What's been new in lego trains the past few years?

[Carefree_Dude]

I haven't done much with trains since the release of the emerald night. Has much new come out in the way of sets since then? Is power functions overtaking 9volt?

[Murdoch17]

(The Items in bold are still available for purchase from LEGO.)

From 2010 on there have been CITY trains (both passenger & freight) in 2010 & 2014, with another freight train in 2011, plus the LEGO Exclusives 2011 Maersk freight train (now highly expensive on Bricklink), the Creator Expert 2013 Horizon Express. There is also the 2010 Toy Story Train, the Lone Ranger "Constitution Train chase" & the Monster Fighters "haunted" train . (It looks like a train but does not travel on track without modification.) As far as other railroad related stuff goes there is these items: The 2010 train station, 2014 Train Station, 2010 Level Crossing, and the 2011 Flexible & Straight track pack.

They is possibly another Creator expert train coming out next January-ish, but that is just speculation based on what seems to be a "schedule" of sorts, as there was the Emerald Night in 2009, the Maersk in 2011, and the Horizon Express in 2013 with the next slot supposedly in 2015.... but as to what it could be is anyone's guess.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Murdoch17

[Rail Co]

Power functions has fazed out the 9v system sadly for trains. The sets are usually at least an oval of track for the passenger set and also includes a tiny station area and 2 end cars and 1 center car 1 is motorized, an oval of track and 2 switch tracks for the cargo train, the cargo train comes usually with a motorized engine along with 2-3 freight cars and a track side structure also maybe a truck or two if your lucky. Those are the Lego "City" sets aimed for the 6 year olds.

The exclusive sets are now known as "Creator Expert" sets which are for older kids and adults. These are usually un-motorized trains that are very detailed and usually come with and engine and 1-2 cars and some mini-figs, these can be motorized easily if you choose to buy the power functions and put them into your model.

Power functions I am sure you know is all using an IR Remote and receiver (RC). There are upsides and downsides

Pros: Can control from anywhere, Works on Every track made by LEGO, Has better lighting, can be mixed with a 9v motor to charge the rechargeable battery box and add cab lighting, stronger motors than the RC ones and maybe 9v motors (not sure).

Cons: Hard to put in small locos like shunters, a lot of money to get it to work (motor, battery Box, IR Receiver, Controller, {optional lighting}).

There aren't really any track side structures sadly as for one the demand for trains has gone down and they can't motorize them really well anymore.

So there are some great things with this system but also some not so great things...

I enjoy the system we just need some better structures, including signals, rail crossings, etc.

Hope this helps!

-RailCo