The choice of choices!

So my fellow train fans, the question that haunts us all....

Do you build in 6 stud...or 8 stud?

I build in both depending on the loco im doing. I prefer 8 stud in terms of detailing, you can fit much much more. Plus the scale is better.
On the other hand, the trains become unwieldly and very expensive due to the large number of parts!

All my trains are 6 wide and your right it makes it hard to fit all the details in.
Much of my city is old skool so the vehicles are 4 wide. Now that city is running 6 wide I have been tempted to grow the trains by 2 studs but it isn't going to happen anytime soon.

ha ha, yeah im still trying to get use to 6 stud wide trucks and things. All my old 80s gear looks so small compared to todays stuff.
Still, there something about the oldies....
Id say many of them are older than a few of our members he he

I think you could easily run both widths on the same layout. There are different width trains, although mostly a standard width. But I know that the width of Sydney suburban trains is different to that of Melbourne suburban trains (or so I've been told).

oh i do...I have the Emerald Night sitting next to my 520 and they look great together. It actually helps as the Emerald is a 4-6-2 pacific class and IS much smaller in real life than my big girl, so they look awesome next to each other. Next on the list is a 621 class....6 stud, an RX class...6 stud, and i wouldnt mind doing one of our adelaide oldies the old red hen! Ugly damn things, brown and orange.....brillant colour scheme! pukebrick !! But oh well, need the room, time and $$ for that.
I wanna try my hand at a garrat aswell maybe....have to be 8 stud though

Most of my stuff to date is 6 wide. In the future I may go to 7 wide for some stuff, and I've just built a tanker wagon which because there's no 6 wide cylinders is 8 wide.

Captain Zuloo wrote:I think you could easily run both widths on the same layout. There are different width trains, although mostly a standard width. But I know that the width of Sydney suburban trains is different to that of Melbourne suburban trains (or so I've been told).

Well the Melbourne suburban network is still broad gauge as well, so it doesn't surprise me that the train widths would vary.

I Recon in some respects 6 studs is better interms of show but if its play factor then I'd have to say 8 studs as it gives you more room on the inside. Zuloo & Bodville know more about showing off lego trains then I do but I've still done it twice :

The problem with 8 wide is that although it looks better, it has to be much larger so it costs more, and most 8 wide trains don't take to LEGO standard tight radius curves too well. Being longer than 6 wide trains, they hang off in the middle of the curves. Does that make sense?

Captain Zuloo wrote:The problem with 8 wide is that although it looks better, it has to be much larger so it costs more, and most 8 wide trains don't take to LEGO standard tight radius curves too well. Being longer than 6 wide trains, they hang off in the middle of the curves. Does that make sense?

Yeah.. I see what you mean by the corner thing.. It means that for exhibitors 8 trains are alot harder to fit on a small layout because the track would need to be atleast 3-4 studs apart. Hey Zuloo remember how we have to seperate the track by 1 stud because the "Metro Liner" and the "Holiday Train" kept hitting each other

Haha, indeed. That's why we need bigger tables.

Captain Zuloo wrote:Haha, indeed. That's why we need bigger tables.

Yes but for that we need more money

Tychop wrote:Yes but for that we need more money

Tychop, welcome to the LEGO hobby.

Ahh yes money is what every good LEGO fan needs... or alternativly they just need parents with credit cards

Tychop wrote:Ahh yes money is what every good LEGO fan needs... or alternativly they just need parents with credit cards

Unfortunately being 43 I very rarely get to play with my parents credit cards anymore, and they're not much more use to me than my own :-(

I like 7 wide because its not much wider than the six wide lego standard but it allows a lot more playability and detail. It's a compromise but it has good features of both 6 & 8 wide, and avoids some of the unique troubles of each.

Do you use jumper plates to attach the bogies to the car bodies peterab?

Captain Zuloo wrote:Do you use jumper plates to attach the bogies to the car bodies peterab?

I used on of those two by three plates with a hole for my E44. if supported correctly its fairly strong, but it does come off when you try to take the bogie off. Gambort suggested technic plates with holes, but I dont have any.

I used jumper plates on the beer wagon, but it doesnt have rotating bogies so it was easier.

The bigger tables is not so hard, I've build a table for my train layout which holds 3x6 32x32 stud baseplates. The materials were selected on the basis of being cheap at my local Bunnings and cost about $30. I've just bought some more materials for a second one. Unfortunately I have to pay my credit card back

I've seen the plans for Cpt Zuloos current train display, and it could do with some more room to seperate the tracks a bit.

BTW back on topic, I'm just about to convert some of my passenger cars to 7 wide.

Agreed, it would be preferable to at least have a stud between the two lines, but like you say - space is a problem. Next year I shouldn't have such a problem though. I'll be building the layout in sections two, and I have long skinny tables wide enough for 2 lines with 8 studs between them the bridge the two main sections.

I only build in 8 stud because its more to scale and you can fit so much more detailing into it. But the corners are a problem, so I try and have only straits when I set up my track, but it doesn't really work very well.
I'm thinking about doing something in 6 studs

Or, why not try the best of both worlds and build something in 7-wide?