2016 Lego trains

[Murdoch17]

The colors of the set are a bit garish even for a CP engine, but to be honest the C.P. Huntington is the only engine I have seen in real life with two driving wheels. If I get the set I might just mod the locomotive to be like that then.

I'm probably gonna get the set just to make into that type too, with my toy story 4-4-0 in red and this engine in green, with each one having matching passenger stock for use on a amusement park or a western layout a display alongside my Fort Legoredo station.

Back on topic, I don't see any buffer parts between the engine and tender, making this most likely a 4-2-4 out of the box. Consider this a definite purchase!

Edited August 6, 2016 by Murdoch17

[Paperballpark]

What happened to the topic? Did it get removed?

[CopMike]

What happened to the topic? Did it get removed?

From TLG:

[LEAK] Christmas Train

Please do not share - a press release is coming within a few days.

Let's try to limit the spread.

[PeteM]

From TLG:

AKA - is that a bolting horse I can see? Better shut this door...

Understandable I suppose, looking forward to the press release with (hopefully) a few more pictures and description.

[Paperballpark]

I could completely understand the removal of the picture and info, but the whole thread? I just don't quite see why the whole thread had to go.

[xboxtravis7992]

That explains why Brickset hasn't reported on it yet... Maybe official pictures might give me a new perspective on the set.

[M_slug357]

I could completely understand the removal of the picture and info, but the whole thread? I just don't quite see why the whole thread had to go.

Oh wow I had just left a comment on that thread a few hours ago before its removal...!

That explains why Brickset hasn't reported on it yet... Maybe official pictures might give me a new perspective on the set.

I'm not sure how seeing it from a different angle will change most people's opinions...

It's certainly not a piece of modern art.

Anyways, good set or not, I'll buy 1-2 to show support for the WV & train themes.

It's nice to see the return of red wheels, though I feel TLG missed an opportunity to make red 9v wheels...

Those pictures better be racy!

[legonerd54321]

I honestly love the look of it. It comes with 16 track, too. This was MEANT to go around a tree. The look of it fits the "going around the tree" also. It's small, it's beautiful, it's (hopefully) affordable.

[ecmo47]

I just ran past the picture of last years Christmas train give-away and it looks like a miniature version of this new offering.

[Lego Dino 500]

I could completely understand the removal of the picture and info, but the whole thread? I just don't quite see why the whole thread had to go.

That explains why Brickset hasn't reported on it yet... Maybe official pictures might give me a new perspective on the set.

Yeah. I saw the images online on /r/lego too, but I didn't want to post them cause I didn't know the rules 100% on leaked images. It's important the mods don't spread leaks, we're pretty gracious to have a relationship with Lego through the ambassador program here. They don't want to jeopardize that.

[Hod Carrier]

WARNING: What follows is a personal opinion heavily influenced by my own prejudices concerning TLG's output. Those of a nervous disposition should look away now.

It's just as I anticipated, and I'm not impressed. I decided I wouldn't hold my breath nor get excited about it, especially when the rumours started that it was a Winter Village train, and I feel justified in taking that approach.

Unlike others I don't see this as a boost for train fans or the train theme as a whole. What it is is a Christmas decoration, and an expensive one at that. Moreover, it's not a move forwards for the trains theme, a nod to the more discerning AFOL with spending power, nor even a serious attempt at attracting new people to the theme. With the exception of the folk represented here (most of whom seem to see this set as the basis for MOD or a source of parts), the majority of people who will buy this set will be those who want a Christmas train to put under the tree, and even that has a limited appeal (it's not something that often gets done here in the UK at least). I confidently predict that there will be large numbers of these sets heavily discounted in the stores shortly after 1st January 2017.

I understand that designing and creating your own MOCs is not necessarily going to be within everyone's budgets or abilities and, for these people, official sets are a good way to satisfy the need to build trains. However, given that LEGO offers almost unlimited scope for imagination and creating something truly unique, this reliance on TLG to provide decent, satisfying sets depresses me somewhat, especially when you consider the intervals between releases. I've long been an advocate for throwing the instruction sheet away and just using your imagination to come up with something good from the bricks that you have to hand, and the flowering of digital design tools takes this concept even further by providing an unlimited supply of bricks at no cost to the user together with the option to realise their designs in brick if they so choose. We don't need TLG to cater to our wishes. We can go away and create the trains and associated infrastructure for ourselves, as many here have already shown.

I appreciate that I'm espousing a purely personal view that perhaps no-one will agree with, and I support anyone who wishes to argue that I'm talking pure hokum. We're a community after all, and we can't expect everyone to sign up to any particular view. You'll all be relieved to hear that I'm putting my soapbox away now. I've had my outburst and railed against the system, and now I'm at peace with myself. I wish TLG every success with this new release, but I shall not be buying it.

Bah!! Humbug!!

[Steinkopf]

Hod Carrier I wholeheartedly agree with your view, I think those people who rely on TLG to provide trains for their collection are going to be sorely disapointed, sadly no matter how much we try LEGO Trains have been on a steady decline since the mid 1990's not that TLG have really helped to stop it. There are many factors that have led to the gradual decline, some of those are from external sources and competition such as games consoles and the like, that said TLG hasn't helped itself either with some of the most unrealistic and ridiculous designs that have no resemblence to any real train.

[Duq]

@Hod Carrier: I agree with many of your points; I don't get the train-under-the-tree thing, I'm guessing that's something American. The set is unlikely to get people into Lego trains and at the rumoured price it's expensive.

As you can see in my Flickr stream I do design and build my own trains and other models. I aquire the parts through Bricklink but also from sets. And there's the thing: I enjoy building sets following Lego's instructions, even if most of those sets are taken apart shortly after and will never be rebuilt again. And building those sets is more fun when they're well-designed...

[JopieK]

I could completely understand the removal of the picture and info, but the whole thread? I just don't quite see why the whole thread had to go.

Topic is just hidden, it will be shown as soon as there is the official TLG information about it.

@M_slug357: I think the PF wheels in the front are red, at least in that picture that we saw. They were already red in the Toy Story Train b.t.w. so I have a bunch of them laying around.

@xboxtravis7992: I also hope that the final version will be better indeed :) in case of the Claas it was the other way around I'm afraid (although I'm not a Technic expert but my wife loves Technic).

[Rijkvv]

that said TLG hasn't helped itself either with some of the most unrealistic and ridiculous designs that have no resemblence to any real train.

I partly agree with you. In general I think the quality of the regular sets is lacking. But I think the last 7 years or so we also saw some highlights: the introduction of PF after the awful RC system, the introduction of official LEGO large train wheels and sets like the Maersk and the Horizon Express.

What bothers me is that sometimes it seems to get better (or less worse) and then LEGO comes with a disappointment. We saw the end of 9V some years after the BNSF, the return of big single-piece noses after the brick-built noses of 7938 and said Horizon Express, and now we see a christmas train from which I don't see a large potential buying audience, not helped at all by the price tag, awful design or limited usability because of it's theme.

Does anybody know if the Holiday Train sold well back in the day?

[xboxtravis7992]

It's a pity Lego Trains isn't it's own dedicated theme anymore. The '90s brought many great sets for trains but the building techniques in a lot of them haven't aged well. The last three Creator Expert Trains, the Emerald Night, The Maersk Train, and The Horizon Express; where all great with wonderful build techniques(and in the EN's case the introduction of new parts) but the sporadic releases meant it wasn't a real train theme. I think this Winter Train would have been better received where it not the only train this year.

[ElectroDiva]

I understand that designing and creating your own MOCs is not necessarily going to be within everyone's budgets or abilities and, for these people, official sets are a good way to satisfy the need to build trains. However, given that LEGO offers almost unlimited scope for imagination and creating something truly unique, this reliance on TLG to provide decent, satisfying sets depresses me somewhat, especially when you consider the intervals between releases. I've long been an advocate for throwing the instruction sheet away and just using your imagination to come up with something good from the bricks that you have to hand, and the flowering of digital design tools takes this concept even further by providing an unlimited supply of bricks at no cost to the user together with the option to realise their designs in brick if they so choose. We don't need TLG to cater to our wishes. We can go away and create the trains and associated infrastructure for ourselves, as many here have already shown.

Agree with you that MOCs have far more potential than officially licensed TLG sets for displaying creativity, but most people (myself included) want to MOC/MOD with real bricks.

The problem with weak official sets (and i would put 10254 in that category based on first impressions) is twofold. Firstly, they often sell poorly and send Lego a false signal that people aren't interested in trains - hence contributing to the demise of the theme. Secondly, they often have a poor selection of parts, limiting the options people have to create their own MOCs/MODs - reducing the interest in the theme.

[Steinkopf]

Agree with you that MOCs have far more potential than officially licensed TLG sets for displaying creativity, but most people (myself included) want to MOC/MOD with real bricks.

The problem with weak official sets (and i would put 10254 in that category based on first impressions) is twofold. Firstly, they often sell poorly and send Lego a false signal that people aren't interested in trains - hence contributing to the demise of the theme. Secondly, they often have a poor selection of parts, limiting the options people have to create their own MOCs/MODs - reducing the interest in the theme.

ElectroDiva you are spot on with those comments, if people see a set that has a touch of realism to it they are more inclined to purchase it, even members of the general public who have little interest in trains are able to discern between what a real train looks like and a totally unrealistic one. A big part of the sales success of the Emerald Night and the Maersk train was that they both had strong resemblences to real life trains, sadly the Horizon Express was less of a success but that was not due to the overall build of the model and had more to do with the fact you needed two of them for a complete train, that said the Maersk and Emerald Night were not really well endowed when it came to train length.

[Sarah]

WARNING: What follows is a personal opinion heavily influenced by my own prejudices concerning TLG's output. Those of a nervous disposition should look away now.

It's just as I anticipated, and I'm not impressed. I decided I wouldn't hold my breath nor get excited about it, especially when the rumours started that it was a Winter Village train, and I feel justified in taking that approach.

Unlike others I don't see this as a boost for train fans or the train theme as a whole. What it is is a Christmas decoration, and an expensive one at that. Moreover, it's not a move forwards for the trains theme, a nod to the more discerning AFOL with spending power, nor even a serious attempt at attracting new people to the theme. With the exception of the folk represented here (most of whom seem to see this set as the basis for MOD or a source of parts), the majority of people who will buy this set will be those who want a Christmas train to put under the tree, and even that has a limited appeal (it's not something that often gets done here in the UK at least). I confidently predict that there will be large numbers of these sets heavily discounted in the stores shortly after 1st January 2017.

I have been looking for a train to put under the tree for three years now. Didn't want to pay the price for the last Lego one. Thought about buying the Lone ranger train and modifying it myself. Looking at non-LEgo trains that are in the stores on sale and sold every Christmas (Usually priced at $50-$70. But I've seen them higher). When the rumor went out this year that Lego was coming out with another one, I stopped looking and started saving up money for one. I am, in fact, thinking I need to jump on this set before it sells out. I waited too long for the last Winter Village set I was thinking about and this is a must buy for us.

[AFOLguy1970]

A couple of years ago, we bought the latest City passenger train to put around the tree. That set was great, because it had a train, track, and power functions. Once we had the batteries, we could get started. We placed the Santa minifig from the advent calendar in the driver's seat and it was waiting to greet the kids on Christmas morning---good times.

In my opinion, if the new train does not have power functions included, it will not be a problem. What would be a dealbreaker, however would be for it not to be designed to accommodate them (looking at you, Constitution). The assertions that many people would buy this with the intention of running it around the Christmas tree are valid. Most Christmas trees I see are of fairly large size. Why do I bring this up? Because if you intend to place it around the tree, it is going to be very difficult, if not impossible in many situations for a kid to push the thing by hand over the complete circumference of the track. The tree will get in the way, and in our house, so will two of the walls since our tree usually is in a corner. Such a setup is going to frustrate a kid who wants to push their new train around the tree. They will get bored with it, and then you will be left with an expensive decoration. This is why the instructions need to show how and where to place power functions in the train, even if they are sold separately. The Lego stores have begun to include power functions in their stock, so the employees would be helpful in showing potential buyers what they need. Most people, self included, are not going to want to acquire more parts to try and modify the engine and coal car to fit power functions. So basically, if we have another Constitution on our hands, then I agree with Hod Carrier that there will be a surplus of them in January.

[sunhuntin]

Does anyone think this can be modded to work on the old 9v chassis? My brother has one of those trains here somewhere, and I'm hoping to use that instead of PF, assuming the old one still works.

[dr_spock]

Does anyone think this can be modded to work on the old 9v chassis? My brother has one of those trains here somewhere, and I'm hoping to use that instead of PF, assuming the old one still works.

The engine's front bogie looked like it could be replaced with a 9V train motor.

[sunhuntin]

The engine's front bogie looked like it could be replaced with a 9V train motor.

Thanks for that. Just dug my brothers one out, and will need to put a few parts back together, and then will set it up and test it. I plugged the controller in and the light came on, so thats something at least.

[finish-last]

In 10173 I placed it in the coal cart with an extra lego weight for more traction.

I assume it's possible to do it here too.

Lego's original guide for the old train is here: http://cache.lego.com/bigdownloads/buildinginstructions/U-4086.pdf

[sunhuntin]

In 10173 I placed it in the coal cart with an extra lego weight for more traction.

I assume it's possible to do it here too.

Lego's original guide for the old train is here: http://cache.lego.co...ions/U-4086.pdf

Thanks. I will no doubt be asking a few questions when the time comes, if I get stuck. :)