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About this blog

Fun with Lego; fun with trains... the best of both worlds.

Entries in this blog

Yellow gantry crane (from set 60052)

Another part of set 60052, along with the track, loco and wagons, was a gantry crane, already shown on this blog in this picture:   And also in action here:   However, now it's time for a closer look.   The crane was fun to build, if a bit challenging. On the plus side it is a nice shade of industrial cautionary yellow. It's got an interesting mechanism to allow it to move along a train to get its jib into position. The down side is that it's very light (well, it is just plastic bricks

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Where it all started - Lego set 60052 - City Cargo Train

This blog is about my Lego trains. Just a disclaimer, I am what's known as an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) and I do buy more of the stuff than most grown ups who actually have children to buy it for. Lego is a versatile building tool and crazily well-engineered. We have a Lego Shop in Cardiff and the stuff in there is amazing.   I have a 9v train-set that was produced back in the 90s. This runs in a similar way to classic model railways - power goes through a transformer and is picked up from the

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Wagons - acquiring and modifying tankers

As mentioned in the first post on this blog, I was underwhelmed by the wagons in set 60052. However, the previous cargo train set (set number 7939) had a tanker wagon in it that I had seen and thought was rather nice. Lego wagons crop up all the time on eBay, so, knowing that the cargo train set was coming I successfully bid on two auctions.   Here is the wagon, virtually as shipped in the 7939 set.   You can just about see from that picture that there are horizontal clips holding the side

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Two train sets, one long train! (Lego train 60197 part 3)

I've said before how I was very lucky and got given two of the Lego 60197 train sets for Christmas. This wasn't a mistake! I wanted two because I knew they would form one very nice train.   I belong to some Lego trains Facebook groups. I've seen a lot of posts in the groups about putting two 60197 passenger trains together. Quite a few people have mentioned the difficulty of running both motors in sync and having to polarise one to run backwards instead of forwards, and so on. Having test run

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Trackside Equipment - cranes, forklift trucks and buffer stops

Having a train table (at last) meant I could finally get out most of my stock and run it. I found out there was just enough internal space in the loop to try something I had been planning for a while - doubling the length of the yellow gantry crane that came in my very first train set (60052).   Here's a reminder what it looked like.     It's been in a few of my posts recently, but this is the first time I have actually focused on it as part of the lay out. Some time ago I bought more of

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Track options and very bad health and safety examples!

So I bought a box of track in Smyth's weekend 20% sale. This stuff never gets reduced even though it's been in the Lego range in unchanged packaging since 2010 at least. So 20% was tempting.   Specifically I bought Lego Set 7499 - Straight and Flexible tracks.   You can see from the back how old this is. These are the train ranges from five years ago. Lego are onto their second new cargo train since then.   In the box you get 8 straight pieces and sixteen flexible pieces. The straight

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Testing for compatibility (buffers!) and a loading dock

I've had this Lego set (number 4561) a long time. It was produced in 1999 and ran off powered 9V track. Lego dispensed with powered track and in the mid-noughties, switching to battery-powered, radio controlled trains. It's a great set and was very fun to build.       I had two reasons for digging this set out from my store cupboard of Lego sets. The first was to check the compatibility of the buffers. Lego used to use mounted magnets, but on the RC trains they brought in a new all-in-on

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Scenic detailing: let the weeds and moss grow

At the end of my previous blog post, the new blue crane was finished.     But that gap between the crane and the track. That just didn't look right. We all know from the real railway that plants make a nuisance of themselves, nature reasserts itself quite quickly. I felt that bare area would quickly become home to some plant life.   So, out came the bits boxes. I particularly went for 1x1 slopes (known as 'cheese wedges') in various greens and other 'planty' colours. I also fished out som

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Rolling stock update - including some lovely pre-loved collectibles

A big shout out to Jack, who responded to my wanted advert here on RM Web to offer me two older Lego sets dating from the mid-noughties, which are now highly collectible. Jack kindly built the sets to check they were (almost) complete, then took them completely apart so I had the pleasure of building them myself. He also sent me a quantity of old 9 volt track. I can now set up an extended run for my 9 volt train that is sat in the Lego cupboard.     The sets were the TTX Intermodal Containe

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Passenger services - set 60051 (a slightly disappointing set)

Back in October I took a trip to Toys R Us. A combination of money off, an additional voucher and a freebie Lego set if I spent over a certain amount saw me come home with a 60051 white passenger train set.     (Geoffrey the Toys R Us mascot was the freebie.)   In the box was a loop of track, the power functions kits and 7 bags of Lego parts.     The train is built on three identical gray modified plates. They are 28 studs long and have holes in so they can be used with motors and th

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

New crane, blue crane Part 2

The 'New crane, blue crane Part 1' blog post dealt with the contents of 'Bag 7'. Now on to 'Bag 8'.   Here's what you get:   That little box contains the thread for attaching the crane scoop.   Most of these pieces were to construct the cab. It's a well-designed piece, with an opening front to make it easy to put the guy in and get him back out again.   The rear of the cab is finished off using a technique known as Studs Not On Top (SNOT). This is a technique Lego has really em

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

New crane, blue crane (from set 60098) Part 1

A couple of posts back I said I'd received a package ordered off eBay.   If you've been wondering what's inside, then here you go:   These are bags six and seven from Lego set 60098, the latest heavy haul cargo train. Specifically, these are the bags that make up an attractive blue crane, which I decided would be perfect for my attempt at a freight operation. I particularly wanted to use it with the open wagon I had converted from being a unlikely cow transporter to a scrap metal wagon.

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

New addition: a Lego container wagon and a rolling stock manifest

At the end of my previous post I mentioned a new arrival. It came in the post from an eBay supplier, partially deconstructed. (Makes it easier to post and more fun to receive as you have to do a bit of building.)   It's the container wagon from the cargo train set 7939.     The container comes off, leaving a nice flat wagon that would make a good barrier wagon if one was ever needed.     The profile shot below shows how elegant this is. I said before that the train set I bought (6005

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

More passenger trains, and a new motive system - Lego set 60197

Happy 2019!   I had a great Christmas. You know what's better than getting a Lego train for Christmas?   Getting two!     Thanks to my wife and my brother getting some Black Friday deals, I was a very lucky boy.   The set comes in multiple bags, as per usual. You also get a loop of track with only 4 straight pieces. It's practically a circle. l   What's new about this is the Powered Up system, which operates on bluetooth instead of infra-red. The main functionality is contained in

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Making the train set my own - mods and additions to Lego train 60197

This is my fourth post about the Lego passenger train sets (set number 60197) that I received for Christmas. Post one was about building the train set. Post 2 was about adding lights. Post 3 was about building a dummy engine car. And this post continues the theme from post 3, modding the train set to make it suit my purpose.   I often say that if you can't make any changes to a Lego set you've built to improve it, then you may as well give up on Lego as a hobby. I see a lot of photos and video

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Longer trains = better trains

I realise I haven't kept this blog up to date as I have acquired bits and pieces for the railway. Never mind, let's start with my latest acquisition, which all started with the news that Toys R Us has gone bust meaning I was left with a useless Gold Card from the store.     Useless, I thought until Smyth's Toys offered any Gold Card holder the chance of 20% off any purchases if they handed in their Gold Card. Off I went to Smyth's Toys. I bought, um, let's just say a few things, and one of

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Lighting up the track - fitting after-market lights to a Lego train

In my previous post I talked about how my wife and brother took advantage of Black Friday deals to each buy me a train set. So, I knew these were coming (that was a long 5 week wait until Christmas Day!) and so I went into the Lego store and bought a set of train lights that are compatible with the new Powered Up motive system. These are a bit expensive for what you get, but are fun to fit and really enhance the train.   Here's what you get for your money:       The cab interior is bui

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Lego Car Transporter Wagon part 4 - cars and sorting out those ramps!

I said last time that the final version of the car transporter probably wasn't final because the ramps weren't right. So I went back to them. This was the starting point. (I put the transporter next to another wagon to compare the height.)     But first I also needed two more cars to load onto the transporter. I mentioned this to my wife, Cathy, who went and had a rummage in the Lego boxes and dug out this fire chief's car that she had bought a while ago and not got round to building yet.

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Happy Christmas! (seasonal train)

Hello everyone. You won't see this on my freight yard train set when I eventually set it up, but this year the wife and I bought ourselves the Christmas train set for our Lego Christmas decoration shelf. If I get the chance I will post some more pics after Christmas. In the meantime I hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas and an enjoyable New Year!  

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

From cow wagons to scrap wagons

Well, I'm back after more than six months. When I started this blog last year I talked about the train set that kicked this off. I made a throwaway remark in that opening post about turning the cattle wagon that came in the set into a wagon for scrap 'metal' (actually Lego Technic and Bionicle bits). But I didn't have any pictures of it. I then moved on to blog about tanker wagons and didn't say anything more about the newly repurposed scrap wagon.   So, this post is a bit late coming. Apologi

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Freelance minerals / ore wagons

This was a bit of a diversion for me as I have been a bit too busy to build recently. I've also stalled on the oil depot. (I plan to pick that project back up after Christmas.)   But anyway, back in April I repurposed some poorly designed cattle wagons into scrap-carrying wagons. This is what they looked like:     I have recently joined a Facebook group about Lego trains and I saw someone had built an open gondola wagon that used inverted panels for the sides of the wagon. The panels have

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Finishing the depot oil tank (and failures along the way)

About six months ago I blogged about building an oil depot tank for the Lego railway. Six months later (and one MSc dissertation out the way) I have finally sorted out the missing roof and I'm quite pleased with the result.   Here's a picture of the tank getting 'plated up'. You can see the Technic frame holding the plates in place.     Now I needed a roof. It's hard to build in circles using Lego , but then I hit on an idea using 'A frame' pieces.     These enabled me to create a 's

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Car Transporter Wagon Project part 3: the rebuild

This is the third blog entry about building a car transporter for my Lego train. The first attempt ended with a model that worked but was too wide and ungainly with an over-sized top deck. So, back to the building board.   The first thing I did was remove the upper deck and rebuild it. The ladders that are being used as runners for the cars slide into each other so I overlapped them by four studs. This also meant adding another layer of plates at one end to fill the difference in height betwee

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Car Transporter Wagon Project part 2: the first iteration

Yesterday I blogged about building a car transporter set that I bought with the intention of turning this rather dull blue wagon into something more interesting.     The first thing to do was take off all the bits above the base plate. The little Octan tank will come in useful somewhere.     This left a nice bare surface to start building on. For reference, this plate is 28 studs long and 6 wide. The holes in the middle are because it is also used in the model locomotive and the wires

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

Car Transporter Wagon Project part 1: Building a car transporter

At the end of my previous blog post I said I had plans for the rather boring long wagon that came in the original cargo train set (60052).     I was prompted to use it as a 'donor' base wagon for a car transporter project by this:     It was on special reduction in my local Asda. I saw it one evening and had a think about whether I wanted to buy it, then went back the next day and bought it. I think it's good value as the car transporter alone usually cost between £20 and £30.   The

Jongudmund

Jongudmund

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