2016 Lego trains

[ProducePrincess]

Photo of the new friends roller coaster on the bottom of the page. We'll take what we can get I guess

http://brickset.com/...g-are-imminent!

Edited January 26, 2016 by Black Rabbit

[cloud]

I'm excited about this roller coaster myself. Not because it is a friends set, but because the track is 4 stud spacing, not 6, so a narrow gauge track is again in a current set.

This will be the first narrow gauge train set that is a complete loop. The alien mothership is a complete loop, but hardly a train set.

I can only hope, but I do hope that there will be some nicely modeled narrow gauge engines/sets in the future.

Now we just need some switches.

[dr_spock]

Nice to see they are using those straight slope tracks again. They were used before in Indiana Jones Temple of Doom and Batman Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape. Now if they would make some straight flat ones.

[THERIZE]

I LOVE the friends roller coaster!! Finally again curved track pieces.

Edited January 27, 2016 by THERIZE

[Hod Carrier]

This is hardly good news. Green is not going to be a good track colour.

But then neither was black. I guess us narrow gauge/4-wide nuts are going to have to continue to make the best of what we can lay our hands on or compete over the dwindling stocks of grey curved pieces.

[jonwil]

I believe (from what I have read) its some shade of Azure or something and the lighting just makes it look green.

In any case we have the slope piece in dk bley and this new color and the curve piece in dk bley, black and this new color.

[Hod Carrier]

Azure or green, it doesn't make any difference. It's still the wrong colour. As for the dark bley; yes these pieces exist, but they are rare and therefore expensive.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Hod Carrier

[Rail Co]

Just remember Lego started out with blue train track which wasn't actually used in real life. I'm sure this will be a great set to re-sell the track pieces as they will probably be unique to the set.

Think on the upside people!

-RailCo

[nesquik]

How would you guys feel about a Creator Christmas train this year?...

[peter_m]

How would you guys feel about a Creator Christmas train this year?...

Do you have any rumours? :>

[Lego Dino 500]

Do you have any rumours? :>

Right now I'm salivating and shaking like a heroin Lego addict...

[M_slug357]

On the bright side, I've managed to go almost 6 months without spending money on Legos;

Although i wish TLG would hurry up with the next train set(s) before I...

[Hod Carrier]

Just remember Lego started out with blue train track which wasn't actually used in real life. I'm sure this will be a great set to re-sell the track pieces as they will probably be unique to the set.

Yes I remember. But at least it was all blue, unlike 4-wide track where straights have to be constructed from bley pieces. If the track was all one colour or another it would be fine, but sadly it's not.

I'm not so worried about realism, but I'd like to see a unified track system suitable for narrow gauge or 4-wide models. But sadly LEGO don't see these pieces as being part of a railway system.

[nesquik]

Do you have any rumours? :>

Right now I'm salivating and shaking like a heroin Lego addict...

I don't think that type of reference is necessary...

BOT, Normally I wouldn't give away Exclusive details, but I believe the train community deserves some good news for a change.

It's all but confirmed that there will be a Christmas train in Q4. It features lots and lots of presents/gifts and some minifigures. From what I could tell it's not a re-release of the 'previous' Christmas train, but that's all I know for now.

Please take this with a grain of salt, as plans can (and do) easily change throughout the year.

[xboxtravis7992]

Christmas train rumors. Excellent :)

[peter_m]

BOT, Normally I wouldn't give away Exclusive details, but I believe the train community deserves some good news for a change.

It's all but confirmed that there will be a Christmas train in Q4. It features lots and lots of presents/gifts and some minifigures. From what I could tell it's not a re-release of the 'previous' Christmas train, but that's all I know for now.

Please take this with a grain of salt, as plans can (and do) easily change throughout the year.

That's very good news, indeed! Thank you nesquik!

[THERIZE]

Finally some good news.

[PeteM]

At last, a solid rumour! ;-)

I've not really taken to any of the City trains since 7938 so, in the continued absence of a detailed set in the Creator Expert line, I'll take whatever I can get!

Noting that train sets are now sadly a niche audience (relative to other Lego themes), this being on the books could be why we didn't get an Expert set, in order to avoid 'flooding' a limited market... If it's true... :)

[AlmightyArjen]

TLG is almost spoiling us:

2013: 1 expert train

2014: 2 city trains

2015: 1 city train

2016: again an expert train?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love the idea of a new expert train but giving this trend, it seems like TLG is following a different route by putting more trains regularly on the market?

[1974]

There was X-mas train last year Unless it runs on regular tracks and is 6w/can be PF'ed I see no point in this rumour

[nesquik]

I've followed this thread for some time, and there does seem to be a common belief that LEGO trains themselves don't sell well, or not enough to warrant an additional Exclusive release. This simply isn't true. If the company does have a problem - and I know this first hand - it largely comes down to merchandising.

City trains are incredibly popular around the holiday seasons; these are the times when children have saved up enough money to get one, their parents are kind enough to purchase one as a treat, or the parents have a responsibility to purchase "the first train set". Regardless what the motivation is, they are important products for many families and open a whole new level of expandability within City. More so than any other model, there is also the legacy factor - a parent had a train set when they were younger, and now they want their child to have one. Also, the product is complete with everything you need to get going (important for Christmas day!). What's not to like?

Then, you have Exclusive (or Creator Expert) trains, which are sold in a product line that continues to be ambiguous for many fans. We take it for granted now that these models are gauged in difficulty by having an 'Expert' label, but it was not so long ago that these products had very little visual impact on a store shelf.

Even so, the models continue to appear in different scales to one-another and the pricing is mostly higher-end for a variety of reasons.

If this isn't confusing enough, the customer then discovers that the train requires a motor, battery box, I.R receiver and controller on top of the model itself, which takes the price up considerably.

So this is when merchandising becomes very important; if the product can be appreciated for either play or display purposes, you broaden your audience dramatically. But it's not so easy when components many fans expect for compatibility are missing...

It's a huge hurdle, but the lack of Exclusive train releases does not mean that the company is abandoning this sub-theme. Rather, timing is absolutely crucial. Three City trains have been released in almost two years to appeal to different markets, so customers are already spoilt for choice.

All I can suggest is, try to relax and keep in mind that the company is well aware of its train hobbyists. The past three years in particular have seen unprecedented growth, and it's only natural that the Exclusive line-up has been experimented with

Edited January 29, 2016 by nesquik

[ncx]

I've followed this thread for some time, and there does seem to be a common belief that LEGO trains themselves don't sell well, or not enough to warrant an additional Exclusive release. This simply isn't true. If the company does have a problem - and I know this first hand - it largely comes down to merchandising.

City trains are incredibly popular around the holiday seasons; these are the times when children have saved up enough money to get one, their parents are kind enough to purchase one as a treat, or the parents have a responsibility to purchase "the first train set". Regardless what the motivation is, they are important products for many families and open a whole new level of expandability within City. More so than any other model, there is also the legacy factor - a parent had a train set when they were younger, and now they want their child to have one. Also, the product is complete with everything you need to get going (important for Christmas day!). What's not to like?

Then, you have Exclusive (or Creator Expert) trains, which are sold in a product line that continues to be ambiguous for many fans. We take it for granted now that these models are gauged in difficulty by having an 'Expert' label, but it was not so long ago that these products had very little visual impact on a store shelf.

Even so, the models continue to appear in different scales to one-another and the pricing is mostly higher-end for a variety of reasons.

If this isn't confusing enough, the customer then discovers that the train requires a motor, battery box, I.R receiver and controller on top of the model itself, which takes the price up considerably.

So this is when merchandising becomes very important; if the product can be appreciated for either play or display purposes, you broaden your audience dramatically. But it's not so easy when components many fans expect for compatibility are missing...

It's a huge hurdle, but the lack of Exclusive train releases does not mean that the company is abandoning this sub-theme. Rather, timing is absolutely crucial. Three City trains have been released in almost two years to appeal to different markets, so customers are already spoilt for choice.

All I can suggest is, try to relax and keep in mind that the company is well aware of its train hobbyists. The past three years in particular have seen unprecedented growth, and it's only natural that the Exclusive line-up has been experimented with

I think the release of the Emerald Knight helped spark more interest into the train theme because many fans saw what was possible with with a few new elements and technic pieces. thanks to that design i was able to build my first steam loco moc. I hope TLG sees the interest that Emerald Knight has even for a re-release, but hopefully not a re-release of the same set but rather fit into the holiday theme as you mentioned but still be a functional steam engine. I am very excited by the Holiday Train news to see what it will look like, guess we'll find out in the fall (if they plan to still release it, as you said, plans do change which is why no major announcements until closer to release)

Keep up the great work and look forward to the future of LEGO trains.

[lostdriveway]

A Christmas train would definately be a cool addition seeing as the last one was just before I got back into LEGO. I'd be happy for either a Steamer or a Diesel loco - but would prefer Steam, with a Passenger car and Flatbed.

Eek exciting times ahead!

[THERIZE]

I think a diesel locomotive would be nice:

I think an ALCO PA would look good. My combination would be: ALCO PA+passenger car+Open wagon with gifts+caboose.

Edited January 30, 2016 by THERIZE

[pirzyk]

I think a diesel locomotive would be nice:

I think an ALCO PA would look good. My combination would be: ALCO PA+passenger car+Open wagon with gifts+caboose.

Woundn't this be too close to a re-release of the Santa Fe Super Chief?

On the rumor, a Christmas train implies to me a steam engine and I would be thrilled. While I am mostly a diesel guy, I also have the EN as my first post Dark Age set and would like to dabble more in steam.