a few days we’ll see the fourth and hopefully final version. What a long way to go, but perfection takes time. “
Today I’m writing on behalf of the L-Gauge Modular Standard Oversight Committee.
Last August was the NMRA National Train Show in Kansas City, Missouri. A number of LEGO clubs and LTC’s were in attendance, and it was certainly one of the best non-LEGO shows with multiple clubs I’ve ever seen.
The participating AFOLs from the 2018 National Train Show
Of course, when you put that many LEGO train fans in one place, they start getting ideas. On Saturday evening after the show had closed for the day and everyone had eaten a Bar-be-que dinner, several people invaded the basement of Shawn Lazarz for some good ol’ conversation. There were several topics of discussion (and debate in some cases), one of the biggest being standardization. This was then broken into two categories: electronics and layouts.
Discussions about LEGO train modeling are always fun.
Everyone was starting to get their hands on Lego’s new Powered Up! Train sets and putting them through their paces, finding the capabilities and limitations of the new system. Many people didn’t like what they found, so there was some discussion about the introduction of a “standardized” third party system, be that LEGO-based like a PFx Brick or SBrick, or train-based, like a radio-DCC system, or DelTang.
A suspicious looking group of misfit train builders discussing a Modular Standard.
The conversation then turned to layouts and collaborative displays.
About two year ago, I started a three-parter series about designing and building an European railcar, more specifically the SDGGMRS type of trailer railcars, meant to transport trailers over rail. Due to reasons like “life”, “work” and “priorities”, I never got around finishing part three of that story. However, today I will finally do so.
First of all, a short recall of part one and part two. In part one we looked for a prototype and some drawings, in part two we actually tried to build and go through several iterations before finally settling for a design. In part three, we will look at the finished product (which has been finished for some time now, to be honest…), but also about the best part of this whole series: The inspiration it gave to others to build their own versions!
The Final Build
As promised two years ago, the final part of this three-parters would be known as The Bragging (also known as “Hey, I actually finished something again!”) and even though this isn’t the official title, I think the pictures below do pay hommage to this:
Full frontal view of the SDGGRMS3/4th view. As you can see, the sleek design I was going for did work out in the endWithout trailers it’s indeed a bit boring…Less than 1 plate of clearance. That’s the beauty of building with Legos!
These pictures have been taken about two years ago now, and since then have run hunderds of very reliable rounds on the layouts I was part of. At first, I wanted to have them close-coupled with elastic bands, but due to reliability issues I in the end decided against this, so nowadays they are just hard-coupled on the Jacobs Bogies in the middle with two 2×2 turntables. Nowadays I have 3 sets, one of them empty, one with trailers, and one with three TEU containers.
As said, it turns out that since my initial posts, several of our readers got very excited and decided to give it a try themselves. Something I really like seeing (Just give credit where credit is due), this is exactly the reason why I made these posts to begin with!
Version 1: Dennis.P
First up is Dennis.P aka TECHNO, a German builder who not only was inspired, but also decided to add some extra details, and decided to change the way how the couplings work; where I had them directly connected to the trucks, has Dennis.P decided to attach them onto the frame itself.
Topview. The 1×2 technic brick at the end of the carriage shows the different way how Dennis.P attached the couplingsDetails. Dennis.P added some pretty nifty little details that really give some extra characterA rake of six (6!) SDGGRMS. A beauty, beyond doubt.
Version 2: Pehter Abrahamsson
About a year ago, I was browsing online and by accident came across an event by SWEBRICK, the Swedish LUG. It turns out that Pehter Abrahamsson read the post as well, and decided to try to build the SDGRMRS for himself as well. Since he never saw the final product, he decided to change several little parts to create a subtle different model. As he said it himself: “I passed the train station when these wagons passed by and remembered seeing something simular in Lego earlier, after some digging I found your posts but no finished result. You saved me some trial and error 🙂 “
The sheer beauty of absolute grey boredom!The sleek design fits perfectly in the yard of SWEBRICK
Version 3: Peter Schmid and Michael Katzmann
The third one is the newest. This one is build by German AFOLS Peter Schmid and Michael Katzmann, who run a Flickr account together. The nice part of their design is that they actually took their cues from both the models of Dennis.P and myself!
The sleekness is uncannyAs you can see, they actually decided to use Dennis.P’s design for the couplings and details.
Conclusion
Two years later than planned, but I can finally say I finished this this threeparter. When I wrote the first part two years ago, I never in my wildest dreams had expected that anyone would actually try to copy or redesign my carriages. Yes, my intention was to inspire people to build their own goods waggons, but I had never expected that my own model would be perceived as such a beauty that they actually decided to copy it, instead of designing their own… But hey, everybody knows that copying is the most sincere form of flattery. So thank you all, I’m honored!
This article was submitted to BMR by our good friend Gareth Ellis, who discusses his experience with DelTang control systems in his models. Thanks Gareth!
Introduction
DelTang RC Control systems is a well-designed radio control platform, with many benefits for a growing LEGO® model train community. The system comprises of a transmitter and receiver, bound with each other for discrete, individual and reliable control.
The basic principles of DelTang radio control for battery locos, in its simplest form are a transmitter and a receiver that has an integrated Electronic Speed Control unit which in turn is connected to batteries and a motor. When the throttle knob on the paired transmitter is moved the motor increases or decreases in speed accordingly.
DelTang currently produce many transmitters and receivers for a wide range of model control, we will focus on Model Train specific variants of the transmitters and receivers. As there is such a wide range we will cover the TX22 Transmitter and the Rx-65 (22) specifically. At the time of writing this, the TX2 was on V207, and the Rx-65c (22) was on V611.
A short intermezzo, just to get you guys started to build again!
A while ago I have been experimenting with curved slopes to try to recreate the “perfect” roof. Ofcourse, the perfect roof doesn’t exist, but that didn’t stop me from trying. I had given myself several limitations due to parts restrictions, but everything that is done with combinations of the Slope, Curved 2 x 2 No Studs plus tile can also be done with the Slope, Curved 3 x 2 No Studs without an extra tile, making the whole thing one curve. Also, I tried to build everything as 8 wide as possible, but in the end this intermezzo was meant to create curved roofs as such, not curved roofs that are exactly 8 studs in width. So if you want to use these, you might need to do some minor tweaking. But hey, that’s what our love for the plastic brick is all about, right?
Complete curves, could also be done with 2 x 3 x 2 curved slopes to create a full round effect. Lesser curves. As long as TLC doensn’t design a 1×1 curved slope, cheese is fine.Using half plates to not break up the lines; see difference between number 1 and 2-3Trying to get the lines as clean as possible. I actually used this one on a wagon but after 7 days of running decided against it; it just wasn’t stable enough. A little extra for everybody that still builds 6 wide.
I hope this gives some inspiration to build your perfect curved roof. And, ofcourse, if you guys have any other designs, feel free to share them in the comments!
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