What got you into Lego Trains?

[Gareth]

I always had Lego as long as I can remember.

I think the first sets would of been my sisters, and when i was born she gave them to me, and funny enough with the help of brick link I've figured out what some of those sets were '296 and 258' i figured this out because these were the only sets around that time with the yellow macaroni piece and the blue arch, using the large figures.

Had a bit of the dark ages when i was around 13 but by 20 the Star Wars sets had come out and by 25 my son was born, so I got all my Lego back out and cleaned it off ready for the trains again.

Edited March 12, 2011 by Gareth

[Brickimad]

I kept all my Lego, and most of my Technics sets are still in their original boxes, with even the other item booklets still in it.

I've still got the most of the train boxes. The others were either bought second-hand, without boxes, or later ebay buys, without boxes.

It seemed in the 70's and 80's there were more choice, for example, there were items such as extra carriages, engines on their own, and specialist such as mobile crane platform and maintenance unit.

[stacker9000]

I was a huge Lego fan as a kid,but like a lot of others I fell into dark ages. During that time I had built a very large "N scale" model railroad layout(as I have always been a train fan).

And as time went on,I got married,had kids and had to get rid of the layout in pieces at swap meets,to make room. Then 8 years later,I buy my son a bulk brick bucket for christmas,and get hooked again from the little flyer sheets Lego puts in there. I was stunned by the build techniques and styling of the latest trains,and further astounded by design creativity of MOC'ers after searching on the web.

Anyway,I am now a full blown addict,spending as much as I can spare as often as I can to increase my collection.

[domboy]

I'm a new guy just getting into Lego Trains. I've loved both trains and Lego since I was very little, and always liked looking at the Lego catalogs and admiring sets, but I never had any trains (cost prohibitive, plus I don't ever remember seeing any in stores either). For some reason is the one set I've always remembered fondly from those old catalogs is 7835 Road Crossing.

Technically my first Lego train is 4837-1: Mini Trains. Great little set my wife gave me for Christmas a few years ago.

Soon after that I got inspired to go dig out my old childhood sets (mostly Castle, Pirates, and a few town and space sets), probably due to the realization that I need to make sure my little boy gets into Lego too!! We started collecting some newer sets (Castle, Pirates, Modular houses), but no trains, though I figured someday I'd like to add them to a town layout, as my wife likes town setups. We have both admired the 10194 Emerald Night during stops by the Lego stores, and almost bought it on a couple occasions (very tempting), but I've been hesitant to get into trains fearing it might be a $$ drain (and/or obsession, probably both). I've also not been all that interested in the regular city train sets, as they are rather simple and don't really appeal to me. Oddly enough it was the new 10219 Maersk Train that finally flipped the switch for me. This is more like the kind of Locomotive that I see go by my house on occasion, and it's a Lego exclusive (which means a fun build). Of course, once I decided to get this I knew I had to get the Emerald Night. It's a freaking steam engine! With powered drivers! So I bought both. Though of the two I think I like the Emerald Night a bit better. Pictures don't do justice to how gorgeous it is in person. But they both appeal to me in different ways.

Anyway, now I'm hooked. I just need some track, power functions, and some more rolling stock. I bought the current 7936 Level Crossing (before I actually got the trains), but I hope maybe someday to pickup the old 7835 Road Crossing. I've also started bricklinking 10027 Train Engine Shed, as well as a few of the My Own Train rolling stock (10014-10016). I also wouldn't mind getting 10133 BNSF someday (love the Orange) if I can find one without breaking the bank, but I don't plan on getting into 9V.

It's funny to read how many were pulled into Lego Trains by the Emerald Night.

Edited June 7, 2011 by domboy

[johnny cogs]

Simple Answer.... The Emerald Night.

My Son is Thomas daft and I have a few 00 guage sets knocking around, unfortunately he's too young for the 00 stuff and, as we dont have a lot of space, I dont really get the use of it anymore.... then I saw the Emerald Night and knew there was only one way forward... something we could both enjoy... from that I got on to Eurobricks, on which I have found some amazing M.O.C's (like the express train with automatic doors, the GWR5700 etc) and some nice mods to existing sets.. (The Limelight version of the emerald night for example) and then when I figured I could start to replicate my Favourite british diesels it was pretty much a fore gone conclusion!!!!

Happy days!

Intercity with auto doors ==== http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=54013&st=0&p=965133&hl=doors&fromsearch=1entry965133

GWR 5700 ==== http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=56320

Lime Light (emerald night)===== http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=55409

[Pingles]

Bought the Duplo trains for my Thomas-crazy daughter and I enjoyed the experience so much I started on Lego trains myself.

[iDave]

I always loved trains since i was a kid but my parents got me a fleischmann H0 set back then and that was the start of a little collection in H0 model trains.

A few years back I started buying trains and tracks for that again but stopped cause of the prices and space you need to build a nice track.

The last couple of months I got al my old sets down from my moms attic and started building again, but still missed the trains.

I still had fun with some Lego technical sets and after a while searching on eBay I bought my first Lego train cause I never owned one as a kid but still wanted one.

And that's how it started and bought a lot of Lego the last 2 months.

But I have a hard time to decite to sell my H0 collection to feed my urge for Lego ;)

[mrblue]

since when I was a kid I have always been crazy for trains and aircrafts, and that time my parents started to buy lego and non lego trains for my collection, until the 12v gray era.

after my dark age, I started to collect lego again, but only star wars, no more trains in my mind, mainly because of the lack of space for a layout.

but then came the emerald night! and from that moment I started to look for older 9v trains too. that's all!

have a nice train lego day

mrBlue

[MVE]

(I joined the forum to post on this topic)

As a kid growing up in Portugal, where there were no Lego train sets, I once visited Germany and got my hands on a german lego catalog (maybe 1986). Those images of the 1980's train sets are still imprinted in the back of my mind and when I saw the Emerald Night I knew it was time to end my dark ages. Got myself two copies, one for me, one to save for my son's collection when he grows older.

Today I just ordered the 7939 from amazon.fr (but please don't tell my wife just yet!)

[medib]

I've been a lego fan since 1985. I was and still a big "townie". I could never afford any of the trains, whether they were

12 Volt, 9 Volt, or even the reasonable 4.5 Volt trains. Since becoming an Adult Fan of Lego after a fairly long period of a dark age... I think 4 to 6 years... I cant remember how long exactly.

I remember while I was in the middle of my term of enlistment in the army, and having had a nice bunch of disposable income

to spend. I walked into the Toys R Us in 1999 and bought my first train and lego set in a long time. It was, Im afraid to

say, the 4561 Railroad Express (Train Junior???)

Since then I've gotten most of the 9V train sets (Metroliner, Load N Hault, Freight Rail Runner, Freight N Crane Railway),

the World City train sets (Cargo Train and the HighSpeed Train), most of the train cars from the My Own Train Cars,

the 7745 High Speed Train (12 V), 7722 Battery Train Set.

This year I got the Maersk Train set, Emerald Night, and the TS3 Western Train.

Ciao....

Ben

[Fuzzylegobricks]

I always loved trains and seeing them at the railroad crossing near my old (child hood) house.

I moved and brought a lot of model trains with me so I would not worry and soon came out with a HUGE layout.

My dad kept saying it would be too big for the house so he showed me Legos that night. My big brother was into them before me so my

dad had a strong idea I would love them. My dad showed me the stuff but I thought it was boring. A few months later I was at a friends house

and noticed his old 12v lego train sets on the table. I was shocked and after a few minutes of playing with it I asked what they were and he said Legos.

Ever since then I loved them and noticed to myself "how can you live without these?"

[gifinim]

Like most people here, I've been into Lego since I was a kid, and always wanted the trains. Now my kids are old enough (well, almost!) I've got an excuse to buy as much Lego as I can.

So far it's the cargo train, a station and a load of extra track, and a few houses to make a small town. Hopefully, there'll be a lot more to come!