King’s Cross MOC

[PLAYINGWITHECHOES]

Pardon the crude photoshop of the white background but here’s something that I should get back to working on. King’s Cross MOC, modified as a modest two line thru-station. (Making a scaled model of the real end line station would be beyond my current means.)

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[PLAYINGWITHECHOES]

Exterior Shot:

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[Dan]

Really cool! I like the vendor stall on the left – nice detail. And those glass skylights are beautifully done.

[Greg Schubert]

That is a really nice train station, the roof is definitely awe-inspiring. We have some serious HP fans in the LUG who would welcome that as part of their displays.

I assembled the model below with an attempted train station behind it. I called it Kings Cross but I doubt it looks anything like the actual building, it was just an excuse to make a London bus and a flying Ford Anglia. 🙂

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[Rich Millich]

PLAYINGWITHECHOES wrote:

Exterior Shot:

I agree. Very nice architecture. I do not know how accurate this is, but, objectively, this building looks unique and comfortable for its function. I like the shaping all round.

[PLAYINGWITHECHOES]

Thanks for the kind words. Let’s just say I’ve quite a few HP sets and mocs. LOL

That’s an excellent MOC you have as well. Neat thing is there is actually station that’s darker in stone like yours which is the actual King’s Cross for trans Europe lines. It’s featured as the station facade in the beginning of the second movie while the interior station is the familiar station used for UK domestic lines. So yours fits it in the movie universe perfectly. 🙂

[PLAYINGWITHECHOES]

And if anyone is wondering, I’m currently looking into electrifying it with Lego 9v hardware. Genius or insanity?

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[Greg Schubert]

Using 9V track makes sense, but using 9V LEGO lights seem to be an unnecessary burden of both cost and convenience. If you were submitting it to a contest with strict rules that only LEGO parts could be used, it would be fine but I think experienced builders agree that many commercial products for lighting that are available are much more suitable than anything that LEGO currently produces.

[Benjamin C Good]

Yeah, I’m curious as to exactly what 9V parts you’re referring to here. If I had a 9V train controller as my power source, the only way I know how to do it is to use a converter extension cord to the Power Functions lights. Those things were awful, they don’t give off much light, and they usually didn’t last long before they started to fade. (I don’t know if the PU lights are any better.) In this scenario, you wouldn’t need to pay for batteries, but you would need to wire your lights to the train controller. Greg is right, if you’re putting your build on public display, especially at some sort of World of Lights type event, where you want a nice brightly lit interior that people can easily see into, then third party lights are the way to go, despite the cost.

[PLAYINGWITHECHOES]

Benjamin and Greg, you hit the nail on the head. I’m using vintage Lego 9v incandescent lights and wire parts so that the MOC is 100% Lego and eligible for most contests and events and doesn’t attract the disdain of brick purists. There’s also this mentality of trying to keep it to 90’s tech (if not parts given that the current steam engine wheels are new) as that’s when the Harry Potter series takes place. I even have the 75955 Hogwarts Express extended MOC running with a 9v motor and classic magnet couplers.

Fortunately, I patiently found some good deals over the past year so that it’s not the pile of gold that 9v tech can cost at times. Currently running eight lights with some wires (cheaper than plates) and as you mention, the power is from an extra train controller. Were it any other building of mine, I’d use modeltrainsoftware’s 12v LED’s like I do my wooden dollhouses. There’s way to fit them into Lego. But for this one station, it’s worth it. That bright warm glow filling up the building is something else. Good news is if I decide to release the LDD virtual model, there’s room to do this with LED’s instead. 🙂

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by PLAYINGWITHECHOES.

[PLAYINGWITHECHOES]

Latest update: Lego 9v lamps with chrome dishes and 9v wire parts in place. Looks great from the inside. Next phase is to update the exterior with architectural details. XD

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[Rich Millich]

That lighting has a very warm feel. Is heat a problem over the longer term with the 9v lights?

[PLAYINGWITHECHOES]

Thanks. So far no discernible heating issue. I figure the small bulb filiments are small enough to make it safe like vintage doll house lamps from the 1980’s: perhaps slightly warm if left on for long but not a hazard.

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