33 replies to this topic

[Hairy Ruben]

Having just bought myself a copy of the wonderful metroliner (4558) I felt like doing a review. Before we start I'd like to thank Greenhair for selling me one of his metroliners for a mere 80 euros. Granted, the motor, "trainstation" and tracks weren't included but I did get an extra railcar instead.   - * (please note that I have included the fourth wagon in the final pic but that the official set includes just three wagons.)

The metroliner was released in 1992 and was extremely popular amongst lego fans.



The set


A picture of the box showing the set completely. (pic taken from peeron)




and one of the minifigs and the accessories.:



As you may notice, TLC was extremely generous, supplying us with a grand total of 11 minifgs amongst which no less than 4 female minifigs. Ah, the population crisis is finally over
We also have three suitcases, three cups and a small freight parcel and freight handling thingy. Normally this would include two bicycles; a red and a black one.




A general side view of the three carriages. (thanks to Greenhair and the Brickster)



And here's one of the extra carriage. (thanks to Greenhair and the Brickster)




Moving onto the front and back carriage, which are externally identical. Please note that Greenhair changed my back carriage's headlights. These would be yellow in the normal set. All the doors in the entire set are printed pieces. (sorry for the bad picture quality in this one)




The interior of the two however is laid out a bit differently. The space in the front carriage is occupied by a cockpit (or whatever it is called in trains) and some space to store your cable connecting the front lights with the engine. I can imagine it must get quite cramped and dangerous for the minifig driver with all the cabling.   Further back we have a quite random, weird looking engine. One part reminded me rather of a jet engine on a commercial airplane. The engine is accessible by means of the two side cargo doors. At the end of our first carriage we hit what looks like the train's restaurant, two tables and no chairs.  




The two middle carriages are identical, both have a small sink nicely hidden from the intervening and impolite looks of fellow passengers. The carriage further contains two tables and four seats. Two cargo spaces are nicely tucked away from view below the tables.




Our final carriage has a back cockpit as well but differs from the front carriage in the central cargo area - where our train employee is hard at work earning his lego nickels - and the rear sleeping area. The bed is a double one, the upper one able to be flipped up for somewhat difficult access to the lower one.

The train station I could not take photos off since it was not included in the purchase. Judging from the building plans however I feel it was thrown in at the end just to add 'something' to the set. Its construction is very simple, consisting of a few grey plates on top of a few pillars. Access is provided by a plate which is connected to the platform with a few hinges. There are however two lamp posts, a timetable and a few chairs so if you don't like the platform you can still use these parts in a variety of other constructios.


To end off I took a pic of the complete set (with extra wagon) and a friendly surprised train driver opening the door and greeting the camera man.





Conclusion

Being a '90s set, the train basically builds itself. The entire build cost me two hours and a half (I lost quite some time simply admiring the set) and was extremely straightforward with no suprises at all, but I need to admit it has its charm. The exterior is simply amazing. The sleekness of the design, the colours, it matches perfectly! I believe however that a width of 8 studs would be more to scale but 6 wide still looks amazing. The interior is somewhat simplistic but is easily moddeable with a few extra pieces. I basically bought the train as a parts pack. The standard set (three wagons) includes no less than 8 train doors with windows, 14 train windows, 4 smaller longer ones and 4 freight doors. The front and back of course count as unique pieces as well.

One feature I am displeased with are the printed doors. I like printed pieces and while the blue-white-red stripe looks beautiful on the side the printed doors kind of limit MOCing capabilities to carriages with a stripe on the side. I considered simply removing the stripe but I found out I could just get normal grey ones from bricklink for a fair price.

I am very pleased with the train but since you already know my opinion, feel free to tell us yours of this fabulous set!

Edited by TheBrickster, 09 July 2009 - 01:51 PM.
Poll question was not multiple choice, switched to radio group

[Commander Red Hat]

I voted outstanding, this is simply an amazingly good looking train and comes with indeed 11 minifigs!
I sold this one because i need a budget to build my ship, but i kept one because i love it!

Not bad for a first review Ruben!

[maiq the liar]

Ah, i wish modern trains had 11 figs...
But seriously, why is there a civilian train stop in a CAVE?! did 1 too many people get lost playing ZORK?

Edited by maiq the liar, 04 August 2008 - 10:21 PM.

[BlueBard]

I remember to literally jump of joy when my grand-father offered it to me for Christmas...  

It's an amazing set, the train is really beautiful and it comes with 11 (!) MFs, so can somebody ask for more?  

[Hairy Ruben]

Thanks for the edit Hinckley! It's my first poll (and review) and I wasn't quite sure if I got it right

maiq the liar, on Aug 5 2008, 12:20 AM, said:

But seriously, why is there a civilian train stop in a CAVE?! did 1 too many people get lost playing ZORK?

Yeah, I also wondered why the included timetable includes not only real life cities, instead of brick ones. Even more so since the train track just goes round. =D

[casewindu]

Oh Ruben you lucky so and so this set is one of the most beautful i have ever seen! Splendid looking build and 11 figures, all the same faces like but still you get that old woman pig-tail head piece which is just great!

I thought you meant the monorail set when you told me about this but guess i was wrong (don't laugh i've been away from lego for quite some time) and for 80 euros it was a real bargain from a great friend!  

Really nice review hope this sets brings you years of joy!  

[Skinny Boy]

Cool Review. I actually have two of these. I got one for christmas when it was rereleased in 2003 and another one in a charity shop a few months later for €5. I love the minifigs even if they all have smileys, and having two sets of them can really fill up a town.

[TheBrickster]

It's great to see someone reviewing a TRAIN!   This set is definately a FIVE!  Lego hasn't made a complete train SET like this in a long time.  The Metroliner is really a legend among classic trains.  The great level of playability and detailing makes it a terrific model.  Specifically, I was just noticing the details of the passenger car.  It has a sink! - How cool is that? And 11 minifigs - when was the last time Lego included 11 figs in a single set?  A truly outstanding train set.

Thanks for sharing images as I've always wanted to see it up-close.  
It would be awesome if you could share some single side shots of the cars.

[CP5670]

I'm not normally that big into trains but this set has a real coolness factor that sets it apart from most of the others. The color scheme is the same one that Amtrak and many local subway systems use. I picked it up along with the club car expansion when they were re-released in 2001. I have made various modifications to mine, rearranging the car layouts and adding a second train motor into the rearmost car along with another set of lights, so that both ends light up.

As you said, it would be great to have an 8-stud version of this, so you could fit in two rows of seats side by side. That might make a nice mod project at some point.

[WhiteFang]

Outstanding train set. The LEGEND of the entire train series, is the Metroliner. This is a "Super 5" set. The color, design, minifigs is just so perfect and lovely. It resemble the trains which we see on our rails in our daily life.

I can't find any flaws on this at all. The only flaw I noticed is my mistake of not able to buy this set at all. In fact, I had never seen this set in the shops before in my entire life.

TheBrickster, on Aug 5 2008, 09:23 AM, said:

How cool is that? And 11 minifigs - when was the last time Lego included 11 figs in a single set?

There is another set fufil the criteria above, which is also a well known LEGEND. It has 12 minifigs which is the 10159 City Airport aka Century Skyway Airport.  

[Gouns]

Nice review  

I collect all metroliner i can, i have 3 metroliner and when i can, i buy a other .

My aim : Have the more big metroliner collect, in France ( in first time )  

It's my favorite set  

[metalandi]

Ahh, the good old train theme. How i wish TLG would make such great trains today, now that the quality of city sets has improved so much. That really brings back memories, even if i didn't have this one, but a cargo train that came out about the same time period, maybe plus a few years. I don't have any trains myself at the moment, mostly because i'm afraid i haven't got enough space to put in on display with all the rails and stuff.  

[bullet8542]

Really Nice Train, I always wished TLG would have made the passenger IR train longer and maybe used some of the nice features of this train, I still love that faucet piece.

[Klaus-Dieter]

This is a great review of a great set, Hairy Ruben!

I voted for Outstanding since the only thing you can say about this train set is that it is outstanding.   
It has been the best passenger train in all the time from Lego's beginning on until now. I bought the rereleased version of it in 2003 - and I really, really do not regret it!


Klaus-Dieter

[Freddie]

I also voted "Outstanding", for the simple reason that I've owned this set for a long time, but for most of the time it's been an anonymous heap of bricks mixed with all the other bricks I have. So about a year ago I started rebuilding it, and it now sits proudly next to (also rebuilt) 2150 on my shelf.

IMO; It's an excellent set, best of the 9V passenger trains, no doubt. And it combines the best of the 80's trains with that of the 90's - it's not some futuristic panorama-glassed low-slung train, but an honest, realistic-looking train that captures many of the features that passenger trains used to (and in some cases; still) have.

[legotrainfan]

Hairy Ruben, on Aug 5 2008, 12:00 AM, said:

The interior of the two however is laid out a bit differently. The space in the front carriage is occupied by a cockpit (or whatever it is called in trains) and some space to store your cable connecting the front lights with the engine. I can imagine it must get quite cramped and dangerous for the minifig driver with all the cabling.   Further back we have a quite random, weird looking engine. One part reminded me rather of a jet engine on a commercial airplane. The engine is accessible by means of the two side cargo doors. At the end of our first carriage we hit what looks like the train's restaurant, two tables and no chairs.  

There shouldn't be so much of the light cable in the front section or "cockpit." Most of the cable should be in the central part of the train. Then it is not so crowded for the engine driver. I have never had a problem with the cable and the space available for it. The only problem I had was that the cable had a loose contact after some time. When the train went into a curve (can't remember if it was a left or right curve) the light went off. I have now got the same problem with the cable that I put into my Santa Fe Super Chief. Always when the engine turns into a right curve, the light goes off.

My dad could repair the cable for the metroliner. Even though he is quite skilled at repairing electronic things, he found it very difficult to repair since there were no screws to open the electronic plate. It annoyed him a lot. So I've been asking myself if I should really bother him with a second cable with the same problem.  

The train set itself is outstanding (and that's what I voted for). I only have the legend 10001, but it's 99% identical to 4558. I also have club car 4547. I don't have the legend club car 10002. The reason for this is I always had the choice between one big LEGO set or several small ones for Christmas when I was a child. I always went for several small ones. Metroliner 4558 would have been a big train set, but I really wanted a passenger car. So I bought 4547 with my savings without having the metroliner. I was quite happy when the metroliner was re-released. I bought it with my own money. Then I could finally use the club car with the train it was created for.

Edited by legotrainfan, 15 August 2008 - 07:55 PM.

[AFOL12v]

I don't like the set and I do like the set. The reason why I like it: it looks good. The reason why I hate it: this train was the first train for the new 9v system and it means to me the end of the beautiful 12v series. For this last reason I own this set. I voted average.

Only strange they named it metroliner. In Holland when we speak of a metro, I need to think at short distance trains only used in big cities like Rotterdam.

And your minifigs at pic ain't right according the instruction .

[Freddie]

Panda9001100, on Aug 16 2008, 07:37 AM, said:

Only strange they named it metroliner. In Holland when we speak of a metro, I need to think at short distance trains only used in big cities like Rotterdam.

It was only named Metroliner in the US, because of the color scheme is similar to the real-life Metroliner. I believe in EU it was called the Euro-Express, and probably just "passenger train" wherever that would be suitable. The product-number 4558 is universal, though.

Hairy Ruben, you don't have a review of the double-decker/club car on the way, do you? I myself never got it, and I am seriously considering buying one from Bricklink, plus it is more-or-less an requirement for this train (one of very few double-decker cars to actually stay within the general outer dimensions of the train).

[Dovchenko]

My favourite, favourite, FAVOURITE old set. It's too bad I was born 2 years after its release, I would have had a major interest in Classic Town. I might actually get this one on Bricklink... not that it'll go for a good price (I'll only buy if it does you see). An "Outstanding", a highly useful and well-made set that really just stands out from its counterparts.

Edit: NEVERMIND.

Edited by Dovchenko, 16 August 2008 - 10:25 AM.

[Serengeti]

Well it makes the latest trains look crap.

[AFOL12v]

Calvin, on Aug 16 2008, 12:59 PM, said:

Well it makes the latest trains look crap.

Good point   .

[Serengeti]

Skinny Boy, on Aug 5 2008, 01:51 AM, said:

Cool Review. I actually have two of these. I got one for christmas when it was rereleased in 2003 and another one in a charity shop a few months later for €5. I love the minifigs even if they all have smileys, and having two sets of them can really fill up a town.

5euro! wow I didn't know charity shops sold Lego. I'm in Dublin, is the shop near me? You check out charity shops often or you just happened to come across it?

[Hairy Ruben]

Panda9001100, on Aug 16 2008, 08:37 AM, said:

And your minifigs at pic ain't right according the instruction .

I'm sorry, can you be a bit more specific about what you mean?

Freddie, on Aug 16 2008, 11:41 AM, said:

Hairy Ruben, you don't have a review of the double-decker/club car on the way, do you? I myself never got it, and I am seriously considering buying one from Bricklink, plus it is more-or-less an requirement for this train (one of very few double-decker cars to actually stay within the general outer dimensions of the train).

I wish I could. Sadly however I do not have the double deck carriage. If I happen to see one for a decent price I will most definitely pick it up.  

[AFOL12v]

Hairy Ruben, on Aug 17 2008, 09:17 PM, said:

I'm sorry, can you be a bit more specific about what you mean?

Yes I can. When you look at this instruction:


Then at your pic:


Look at your first female. She had the wrong hairtail ;) .

Edited by Panda9001100, 18 August 2008 - 07:42 AM.

[Cardinal Brick]

I never got this set I spent a long time after one Christmas trying to get and failed miserably, admittedly I was much younger then. It has however remained one of my most sought after items but I’ve still never got around to getting one. The set generally makes me rather nostalgic for a time when the trains were painted in simple liveries like that one! Anyway it seems an excellent set from what I’ve seen and the figure selection is amazing. I hope Lego produce something as good as this when the new trains are released next year.