Subject:
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Re: MOC: BR52 Steam Locomotive
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains, lugnet.build
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Date:
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Tue, 27 Mar 2001 14:50:36 GMT
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Viewed:
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41 times
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> Sean - just want to say, _fantastic_ engine. You can't even tell it's Lego
> from the thumbnails! The working linkages on a flexible wheelbase are just
> amazing. But why a German steam train? Did you just have a lot of black
> bricks around? What's wrong with a nice colourful British one? :)
Thanks, Jason. I picked the German steam train to fit in with the motif of my
other models, primarily, as I tend to lean towards utilitarian workhorse
designs. Political ramifications aside, the German industrial boom of the 1930s
produced some amazing engineering designs of this type in very short order, and
I enjoy trying to model them.
Like I said, though, this was my first real foray into trains, and it's been
addictive. I'm still wet behind the ears on most of this stuff though, as
evidenced by my lack of knowledge of switches etc. It'll come though, give me
time :)
> How long did that take, btw? I don't mean hours. How many days / weeks
> have you been thinking and working on that? The level of detail is amazing.
Let's see, I started really collecting information about them on .... (checks
some lugnet posts) ... March 2nd, when Eric K. pointed me towards railway gun
source material. I quickly realized that I'd need something to pull the railway
gun around with, and that if I could do it this month it could be in the train
show. Soooo, I started looking for images of workhorses from that time, and
finally settled on the BR50/BR52 .
I took about a week and a half to make the first version. It was a 6-wide
design, and had no moving pistons and used standard wheelsets for the drive
wheels. It always seemed suspiciously small to me, being somewhat dwarfed by
the minifig engineer, but I wasn't sure until I saw Dave Eaton's Green Line
train in person ... and realized how much more accurate and detailed the larger
size could be (ducks potential controversy from such a claim).
The second (and current) version actually only took about a week, which is
amazingly quick for me. Granted, the project has taken priority over sleep,
food, wife, etc., but that's still faster than I usually work ;)
> Using those model team wheel hubs will mean that the train will stay on a
> simple loop, but won't take points (OK, 'switches' in the US) or crossings.
> The larger ring of the hub can't get past the alignment strips just inside
> the rails on these track pieces. They'll ride up, and de-rail.
> <snip>
ooh, I hadn't even thought of that. Hmmmm ... this is good information, Jason.
> I know it's bad form to modify Lego parts, but how else are we supposed to get
> hold of driving wheels?
I might have to do it too ... I really like how this came out, and would like it
even better if it worked well!
> I've tried to get hold of a load of black ones from Lego Customer Services
> for my trains, but they'll only sell me white ones. Single black ones have
> appeared in a few non-technic sets as decoration, such as the <set:6497>
> Twisted Time Train (on the chimney), and the <set:5928> Bi-Wing Baron
> (rotary engine casing).
I was able to find (and quickly order) 8 on brickbay at the end of last week.
I'm afraid that as of that time I had completely tapped out the supply ...
> If anyone has a load of black ones to trade, or has a source (6 or more),
> I'm interested btw.
sorry! ;)
> Another problem you might have with points is flexibility. Just putting
> pivot points in the wheelbase won't handle points. You could just have
> pivots between individual axles, but this is unstable in a long train. What
> you need are fishplates (a plate pinned at each end) between trucks of four
> wheels each to allow a little snaking movement too, for when you go from
> curve to straight, or curve one way then the other.
I *think* I see what you're getting at, but are there any pictures online that I
could confirm my perception with? By "truck" I believe you're referring to two
wheelsets together? The fishplate is simply a small connector that goes
between two trucks then? And then I imagine that the fishplate is rigidly
attached to the train, and the two trucks can rotate freely on either end of it
... is that right?
Thanks again for the feedback!
-shaun
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: MOC: BR52 Steam Locomotive
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| Shaun Sullivan wrote: <snip> (...) LOL Don't feel like you have to apologize;-) You have created an awesome MOC, Shaun, and you have realized (regardless of any blathering pro or con) for yourself the merits of building 8 wide (or wider;) Glad to (...) (23 years ago, 27-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.build)
| | | Re: MOC: BR52 Steam Locomotive
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| (...) I'm still building in minifig-stylee 6-wide, but it becomes obvious that these trains are smaller than a true minifig scale when you put someone in the cabin. But, 8-wide means that you have to do everything as a larger MOC, including any (...) (23 years ago, 27-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.build)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: MOC: BR52 Steam Locomotive
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| (...) Sean - just want to say, _fantastic_ engine. You can't even tell it's Lego from the thumbnails! The working linkages on a flexible wheelbase are just amazing. But why a German steam train? Did you just have a lot of black bricks around? What's (...) (23 years ago, 27-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
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