2016 Lego trains

[mapimi]

The TGV Duplex is rather spacious for the big.

Several wagon of the TGV Poste were destroyed, the others circulate.

Here is an image inside of the TGV Duplex:

Tiens, un collègue cheminot, je croyais être le seul.

Anyway, I think the HE was a decent set, also bought two, but for future set I think it would be nice to see suburban/subway trains addressed, since lego has never really made those in the train line (except if you count the city pax trains...), would be a nice change to what we usually get. We could also get smaller regional trains or early diesel models, something original that hasn't been produced yet, just my opinion

[xboxtravis7992]

Even better, it would make Lego City a more "connected theme" for example with my Oil Refinery idea, it could connect to a number of other sets such as:

The Haz-Mat Fire Truck included in the Oil Refinery could fit the garage of a Lego City Firehouse.

The rail connection and tank cars would easily connect to a standard Cargo Train set.

The railline could be expanded further to connect to an "Oil Field"set which would include an Oil Pump, a few workers, a work truck, and a few more rail tanker cars.

The Oil Refinery could have a loading dock to to connect to a tanker truck which could be included with a Lego Gas Station.

The Gas Station could fuel any Lego vehicle...

... Thus linking it to the police set when the police figures go to get gas for their cars.

In a sense, it would make the Lego City line less of a series of separate buildings, but a connected " Collect them all" layout, kind of like what Harry Potter Sets did for Hogwarts Castle back in 2001. Any train, police, firemen, car, and other city sets could be advertised working together.

[legonerd54321]

Even better, it would make Lego City a more "connected theme" for example with my Oil Refinery idea, it could connect to a number of other sets such as:

The Haz-Mat Fire Truck included in the Oil Refinery could fit the garage of a Lego City Firehouse.

The rail connection and tank cars would easily connect to a standard Cargo Train set.

The railline could be expanded further to connect to an "Oil Field"set which would include an Oil Pump, a few workers, a work truck, and a few more rail tanker cars.

The Oil Refinery could have a loading dock to to connect to a tanker truck which could be included with a Lego Gas Station.

The Gas Station could fuel any Lego vehicle...

... Thus linking it to the police set when the police figures go to get gas for their cars.

In a sense, it would make the Lego City line less of a series of separate buildings, but a connected " Collect them all" layout, kind of like what Harry Potter Sets did for Hogwarts Castle back in 2001. Any train, police, firemen, car, and other city sets could be advertised working together.

Quick, somebody send this idea to LEGO!

[ilikeboomerang1]

Even better, it would make Lego City a more "connected theme" for example with my Oil Refinery idea, it could connect to a number of other sets such as:

The Haz-Mat Fire Truck included in the Oil Refinery could fit the garage of a Lego City Firehouse.

The rail connection and tank cars would easily connect to a standard Cargo Train set.

The railline could be expanded further to connect to an "Oil Field"set which would include an Oil Pump, a few workers, a work truck, and a few more rail tanker cars.

The Oil Refinery could have a loading dock to to connect to a tanker truck which could be included with a Lego Gas Station.

The Gas Station could fuel any Lego vehicle...

... Thus linking it to the police set when the police figures go to get gas for their cars.

In a sense, it would make the Lego City line less of a series of separate buildings, but a connected " Collect them all" layout, kind of like what Harry Potter Sets did for Hogwarts Castle back in 2001. Any train, police, firemen, car, and other city sets could be advertised working together.

That sounds pretty good! And the police set is linked to the firemen set, which is linked to the pizzeria, which is linked to the medical theme by way of a sick guy, which is linked to the tow truck since the ambulance is broken down, which connects to the trains, as the tow truck needs to be sent over by the cargo train.

[Paperballpark]

If we're talking about making Lego City a more 'connected' - i.e. realistic - theme, why not have the following:

Sewage Works - There has to be somewhere for all the effluent produced in Lego City to go. Or do they just dump raw sewage directly into the nearest river?

Butcher Shop - There's a distinct lack of shops in Lego City, and whilst I can see Lego's reluctance to do a boxy supermarket, they could maybe do a range of small shops, such as a Baker, Fishmonger or Butcher. And of course, if you have a butcher, you'll need...

Abattoir - Cows go in one end, meat comes out the other. They could make a new 'meat cleaver' utensil. Moooo! Also deals with Pigs and Chickens. Maybe even the Goat element could make a comeback?

I have no idea what all this has to do with Trains, but hey, it's all good fun :)

[LegoSjaak]

If we're talking about making Lego City a more 'connected' - i.e. realistic - theme, why not have the following:

Sewage Works - There has to be somewhere for all the effluent produced in Lego City to go. Or do they just dump raw sewage directly into the nearest river?

Butcher Shop - There's a distinct lack of shops in Lego City, and whilst I can see Lego's reluctance to do a boxy supermarket, they could maybe do a range of small shops, such as a Baker, Fishmonger or Butcher. And of course, if you have a butcher, you'll need...

Abattoir - Cows go in one end, meat comes out the other. They could make a new 'meat cleaver' utensil. Moooo! Also deals with Pigs and Chickens. Maybe even the Goat element could make a comeback?

I have no idea what all this has to do with Trains, but hey, it's all good fun :)

What about a Powerplant, Gym, Officebuilding, Driving School, Healt centre / Sauna....

[xboxtravis7992]

^Powerplant needs coal. What delivers coal? Trains.

In short, if Lego Trains has to be part of Lego City, I want it to have more impact on Lego City than just being there.

Edited November 19, 2015 by xboxtravis7992

[THERIZE]

Pretty nice ideas but we are talking about something that is targed at kids. WHAT KID EVEN CARES ABOUT SEWAGE WORKS... Most want something to play with like police cars or the LEGO trains we have now. The expert ones are target at older people so I don't see a reason for LEGO to do this because if I was younger I simply wouldn't want a sewage works, butcher or abbatoir. Nice idea, but I think there wouldn't be enough interest and and it would thus be uneconomical for LEGO.

Plus a kid (I assume) would like a mixed train more like one locomotive with a few freight cars that look mostly the same.

Edited November 19, 2015 by THERIZE

[A Gallifreyan Cat]

LEGO is never going to make a slaughterhouse set. And, from the shift we've seen to renewable resources, it seems more likely that LEGO would build a solar farm set rather than a coal mine.

[xboxtravis7992]

^Although from a trains fan coal would be far more interesting. Just look at Model Railroader magazine and note how many times coal mines and power plants are mentioned...

Although I agree that Lego would be far more likely to sell an "Octan Solar Farm" than a "Octan Coal Power Plant." That's just Lego being P.C. these days. (After watching the Lego Movie though a coal plant seems more in tune with the Orwellian style of Octan in the movie)

[fred67]

The CMF butcher came with a cleaver... AND a steak.

The problem is if you want a display case with steaks, good luck finding any quantity of them at a reasonable price.

Back to trains, I would like a system that works in the city without screwing up regular traffic... like an elevated train or subway. Subway would be too hard for most people to make (well... too many bricks, anyway, to elevate your entire city to build a subway); certainly not a viable set.

A cable car would be interesting, but the modern version of one that appears in city square set is not really meant to be motorized.

An interesting idea (at least to me) would be to make 32x32 road plates with track for a tram/cable car built in.

There are always work arounds for things like that if you have the money/parts to build up every single baseplate, but it's not really practical for most people.

Edited November 19, 2015 by fred67

[dr_spock]

A slaughter house add-on set would go well with the 60051 set that has a cattle car. I don't think the new generation is all that into coal and slaughter houses. It would be great for us old guys who grew up in that era. I still remember buying live chickens and smelling coal smoke. The world has changed and so has LEGO with it. How do we drive more interest in trains with the new generation?

[xboxtravis7992]

A slaughter house add-on set would go well with the 60051 set that has a cattle car. I don't think the new generation is all that into coal and slaughter houses. It would be great for us old guys who grew up in that era. I still remember buying live chickens and smelling coal smoke. The world has changed and so has LEGO with it. How do we drive more interest in trains with the new generation?

Well first: Where else was that cow going in 60051, we don't want our kids to really think that cows are given train rides for fun now do we?

Second, the key to hooking kids to trains:

1. Shove a train based T.V. show onto their local stations while they around the ages of 3-6(example: Thomas the Tank Engine was one of my favorites as a young kid back in the late 1990's)

2. Let them visit local museums with a few real trains and a nice model railroad set-up (the museum which did it to me, the small town Tooele Valley Railroad Museum in Utah)

3. Shove a few books about different locomotives into their high school library(Jim Boyd's book Steam Locomotive was conveniently placed in my High School book shelves...)

4. Convince them to go and wait an hour next to local train tracks just to wait for UP 844 (or any other preserved steam locomotive) to roll by during its special heritage tour... And there you go, hook, line, and sinker!

(Admittedly while all these steps worked on me, I have observed that the kids 10 to 15 years younger than me are even more wild and crazy, and have lost almost all interest in the real world. My suggestion to introduce them to trains:make a popular MOD for Minecraft with a working SD-40 !!)

Anyway back to 2016 Lego trains... At this point I'm starting to think this thread is becoming our wish list page, since there have been absolutely ZERO rumors about a new train set for 2016.

Edited November 19, 2015 by xboxtravis7992

[Alletklaro]

I don´t want to demotivate, but i heard from a friend of me, that there will be NO explicite "50 Years LEGO-Trains" in 2016. He was member of the LEGO-Inside Tour 2015.

[Paperballpark]

WHAT KID EVEN CARES ABOUT SEWAGE WORKS...

LEGO is never going to make a slaughterhouse set.

Oh dear, it appears people were taking me seriously...

[Ondra]

LEGO is never going to make a slaughterhouse set. And, from the shift we've seen to renewable resources, it seems more likely that LEGO would build a solar farm set rather than a coal mine.

Im not sure about that mine,there is scheduled for 2016 in technic range bucket wheel excavator alias greatest greenpeace enemy . Edited November 20, 2015 by Ondra

[BimmerBoy]

They already had an entire Lego City Mine sub-theme a few years ago, including The Mine w/ a small ore train. Granted, gold-ish crystals were ore deemed worthy of excavation. I did wonder why they didn't try to tie in the current freight train at the time (I think the Yellow train that is similar to the current Heavy Haul train) with the Mine theme, as trains are used to move all sorts of natural resources (ore, oil, lumber, grain, etc).

Edited November 22, 2015 by BimmerBoy

[M_slug357]

I think it could be interesting if Lego committed to narrow gauge (4wide) with a dedicated straight rail?

Ooh, and maybe a singular wye ("Y") shaped switch so they wouldn't have to bother with making a left&right handed ones?

((Not sure about a cross (+) track piece since they haven't made one for PF trains (yet)))

Some possible set ideas include:

1) Friends' Party Train (with actual train this time, not a bicycle)

2) Mining cart set (not Minecraft tho)

3) Trolley Set (to go with the Creator Modulars)

4) RollerCoaster set (to go with the amusement park sets)

5) Small Industrial Set (where load is moved on rails)

6) *Something In Space* (Blacktron? IcePlanet? Mars?)

7) A working elevator/lift (for figs, cars, etc)

8) A "slingshot" device/"railgun"

9) Narrow gauge "Winter" train

...And I'm out of ideas.

Would you go for narrow gauge train items?

Especially for the more abstract ideas that I listed?

Do you gots any ideas?

[dr_spock]

LEGO has 4 wide curve tracks so it's possible to do a circle. Straight could be brick built from existing straight rail piece and plate. The hard part would be the investment to make 4 wide track switches. Perhaps someone clever can release a STL file for 3D printing them.

I'd vote for a Friend's Party Booze Train breaking the no alcohol policy.

[Interceptor]

I don´t want to demotivate, but i heard from a friend of me, that there will be NO explicite "50 Years LEGO-Trains" in 2016. He was member of the LEGO-Inside Tour 2015.

If this is true, it is a shame for LEGO. Can someone confirm there will be no Creator Expert Train in 2016 to celebrate 50 years of LEGO trains?

[paul_delahaye]

I think we can probably keep the dream alive a bit longer than the information of a friend who went on an inside tour.

OK, I've not yet committed to this inside tour, but just hearing and reading bits on this forum, if there was even just the most remote chance they would have divulged this kind of information to your friend, your friend would have had to sign a legally binding non disclosure agreement, so I personally can't see it. They would have most likely just said no, but they were never likely to tell him even if there was. I don't think the inside tour covers the new set design building, on the TV that place was more secure than Fort Knoxx, so the chance of him seeing anything that was not already known about…..slim I'd think.

But lets keep positive, maybe they will surprise us next summer?

Paul

[Alletklaro]

I think we can probably keep the dream alive a bit longer than the information of a friend who went on an inside tour.

OK, I've not yet committed to this inside tour, but just hearing and reading bits on this forum, if there was even just the most remote chance they would have divulged this kind of information to your friend, your friend would have had to sign a legally binding non disclosure agreement, so I personally can't see it. They would have most likely just said no, but they were never likely to tell him even if there was. I don't think the inside tour covers the new set design building, on the TV that place was more secure than Fort Knoxx, so the chance of him seeing anything that was not already known about…..slim I'd think.

But lets keep positive, maybe they will surprise us next summer?

Paul

Guy´s,

believe me, this was definitely the worst information he could give me, after i got his full LEGO-inside-tour report. As far as i know, all members had to sign a NDA. He just asked the guide about the 50 years LEGO-Train event/year in 2016 and the guide said, that he really knows nothing about this. No plan, no designers are working on such a theme.

I REALLY HOPE, that this is wrong and LEGO releases a Creator expert train in 2016 at least.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Alletklaro

[THERIZE]

Well, there is one nice thing about not having a special 50 years years LEGO train. WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN!!

Perhaps a nice idea for a new contest!

[Hod Carrier]

1966 was a crucial year for British Railways because it was the year that the network underwent a massive corporate rebranding. In came the rail blue livery, the double-arrow logo, the Transport typeface and the InterCity brand. Modernisation was forging ahead with new stations in a bold modernist style at places like Harlow Town and Milton Keynes together with electrification. It would be nice to see this tied-in with the 50th anniversary of LEGO trains with something appropriately British and reflecting the era. A combination of a Class 86 electric loco in BR blue with some blue and grey Mark 2 coaches and a companion Class 310 four car EMU would be ideal.

But then LEGO is all about selling units and these would only have a niche appeal, even within the UK. An InterCity 125 might have a better chance if a set was offered, but that came about ten years later so wouldn't be such a good tie-in. Whatever LEGO chooses to offer it will be either something broadly generic or internationally iconic. We've already had steam, American outline freight diesels and European high-speed trains. I fear that LEGO has already exhausted all the possibilities available to them without becoming derivative. Would a Japanese Shinkansen be a good bet? What about a Siemens Velaro, versions of which can be seen operating across Europe and in Asia too? A Metro train might be nice to see, such as the new London Underground S Stock or an American "L Train", but these would suffer from being regionally specific.

Thoughts...?

[Lego Dino 500]

If there's a NDA involved, then it certainly mean that he wouldn't know. We can't just draw conclusions on first glance. Maybe the engine will be something iconic, not to the year 1966 but to modern history. Maybe a BR class or 2-8-4 Berkshire or the Mallard, or a PRR T1 with some coaches would suffice, given their significance to railway history and how easily they're recognized.