Alright, so, the last part of our story is mostly aimed at model train buffs, train watchers, and railroad enthusiasts. Hopefully you still enjoyed our little excursion, though.
You don’t have to keep Lian Li's locomotive case running all the time. The knowledge that you could, if you wanted to, is good enough. Now, it's pretty clear that this is a special chassis for a special type of PC enthusiast. We covered the aspects we liked and thought could be improved upon in sufficient depth, so let's wrap this up with a video.
Regardless of whether you consider a $300+ ticket to ride on this locomotive-styled chassis (and its propulsion kit) worth the money, you have to give it up to Lian Li for getting inventive and designing something that transcends our traditional concept of PC enclosures. Going so far as to make the train run down 10 feet of track is just cool, even if we did have to help it along a bit with our own tweaks.
With a few minor exceptions, the workmanship that went into this case and its rails is very good. We specifically like the paint job, which is robust enough to weather some fun outdoors (as you witnessed). Coarse gravel, bent rails, old grease, a nasty drizzle, and the bitter cold couldn't stop Lian Li's locomotive. After a thorough cleaning, it continues to delight visitors.
Naturally, this is somewhat of an showpiece for Lian Li, which demonstrates what a skilled designer can do with aluminum. Consider the experiment a success and color me impressed.
We want to extend our thanks to the Sächsische Eisenbahnmuseum e. V. in Chemnitz, Germany and the many volunteers there keeping the exhibits in pristine condition by donating their spare time. If you’re in the area with or without kids, do visit. You won’t be disappointed. And while Germany may be too far for most readers, the translator of this article shares the author’s enthusiasm for historic steam locomotives and enjoys visiting the Travel Town Museum in Los Angeles and the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
- A Chassis That'll Start Conversations
- Packaging And Contents
- Power Supply And Wiring
- You'll Never Guess Where They Put The Optical Drive
- Mounting Our SSD
- Fun With A Fan
- Motherboard And CPU #1: Pulling Out The Stops
- Motherboard #2: Common Sense Prevails
- This Locomotive Needs Propulsion!
- Unboxing And Initial Thoughts
- Installing The Propulsion Module
- The Motor's Power Supply And Switch
- Wireless Communication
- Video And Audio Without Cables
- A Day At The Museum, Part 1
- A Day At The Museum, Part 2
- A Day At The Museum, Part 3
- Though Niche, Lian Li's PC-CK101 Is Certainly Cool

But since the PC era is coming to an end, who can blame Lian Li for having a little fun while they still can?
Taking the mobile computing theme further, and addressing the limitations on computing power, if you had a Dell Precision M6600 or 6700 laptop with a broken screen, how about mounting the components, motherboard , PSU, batteries, drives, Wifi and all? Then, there could be an i7 CPU and a Quadro 4000M, all very quiet and still getting more air than it's used to. And, appropriately, no power cord!
The idea of a serious, self- propelled workstation steam train model seems the best use possible of this fantastic enclosure idea. That the computer is itself the game is on the borderline of being art.
And congratulations to Igor Wallossek for an excellent description of something so wonderfully out of the ordinary.
Really enjoyable read, Igor! Also got to know about that Gigabyte wireless streamer, should prove useful!
Nice house btw
Great Article!
Possibly if even then yes like more go.
You both destroyed thousands of my brain cells processing that, lol.
My 4 year old son who loves Thomas the Train would have a fit over this, especially if you could get a thomas the tank version. I'll have to admit, I'd love it (and my wife) just as much watching him with it and I would have an excuse to work on computer stuff for a few hours. =D
I do see this as a possible future purchase! Great article and awesome product!
I'm using this mostly as HTPC now but I've programmed for him a special distance control and a small game to play with animals, colors etc. (like memory game). In this age he knows all basic colors (and pink
Now if you get to install a third rail and make it completely wireless, it would be absolutely amazing.