We're not going to bother with a large 3.5” hard disk. Not only do we want to avoid its noise, but Lian Li's optional motor kit also takes up the space you'd use for mechanical storage (a fact the manual fails to mention). It's only when you open the motor kit's instructions that you're told to move an SSD to the tender car instead.
We're using Corsair's 480 GB Neutron GTX, which is plenty fast and large for any usage model. Of course, if you're on a tighter budget, a 2.5" notebook hard drive would work just as well for enabling high capacity, though performance naturally suffers.
It'd be smart to use the rubber grommets for mounting a mechanical disk. They help decouple the drive's vibrations from the chassis (and, vice versa, they protect the repository from a moving locomotive). They also make it easier to get the SSD installed, too, though.
The grommets slide into place perfectly, though you'll want to attach the data and power cables before you get that far. Again, removing the bottom plate would make all of this easier, as I discovered later.
While you can certainly install a 2.5” SSD or mobile hard drive in the tender, there are no mounting points there. If you use the motor kit, you'll find that it rattles and vibrates a lot. Thus, an SSD is definitely preferable over a mechanical disk in this case.
- 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.