2018 Lego Trains

[degenerate]

3 hours ago, Night City Dream said:

Are there only 3 sets? No new stations or smith else?

Those 3 are the only news for this year I'm afraid.

And about the price of the extra tracks set going up, I'll know the prices for sure at the beginning of April, I'll let you guys know by then if I can remember it.

Also, imgflip seems to have done a number on the original images I uploaded to imgur, probably by compressing them, I might reupload the original photos I have, if I do I'll post links on here.

Edited January 18, 2018 by degenerate

[dario76]

http://hbricks.forumcommunity.net/?t=59749565&st=675&saved#lastpost

[Grrr]

32 minutes ago, dario76 said:

http://hbricks.forumcommunity.net/?t=59749565&st=675&saved#lastpost

Looks like that post has been deleted. What was it?

[M_slug357]

Yah, it helps to have a description of the links' contents @dario76

[wooster]

5 hours ago, MTM said:

@Stefaneris: The german train you showed is different - more like set 4551 - the front engines (lower part) is on an extra bogie - so the train has two hinges in front and after train cabin. 

The shorter version is E17, but looks different to the new lego train engine:

 

source: https ://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/DB_E17_103.JPG

I think, it's nearly a british one. But first image I like more, espeacially in dark turquiose - normal green is boring. 

8

I think @icemorons got it right when he said it looks most like an EP-5.  Although you can't tell easily in this photo, the EP-5 is a double-headed engine.

 

[BrickMusher]

I Think it looks more like the NS1200. Please have a look to the front lights and the round fairings around the coupling.

But since this engine was constructed by Baldwin, it might be a US design indeed, but adapted for european needs. But I am just counting beans

 

Has anybody realized that the Train windows on the 60198 look somewhat different from all other windows on this boxart?

It says "placeholder" on the conductor and the remote, so it will be modified anyway. So I am not absolutely convinced yet that this will be the final engine...

 

[JopieK]

Guys and maybe even some gals, discussing the upcoming trains and maybe change in PF is of course very fine, but please keep some things in mind:

- there is a good reason why TLG does not want us to post confidential images
- don't brag about confidential knowledge even if it might be genuine
- there are some fora like reddit that seem to have an other policy but they don't have a direct link to TLG I guess.

I haven't had any complaints from TLG yet, but wouldn't it be great if TLG would allow us to do an early review of the new train sets, so don't jeopardize that possibility.

[Paperballpark]

The below quotes are about WeDo 2.0, from here: https://education.lego.com/en-gb/support/wedo-2/faqs

Is this a new plug system?
Yes, this is the new LEGO Power Functions plug that has been optimised also to meet potential future needs.

What does that mean for the existing plug systems on other Power Function and MINDSTORMS products? Will they also be changed?
Yes, eventually we will convert to the new plug system after a transition period. The exact timing of this transition has not been determined.

[3797]

16 hours ago, JopieK said:

I haven't had any complaints from TLG yet, ...

They aren't reading the forums. If they did, they would at the very least have used train doors and windows for those new trains. There's no reason not to use them. Especially since they used train doors for that new bus amongst other sets. Without them the passenger cars of set 60197 are nothing but boring boxes on wheels.

Hey TLG, if you do happen to read this: FIRE THE GUY WHO DESIGNED THOSE SETS! 

Also, eBay is flooded with curved and flex track that no one wants. Would have been much better to offer that track pack with 16 straights and no more than 8 curves. Too obvious, I guess.

[brickbuilder711]

57 minutes ago, 3797 said:

They aren't reading the forums. If they did, they would at the very least have used train doors and windows for those new trains. There's no reason not to use them. Especially since they used train doors for that new bus amongst other sets. Without them the passenger cars of set 60197 are nothing but boring boxes on wheels.

Hey TLG, if you do happen to read this: FIRE THE GUY WHO DESIGNED THOSE SETS! 

Also, eBay is flooded with curved and flex track that no one wants. Would have been much better to offer that track pack with 16 straights and no more than 8 curves. Too obvious, I guess.

Probably the same mentality as with Athearn model trains and their inaccuracies -- "who cares, people will still buy it!"

I will say one thing, the nose on the pax train is UGLY with a capital UGLY. Being more of a custom MOC guy, as usual I will probably overlook these sets but keep an eye on the technology they use as it might be better than the existing system, which I feel has kind of failed me.

[Paperballpark]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lego don't make the City trains for us. We are not the target demographic for them.

I'm sure the trains will sell just fine to the target demographic - Lego aren't stupid. Arguably, it's those who think Lego won't have done their research that are stupid.

As for the track packs, again they're not stupid. If you want 80 straights, you'll have to buy 10 packs. If they sold them with 16 straights in a pack, you'd only have to buy 5 packs. That might be better for you, but Lego would only sell half the number of packs. Again, they're not stupid.

[Rufulus]

19 minutes ago, Paperballpark said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lego don't make the City trains for us. We are not the target demographic for them.

I'm sure the trains will sell just fine to the target demographic - Lego aren't stupid. Arguably, it's those who think Lego won't have done their research that are stupid.

As for the track packs, again they're not stupid. If you want 80 straights, you'll have to buy 10 packs. If they sold them with 16 straights in a pack, you'd only have to buy 5 packs. That might be better for you, but Lego would only sell half the number of packs. Again, they're not stupid.

Depends. They have lately been very concerned about copy cats.

All their secrecy and picture hunting. They seem to spend a great deal of time and money on that. 

Soon those copy cats will not only copy anymore. Its already starting. And specifically on trains - You can already buy alternative tracks that fit and work. And you can buy them exactly as you want. 

Works for me. Glad I am not depending on Lego for that. Same with doors and mods. That's like half of the fun anyway.

And just for the record. That passenger train nose on the pics that floated around looks UGLY as hell.

[Yeow]

I find it a bit strange that the Cargo train would include a bank vehicle, because the 2018 Mountain Police line already has a bank transport, but I guess they're just being lazy. As long as they don't include robbers in the set, I'm perfectly fine with a bank transport vehicle and vault. If this inclusion results in more kids pestering their parents to buy them train sets, then I'm all for that.

Regarding the Passenger one. I'll probably pick it up on sale like I did with the previous passenger train. Definitely not buying that one at full price.

Edited January 20, 2018 by Yeow

[JopieK]

5 hours ago, 3797 said:

They aren't reading the forums. If they did, they would at the very least have used train doors and windows for those new trains. There's no reason not to use them. Especially since they used train doors for that new bus amongst other sets. Without them the passenger cars of set 60197 are nothing but boring boxes on wheels.

Hey TLG, if you do happen to read this: FIRE THE GUY WHO DESIGNED THOSE SETS! 

Also, eBay is flooded with curved and flex track that no one wants. Would have been much better to offer that track pack with 16 straights and no more than 8 curves. Too obvious, I guess.

@3797: They do read the fora, you don't see staff conversations in our backend that includes discussion with TLG employees. But I don't think that the community representatives of LEGO have the power to fire set designers. Apart from that I asked everyone politely to behave and I find your post not a good example of good behavior. You can voice your opinion but shouting that certain people should be fired? Come on, what if we would shout that about your job for some reason? Maybe he should get an internship in both a railway company and a primary school to better connect with both audiences, that would have been an more polite suggestion don't you think?

16 hours ago, Paperballpark said:

The below quotes are about WeDo 2.0, from here: https://education.lego.com/en-gb/support/wedo-2/faqs

Is this a new plug system?
Yes, this is the new LEGO Power Functions plug that has been optimised also to meet potential future needs.

What does that mean for the existing plug systems on other Power Function and MINDSTORMS products? Will they also be changed?
Yes, eventually we will convert to the new plug system after a transition period. The exact timing of this transition has not been determined.

That is a very good suggestion. Hope they will make it compatible in some way though since it will have a large impact I guess. Also for schools e.g. participating in the FLL and train fans that have a lot of PF laying around. We have a lot of PF stuff both from my trains and my wife's technic sets. 

[Paperballpark]

31 minutes ago, JopieK said:

That is a very good suggestion. Hope they will make it compatible in some way though since it will have a large impact I guess. Also for schools e.g. participating in the FLL and train fans that have a lot of PF laying around. We have a lot of PF stuff both from my trains and my wife's technic sets. 

Yes, I hope they'll at least have a converter between PF leads and PF2 leads, like they have with PF and 9V.

EDIT: I've just seen leaked images of some summer Technic sets, and a couple of them seem to have regular PF, so who knows what's going on?

Edited January 20, 2018 by Paperballpark

[PeteM]

Looks like we might need to wait a bit longer for official photos or reports for sets in the summer wave (inc the trains I assume):

https://brickset.com/article/33697/this-year-s-toy-fairs-will-be-a-disappointment

[JopieK]

You probably want to sell current train sets / other sets as long as possible and not let people keep from buying the sets, knowing that they will soon be replaced.

[paul_delahaye]

At last found the images, to be honest, I like both of the sets as a whole, the express train is going to have to be a double purchase, to get a full train like the HE.  But I like it, doors would have been nice, but unless a new part would spoil the look of the carriages.

I'm liking the cargo train, a nice selection of carriages, and a lot of play value, there is even a money crate to rob!  The play value there will keep next years Police line up very busy!

 

Roll on the summer!

[JopieK]

And after almost 40 years we get a new train set with a yellow hard hat! I remember them being so costly and rare that they costed € 15+ only for a yellow helmet (I know they were rereleased in sets beginning the Toy Story Dump truck but still nice to see them again in a train set).

[ColletArrow]

1 hour ago, Paperballpark said:

EDIT: I've just seen leaked images of some summer Technic sets, and a couple of them seem to have regular PF, so who knows what's going on?

I saw a theory somewhere that's essentially: the train sets will be out for~ 4 years, wheras technic is only ~1-2. Therefore, if sometime around, say, 2020 they wanted to switch entirely to PF 2.0, but the train sets on the market were still using PF 1.0, it would be harder and less consistent. They can also use the trains as a test-bed I suppose, due to a simpler requirement of functions. Even if this does mean we've only had 6 train sets (in two waves) with PF 1.0 in them.

42 minutes ago, JopieK said:

And after almost 40 years we get a new train set with a yellow hard hat!

See the funny thing is, I've grown up with LEGO's red hard hats. That colour now automatically feels 'right' to me for minifigs, even though red hats are much rarer IRL. Can we tell what torsos the train company minifgs have? The older orange-and-blue one, or the newer olive-and-orange one? I would have thought they would switch them all to the new version, yet the older one recently appeared in a Juniors set implying it hasn't completely gone yet.

[BrickMusher]

@JopieK Now it´s you how´s leaking   Frankly I havn´t realised the yellow helmet before.

 

Concerning TLC´s politics this year, on one hand I think I can understand why they do so. On the other hand I also think that the problem is home-(china)-made.

I wished TLC would communicate more about the reasons. But maybe I am just to naive and it´s not like talking to your best friend. Maybe they want to hide how big (or small?) the problems really are..... And maybe a company has to behave different in communication than a private person.

I just wish that one day, they will just tell us why they don´t use doors anymore on passenger trains. Or the train windows.

I wish that TLC will tell us one day why they don´t show up with 2HY set at the different fairs anymore

And I wish that the green cargo train on the preliminary cover is not the final version (time will show)

 

So you good guys of TLC, knowing now that you read this thread also: I love your product but I am not very pleased by how you handle your (adult)-customers at the moment.

I think You wouldn´t lose face if you talk a little more to us AFOL´s!

 

 

But honestly, the most of us don´t need a train set as long as TLC offers parts that are usable for Train MOC´s. So Train-doors on (even cheaper) friends-sets are ok for me. Train windows on city sets would be also great... the more sets TLC releases during the year, the more possible train-related parts we get.... at this point I get a little bit ambivalent.

 

stumped Yours

 

BrickMusher

 

[Klaus-Dieter]

In the leaked retailers catalogue (no new pics of the train sets) there's no station posted. So that's really bad. The only possibility I see is if there was a city center like set for City as a yearly Exclusive, a station might be included there. What do you think?

2 minutes ago, BrickMusher said:

Concerning TLC´s politics this year, on one hand I think I can understand why they do so. On the other hand I also think that the problem is home-(china)-made.

Exactly my opinion!

Edited January 20, 2018 by Klaus-Dieter

[JLSD]

I really agree with @Paperballpark.  We are not the target audience.

We are all like children (me included) awaiting to open those gifts under the tree...even having to wait ever so patiently for four years!  We may not all have the same opinions of what's sweet or not no sweet about what we have seen or read...but we can all give our two cents and its the cool thing about this forum.

What I am really impressed with is the creativity of this group.  With the leaks and assumptions of the new sets, the MOC's created based on these leaks and grainy photos, it is amazing what the group has come up with.  This is the coco at it's finest!  Exactly what Lego is all about.

Keep on fascinating and fantasizing!

[scottwb2010]

On 18/01/2018 at 8:13 PM, SpaceTwinky said:

It is hard to tell from the images, but an earlier description said the truck is an armored (bank) vehicle and the forklift is carrying a pallet of gold bars.   Surely every criminal in Legotown will want to rob that train.  

Hopefully that is not a criminal in a stripey top lurking near the wood wagon then but is a train company worker. Hard to tell if they have the criminals 'Tammy Hat' on or not.

1 hour ago, JopieK said:

And after almost 40 years we get a new train set with a yellow hard hat! I remember them being so costly and rare that they costed € 15+ only for a yellow helmet (I know they were rereleased in sets beginning the Toy Story Dump truck but still nice to see them again in a train set).

Not too sure if that is a yellow hard hat on the worker on the minifig up the access ladder or not. Also looks like it could be the Bald head 'hair piece' too that was used on the Grandpa collectable minifig from series 10 

[technic70s]

I have been waiting for a new Power Functions system for a long time.

I am sooooo hoping, we will get a Bluetooth or WIFI controlled train. Its about time we had a modern control system.

The only thing I'm worried about is that if it is a new system, that the wire connections may change, we have seen the Wedo 2.0 and Boost have different connections to Power Functions. 

If they are moving to a new connection, please please please, LEGO, do an adaptor cable like you have in the past, the 9V system could be connected to PF with the extension cable 8886

I have read before about the planning for the  PF 1.0 train systems and now it was consulting and working with AFOLs about what was needed to make the system work for train AFOL's, I would hope that LEGO again did this if they where planning a change to the PF system.

Other control systems have been developed by 3rd parties, this says to me that LEGO is being left behind in the development curve of the control systems.

Our LUG does a lot of public displays and we let children drive trains and Technic models, its a big hit with the public, but the biggest problems we have had is the design of the controllers.

They have the sender lens of the IR  in a place that every single child, placers their fingers over the lens and blocks the signal (IR is a line of sight system) 

They also tend to point the controller up to the roof as well.

Plus with the trains the children always drive the train at top speed and derail the train, we have built heaver trains with lower centres of gravity and have build a geared down controller that takes the child 3 full turns to run the train at speed 7.

A LUG member has to constantly supervise the child to stop the train derailing. 

At our last show we also tried running the battery box with just 4 batteries and this helped with the speed.

We are hoping that a new controller is coming and that it will advance the Power Functions system.

BUT

I have looked at the image of the "City Train" (note it's not possible in this day and age to not see these things, they just pop up in Facebook feeds)

I saw the Diner leaked some time ago and wasn't impressed with it, but once I saw the official high res press release, I wanted the set.

I don't like to see the grainy, blurry images that are leaked, they do the product a disservice.

What I have noticed about the new city train, is it has the same design on its roof as the High Speed Train 60051 in it has a 1x2 cheese slope next to the RI receiver.

The design looks exactly the same.

So my thinking is the receiver is exactly the same old receiver - IR.

My only glimmer of hope is a new receiver that is Bluetooth or WIFI and is build in exactly the same form factor, to make it interchangeable with old sets.

But my hopes for this are running low.

High Speed Train by Stephen, on Flickr