What type of train would be best for Lego Friends?

[Lyichir]

I was recently thinking about MOCing something in the Lego Friends theme, and realized that in all the sets we've gotten in that theme one thing that's never been included is a train. Unfortunately, I'm far from an expert on trains and thought you good people in the trains subforum might be able to help direct me to some real-world locomotives or passenger cars that might provide inspiration. Here are some of the parameters I'm looking for:

• A passenger train, not a freight train. The main Lego Friends characters certainly aren't old enough to be driving a train so it has to be something they could ride.
• Something somewhat luxurious. I'm picturing something you would WANT to ride for the experience of it, not just something that would only take you from point A to point B. However, at the same time I'd like to avoid anything that could only be ridden by the richest of the rich. Mainly I'd like something relatively roomy with plenty of creature comforts.
• Something relatively modern. I'm willing to waver on this a bit but ideally I'd want it to be a sort of train that would be in regular use in the modern day, not something you'd only find in railroad museums. On the other hand, I don't necessarily want something futuristic, that only exists in concepts.
• Something that fits the Lego Friends design language. This is a tricky one. Friends vehicles tend to be a bit "bubblier" than City ones, for lack of a better word—they often use more curves, and place more emphasis on interior comfor than on a streamlined or realistically scaled exterior. What I'm not looking for is something overwhelmingly pink—Friends color schemes are often more muted than people give them credit for, and while I wouldn't mind some examples of trains that opt for subtle pastels over bold primary and secondary colors, in general color is not my primary consideration.
• For bonus points, it'd be fun to use a type of train that hasn't been depicted before in Creator or City.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

[dr_spock]

I think trains with animals might be nice for Friends.  Maybe a circus train? The final run of the PT Barum circus trains is this May, the end of an American icon approaches.  You can combine passenger and freight.   There is a Mia minidoll in a tux that would work nice for ringmaster uniform. 

Friends Party Train by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

 

[Stefaneris]

For modern and comfortable I would recommend European high speed trains like the ICE or something like the Acela Train from Amtrak. Since they often are used on long distance routes they are more comfortable than commuter trains. You could also add sleeping cars since night trains (especially in the US and in western Europe) tend to be used by people who like the comfort travelling by train offers while travelling by plane normally is cheaper and faster.

However, Lego already made trains from commuter trains (City) over highspeed trains (City and Creator) to night trains (12V/9V era).

What about a night train in a modern aerodynamic design with some stripes in friends colors? There would also be plenty of different interiour design like a restaurant car, different kind of sleeping cars and maybe a even a seating car.

[Bernie56]

My five year old daughter is just using the Tram converted as monorail (Thank you, Nacho for that Mod idea) to transport the Disney Princesses and Friends around. She does get offended if I refer to the Tram/Monorail as train, though.

[Feuer Zug]

I think you should consider a step back in time. The Orient Express would be a good starting point. The colors on the early 1900s cars in their dark blue with gold trim would look excellent. The level of comfort from such a setup would be on par with the standards expected in the Friends world. Give it a good steam locomotive and you'd have everything you need.

[Kalahari134]

On 30/01/2017 at 6:27 PM, Feuer Zug said:

I think you should consider a step back in time. The Orient Express would be a good starting point. The colors on the early 1900s cars in their dark blue with gold trim would look excellent. The level of comfort from such a setup would be on par with the standards expected in the Friends world. Give it a good steam locomotive and you'd have everything you need.

It does still run but you have to have unbelievable amounts of money to go on. More suited to middle aged couples than teenagers.

Eurostar?

[M_slug357]

I think a DMU (railcar) set would be ideal for Friends! Not based on any real-world example per sé, but maybe leaning more Japanese?

Certain color combinations would also make it attractive to non-Friends fans, such as:

-Azure w/ white, pink, or yellow trim

-Lavender w/ white, red, or yellow trim

-White w/ a yellow-pink-purple stripe (like a metroliner redux)

-Lime green upper half w/ white lower half

-Dark Red upper half w/ Dark Azure lower half

-Purple upper half w/ Lime green lower half

They might have to be built a bit taller than standard train sets, but might be feasible to lower them if shared bogies are used? Ideally, a 2 piece set so that enough of the parts' budget is left for a DECENT station façade, no wimpy platforms allowed! lol.

[dr_spock]

I don't think you have to build taller.  Friends minidolls can stand up fine inside the usual passenger car height.

They do need a bit more leg room between seats if you are going to sit them down and have space for the LEGO piece that holds their feet in place.  They take up 4 studs length.   Have fun.

Cat Train Rail Car by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

 

[jlassen]

I was thinking of something along these lines myself.

First, I wanted to look at some of the vehicle color schemes, to see what might be a good fit. there've been a couple of different Vehicles already. Sports car, Convertible, Mias Roadster, Summer Caravan, Popstar Tour bus, and hart-lake city airport plane and Dolphin Cruiser come to mind...

 

Second... I don't think a steam train is right, but also I don't think a Modern electric passenger is right.  a sleek 1950s era streamlined diesel, with the right color scheme? Even if you didn't do a streamlined diesel, something like when of the f7's, or f9s, or e series?  something recognizably "Vintage" Diesel.

I'm in love with the detail of this one here.

The Heartlake Express?   Some kind of cool Friends Livery.

 

We can probably dispense with the B engine to save money.  But three passenger carriages... 1 Regular, 1 dining carriage, and one observation car in the rear, but the rear should have a viewing platform in back?  Again... the City Of New Orleans above... but swap out the last carriage with one with a rear observation platform?  actually, some of the carriage details on the orient express carriages might translate well..

Anyway... I'll keep digging around, and see if I can come up with an E series MOC  LDD file that I can "repaint."

[jlassen]

I was thinking of something like this... I did a recolor and slight modification of a MOC by Murdoch17 here.

 

Certainly a bunch of details could be added. For this particular moc White,  medium Lavander and Magenta parts seemed readily available.  Trucks (Not rendered) will be mostly black, but a front swinging truck can also be Magenta...

[Digger of Bricks]

On 1/28/2017 at 11:17 AM, Lyichir said:

•  
• Something relatively modern. I'm willing to waver on this a bit but ideally I'd want it to be a sort of train that would be in regular use in the modern day, not something you'd only find in railroad museums. On the other hand, I don't necessarily want something futuristic, that only exists in concepts.
• Something that fits the Lego Friends design language. This is a tricky one. Friends vehicles tend to be a bit "bubblier" than City ones, for lack of a better word—they often use more curves, and place more emphasis on interior comfort than on a streamlined or realistically scaled exterior. What I'm not looking for is something overwhelmingly pink—Friends color schemes are often more muted than people give them credit for, and while I wouldn't mind some examples of trains that opt for subtle pastels over bold primary and secondary colors, in general color is not my primary consideration.

I think a monorail (either above rail or hanging) would work well within the look and feel of the theme, with a certain sleekness and efficiency. It's somewhat a futuristic concept, but it has been adopted as a mode of urban transportation by cities in both the past and present. Come to think of it, perhaps the theme would be our best ticket to the development of a new monorail system. 

As far as color scheme goes, the combination used by set no. 41109-1 (pictured below) I think would work nicely.