Modern Motor Appliances in Vintage TRAIN Models

[CCB_18]

Hi folks! I'm wondering if anyone here can help me with a problem I'll be facing in the near future.
I'm planning on buying, from BrickLink, LEGO Trains Set 7760- Diesel Shunter Locomotive (http://www.bricklink.com/browseList.asp ... String=124" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), but I'm planning on inserting LEGO Power Functions Remote Control to it.
I wrote to the corporation asking it it was possible and they wrote by return email; "Adding Power Functions to any LEGO train is possible but unfortunately, we do not have building instructions on how to install the remote control for the Diesel Shunter Locomotive.

We can recommend checking out LEGO fan websites or any LEGO Power Functions websites in order to find building instructions on how to install Power Functions on older trains such as this one."

I'm hoping somebody here can do that and if they have such instructions for the task, I'd be happy if they placed a copy in this topic, so as to help anyone else who may have this ponder...

[ShaydDeGrai]

I know this isn't exactly what you asked, but thinking outside the box for a moment, you might consider the fact that toy train motors can push as well as pull. Squeezing a XL motor and IR receiver into the actual locomotive model might be a bit of a pain and/or require reshaping something.

I'm partial to steam engines myself and, in a 6-wide locomotive, that doesn't leave a lot of room for extra internals, so when I want to power a train that doesn't have an engine that was designed to accommodate the bulky PF parts and cables, I power the rolling stock instead. In my case, I have a couple coal tenders with IR bricks and a large motors discretely hidden inside that I can stick in as the second car any train line-up and get the illusion that the locomotive is pulling the train (when in reality it's being pushed by the tender and the rest of the train is getting pulled along behind the tender).

Now in a diesel, obviously you don't need a coal car but you could probably build or modify some other piece of rolling stock to serve the same purpose. Just motorize one car and put it right behind the locomotive and leave the locomotive design intact. If you need some inspiration about custom rolling stock check out http://railbricks.com/ All their back issues are available for download as PDFs and extra building instructions are available on the website.

[Neo]

Hi folks! I'm wondering if anyone here can help me with a problem I'll be facing in the near future.
I'm planning on buying, from BrickLink, LEGO Trains Set 7760- Diesel Shunter Locomotive (http://www.bricklink.com/browseList.asp ... String=124" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), but I'm planning on inserting LEGO Power Functions Remote Control to it.
I wrote to the corporation asking it it was possible and they wrote by return email; "Adding Power Functions to any LEGO train is possible but unfortunately, we do not have building instructions on how to install the remote control for the Diesel Shunter Locomotive.

We can recommend checking out LEGO fan websites or any LEGO Power Functions websites in order to find building instructions on how to install Power Functions on older trains such as this one."

I'm hoping somebody here can do that and if they have such instructions for the task, I'd be happy if they placed a copy in this topic, so as to help anyone else who may have this ponder...

Lego Diesel Shunter Locomotive Train 7760 is a smaller version of the Lego City Red Cargo Train 3677. The main problem is the coloring scheme since the PF elements are gray and the Lego Train 7760 is blue. The PF AA/Li-ion battery pack and the remote IR receiver is 4 studs wide and have a gray coloring scheme. The City Red Cargo Train 3677 has its battery pack up front which is only 4 studs wide (the IR receiver is hidden in the Red Cargo Train 3677 pilot's cabin- rear section which is six studs wide ). Lego City Red Cargo Train 3677 gets around the color scheme and width limitation problem for the battery box location by providing a special *red* AAA battery box holder to replace the standard *gray* battery box holder. So the question is whether there is a special *blue* version of this battery box ( part 4639355, design id 97920, brick link # 87515) that you could use with a Lego Train 7760? Sadly the answer is no. The AAA battery box only comes in gray, red, and black. No blue. You might be able to make a custom blue AAA battery box using a 3D printer but I am going to guess that you do not have that kind of expertise and resources at your disposal. Nix that ideal. Technically it would be easier to make a train like the Lego Train 7760 in gray from scratch if the battery pack and the IR controller are integrated into the Locomotive. However, if you want to build a Lego Train 7760 from a kit AND you prefer to modify it as little as possible SO the train 7760 looks as close to the way Lego originally designed it AND you don't want to create custom parts for it (via 3D printer) THEN I suggest that ONLY the PF train motor be integrated onto the Lego Train 7760 Diesel Shunter Locomotive engine with its PF power cable be extended out from the rear. The extended PF power cable can then be attached to another separate railroad car (connected directly behind it) which has the PF IR receiver and AAA/Li-ion battery pack.

HTH

Walter

[dr_spock]

Over at Eurobricks.com. Brick Pirate built a small shunter about the same size as 7760. That may give you some ideas: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.p ... opic=81312" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's probably possible to make blue stickers to cover the battery box.