Getting started with 12 volt trains

[Reker1000000]

Hello all,

I'm starting a series on YouTube about how to enter the wonderful electric world of 12v Lego trains, and I thought I'd share it here for those of you who may have heard of this line but never learned much. In my opinion, this is the Golden Age of Lego trains and something that won't return in the foreseeable future- the remotely operated points, signals, plus other accessories and the train designs are uniquely fantastic. It's pretty inaccessable to those of us in the United States, and I know I would have really appreciated a guide when I started my journey nearly 2 years ago- so I'm trying to provide a comprehensive starter guide if you are just getting into 12v trains. This is one of the only videos out there to serve this purpose. The first part is already published and is about the different core components of a layout- and, it includes a section regarding voltage converters (aka "step up and down transformers") for those of us in the US, because we need to create European outlets to plug the 12v transformer into. I'm editing the second part right now, which will be an overview of the 9 train sets and which to purchase if you have no prior experience/knowledge, and I will reply to this post with the second part when it's published. I hope you all enjoy, and learn something new if you're just starting 12v!

-Reker1000000

 

[Reker1000000]

Part 2 is out now! I'm working on part 3, which will be about setting up your first 12v layout.

 

[Toastie]

Very nice run down, a lot of information, good judgment, this is a true educational thread. I will closely follow what you publish here!

Thanks a million for doing all this work. This is true, valuable EB superior content.

All the best,
Thorsten

[Reker1000000]

On 6/3/2022 at 5:58 PM, Toastie said:

Very nice run down, a lot of information, good judgment, this is a true educational thread. I will closely follow what you publish here!

Thanks a million for doing all this work. This is true, valuable EB superior content.

All the best,
Thorsten

Thank you so much  It means a lot to me that you are getting something out of what I'm posting! 3rd part is out now, about setting up your first 12v layout. The next part will be about what supplemental sets to purchase after you've gotten your first layout up and running.

I owe a lot of my entry into the 12v world to Lego12vFan, and now I'm trying to do my part for others by making the 12v system more accessible 

 

[Paperinik77pk]

Vey nice videos!!! Well done!!! 

Ciao!

Davide

[Reker1000000]

5 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

Vey nice videos!!! Well done!!! 

Thank you! Taking a short break for a review of the 7810 and then I will be back on track (pun intended) with the rest of the series, right now it's looking like it will be 5 parts.

Plus layout 6 will be soon...

[ThePhatController]

Oh, keep the videos coming! I finally got my tables set up and am starting my first "permanent" layout. I already got a few ideas from some of you videos.

[XG BC]

nice introduction! not much of a 12v guy myself as i was born long after the discontinuation of the system but i still enjoy it. i like 9v more but to each their own.

[Reker1000000]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:12 AM, ThePhatController said:

Oh, keep the videos coming! I finally got my tables set up and am starting my first "permanent" layout. I already got a few ideas from some of you videos.

Awesome! Be sure to post about your layout when it's set up, I am sure we will enjoy it 

 

On 6/6/2022 at 8:32 AM, XG BC said:

nice introduction! not much of a 12v guy myself as i was born long after the discontinuation of the system but i still enjoy it. i like 9v more but to each their own.

Thanks! I was born long after the Grey Era as well, but some pictures online were all it took to get me hooked. I really like the 9v system as well (definitely better than RC/PF/PuP in my opinion), it has some very nice trains such as the Metroliner, but as I already have 12v stuff it would be fairly expensive to enter the 9v world at this point since I'd need to get a transformer and extra track in addition to a train set. I'm always scanning eBay though! Maybe one day I'll get a good deal.

[PeteM]

I'm enjoying your series on YouTube - I feel that 12v is almost a forgotten era, despite being the best (IMO!), it's nice to see it getting a bit of attention :)

[Reker1000000]

On 6/10/2022 at 9:06 AM, PeteM said:

I'm enjoying your series on YouTube - I feel that 12v is almost a forgotten era, despite being the best (IMO!), it's nice to see it getting a bit of attention :)

Glad to hear you are appreciating the videos! I completely agree with your statement, although 12v's remote control capabilities make it pretty objectively the most realistic system Lego has produced, unfortunately many people don't know about 12v trains.

Part 4 of the series, about which supplemental trackside accessories to buy, is now out and directly linked below.

Also, I just thought I should say that this is my 100th post so I am now a Eurobricks Citizen. On to 1000 posts! 

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Reker1000000
I did a dumb

[Paperinik77pk]

...and I'd say it's a great post for becoming Citizen!!! 

[Chilis]

This is great! Thank you for sharing your knowlegde! Keep up the good work. I`ve seen most of your YTvideos and find alot of good information in them. Information I didn`t know and will be good to know in my future expansion of my 12v stuff :) Thanks again!

[Reker1000000]

On 6/12/2022 at 6:47 AM, Paperinik77pk said:

...and I'd say it's a great post for becoming Citizen!!! 

Yes! Always more 12v content...

2 hours ago, Chilis said:

This is great! Thank you for sharing your knowlegde! Keep up the good work. I`ve seen most of your YTvideos and find alot of good information in them. Information I didn`t know and will be good to know in my future expansion of my 12v stuff :) Thanks again!

Thank YOU! I am so glad to know my work is helping people. Good luck on your 12v journey! If you have any questions you are welcome to contact me through Eurobricks or comment on one of my videos and I will answer to the best of my ability.

 

Part 5 of the series is out now, similar to parts 2 and 4 but this time about the supplemental wagons available. As always, I've directly linked it here. I think I will do a final part about general purchasing strategies.

 

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

Subbed!  I will watch these with great interest.  The 12v era is well before my time, I spent my time as a kid drooling over the 9v era trains and monorails.  The 12v system has always intrigued me but I've never seen videos go in depth about each component and how they were used.  I've seen the same neglect when it comes to older Mindstorms components and I'm trying to fill that void with my own videos.  I like videos I can watch anytime where I don't have to read everything on the screen so I'm glad you are doing voice over instead of just words on the screen, it's a lot more work but it is much appreciated by people like myself.  Thank you for uploading these, I can't wait to check them all out!

[Reker1000000]

On 6/19/2022 at 11:24 AM, BatteryPoweredBricks said:

Subbed!  I will watch these with great interest.  The 12v era is well before my time, I spent my time as a kid drooling over the 9v era trains and monorails.  The 12v system has always intrigued me but I've never seen videos go in depth about each component and how they were used.  I've seen the same neglect when it comes to older Mindstorms components and I'm trying to fill that void with my own videos.  I like videos I can watch anytime where I don't have to read everything on the screen so I'm glad you are doing voice over instead of just words on the screen, it's a lot more work but it is much appreciated by people like myself.  Thank you for uploading these, I can't wait to check them all out!

Thank you so much for the kind comment! I do my best to explain everything as completely as possible, because I know that I definitely would have appreciated that when I was starting with 12v.

The 6th and final part is out now, about general purchasing strategies and approaches. Just my purely subjective take- don't take what I say as fact! I'll be switching to some layout videos and reviews starting with my next upload, which will be about the 6th 12v layout. I will create a new thread on EB when it's out.

 

[Dav1d]

On 6/12/2022 at 2:34 AM, Reker1000000 said:

Part 4 of the series, about which supplemental trackside accessories to buy, is now out and directly linked below.

There is a small mistake, the same station is shown twice, 7822 rather than 7822 and later 7824.

The Bricklists from Brickset : LEGO trains sets from the grey era (77xx and 78xx sets) | Brickset: LEGO set guide and database and All the LEGO trains from the Grey track era give most of this information - you have done it in a Video format.

Not sure if you included the push along & 4.5V train sets as they could easily be upgraded to 12V.

[Reker1000000]

On 6/22/2022 at 1:53 PM, Dav1d said:

There is a small mistake, the same station is shown twice, 7822 rather than 7822 and later 7824.

The Bricklists from Brickset : LEGO trains sets from the grey era (77xx and 78xx sets) | Brickset: LEGO set guide and database and All the LEGO trains from the Grey track era give most of this information - you have done it in a Video format.

Not sure if you included the push along & 4.5V train sets as they could easily be upgraded to 12V.

Thank you for alerting me about the pictures, I have updated the video description to reflect the mistake. Yes, you can find some information on Brickset, here I just do a short description of the set with my opinion and the average used price. I haven't included the 4.5v and push trains (except 7810- that was in Part 5) for these videos since most people probably are starting with nothing and if that's the case usually it's more cost-effective to just get a 12v train set and transformer. Although, I did explain upgrading push/4.5v sets when I talked about 7865 in one of the earlier parts of the series.

[BillytheKid]

I guess there are more people who like 12v trains , even in USA.

Edited June 29, 2022 by BillytheKid

[156439DMU]

Maybe this is where I differ with the more collector style people in the space, but my 12v collection is dictated mostly by the incomplete sets I've purchased. 

For example, my current collection is a bunch of 4.5v system stuff, some of which are official sets and others own builds. 12v being then a 4 Car 7745, a 7745 B model steam engine, a 7740 and a 7821.

I've rarely set out to get boxes for example, so 7860s I've amassed through mostly come across the isolator rails in lots, and then buying the required remote controls for them.

Just my two pence, I've just found there are cheaper (and often more rewarding!) ways of getting these old sets than competing with the whole internet on eBay.