Advice on Trains

SumoLego · May 2015

^^^ A solid green rangefinder.

(Yes, I'm responding to my own snarky comment in the third person.)

(Bob Dole thinks Bob Dole will make a great presidential candidate.)

(Jimmy's going to get you Kramer!)

Pitfall69 · May 2015

^Ahhhhh. The Bob Dole third person. That's great :)

Redbullgivesuwind · May 2015

Has anyone used Lego's flexi-track that they sell and is it any good?

madforLEGO · May 2015

Redbullgivesuwind said:

Has anyone used Lego's flexi-track that they sell and is it any good?

From what I have heard it is OK in small doses, but do not try to make a giant curve with nothing but the flex track. I think most use it as a few flex track pieces between regular curve pieces to make wider radii on their layout.

vwong19 · May 2015

@Redbullgivesuwind - the flexi-tracks are good to bridge between the normal tracks and to create slight bends. Too many consecutive flexi-tracks and the ride gets a little bumpy, you hear a clicking sound. Recommend in moderation.

Redbullgivesuwind · May 2015

I hmmm I think it will be brick link some curves then. That is a shame as it looks like a great idea but clearly the rest is not there.

Farmer_John · May 2015

TheLoneTensor said:

At the end of the day, people end up with an improved version of the Emerald Night as a result, and Lego train tech is advanced. It's all good.

At the end of the day, there can never be enough train threads and posts. I really like the Super Heroes and UCS Star Wars sets, but nothing says "Chapter 13 bankruptcy" like a sweet train set or train MOC.

TheLoneTensor · May 2015

Model railroad manufacturers (MTH, Lionel, Bachman, etc.) offer up a slew of different radius tracks, as well as lengths to fit any and all possibilities for a layout. Lego is severely limited when it comes to this, given that they have one radius and one length. The flex track allows some alleviation of this, but let's face it, it's really, really ugly. I'm not a fan of anything non-Lego in my trains (like custom 3rd party drivers and wheels and such - I think the real challenge is doing what you can with what you have), but I've been considering giving in when it comes to track. Here's an option for some different radius tracks.

http://www.me-models.com/store/index.php?cPath=22_57_59&osCsid=r9jhdo25ff0rp7ulfv1a313cd0

Farmer_John · May 2015

@TheLoneTensor - Great link!! In general, I agree with you regarding using only Lego; however, exceptions have to be made. I view it almost the same as TLG-designed sets vs. nice Lego MOC sets. And since I don't have the patience to wait forever for TLG to release some nice throwback trains, MOC it is.

The link you provided offers some very nice looking rail configurations. My only concern is color matching the dark gray Lego rails with 3rd party rails. In this case, I would probably go all 3rd party black for consistency and to get nicer track configurations. And I think I would still sleep well at night using the 3rd party tracks.

Redbullgivesuwind · May 2015

I am not so sold on non Lego products being in with my Lego. I am very picky at times with only one mini fig maker being who I buy from for historical figures. I will wait for the reviews on this one.

graphite · May 2015

I'm not big on non-LEGO parts as well EXCEPT when it comes to the track. I supported the ME Models Kickstarter and while I haven't set up my layout using their track I was happy with what I got. I bought the pack that was 1 full loop of each of the 4 radii and picked up a few of the sampler pack that had 1 half, 1 full and 1 double length straight track. It seems like it is pretty good quality and I'm looking forward to having a big enough area at some point to set up a good layout with it all.

Pitfall69 · May 2015

Luckily, my layout is quite simple and all 9V rail. What I want is some decent track lighting that will operate when I turn on the 9V Speed Regulator or can be operated using the PF IR remote.

Redbullgivesuwind · May 2015

@graphite I might wait then and see what you think when it is fully up and running. I don't doubt the quality of it. But it is much more the fact it isn't Lego. Which I know is really pathetic but a odd OCD thing.

Pitfall69 · May 2015

I think I just found what I was looking for.

klatu003 · May 2015

I used this method to motorize my Constitution Train Chase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C04UlIMCmag

Gotta love threads like this; inspirational pictures and links, advice on a subset of Lego collecting/building, a small snark fest, apologies, jokes.

Will the Emerald Knight going to be a freebie later in the year with a train release?

Pitfall69 · May 2015

^You just described almost every thread in this forum ;)

SumoLego · May 2015

^^ That would be fantastic.

arsenalherd · May 2015

Just got the 60051 for cheap on facebook and we love it, looking at buying the station now

ecmo47 · May 2015

Actually the builder, Daedalus304, was considering making an LDD file of his mallet. Told him I'd be the first in line for those plans.

ecmo47 · May 2015

Actually the builder, Daedalus304, was considering making an LDD file of his mallet. Told him I'd be the first in line for those plans.

ecmo47 · May 2015

^ Ok, that's weird. I actually posted the above yesterday and now it just showed up.

MrShinyAndNew · May 2015

ReesesPieces said:

MrShinyAndNew said:

You might still be able to find the Lone Ranger Constitution Chase, which was my gateway drug into the train world. It's a fairly nice locomotive; the rest of the train is meh, but gets you the parts to build your own cars, plus some track.

Did you happen to motorize yours?

I did motorize mine. It's still not perfect though, but essentially I did the following:

Put the PF train motor under the coal tender, and the battery box in the tender. This required rebuilding the tender to make it a bit longer and higher.
Put the IR receiver in the locomotive's cabin. This required rebuilding the roof so that the IR sensor could poke out the top. If you don't do that, you don't get good reception.
I put a boat weight in the front of the locomotive to try to add downward pressure on the front wheels to help prevent derailing. It didn't really help much.
I put a technic beam on the wheels to make it look more like a steam engine.

Ideally I'd rather motorize it using a motor in the locomotive itself, as it's very fragile right now when it comes to derailing. If the track isn't just right, and the stars aren't in alignment, the front wheels pop off and the whole train falls over. This is partly because the coal car is pushing the locomotive; the cables that go between them, as well as the magnetic coupler, are very good at transmitting vertical force to the locomotive. This vertical force causes the front wheels to lift. I have to carefully tuck all the loose cables in so that they are as tight as possible, to minimize derailing. As soon as one of my kids pulls the coal car and locomotive apart, the cables become untucked and the train is unsteady again.

ReesesPieces · May 2015

Looks like motorizing my Lone Ranger train will be on my to do list for the summer...

Paperballpark · May 2015

^^ That's odd. I've literally never had a problem with mine derailing. I've run it almost non-stop at shows and it's always been my best-running train. I'd go so far as to say that it's one of the best trains Lego has done in recent years, with the possible exception of the Maersk.

solid_strider · May 2015

Hi everyone! First time poster here, but I've been lurking for a while. I'm mostly into the trains because my five year old son is. I got him a Lone Ranger train this past Christmas and used this method to motorize it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U7YAtRARUg

I also made him a dark green caboose, partially to add some weight on the backend. The PF stuff is in the middle car:

Image: http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m614/solid_strider/Lego/Lego%20City/IMG_1879_zpsmcyronto.jpg

MrShinyAndNew · May 2015

Paperballpark said:

^^ That's odd. I've literally never had a problem with mine derailing. I've run it almost non-stop at shows and it's always been my best-running train. I'd go so far as to say that it's one of the best trains Lego has done in recent years, with the possible exception of the Maersk.

It could be because my track layout is just on the floor, instead of on a nice table. But the Passenger Train (7938) I stole the motor from was much more reliable on similar track layouts.

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