2018 Lego Trains

[Stefaneris]

@Bricked1980 They are the same but unfortunately without the glass. However it's nice to see this trend with adding train parts to regular sets continuing. Maybe TLG doesn't forget us but knows that people buy sets just for parts.

[Toxic43]

You get two right doors and one left, all with glass in set 60154.

[Bricked1980]

There is also a white version of that door in the new Caravan and Truck set 60182 https://brickset.com/sets/60182-1/Pickup-Caravan

It's a real wasted opportunity that these doors aren't included with the new summer train releases. Surely having opening doors on the trains would have given more playability for kids.

[legotownlinz]

I don't understand the obsession with doors, I've never played with doors, neighter as a kid nor as an adult. Passengers enter Lego trains through the roof. 

 

[ColletArrow]

1 hour ago, legotownlinz said:

I don't understand the obsession with doors, I've never played with doors, neighter as a kid nor as an adult. Passengers enter Lego trains through the roof. 

Very true! However, I think models look and feel better if there's a clearly defined entry/exit point to a train; see 7938 and 60051, the last 2 passenger trains, for example. Without them, the carriages look odd. Having opening doors is also quite useful for posability as well I suppose. On the other hand, I prefer brick-building mine (I've never owned any proper doors anyway!). Using normal parts allows one to create them at whatever size/shape/colour etc is needed, and I can just leave one off if I want to represent it as 'open' with a minifig hanging out.

[Carefree_Dude]

Lego trains don't need doors. The obvious point of entry is the top; a crane or other device removes it from the carriage,  passengers use ladders to climb in, and then the top is placed back down. This greatly adds to the security of the train. 

[ElectroDiva]

I wish real world trains would use roof cranes and ladders to get passengers in and out.

 

I for one am sick and tired of using train doors. It just seems so mundane by comparison.

[legotownlinz]

Train doors (of real world trains) have evolved a lot during the last decades. There's neither a step nor a big gap between the train body and the doors, thus doors are no longer characteristic elements of trains. They are barely visible. Actually they are so invisible that they are sometimes highlighted with an orange border so that visually impaired people find them easier. In addition, there are no swing doors anymore. The brick built doors of the Horizon Express (aka TGV Sud-Est) are nice, but not accurate, they should be sliding doors.

Edited March 18, 2018 by legotownlinz

[legobanker]

I saw a couple of videos on YouTube that were leaked photos. I am going to buy at least one of each train themed set this year!  I can't wait :-)

[*thomas*]

11 hours ago, legotownlinz said:

Train doors (of real world trains) have evolved a lot during the last decades. There's neither a step nor a big gap between the train body and the doors, thus doors are no longer characteristic elements of trains. They are barely visible.  The brick built doors of the Horizon Express (aka TGV Sud-Est) are nice, but not accurate, they should be sliding doors.

Modern trains do have less visible doors and I do not mind the adsence of them in a LEGO model, but, that is as an AFOL. For the kids, the addition of doors adds a lot of play-value...

[Kalahari134]

Doors in this country must be of a contrasting colour to the rest of the bodywork. Swing doors are still in use in many places. A sliding plug mechanism wouldn't be impossible though.

[JopieK]

You are quite right Bricked1980! They are indeed the same! I did not notice that before. For me a 'hang' to train doors is just a sentimental one: the gray era trains often had such a doors. I also like alternative doors including those of the Emerald Night cars.

[Bricked1980]

On 3/16/2018 at 9:07 PM, ColletArrow said:

Very true! However, I think models look and feel better if there's a clearly defined entry/exit point to a train; see 7938 and 60051, the last 2 passenger trains, for example. Without them, the carriages look odd. Having opening doors is also quite useful for posability as well I suppose.

I agree with you. The old Lego doors might not be accurate to modern trains but I don't think that matters too much as there are lots of things about Lego trains that aren't accurate to real life either. Sliding train doors would be difficult to rec-create with Lego anyway.

I remember growing up in the 80's seeing images like these in catalogues really used to capture my imagination...

Spoiler

I really used to love posing my minifigs in similar ways and making it look as if they were leaning out of the doors. This was one of the big advantages I used to feel that lego trains had over Hornby and other oo gauge train sets.

So I think even if the doors are not realistic, it still adds to the playability factor and makes the trains look that bit better in my opinion.

[Carefree_Dude]

Is it bad that I'm mostly interested in the new trains to try out the new power functions and see what kind of cool creations I could make with them? 

I'm not really interested in the new train sets themselves. 

[3797]

2 hours ago, Goldenmasamune said:

Is it bad that I'm mostly interested in the new trains to try out the new power functions and see what kind of cool creations I could make with them? 

I'm not really interested in the new train sets themselves. 

Same. I really want to try out the new PF system but I don't want to buy those sets. I do not like what I have seen in the leaked images and I feel that if I was to buy those trains, then they could think that people are actually happy with those designs. I still think that trains without proper doors and windows are a massive fail. To me the waggons of the passanger train are boring boxes on wheels with zero play value and no interesting pieces that I could use for MOCs or sell on eBay.

[Bricked1980]

Overall I think the new summer trains look pretty nice. As I have mentioned already I would have liked them to include doors but that's only a minor complaint.

My main issue is with the new passenger set. Although I think it looks pretty good, I wish it came with a rear loco instead of a single engine and 2 carriages. I don't want to have to buy 2 copies of the same set just to be able to make up a complete train.

Having said this I do quite like the look of the new sets. I'm looking forward to seeing the interior of the new carriages. Hope they are a bit more detailed than the ones in the last passenger train.

[Carefree_Dude]

33 minutes ago, Bricked1980 said:

Overall I think the new summer trains look pretty nice. As I have mentioned already I would have liked them to include doors but that's only a minor complaint.

My main issue is with the new passenger set. Although I think it looks pretty good, I wish it came with a rear loco instead of a single engine and 2 carriages. I don't want to have to buy 2 copies of the same set just to be able to make up a complete train.

Having said this I do quite like the look of the new sets. I'm looking forward to seeing the interior of the new carriages. Hope they are a bit more detailed than the ones in the last passenger train.

I disagree with you here. I'd rather have one "end" and two carriages. This makes it much easier to have a longer train. 

[legotownlinz]

33 minutes ago, Goldenmasamune said:

I disagree with you here. I'd rather have one "end" and two carriages. This makes it much easier to have a longer train. 

Me too. But for children two end cars might be better as it is unlikely they get two sets. A coach sold separately would be the ideal solution.

My favorite is the passenger train and I think it will look better than on the leaked images when stickers are applied. The stickers are missing on the leaked images.

[dr_spock]

Even back in the good old days of train doors, you still had to open the roof to move your minifigs into and out of their seats. 

 

It's double VIP points here in North America, get more PF stuff now or hold off and see what the new BT PF has in store?

 

 

 

 

[Capparezza]

5 hours ago, dr_spock said:

It's double VIP points here in North America, get more PF stuff now or hold off and see what the new BT PF has in store?

Depends on your preferences and use case. If you're happy with PF as it is now, go and get some more while it's on the market. Train motors have been unavailable through LEGO for several occasions around here, I suspect the situtation to get worse with PF 2.0 around the corner.

[Bricked1980]

9 hours ago, Goldenmasamune said:

I disagree with you here. I'd rather have one "end" and two carriages. This makes it much easier to have a longer train. 

Yes I suppose having 2 carriages is the better option for people who intend to buy 2 copies of the set. I imagine this is why Lego has done it that way. To make a complete train is gonna work out pretty expensive though and most kids wont have parents willing to buy them 2 copies of the same set.

8 hours ago, legotownlinz said:

My favorite is the passenger train and I think it will look better than on the leaked images when stickers are applied. The stickers are missing on the leaked images.

I am eagerly awaiting the release of the official images, surely it can't be long now. I think the low res leaks have ruined a lot of peoples opinions of these new sets. I bet they will look much better when the official pics come out though.

It's the same with the new City Arctic theme. I didn't think they looked very good at first but I have changed my mind since seeing the new pics that were revealed last week.

[dylanfarrow]

10 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

My main issue is with the new passenger set. Although I think it looks pretty good, I wish it came with a rear loco instead of a single engine and 2 carriages. I don't want to have to buy 2 copies of the same set just to be able to make up a complete train.

I smiled when I read this as I don’t think LEGO could ever win.. Sets in the past we have criticised due to having only one carriage, multiple times, and now putting two in, again they face criticism! ?

(I really like this forum where we can discuss and have different opinions and it never gets nasty! Good job everyone!)

Personally I think they have it correct. As the majority of the ‘normal’ day to day passenger trains don’t have a front and rear engine, they have front and 6+ carriages. Agreed, the cross country or epically fast trains have the sleek nose and rear to match, (ie TVG), but this to me, looks more like a train that 80% of kids would recognise, taking them to school, beach etc

[AlmightyArjen]

12 hours ago, dylanfarrow said:

I smiled when I read this as I don’t think LEGO could ever win.. Sets in the past we have criticised due to having only one carriage, multiple times, and now putting two in, again they face criticism! ?

(I really like this forum where we can discuss and have different opinions and it never gets nasty! Good job everyone!)

Personally I think they have it correct. As the majority of the ‘normal’ day to day passenger trains don’t have a front and rear engine, they have front and 6+ carriages. Agreed, the cross country or epically fast trains have the sleek nose and rear to match, (ie TVG), but this to me, looks more like a train that 80% of kids would recognise, taking them to school, beach etc

Amen to that, totally agree. Every time the same story here: when new trains are announced people here (not all!) are always dissapointed in one way or the other and it seems that Lego can't do it right and I totally disagree with that: overall they bring out nice sets which are mostly intended for kids who look at the sets completely different than adults do. No flame intended though! :)

Edited March 20, 2018 by AlmightyArjen

[fred67]

55 minutes ago, AlmightyArjen said:

Amen to that, totally agree. Every time the same story here: when new trains are announced people here (not all!) are always dissapointed in one way or the other and it seems that Lego can't do it right and I totally disagree with that: overall they bring out nice sets which are mostly intended for kids who look at the sets completely different than adults do. No flame intended though! :)

Well, no comment on how many engines and cars they have, from what TLG says about trains then I expect the biggest audience is AFOLs anyway.  "Kids don't like trains," "trains are boring," "they don't sell well."  So why do they keep making them?

I'm personally not disappointed in these sets - I get what they are trying to do.  I'd just like to see a really nice, well done train every so often - and no creator trains this year, apparently, so that's not going to happen.  If they were releasing an Emerald Knight quality train, as well as these other sets, I think you'd see far less complaining.  For what it's worth, I just stopped expecting anything I actually want, as far as trains go.  With low expectations, I'm seldom disappointed.  And yes, I'm really feeling grumpy today.

 

[dr_spock]

Trains are very regional.  It could be difficult to come up a specific prototype that can please a global wide audience.  Ideally, they would make different train sets for different markets but that's probably not going to happen with the one size fits all business model.

CITY trains are starter sets, basically to provide a base for the kids to build upon at an affordable price. As a building toy, CITY trains can be disassembled and rebuilt into something else the kids imagine and to develop that skill of being able to visualize it and build it. 

22 hours ago, Capparezza said:

Depends on your preferences and use case. If you're happy with PF as it is now, go and get some more while it's on the market. Train motors have been unavailable through LEGO for several occasions around here, I suspect the situtation to get worse with PF 2.0 around the corner.

I am ok for train motors.  I ran out of spare IR receivers.  I should get a couple just in case.  Thanks.