New to Lego trains

[dpergau]

Hello,

I've been checking out these forums for quite some time and finally built up the nerve to sign up.  My father and I had a 'normal' train set when I was growing up and I have many fond memories of it.  After visiting a few shows in the past I have decided to purchase a Lego train set.  Specifically 60198 if I can find it for a good price or trade.  I would love to build a MOC or hopefully purchase @NickLafreniere amazing Lego Ideas submission one day.

My daughters have enjoyed Lego Friends sets in the past and are currently growing out of Hidden Sides.  My wife admits to enjoying the architecture sets and I really enjoy the Lego Expert cars.  Such a great hobby!

Thanks everyone for contributing to the forum and posting those incredible photos.

All the best,

Dan - Barrie, Ontario

Edited August 28, 2020 by dpergau

[zephyr1934]

Welcome Dan,

 60198 is probably as good a place as any to start into lego trains (the Disney train is also a good start), if you don't have one or the other by Black Friday keep watching lego shop at home, I think both went for a significant discount for one of the BF days last year. You might also want to look into your local LUG, it's hard to beat having fellow lego fans nearby.

[dpergau]

Thanks for the great tips!  I will look for a LUG to get some help.

Regards,
Dan

[Craig Strader]

You could also try the Crocodile AKA 10277. It's a challenge but very good

[dr_spock]

Welcome aboard.  Are you in Barrie, Ontario?   If you're looking for a LUG, there is ToroLUG.ca in Toronto.  We have a bunch of train fans in our group.    Closer to you, there is BrickAwesome fan club in Alliston.  They are more a family/kids oriented club than an adult LEGO User Group.

[dpergau]

Thanks for the info guys!   I did meet Bruce last year at the Brick Awesome event in Barrie.  I'll check out the Toronto LUG as well.

I saw the hidden side train set on sale for $70 CAD at our local Walmart and thought that would be a funny addition but the 10277 set looks more appealing.

Dan

[JWBDolphins]

The obvious advantage of sets like 60198 are they include track and everything needed to run a train.

8 hours ago, dpergau said:

Such a great hobby!

Agreed!  I like that you can build a train and track along with everything else you'd see, in this case, on a model railroad.  Roads, cars, trucks, buildings, landscape, plants, animals can all be built with LEGO.

7 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

You might also want to look into your local LUG

(And along these lines, virtual meetings are fun, but it will be nice when we can all meet in person again!   )

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by JWBDolphins
Typo

[zephyr1934]

23 hours ago, dpergau said:

I will look for a LUG to get some help.

LUG's are not just for help, it is a great social group (of course it all depends on the specific personalities, i.e., results may vary) with all sorts of useful resources (including discounted or even free lego at times) and typically the opportunity to show your handy work publicly (I have now shown my "work" in all of the major museums in my town, grin, of course it was but a small part of a much larger layout)

[Amoreternum]

Welcome to the community! You won't regret joining.

For starters, I'd recommend getting a complete set with train and track, 60198 definitley is a good place to start I'd say - while I do enjoy both the Crocodile as well as the Hidden Site Train, they could not be more different - the Crocodile was designed with adult collectors and trainiacs in mind, the ghost train on the other hand obviously is for younger audiences. While it might not be too much of an issue at this point, maybe some time in the future you'll lean more towards more realistic looking trains, like the famous PennLUG does (do check it out on Youtube for example, totally worth it!), or towards a more casual approach. If you have Instagram, there a quite a few lego train guys on there as well worth checking out! But I'd say, in this forum you'll find both sorts of builders.

One thing though, 60198 comes with the newest system for motorizing, and the systems (12V, 9V, Power Functions, Powered Up) are limited in their compatibility with each other - for example, the Crocodile can easily be motorized with Powered Up, but other systems require some modifications.

[dpergau]

Thanks guys!

I've found a 60198 (latest cargo train) which I can trade an old unused technic set for.  I've also found a 60052 (aka blue cargo train) for $300 CAD new in box.  I had thought about purchasing parts instead but that may not cost-effective with all the unique parts in the set?

Dan

[Murdoch17]

4 hours ago, dpergau said:

Thanks guys!

I've found a 60198 (latest cargo train) which I can trade an old unused technic set for.  I've also found a 60052 (aka blue cargo train) for $300 CAD new in box.  I had thought about purchasing parts instead but that may not cost-effective with all the unique parts in the set?

Dan

The only parts that i can think of that would be a pain on the to get if you parted out on 60052 would be the wheels / train base-plates. The wheels are going for quite a $2.84 (each) here in the USA if you wanted to buy all 10 outright. The one wheel sub-type (part 2878c02) I looked at, no-one is selling these in quantity in Canada at the moment. So, I would suggest either getting the 60198, or spending the $300 and getting the 60052. (60052 is actually quite a good train set, and looks more North American than anything else, unless you count the Maersk train loco... so it fit's your neighborhood). ALSO: I would suggest looking at @zephyr1934's instructions to turn the engine into a powered / un-powered Conrail unit(s) if you want to make it more realistic. The color scheme can easily be changed too, if you don't like that.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Murdoch17

[dpergau]

Thanks for the suggestions!  60052 certainly reminds me of CNs ES44DC model which is very appealing.

@zephyr1934's model looks fantastic!  Thanks for sharing it.

I have to admit it's tempting to get both!

Dan

[dr_spock]

On 8/28/2020 at 4:34 PM, dpergau said:

Thanks for the info guys!   I did meet Bruce last year at the Brick Awesome event in Barrie.  I'll check out the Toronto LUG as well.

I saw the hidden side train set on sale for $70 CAD at our local Walmart and thought that would be a funny addition but the 10277 set looks more appealing.

Dan

Was there a giant green queasy Unikitty at that event in Barrie?  If yes, you probably met some of us too.

The Hidden Side train set may be good for some parts but it has the new all plastic train wheels which could have more rolling resistance friction on very long trains.

 

[dpergau]

I don't recall to be honest!  I know the girls loved the timed lego set build off and we were especially impressed with all of the amazing creations.

Take care,

Dan