New LEGO Train Book "LEGO Eisenbahn"

[HoMa]

Hello!

I am happy to announce that my first book is now available! It's a LEGO book ... it's a LEGO train book! The book is in German and the title "LEGO Eisenbahn – Konzepte und Techniken für realistische Modelle" means "LEGO® trains – concepts and techniques for realistic models". I've received my first printed copy last week and it seems that the book is in stock at amazon.de and other online shops. The printed version has 294 pages, kindle and ebook versions are also available. Amazon.com also lists the kindle version and the paperback seems to be available from amazon marketplace shops.

I've roughly translated the Table of contents, you can find it here: http://www.holgermat...o-eisenbahn.php

And I just not did work on the book but also build a couple of trains which are featured in my book. The German Regional-Express was anounce here early this year: http://www.eurobrick...opic=119238&hl=

As counterpart for such a modern train a more complex steam engine was needed. I've choosen the BR 10 once again. My first version from the year 2000 was missing moving pistons and rods. This is what my 2016 version of this great German steam engine looks like:

Larger image over at flickr: https://www.flickr.c...157668271658135

On nearly 100 pages in the book you'll find various building instructions for various train MOCs. Due to page limitations some instructions could not be included in the book. But I am happy to offer PDF downloads of instructions for my new BR 10 and my little BR 80 on my website. Just check out the train section at: http://www.holgermat...s/en/trains.php

1000grüße

HoMa

[Captain Green Hair]

That's awesome, I'd love an English copy, but I think I can manage in German.

Your train models are awesome, thanks a lot for making instructions available on your website too!

[Redimus]

Looks cool. I may try out that 060 tank of yours.

[dr_spock]

Congrats on your first book.

[greenmtvince]

Congrats! You've done a great service to the train community!

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Congrats!

The front page looks amazing!

Lovely work!

[AFOL SF]

Hello!

I am happy to announce that my first book is now available! It's a LEGO book ... it's a LEGO train book! The book is in German and the title "LEGO Eisenbahn – Konzepte und Techniken für realistische Modelle" means "LEGO® trains – concepts and techniques for realistic models". I've received my first printed copy last week and it seems that the book is in stock at amazon.de and other online shops. The printed version has 294 pages, kindle and ebook versions are also available. Amazon.com also lists the kindle version and the paperback seems to be available from amazon marketplace shops.

I've roughly translated the Table of contents, you can find it here: http://www.holgermat...o-eisenbahn.php

And I just not did work on the book but also build a couple of trains which are featured in my book. The German Regional-Express was anounce here early this year: http://www.eurobrick...opic=119238&hl=

As counterpart for such a modern train a more complex steam engine was needed. I've choosen the BR 10 once again. My first version from the year 2000 was missing moving pistons and rods. This is what my 2016 version of this great German steam engine looks like:

Larger image over at flickr: https://www.flickr.c...157668271658135

On nearly 100 pages in the book you'll find various building instructions for various train MOCs. Due to page limitations some instructions could not be included in the book. But I am happy to offer PDF downloads of instructions for my new BR 10 and my little BR 80 on my website. Just check out the train section at: http://www.holgermat...s/en/trains.php

1000grüße

HoMa

…congratulations!… I would love to get a copy of this book… can you tell me where and how to order it?… I'm based in the US, just so you know...

[Phoxtane]

Oh, hey, I might actually be able to put my high school German classes to use!

[jono rocky]

Congratulations on your book. If you do an English version I would definitely buy it for my 11yr old son who is a Lego train freak.

[nils]

Hallo Holger,

I'm very curious about the contents.

Ordered a copy a few minutes ago.

Regards,

Nils.

[Rijkvv]

The first news about this sounded already promising, but reading the table of contents I know this is a must-buy. I would like to see it in English, but this might be a great tool to work on my German again.

[HoMa]

Thanks for all your congratulations and feedback!

Availability outside of Germany:

The book is primary targeting the German-speaking market. But I assume that you will find an online book dealer in each country which will order and ship the book to your home. I already saw it on amazon.com (kindle and paperback versions) and on ebay.de. Maybe it will be added to the "Books" category at bricklink.com?

German text but pictures, renderings and instructions are international:

Yes, the text is German. And there is a lot of text to read through. But even without knowing how to read German texts the book might be inspiring for you. From 294 pages nearly 100 pages are instructions like you know them from LEGO. They can be "read" be everybody. If there is a demand of translating the book, my publisher has to find a publisher in the US or UK who is willing to buy a licence, translate, print and distribute the English version.

1000grüße

HoMa

[Severus A]

Congratulations!

[legoboy3998]

Congratulations on your first book! And I would love to buy a copy if you ever pursue getting it published in English.

Sal

WFB WI

[Rider Raider]

I'm getting one! All aboard the hype train!

[Man with a hat]

Great! Look very interesting. I might get myself a copy.

[Asper]

I just finished reading it. Congrats to this great book!

A lot of information about the LEGO hobby and building techniques is included.

The models are really wonderful.

For me the most interesting part is following Holger designing MOCs based on real prototypes.

Great book, highly recommended!

[zephyr1934]

Looks fantastic, hope it gets translated to English at some point, for now I guess I'll just have to stumble through the German. It is up and available on Amazon in the US too, my copy should arrive within 10 days!

[James Mathis]

It is a beautiful book in both word and photographs. Alas, I can't read it. But, I certainly appreciate the hard and careful work you gave to produce such a technical guide for interested LEGO train builders.

Reading* my friend Holger Matthes' book titled "LEGO® Eisenbahn: Konzepte und Techniken für realistiche Modelle".

*by reading, I mean looking at pictures and words I vaguely struggle to remember from college semesters on the language.

I know I miss quite a lot of commentary and discussion lost in translation, while the photographs perform quite well as stand-ins for a thousand words.

Thank you, HoMa, for casting our cooperative model of the ICE-3 as a cover model and for including the building guide within the pages.

I hope his book finds the home and meets the satisfaction of many an aspiring and expert creator of model trains using the medium of LEGO® elements.

Me, co-creator with HoHa, of the white train with red stripe (caricature of the iconic German DB ICE-3) fake-reading HoMa's book of train concepts and techniques using LEGO® elements.

The entropic state of many a creation conceived, built, operated, bagged and tagged, and scrapped in the boneyard. 'Twas a starting point for a model ultimately featured in Holger Matthes' book titled "LEGO® Eisenbahn: Konzepte und Techniken für realistische Modelle".

The details of a proposed under roof hinged storage bin for minifigure suitcase.

[JopieK]

It is a nice book indeed! Problem with the Americans that they only speak one language James haha ;)

[James Mathis]

Yep. I have the one language problem. Blush.

[Rijkvv]

I've bought the book as well. It's been more than 10 years since I last read reasonable amounts of text in German, so sometimes I am a bit struggling to exactly understand what is written. But in general I get it most of the times without having to rely on Google Translate or German-Dutch dictionaries.

I don't read it constantly, so I'm not even close to finish it, but so far I'm very happy with the book. I didn't care about the explanation of standard pieces, but perhaps it can be of great use to people new to the LEGO hobby. Nice to read about the different train systems, pro's and con's of the different widths in wich you can build (I was surprised to read 7-wide is currently Holger's favourite width ), design process, detailing and last but not least building instructions to build an ICE (with three different nose ideas), an open wagon, a Swiss Crocodile electric locomotive and a passenger coach. Very generous to give us such an extended look in the kitchen.

I recommend this book to everyone who is interested in LEGO trains, experienced or not.

On a related note: this book inspired me to try to bring detailling on my own models to a higher level.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Rijkjavik

[peterab]

I speak German fairly fluently but find reading a bit more difficult particularly if the subject matter is of a technical nature. So far my skimming has convinced me I need to find time to try and read this excellent book in more depth.

Thanks to Holger for this great addition to our hobby.

[zephyr1934]

A bright day is coming for us English (non-German) speaking lego train fans. Holger's book is now available for pre-order in English.

 

[HoMa]

 Thanks for sharing this here ... The English version well not only be a translation of the original German version. I added a few more pictures and renderings and I've added a section about the latest developments in third party products.

amazon.com and amazon.de list the English version for pre-order.

Looking forward to your feedback! 

Holger