Here are some photos of my TGV I have been building, inspired by James Mathis' version and my recent acquisition of a large quantity of orange bricks. Apologies for the poor quality but they were taken from my camcorder (I really need a digital camera), and the first one is from 4 frames stitched together, a long shot that fits the whole thing in one frame is way too fuzzy.
Here are the 4 originals that were sticthed together.
My TGV has zero clearance joints between all the coaches and locomotives. So they are tightly coupled when travelling along straight track. This is achieved with spring-loaded magnetic couplings and in the case of the shared bogie, a floating mount. These features allow the TGV to negotiate the tightest curves and still climb inclines. Also the springs are strong enough that only one motor is required, you don't need to have another motor pushing from the back to stop the joints pulling apart. It is also very simple to assemble the train on the track.
Notice the use of the windscreen elements from #4564.
A door is suggested by bricks mounted vertically and it gives a chance to run the white stripe down the door just like on the real thing.
A view of the joint between the two centre coaches when bent to maximum.
The coaches have a 2x2 plate with Technic connector that "floats" on the shared bogie. It's that simple.
This is the coupling used on all the coaches. The most important element is the spring-loaded piece from set #4559. Notice also that the coupling is mounted back half a stud. The magnet is allowed to swing on an arm for negotiating curves.
Here is the coupling mounted at the shared bogie end of a coach.
Unlike the joint between the shared bogie coaches, the joint between a locomotive and a coach can undergo severe dislocation. To accomodate this, the sides use thin walls to allow greater movement of the magnet arms.
