Lego needs more monorail

[richthelegodude]

After finally getting the monorail sets in my adult life, I wish there was more sets to be had. Lego really needs to do more system sets than the usual airports without runways and fire/police stations. Even the non-licensed advent calender is themed around cops and robbers. Being an old carmudgeon, I do not class ninjago or chima as existing. Never been a fan of Star Wars, but loved the Space theme back in the day.

Does anyone think LEGO City 60098 Metro MDP will be a monorail?

(referring to this: http://www.groovebri...e-sea-monorail/ )

Edited April 6, 2015 by richthelegodude

[allanp]

i think the upcoming Jurassic park sets could have been a good opportunity to bring back monorail.

[dr_spock]

We have already done a long speculation of what MDP might be in the 2015 LEGO Train thread -> http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=98350&st=125

[andythenorth]

Have a look on Google Earth, see if they've dug up the car park at Lego (the monorail moulds are allegedly buried there).

[cgarison]

I would venture a guess that the parking lot is rather safe and the Lego monorail as we knew it from the late 1980's and early 1990's will never again exist. Essentially, metal gears motivating cars on plastic tracks just was not a great idea when you look at toy longevitiy.

That being said, I would suggest that if you want a monorail for your layout, feel free to build one of the many styles of brick built monorail that is around us currently. One of the LUGs that I belong to has a hanging monorail as a major feature in our current layout in addition to having a copy of the Masao Hidaka monorail ready to integrate into the layout when the need for a new attraction arrises. Joe Meno has an very well documeted article in the June 2013 issue of Brick Journal which he documents the different types of monorail so you can look at the options available for building this flavor of train. And the style of train on the 60097 City Square will look quite nice as a futuristic on a monorail running around a Lego town layout.

Edited April 6, 2015 by cgarison

[Lego Dino 500]

That is pretty true. Maybe we could have some sort of friction based mechanism, using tired wheels on a smooth track? You could also use 1/2x3 stud pulley wheels with tires on the side of a single rail. There are plenty of other possible solutions.

[elleana]

After finally getting the monorail sets in my adult life, I wish there was more sets to be had. Lego really needs to do more system sets than the usual airports without runways and fire/police stations. Even the non-licensed advent calender is themed around cops and robbers. Being an old carmudgeon, I do not class ninjago or chima as existing. Never been a fan of Star Wars, but loved the Space theme back in the day.

Does anyone think LEGO City 60098 Metro MDP will be a monorail?

(referring to this: http://www.groovebri...e-sea-monorail/ )

Isn't 60098 the heavy haul train???

[cgarison]

Isn't 60098 the heavy haul train???

I think there has been some confusion between the sets because the new 60097 City Square comes with an urban, European styled trolly type train. When news of the sets first leaked back in December, the 60098 Heavy Haul train was called the "Metro MPD" which caused a tremendous amount of speculation as to the type of train it could be, but it looks like that name was in error.

[richthelegodude]

Thanks for the information cgarison - it is much appreciated.

That said, all of my monorail sets (6990,6399,6991) still work fine and none of them was spring chickens even when I got them. For a professional/show type layout I could see the monorail system being problematic, but as a toy, part of a hobbyist layout or something built up on occasions, I think they will long outlive me!

@Andy: If the moulds really are under the car park, there should be an Atari 2600 ET styled excavation for them .

[9v system]

I wonder if the micro motor mold Is under the car park as well

[Brickthus]

If you would like to try a monorail that facilitates all the functions of the previous monorail system, plus:

- Track made from basic pieces with no obsolescence.

- Multiple curve radii (4 tested successfully).

- Straights of up to 64M.

- Crossovers and Complex junctions of up to 8 switch points driven from a single servo motor.

- Right-angle crossing.

- Hills of 5 or 10 bricks high, or as much as you like.

- Helical tracks.

- Colour scheme to suit any townscape or space faction.

- Trains with full Power Functions speed control.

- Trains at up to 0.95m/s (81mph scale speed for 8-wide train).

Then here's a good place to start!

Mark

[tedbeard]

A good summary of what fans have been working on is available from 2012:

Monorails!

by Joe Meno, BrickJournal

For the past year, I have been working on what is now called the Monorail Project. Kinda neat name with the idea of bringing in LEGO monorails back, with a twist. Instead of bringing back the old classic monorail, the Monorail Project is about creating a new system using off-the-shelf parts.

Continue reading >>

[Phoxtane]

I figure there's nothing like a genuine, bonafide, electrified six-car monorail (What'd I say?). On the other hand, it'd be bound to be more expensive and less popular than Trains already is, and we all know that Trains isn't the most popular Lego theme...

[splatman]

ME Models should be able to take on Monorail as soon as they are done setting up production for their train tracks.

[zephyr1934]

Well, there's a great monorail idea in the 4.5v idea book from 1971 (see p94 in case the photo link breaks)

[Mestari]

What a great idea those books were!

Funny, there are some restrictions now on Peeron so I couldn't see all the pages and saw the monorail idea as a thumbnail only :P

[Breakdown]

Have a look on Google Earth, see if they've dug up the car park at Lego (the monorail moulds are allegedly buried there).

I look forward to participating in some made for TV monorail dig "a la - Atari ET dig" around 20-25 years from now.

We'll either prove that it's lego myth or reality then.

Can't wait!!

[Duq]

I guess I'm the only AFOL who couldn't care less about monorail...

[Silly_donkey]

The monorail is sorta legendary, to me at least. Never got one but always wanted one. I would welcome monorails back!

[dr_spock]

I missed all the monorail stuff during my Dark Ages. The closest I got was a train MOC that looks kinda like the airport monorail train.

Stadler GTW 2/6 by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

[peterab]

I guess I'm the only AFOL who couldn't care less about monorail...

I kinda regret not buy a space monorail and the expansion pack at retail when I had the chance but only because I'm a completest. Otherwise I'm not really too fussed about them.

[lightningtiger]

I guess I'm the only AFOL who couldn't care less about monorail...

Make that two AFOL's who don't really care about monorails......seriously we have one left in Oz I think on the Gold Coast so I would prefer more diesel and steam trains.

[Breakdown]

I think that not caring about lego monorail system is pretty common sense. While there are some neat features, it's effectively a small poor-man's train (regardless of the simple fact that they are currently more expensive than trains) in terms of functionality.

In the automotive world in 1989-1990 Pontiac teamed up with McLaren and produced a limited edition Turbo Intercooled Grand Prix, it was a car that to the best of my knowledge had 3 options that could be toggled. Most people would say that for the money just get a Firebird, but the car is a curiousity, and a unique one at that.

So . . . in a world of endless train sets, HO trains, Thomas the tank engine wooden tracks, and Christmas tree trains and everything else . . . . Lego creates a monorail.

Lego with its Space themes, signalling the future, lego with it's sets that portray the cities of the future.

Look at the image above. Is that not the Firetruck of the future as portrayed as of 1990.

In 1993, they have a police set (6398) that has a helicopter of the future.

You could only invoke so much feeling of vehicles of the future by designing trains like the high-speed 7745 rocket passenger train. So they made a monorail.

The sets have appeal because of their relative scarceness because of the high prices, and were limited to 3 sets and 2 expansion packs. I've ignored them for long enough, so I'm starting to get in, I've made three monorail-related purchases now, and have nothing to show for them as all of my parts are in my out-of-country warehouse.

Perhaps it's just the childhood curiousity and nostalgia talking, but the 12V stuff just simply blows everything of today out of the water except for two things:

1.) The sets look lame with the middle rail.

2.) The trains don't look as good as today's do at all.

The functions, functionality and peripherals are just so much superior in these sets.