Jeramy's Bricks and Pieces

Monon FM H10-44 Diesel

2007-02-05T14:13:00Z

Continuing with my recreation of the Monon Roster, I finished my favorite of the the Monon Diesels, the Fairbanks-Morse H10-44. Monon only had one of these engines, #18. The hood of #18 changed throughout its time with the Monon. The original had railing attached along the side of the hood, and a completely different paint scheme. Another change of note is the number of vents located near the cab. It seems that it went from three to two at some point in its lifetime. This picture best represents...(read more)

X-J4 Quadralizer

2006-11-15T01:43:00Z

During the November IndyLUG meeting, the few members that stayed around after 5pm went up to my LEGO room to just build, something I don't think we've ever done in the past. Free Build. We did decide on a theme, and space was the foundation for our creations. It's been a while since I've built anything space, and even longer since I've built any sort of space ship. It was a fun little session, with guys running into each other trying to find pieces in my modest little build room. I present the X-J4...(read more)

Monon NW2

2006-11-10T13:02:00Z

Over the last year, I've wanted to dedicate my train building to only Indiana railroads. I started the process by ripping apart nearly ALL of my old train MOCs. The Monon Railroad is one of Indiana's most well known, but unfortunately is now a fallen flag railway (meaning it is out of business or has been absorbed by another railroad). Many of Monon main lines were transferred or torn up. The main north-south road through Indianapolis has now been turned into a public bike / walkway and named the...(read more)

The Great LEGO® Train Width Debate

2006-11-02T13:11:00Z

If were to ask a group of LEGO Train fans what the "correct" width of a LEGO train should be, you'd probably get as many answers as there were pollers. LEGO has traditionally built their models 6 studs wide ( there are a few exceptions to this however ). There have been some excellent discussions on LUGNET about what the "correct" scale should be. John Neal wote in this LUGNET post : You have 2 choices upon which to gauge your scale-- the height of the minifig or the track...(read more)

Yet Another LEGO® Tub Design

2006-10-27T12:58:00Z

Browsing some of the 2007 set pictures over at Brickshelf , I noticed yet another new tub design from LEGO. These look to be even more unstackable than the last batch of tubs with the stud patterned top. One of the advantages, however, is that some of the tubs will have clear lids, so you can see the contents, but it is unknown right now whether or not there will be a cardboard insert inside unopened sets, making it impossible to view the contents at retail stores. It will also usher in the return...(read more)

Halloween -- LEGO Style

2006-10-22T13:25:00Z

When you think of Halloween, you think of scaring people. What better way to scare people than to show them how obsessed you are about a toy? This was actually mostly Chris's (my wife) idea, I just supplied the reference material. We spent all day Saturday (an excess of 8 hours) making these costumes from scratch. It only cost us $30.00 for both because I had lots of cardboard already. As some of you may know, Chris is a little competetive at times, and well, there was this costume contest that...(read more)

Clear baseplates coming in 2007?

2006-10-20T21:11:00Z

Some of you may have heard of the fabled XL clear baseplate. Rumor tells, that one of our members may even be in possession of such a rare item. Although we may not be getting the XL version, preliminary photographs are indicating that we may be getting a 16x16 clear baseplate in the new LEGO Mosaic sets. Click on the picture for your analysis. See how the yellow bleeds through the baseplate and the white seems to be slightly different? If I get any "official" word, I'll post it here...(read more)

Jamie Berard's "Stressing the Elements" Brickfest Presentation

2006-10-19T08:57:00Z

For those that may have missed this posting on LUGNET, Jamie Berard, an AFOL and set designer at LEGO, gave a very interesting presentation at Brickfest 2006 about what considerations designers must take into account when creating models that will go into production. I found it very useful in my building considerations as well.

If you have Microsoft Powerpoint, you can download the presentation from LEGO here.

I've also created an Acrobat .pdf version for those without Powerpoint here.

Unreleased Parts

2006-10-17T18:57:00Z

Today, I'd like to show you some pictures that I've been collecting for a while. All of the parts shown are actual LEGO parts, but never saw the light of release for reasons unknown to me, but of which I will speculate.

First up:

The Unreleased Monorail Cross Track or "X" Track

I found this patent while searching the LEGO Patents one day. I was doing this because I saw this really neat framing of the original LEGO Patent being sold on Ebay, and I knew that searching and viewing patents was free, of course. Anyway, I've not seen an actual proptype of this part and assume that it was scrapped before it could even be fully realized. LEGO scrapped the Monorail series after only 5 sets, two of which were merely track add-on packs. I've heard many rumors as to why LEGO scrapped the line and assume it had a lot to do with outsourcing the motor parts. As you can see in the picture, the cross track had an automatic switching mechanism similar to the Right and Left switch points that were produced for the line.

Unreleased Technic Lift Arms

I don't remember where I got these images from, but they are from a few years back. I'm not much of a Technic builder, so I'm not sure how useful these pieces would have been if released. I do like the 2x4 Technic brick, however.

The 8x8 Lattice Plate, but Without the Middle 2x2 Plate

I found this one while browsing Brickshelf and am not sure of its origins. It doesn't appear to serve much usefulness aside from allowing you to stack it onto a stack of 2x2 bricks.

My favorite unreleased part:

The Skeletal Horse

This is by far the coolest unreleased part of this series, and the reason that I saved it until last. I've heard that this may have been a figure for one of the Harry Potter sets, but I am not that familiar with the series outside of the movies. It is said that some prototype pieces are cast in clear plastic so that all of the inner workings can be tested. Other prototype pieces that do not have inner connections are cast in red plastic, and such pieces have become expensive, rare collector's items, such as the red ghost shroud that has been seen for sale on Bricklink for $25,000.00. (image found on Brickshelf)