LEGO Powered Up Trains Compendium (free downloadable book)

[idlemarvel]

In an act of madness, vanity publishing and shameless self-publicity, I have written another book. Following on from my "LEGO Powered Up Pocket Book" (global sales 61) I present "LEGO Powered Up Trains Compendium". 

This is my humble follow on to the excellent "The LEGO Trains Book" by our very own Holger Matthes ( @HoMa ) which covers up to the end of the Power Functions era. My self-publishing efforts are cheap and cheerful compared to the superb photography, print quality and style of Holger's books, so don't expect it to be a coffee table display book!

It features all the LEGO train related sets released from 2018 to the present day (the "Powered Up era"), including BDP sets. It describes how these can be motorised if they are not already, and also shows how trains from all the previous eras can be Powered Up. There are sections on how to design trains to "LEGO standards", track and track layouts, and information about other railway features such as stations, bridges, tunnels and gradients. There's discussion on operating Powered Up trains with remote controls and apps, and some sample app code. There's a lot more, there has to be to fill 358 pages! 

As before, the paperback version will (eventually) be available on Amazon but Eurobricks members can download the PDF version for free. I'm not sure there's much in it that regular LEGO Train Tech forum users will not already know, but they might enjoy a quick browse. I should add that this book only refers to LEGO products, no third parties or alt-bricks are mentioned. There's nothing wrong with any of that, but I had to draw a boundary somewhere or I'd never finish. It's taken me well over a year as it is.

Here's the link to the free PDF version.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SnT1i4wBy4lWzvnYLIT0mWTqONtZc1oj/view

I'll add the Amazon book link when it goes live, but it may take a while for a printed version to be available. Because of the number of pages the print binding needs a bigger "gutter" (inside margin) and Google Docs does not understand the concept. I have had to export it to MS Word and reformat the whole thing, which unfortunately is not turning out to be as simple as it might seem.

If you do take the time to have a read and have any comments, you can PM me or email me (email address in the doc) or post them here.
Thanks, Dave

[Selander]

Once again you have done an incredible work !! What a great source of information. 

[zephyr1934]

Excellent work! Just scanning, p26 mentions "the original 6 colours" represented by the logo, but there are only 5 colors in the logo. I'd suggest changing it to say 5 colours (technically there was also green baseplates, a few gray parts, and several different colors in the HO scale cars, but I wouldn't go there).

I didn't see it in your book, but it might be worth mentioning McKee's book, Getting Started with Lego Trains, that probably inspired Holger

[idlemarvel]

16 hours ago, Selander said:

Once again you have done an incredible work !! What a great source of information. 

Thanks @Selander!

 

7 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Excellent work! Just scanning, p26 mentions "the original 6 colours" represented by the logo, but there are only 5 colors in the logo. I'd suggest changing it to say 5 colours (technically there was also green baseplates, a few gray parts, and several different colors in the HO scale cars, but I wouldn't go there).

I didn't see it in your book, but it might be worth mentioning McKee's book, Getting Started with Lego Trains, that probably inspired Holger

Thank you @zephyr1934 and thanks for the comments. I'll change it to 5 colours - there's a bit more of the "history of Lego colours" in the appendix.

I'm aware of the book by McKee, but it's only available in hardcopy for silly money (at least in the UK) so I have never seen it, which makes it hard for me to recommend. 

EDIT: I found an online copy of "Getting Started..." at https://archive.org/details/gettingstartedwi0000mcke/ 

You have to login to be able to look at (not download) the pages for free. Much of the book's content is similar to mine, perhaps in more summary form, and of course focused on the 9 V era. The bulk of the book is instructions for US style locos and rolling stock.

Edited Tuesday at 01:01 PM by idlemarvel
correction

[Plumber]

Thank you for a very interesting read, while I'm a sucker for BR modernisation era locos I've never been an L-gauger so this book gave me a great insight, thanks for your hard work

It's a little ironic that you point out that Holgers prior book about the PF era should have been released just as Lego decided to can the product line given the rife speculation regarding PU 

[zephyr1934]

16 hours ago, idlemarvel said:

Thanks @Selander!

 

Thank you @zephyr1934 and thanks for the comments. I'll change it to 5 colours - there's a bit more of the "history of Lego colours" in the appendix.

I'm aware of the book by McKee, but it's only available in hardcopy for silly money (at least in the UK) so I have never seen it, which makes it hard for me to recommend. 

EDIT: I found an online copy of "Getting Started..." at https://archive.org/details/gettingstartedwi0000mcke/ 

You have to login to be able to look at (not download) the pages for free. Much of the book's content is similar to mine, perhaps in more summary form, and of course focused on the 9 V era. The bulk of the book is instructions for US style locos and rolling stock.

Yes, if you dig deep enough (e.g., Modulex) there were dozens of colors in the 60's, but 99% of the bricks were in the 5 colors of the old Lego flag.

McKee's book is definitely of its time, and not worth spending a fortune unless you have way too much money and you are a completionist. But in its time it was great. I think of it as the first in this line of three books targeted at AFOL train builders, hence my suggestion (to be taken or not as you see fit).

Regardless, that's a crazy amount of work you put in to this book, and it shows

 

 

[idlemarvel]

11 hours ago, Plumber said:

Thank you for a very interesting read, while I'm a sucker for BR modernisation era locos I've never been an L-gauger so this book gave me a great insight, thanks for your hard work

It's a little ironic that you point out that Holgers prior book about the PF era should have been released just as Lego decided to can the product line given the rife speculation regarding PU 

Thanks @Plumber. Yes the irony of the speculated end of Powered Up hasn't escaped me!

The Technic guys seem to think something new is coming to mark the Technic anniversary next year. Who knows. My view is TLG will keep the Train Motor, Hub and Remote going for a while yet, as they know they need something to make trains move and this is as good as anything, and (if you use the Remote) it avoids kids having to use screens which seems to be the direction TLG are taking. Let's hope the Technic Large Motor survives as well. The apps may be "sunseted" - there were no new apps for the Vintage Steam Train or Harbour Freight Train - but Powered Up will live on at least until the end of 2027, which is when all the current City theme train sets will have been retired (according to Brick Fanatics). People are still using 12 V nearly 40 years after that was retired!

8 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Yes, if you dig deep enough (e.g., Modulex) there were dozens of colors in the 60's, but 99% of the bricks were in the 5 colors of the old Lego flag.

McKee's book is definitely of its time, and not worth spending a fortune unless you have way too much money and you are a completionist. But in its time it was great. I think of it as the first in this line of three books targeted at AFOL train builders, hence my suggestion (to be taken or not as you see fit).

Regardless, that's a crazy amount of work you put in to this book, and it shows

 

 

@zephyr1934 you're right, I will include the McKee book as part of the history of Lego as a legitimate AFOL model train / model railway medium. I am a completionist! 

[GoHabsGo]

Incredible book!

[idlemarvel]

5 hours ago, GoHabsGo said:

Incredible book!

Thank you @GoHabsGo

[zephyr1934]

Looking at the train tech main page I see your original powered up book as the #2 item in the list of pinned items. It might be worth mentioning this thread in that thread.

[idlemarvel]

3 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Looking at the train tech main page I see your original powered up book as the #2 item in the list of pinned items. It might be worth mentioning this thread in that thread.

Good idea @zephyr1934. I'll make the changes we've discussed then update that thread.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

This is great and meticulous work...thanks for sharing!

[idlemarvel]

14 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

This is great and meticulous work...thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the comments @LEGO Train 12 Volts

[LL1982]

I love this, I just scrolled through but some usefull stuff in there. That train motor inside the train to power axles of your own design is interesting. 

I'm gonna enjoy this.

[idlemarvel]

4 hours ago, LL1982 said:

I love this, I just scrolled through but some usefull stuff in there. That train motor inside the train to power axles of your own design is interesting. 

I'm gonna enjoy this.

Thanks @LL1982 I hope you enjoy the rest of it!

The Train Motor inside the train is certainly not my idea, but the designs are my own, and tested by me IRL.