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75955 Hogwarts Express - Power Functions?

jacobp51jacobp51 CaliforniaMember Posts: 4
in Building and Techniques
I know this set just came out, but has anyone explored motorizing the new Harry Potter train yet? The tender doesn't look quite big enought to conceal a battery box without modification.  Probably easy to accomplish if you buy 2 sets (for an extra carriage and matching parts to extend the tender).

Comments

  • daewoodaewoo DFWMember Posts: 725
    I've been looking at it and think that the old battery box would make the tender too tall.  I'm eager to see the new PF2 battery box/receiver to see what its profile looks like.
  • akunthitaakunthita USAMember Posts: 1,038
    edited July 2018
    daewoo said:
    I've been looking at it and think that the old battery box would make the tender too tall.  I'm eager to see the new PF2 battery box/receiver to see what its profile looks like.
    Sariel shows in his recent comparison review between PF1 and PF2 that the battery box is exactly the same size as the old battery box. The only difference is the position of the button, and outlets.

    77ncaachamps
  • daewoodaewoo DFWMember Posts: 725

    Hmm...still as tall but the power connection is on the end vs the top.  That will create separate challenges though having an integrated receiver will help.  Hopefully the Lego store will have a copy today when I swing by and I can start messing around with it.

  • CyberdragonCyberdragon Maryland, U.S.AMember Posts: 541
    You could just cut the connector off the motor and wire up your own lithium ion battery with voltage converter. You could make it way smaller than anything Lego makes.
  • LegoTTLegoTT Member Posts: 483
    I’m going to try a 9V setup, for sure. 
    RonyarPitfall69
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 0 miles to Legoboy's houseMember Posts: 11,446
    You could always put the battery box in one of the train cars.
  • CCCCCC UKMember Posts: 20,296
    Pitfall69 said:
    You could always put the battery box in one of the train cars.
    One of them? There is only one.
  • daewoodaewoo DFWMember Posts: 725
    Of course the closest Lego Store to me had absolutely NOTHING new, at all.  No HP, no Xtra polys, nada.  I left very disappointed.  My tinkering will have to be based on my assumptions of the dimensions of the train elements.
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 0 miles to Legoboy's houseMember Posts: 11,446
    CCC said:
    Pitfall69 said:
    You could always put the battery box in one of the train cars.
    One of them? There is only one.
    My set came with 2 train cars and a white rangefinder ;)
    gmonkey76BumblepantsBaby_YodaAstrobricksMynattRoskoboy
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 0 miles to Legoboy's houseMember Posts: 11,446
    I was actually thinking out loud. My Hogwarts Express will have 5 cars; I believe that is how many cars it has. I plan on either making it a 9V or putting the battery box in the first car.
    tamamahm
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 0 miles to Legoboy's houseMember Posts: 11,446
    CCC said:
    Pitfall69 said:
    I was actually thinking out loud. My Hogwarts Express will have 5 cars
    And when it is waiting at the station, the announcement can be ... Red 5, standing by.
    If you know Pitfall;  I'm always standing by.
    gmonkey76Bumblepants
  • HugeYellowBrickHugeYellowBrick At my PCMember Posts: 496
    ^^^
    The films usually had 5 carriages, but one of the books (I think the one where Ron is made a Prefect) clearly has a longer train. If the whole school of 800 pupils were on a modern train, more than 10 coaches would be needed. I guess Wizards and Witches who live in northern England or Scotland have some alternative transport.
    Also in the books, they are always corridor carriages with compartments seating 6 to 8 passengers, but the film of Half-Blood Prince has Harry spying on Malfoy (and ending up on the floor, paralysed, and with a broken nose) in an open carriage.
    It is probable that a special school express like this would have one or two full goods vans for all of the students' trunks, which wouldn't fit in the usual luggage racks above the seats. But maybe the guard could magically shrink the trunks (and make them lighter).
    Several times passengers on the Hogwarts Express talk to the driver, which would have to be done by magic on any UK steam train.
    Brickfan50
  • CyberdragonCyberdragon Maryland, U.S.AMember Posts: 541
    I would assume the luggage racks (and possibly some of the cars) have expansion spells so more than usual can fit inside.
  • HugeYellowBrickHugeYellowBrick At my PCMember Posts: 496
    ^^
    I don't know where I got the number 800 from, for the number of students at Hogwarts, but it seems too high. If Harry's first year is typical, then Gryffindor had 5 new boys, and 5 new girls, so 10 newcomers. Shared lessons such as flying, Potions and Herbology had 20 students from two houses, so again 10 newcomers per house. Four houses, with 7 years would give a student population of 280.
    Some of the books mention 'hundreds' of students in the corridors.
    JKR herself has said 1000 on occasion, but 600 at another time.
    There is a detailed article at 
    http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_whitehound/Fanfic/numbers.htm

    I was also thinking of building a 'proper' Hogwarts Express, with corridor coaches and a goods van but got discouraged since I couldn't make the compartments big enough.

    Brickfan50
  • jacobp51jacobp51 CaliforniaMember Posts: 4
    Received my Hogwarts Express from Lego Shop at Home and promtly assembled it this past weekend. It fits nicely on the standard tracks, but it seems pretty clear to me this set is purely intended to be a play set and not functioning train.

    There are no train bogeys. All wheels are firmly fixed in each position, except for the very front on the locomotive.  The carriage car is quite long and would benefit from rotating/swiveling wheels; there is a little tension when pushing this train around a corner that might cause wear and tear on a motor. Adding more cars would compound this effect.

    The tender is exactly the length of a standard battery box, so concealing the gray ends of the battery box would require lengthening the tender by a minimum of 2 studs.

    Not quite sure how to attach a motor and IR receiver to the locomotive.  The receiver could probably be hidden into the tender with some more lengthening, or perhaps by sacrificing some space in the first carriage, but then you'd have wires running everywhere. Of course, apparently the new PF train motor does not require a IR receiver (nice) but it isn't available for purchase yet.

    The main wheel assembly under the engine is a long technic beam. Might lose two wheels or encounter uneven wheel spacing if a motor was attached there. Plus, the PF motor is made to attach to a technic plate (with a hole in it) which would require some extra pieces in the floor of the locomotive.

    It would have been nice if Lego made this set up-gradable out of the box (like the Creator line). Of course, anything Lego is absolutely possible, but this will require some ingenuity, brick substitutions, and modification to the base set.

    Here's a picture of the set on our family display table.
    Brickfan50madejp86
  • TkattTkatt MNMember Posts: 472
    Jangbricks has powered it and posted a video showing how he's done it. 
    jacobp51gmonkey76stluxblakusdk
  • CaptainPirateManCaptainPirateMan MichiganMember Posts: 353
    My wife and I are pondering this at this very moment. We bought 2 of them, but have only received 1 (due to Lego backorder). But our goal is powered (obviously) engine, tinder, 3 passenger cars, and a caboose.
  • Baby_YodaBaby_Yoda The world's backsideMember Posts: 1,295
    HugeYellowBrick said:
    ^^^
    The films usually had 5 carriages, but one of the books (I think the one where Ron is made a Prefect) clearly has a longer train. If the whole school of 800 pupils were on a modern train, more than 10 coaches would be needed. I guess Wizards and Witches who live in northern England or Scotland have some alternative transport.
    Also in the books, they are always corridor carriages with compartments seating 6 to 8 passengers, but the film of Half-Blood Prince has Harry spying on Malfoy (and ending up on the floor, paralysed, and with a broken nose) in an open carriage.
    It is probable that a special school express like this would have one or two full goods vans for all of the students' trunks, which wouldn't fit in the usual luggage racks above the seats. But maybe the guard could magically shrink the trunks (and make them lighter).
    Several times passengers on the Hogwarts Express talk to the driver, which would have to be done by magic on any UK steam train.
    You could always mod the TARDIS from #21304 into a carriage, thereby fitting not only all 800 pupils but as many battery boxes as you need.
    TheOriginalSimonBdmcc0Harrymattpotter560HeliportHugeYellowBrickJern92PeteMAstrobricksFowlerBricks
  • LuLegoLuLego UKMember Posts: 1,010
    Has anyone tried Jang’s method?
    If so, how did it go?
  • TkattTkatt MNMember Posts: 472
    LuLego said:
    Has anyone tried Jang’s method?
    If so, how did it go?

    I used his method. His method works and is cleverly done, definitely something I wouldn't have come up with.  I've built a couple of the official LEGO trains before, but I've never MOCed one. So I would have been a bit lost without his guidance.
    Some of what he did isn't too clear- so I'm not sure that I built it exactly how he did. But my end result is sturdy and looks nearly stock. I'm very happy with it.
     
    I did the conversion as I built the train the first time, which meant a lot of flipping around in the instructions while pausing Jang's video to make sure everything would come together in the end. 
     
    If there is interest I could put up a few photos showing the trickier connections.
    Baby_YodaLittleLori
  • LuLegoLuLego UKMember Posts: 1,010
    Thanks @Tkatt
    If you wouldn’t mind posting some photos or sending me a PM, that would be great.

    I’m trying to create a BrickLink wanted list (as I don’t have masses of spare parts) so I keep pausing Jang’s video... but there does seem to be more to it than he talks about.

    Do you remember which additional parts you used?
  • TkattTkatt MNMember Posts: 472
    Sorry to say I didn't keep track of the parts I used. But I do know that the new 1x3 jumpers with 2 studs were crucial. Other than those it was pretty much standard plates and bricks.
    As I was taking photos I realized I'd need unbuild it completely to really show how it goes together, and that it would require lots of pictures. I wasn't sure if I should/could clog up this thread with that many photos. So I hope these few pictures help a bit and that they are small enough so the page will still load. 
    I may put up more on my Flickr.



    bandit778stluxLuLegoomniumdavetheoxygenmanFowlerBricksLittleLoriReesesPieces
  • LuLegoLuLego UKMember Posts: 1,010
    @Tkatt

    This is exactly what I was after.
    I’ll add these to my BrickLink order. The info on those jumpers is very helpful as I certainly wouldn’t have any of those kicking around.

    Thanks for posting!
    Really useful.
  • Baby_YodaBaby_Yoda The world's backsideMember Posts: 1,295
    ^^ Ironically, those images won't load for me. You can always put images in spoilers if you need to.
  • CorsairCorsair USMember Posts: 21
    Hi - this is so interesting to me, I wasn't aware that you could add a motor to Lego trains. Apologies in advance for the noob question, but are these motors from Lego and if so, what recent set(s) could be purchased that include one?
  • oldtodd33oldtodd33 Denver 4800 miles to BillundMember Posts: 2,623
    ^ You can add a motor to any Lego train set if it doesn't come with one. Most Lego train sets come with them but you can buy them on the Lego website. https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Power-Functions
  • AstrobricksAstrobricks Minnesota, USMember Posts: 5,151
    Baby_Yoda said:
    ^^ Ironically, those images won't load for me. You can always put images in spoilers if you need to.
    Not sure what’s ironic about it, unless you’re thinking that you need a TARDIS internet router to fit way more bits through your wires ;-)
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 0 miles to Legoboy's houseMember Posts: 11,446
    In the "Harry Potter" thread; the consensus is that every set will probably be remade. If this is the case, then Lego will definitely put out a Hogwarts Express with the new PF and hopefully a more detailed Hogsmeade Station than the previous 9V version. I want to buy at least a couple of the current sets, but I am very apprehensive about putting too much into a set that Lego might very well release with Power Functions.
  • KeilupKeilup Frisco, TXMember Posts: 183
    ^ I assume it would be Powered Up. Isn’t PF done?  I haven’t seen said thread discussion, but I would think it would be at least 2-3 years before Lego would release another version of Hogwarts Express.  Probably longer. 
  • Baby_YodaBaby_Yoda The world's backsideMember Posts: 1,295
    Astrobricks said:
    Baby_Yoda said:
    ^^ Ironically, those images won't load for me. You can always put images in spoilers if you need to.
    Not sure what’s ironic about it, unless you’re thinking that you need a TARDIS internet router to fit way more bits through your wires ;-)
    Because... I... I don't know why I wrote that... something to do with something that happened several days ago, maybe not on this thread. Or on this website. Sausages? Lighthouses?
    Astrobricks
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 0 miles to Legoboy's houseMember Posts: 11,446
    Keilup said:
    ^ I assume it would be Powered Up. Isn’t PF done?  I haven’t seen said thread discussion, but I would think it would be at least 2-3 years before Lego would release another version of Hogwarts Express.  Probably longer. 
    Yes, Powered Up. 
  • daewoodaewoo DFWMember Posts: 725
    Corsair said:
    Hi - this is so interesting to me, I wasn't aware that you could add a motor to Lego trains. Apologies in advance for the noob question, but are these motors from Lego and if so, what recent set(s) could be purchased that include one?

    Two new trains were just released this month, both come with motors and remotes.  They are #60197 Passenger Train and #60198 Cargo Train. 
  • BumblepantsBumblepants DFW/BGMember Posts: 7,291
    Buying the train power function parts from a discounted set is a great way to go. I was able to get a few of the last generation of Lego City trains at 50% off. Perfect for powering additional trains and you get all the extra wheels and couplings etc to build enough cars to have a respectable length of train.
    bandit778daewooPitfall69gmonkey76Ronyar
  • CorsairCorsair USMember Posts: 21
    Honestly re: Tardis, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hogwarts Express were roomier on the inside than it looks (considering this is exactly what Arthur Weasley did with the Ford Anglia)
  • Baby_YodaBaby_Yoda The world's backsideMember Posts: 1,295
    ^ So more of a perception of reality than an alternate dimension. Looks small on the outside, but is spacious on the inside... like the exact opposite of #10246?
    Ronyar
  • LuLegoLuLego UKMember Posts: 1,010
    Despite buying this on day one, this was a Christmas gift so my daughter has only just built it.
    Very happy with the modifications to accommodate power functions as we didn’t lose too much of the original. The black bars were useful for tucking in the wires.
    BumblepantsLittleLori
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