ElectroDiva

2018 Lego Trains

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On 5/12/2018 at 10:03 PM, Goldenmasamune said:

Dammit we won't be pleased unless we get a creator expert Big Boy steam engine, with extra buyable carriages that is compatible with powerfunctions and 9v

I am not really into steam, so this would not be pleasing.  A Creator Expert EMD DDA40X or GE 8500hp gas turbine would be better.  :laugh:  

Or any unique looking electric.

Locomotive-electrique-BB422212-FRETde-la

 

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I'm no fan of the new front. It's prefab, while TLG showed us they can make good-looking brick-built train fronts. But it's an ugly prefab IMO. The older train at least looked like the real deal. What's this? It doesn't look like a light rail, it doesn't look like an intercity, it doesn't look like a high-speed train... unless you make it very cartoonish. If I'm wrong, I would like to see a pic of a real monstrosity train that looks like this. Before people start about the target audience of LEGO trains: there were plenty of trains released that looked realistic. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, let's agree to disagree.

So, a new mould. A copy is not what we are waiting for, I agree with that. But now they invest in a new part, that likely will be released in a single set only (again), with not many other purposes. I would rather see they did invest in more general usable parts. The elements of the Metroliner appeared in other sets while they were considered too specialized by some. Not even starting about the 7938, in my eyes the best regularly available passenger train in the last 20 years. With a front mainly consisting of standard bricks.

And no more train station? If there at least was a decent platform in the passenger train set, but the platform included is not even the length of a single track element. Well, it's bigger than the Euro-pallet sized "platform" in the previous train I guess.

I really don't like how the quality of designs is declining IMO, especially compared to better parts becoming available. I really do look forward to PF 2.0

 

As for that Alsthom locomotive: plenty of European railroads use Alsthom locomotives that look like that one. With quite a number of MOC's in 6-wide around, I'm curious how an official set would compare. If they release something like that, people will mod it into the different colours for sure. :classic:

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As far as log rail cars go, I was always a fan of the one from the "my own train" line.It was very simple but looked nice

Has it been confirmed that the battery box for PF2.0 has the same form factor as the PF1.0 AAA battery box, AND contains the bluetooth receiver? 

 

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On 5/11/2018 at 1:48 PM, Lyichir said:

You've got it backwards—the real question is why would they make a set twice as expensive just so that a train is "complete" when a "half train" with only one engine will suffice for most families' purposes?

With one engine per set, you still get a complete play experience with minimal repetition in the build. That's probably what the majority of buyers (especially kids) will be most interested in. For hardcore train fans, the option to "double up" to get a complete train with two engines, twice as many cars, and double the track remains, without having to price the set itself out of the casual consumer's price range.

 

I would agree that having the option of going to 6 cars is nice, I personally thought the current 3 car trains with cabs on either end seem short, though I know there are plenty of prototypes with such a configuration. The one annoying problem of pairing two sets together gives you a ton of curves, having more straight track would be nice.

While I doubt Lego would ever go back to unit packages, it would be great if you could just buy 8 straight segments again, then buy the curves you need separately. Then they could do the trains in bundles- a base train without track or power (e.g., 3225 or the HE); a couple of loop configurations available at S@H that are actually combinations of straight, curve, and switch track packs; and a generic motorization set. Have a super-pack for stores that combine the base train, some track, and the motorization in one box, but allow people to pick and choose online, e.g., a big loop of track, two passenger train sets, and only one set of PF. Yeah, won't happen.

The single cab unit on what seems like it should be a double ended train, specialized nose piece, and lack of train doors is actually consistent with several 9v era sets from 1996 to the end of the line, e.g., 4559, 4560, and 4511.

From an AFOL perspective getting an extra set of PF is nice. I wonder if they will have a rechargeable version of the battery/controller (or might that be the standard design and dropping a non rechargeable option?). Hopefully it will be able to deliver more power than the current PF system.

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On 14.5.2018 at 6:21 AM, dr_spock said:

I am not really into steam, so this would not be pleasing.  A Creator Expert EMD DDA40X or GE 8500hp gas turbine would be better.  :laugh:  

Oh, "not pleasing". If your highness would be kind enough to check the prices for large train wheels:

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=85489b&ColorID=11

For the price of just 6 of those wheels you could get a complete Lepin knock off of the Emerald Night. Shipped. I personally didn't enjoy spending more than 60€ on two complete sets of those wheels on Bricklink.

2 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

The ..., specialized nose piece, and lack of train doors is actually consistent with several 9v era sets from 1996 to the end of the line, e.g., 4559, 4560, and 4511.

Those three are some of the worst LEGO trains ever. I was in my teens but not yet an adult when they released 4559. A cousin who was too young when the Metroliner was released ended up getting 4559 as a christmas gift. I hated that train and even he wasn't happy with it since he had already played with my Metroliner and 7735 at that point. Neither of us were AFOLs at the time.

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On 08/05/2018 at 9:28 PM, ElectroDiva said:

The passenger train looks like a poor imitation of the Horizon Express - I think i’ll give it a miss...

Uhhh what? No it doesn’t. It’s different in every way other than being a loco with two passenger cars.

 

Edited by Bartybum

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28 minutes ago, Dorino said:

These two links contains official photos of two new trains, enjoy :)

Thanks so much for posting these. :classic: I've been waiting eagerly for the decent pics to be released. Sure enough these pics make the sets look much much better.

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1 hour ago, Dorino said:

These two links contains official photos of two new trains, enjoy :)

I refrained from giving my more recent thoughts on these two sets until official images were released, so thank you for linking these! :classic:

Well, right off the bat, the first thing I noticed was the windshield piece inserted into the new passenger train front assembly, as it seems to resemble the canopy part from the Speed Champions theme. But, at the same time, it looks like it's hinged, therefore making it a new piece instead? What's the deal? :shrug_confused:

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This was posted by @Jim over in the Thecnic forum. :classic:

lego-60197-city_2.jpg

You can check out the topic it was posted in here.

 

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Oh my god that rolling suitcase piece looks great! :oh:

 

Is that guy holding a LEGO set in the printed 1x2 tile?

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I think I'll join in again, now that I've seen the official photos. 

The cargo train is really quite nice. The loco would have been better if it was the earlier version we saw, but this design really isn't as bad as I feared. It's also made up for by the rather good crane; I love it, considering it features a worm-drive gearbox to raise and lower the boom. I also love how the whole set is designed to play with the rest of recent CITY sets; the bank truck and gold with the police line, the snowmobile in a container with the upcoming Arctic line, the log cars with the 60181 Forest tractor and the crane/containers with the 60169 Cargo terminal. Regarding the latter, the containers are the same size (phew!) and the cranes have the same colour scheme. It's therefore excellent as a play set.

The passenger train isn't awful either. The colours are nice and the nose piece doesn't look terrible to me, but I'm not such a fan of the coaches being nearly identical to 60051. Although that might make the sets look quite good next to each other, so I don't know.

(I'm leaving discussion of the remote to the topic over in the Techinc forum.) Overall, not a bad pair after all. I hope they'll sell well.

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I must say the 60198 is quite appealing. As someone who just was pondering the idea of rebuilding (or buying some used one) 7898, I would say this one relieves me from having to do that:

* green loco? check!

* crane? check!

If only the price wouldn't be so crazy...

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Well, I think things are looking better now that these clearer pictures are there. Overall I think these are nice sets and although there is a big single piece for the front of the passenger train, it looks in my opinion better than the current one.

And I guess I have to go over to the technic forum to check about the new PF, or is it PU now?

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I actually grew up with the 4559, and thought it was great back in the day. I didn't care about realism at that age (I converted it to a roadside assistance train, not realizing how impractical it would be). Later I wish I got the Metroliner instead - but when the Metroliner was still available I was young-ish for trains, and other stuff was higher on my list.

Yes, they used big nose pieces in the past, but with the red train I was really hoping they would break with that bad habit. I rather see they released a new track piece instead. Related to that: why was the 7996 crossing discontinued again? Did it not sell enough?

Anyway, are those pantographs new parts? I can't recall seeing them before. A bit too small IMO. I think those look off on the freight train. I find that building ugly, but the forklift looks nice and the crane looks very well done IMO.

Speaking about new parts: I'm very curious about the new battery box. The receiver integrated would allow designs otherwise impossible. I hope they didn't put any Technic holes in the sides or something like that. And please, let it be dark bley again. :D

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I like the look of the passenger train after all. The earlier photos didn't do it justice nor render the colors well. I'll probably buy two and sell the PF from one and sell one passenger car to help offset the cost and be left with a powered engine, a dummy engine and three passenger cars; that would be ideal for me! Lego gets their money, the secondary market gets some inventory and I get what I want, a win, win, win!

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Can anyone tell what is the colour of windshield glass in green locomotive? I really like that piece and i am just hoping it's not trans-light-blue. I can't really tell why i am not fan of that blue, I think trans-black and trans-clear looks more serious.

Edited by Dorino

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1 minute ago, Dorino said:

Can anyone tell what is the colour of windshield glass in green locomotive? I really like that piece and i am just hoping it's not trans-light-blue. I can't really tell why i am not fan of that blue, I think trans-black and trans-clear looks more serious.

It looks trans black to me on the images released on brickset (you can find them earlier in this thread).

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I actually really dislike the cargo train, it has very few cars, the ones they do have are awful and it's just nothing special. Plus there is only one switch track instead of the normal 2.

That passenger car is amazing. I like the remade front, it looks good. LEGO has been making huge specialty pieces for over 25 years and it works here. And the one engine and two cars really works well. 

The prices are supposedly 130 and 180/190 Euro in Germany. So it's probably $150-$180USD for the passenger and $200-$230USG for the cargo.

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I've seen the leaked images of a new Hogwarts Express!!!!!

We are getting yet another train this year!

And there will be a train station (probably separate) to go with it!

Check the usual suspects on Instagram.

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