Train doors.

[jus1973]

Fairly new to the world of Lego trains, just adding them to my inventory for a town build based around modulars and fairground, plus some city bits.

Does it not bother anyone, that no locomotive, nor carriage, appears to have doors anymore.  Maybe it’s a cost thing, maybe an aesthetic thing, but I really wish they were included. Anyone else agree?

[TeriXeri]

The latest Hidden Side Train that's not been released yet, has doors on the locomotive.

It's more of an inconsistency thing, and not a complete removal of doors, I see a lot of sets all the way from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s without doors.

Yes, some famous trains like the 9v Metroliner (1991) had doors, but the 1996 and 1999 passenger trains did not.

1980-1985 by far had the most different train sets using doors and multiple passenger trains.

Edited May 28, 2019 by TeriXeri

[sed6]

I don't know that I care if they are included. I'm happy to see almost any train released from lego. 

Thinking outside of Lego's offerings and more about MOC's...I've built my trains both with and without doors. In some instances they are a nice detail, like my in my 1900's loco and cars in others like my new EMD F7 they just wouldn't work.

I also did a reskin of the 60052 cargo train locomotive into a CSX SD40 in which I removed the included doors to achieve a more realistic scale look.

For me it's mostly a scale thing, a size thing and a color availability thing. If they look right, fit right and are available in the color I want then I'll include them in my MOC. 

I'd imagine the thought process is much the same at TLG when they are designing trains. 

[M_slug357]

@sed6 I think what @jus1973 means is that alot of the more rect trains (esp. passenger trains) lack even the façade of doors... so minifig passengers a just left to magically coalesce inside the coaches... 

[Rijkvv]

I don't see why they don't use doors. Maybe they're too stingy for official door pieces. Then still, I think the 7938 passenger train from 2010 would've been a great train set with a few alterations that I think wouldn't have driven up the price that much:

-a decent platform, missing from train sets since the Metroliner in 1991;

-windows (the train windows should've been available with the Emerald Night the year before. And add windows to the driver car, that would still look better than black panels)

-either doors, or facade of doors. With the 7938 as an example it seems to me it looks a lot like a modern regional train. Those trains often have doors in different colours. So the designers don't even have to use some offset or weird Saturn V-like techniques, they only need to stack bricks in a different colour, say white for example.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of ideas to implement doors that are still easymode to put them in official kits.

 

On 5/28/2019 at 9:52 PM, TeriXeri said:

but the 1996 and 1999 passenger trains did not.

Those were not trains, but pieces randomly stacked on top of a train motor. 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Rijkvv

[TeriXeri]

10 minutes ago, Rijkvv said:

Those were not trains, but pieces randomly stacked on top of a train motor. 

I actually did have the 1996 Black/Yellow train when it was just released, and only recently saw it's name "Cargo Railway".

I don't think it was ever directly called that in Dutch, most 90s catalogs didn't even have set names to begin with.

But I can understand it was a weird one, with the removable passenger modules, and 4 cargo compartments.

I still liked the train for what it was, and the alternate suggestions on the box were pretty cool for the time (Steam locomotive and rail-layer suggestions)

Edited May 29, 2019 by TeriXeri

[Rijkvv]

I liked it as a kid, got it for my birthday and it was my only train for a long time. Maybe because I do look to Lego stuff different now. I did sell my "Shuttle Express Trein" (how it appeared in the Dutch 1996 catalog) to a fellow trainhead and I believe a Eurobricks member as well, but so far I don't miss it.

And yeah, I built that rail-layer plenty of times!

[jus1973]

15 hours ago, M_slug357 said:

@sed6 I think what @jus1973 means is that alot of the more rect trains (esp. passenger trains) lack even the façade of doors... so minifig passengers a just left to magically coalesce inside the coaches... 

Exactly.  It annoys me too that half of city cars and vans don’t have doors too.

[supertruper1988]

7 hours ago, jus1973 said:

Exactly.  It annoys me too that half of city cars and vans don’t have doors too.

Dont you know that you are supposed to go in via the roof!?!?!? ahahahaha! I too, find it annoying that the resemblance of doors even if foregone in LEGO sets. 

[Roadmonkeytj]

Im on the fence on the subject.  As the doors they have are out of scale for cab doors.  Honestly i would love a 3w or 2w door with a window in it.  However saying that I use the current train doors on other projects lol.